amcb

Hello Everyone.

My oldest just turned 12 in October.  We will be sailing for New Years.  He is a VERY big boy for his age, so I’m not sure they will allow him to participate in the 9-11 year old group.  My understanding is that the program for 12 year olds is fairly activity based and not so much a set place where they go and are supervised.  Since he’s not the most mature kid in the world, I have some concerns.  Can anyone give me some additional information about how the program works?  I would appreciate it greatly!!

Thanks in advance,

amcb

Carlington Berry will be the concierge on the Grandeur for our upcoming July 19 cruise. We just received the introductory email.

I’m on the Grandeur now and I’ll check with Francis to see if he knows who is replacing him while he is on leave.

 

 

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That would be wonderful! Thanks so much!

:) Amcb

Hi All.

I sent an email about 5 days ago to the concierge on Grandeur with a couple of questions, but haven’t heard back yet. We are sailing on the 19th. I know they are going through a transition, but I wanted to see if anyone had a sense of when I could expect a response.

Thanks so much,

:) Amcb

With Francis On vacation, does anyone know who will be in the Grandeur CL in early August?

I’m also interesting in the answer to this. We will be boarding Granduer July 19.

Thanks so much,

Amcb

 

Lots of construction noise on both sides of the small beach. The pounding and drilling made conversation almost impossible.

Does anyone know how long the construction will continue? We’ll be there in a few weeks and thought this might be a decent option for us.

Thanks,

amcb

Don't know layout for Grandeur but on some ships Giovanni's I believe is located near the Windjammer and it is open to suite guests on embarkation to provide comfortable seating away from the crowds. I believe you still have to help yourself from the buffet.

This is where I’m getting confused. For some ships it was Chops, some Giovanni’s. Too many ships to keep them all straight! But it’s a good problem to have! ;)

Hello all.

I’m starting to get my ships and trips confused. Can someone please tell me if Giovanni’s is open for suite guests for lunch upon boarding? Thanks so much,

:) Amcb

Are there cabanas set aside on CocoCay that only the concierge can reserve? We had this experience at Labadee but I’m worried that we won’t be able to get one on CocoCay if that is not the case. We’re sailing 7/19

:o Amcb

And do make reservations for every evening you think you might want to dine there. When we boarded we made reservations only for the first two nights because there was “plenty” of availability. But it booked up quickly! By the third night there were very limited slots available and none on the fourth night. Partially this was due to very large family parties taking up a good portion of the space, but if you’d like to eat there, go ahead and make the reservations as soon as you board.

:) amcb

Thanks CarolinaGirl2010. We’re getting very excited!

Does anyone know how long it usually takes the concierge to get back to you after your initial request? We received the Welcome email Monday morning and I replied immediately with our request for a cabana. I haven’t heard back yet, but didn’t know if that was normal for the big ships. On the smaller ships, I’ve usually received a response from the concierge by the next day.

CK has a full lunch on boarding day.

Thanks Bob! Do you happen to know what time it starts?

:) amcb

So following up with a few more questions:

If we board early, what should we do first? (We have three children aged 11, 9 and 6). Are there things that are open and less crowded upon boarding that would be more difficult to do at a later time?

Does CK have a full lunch on boarding day?

I know DH will have his computer bag, as will I, and the kids will have their backpacks. Is it difficult to get around with all that “stuff”? We usually wait to board until the cabins are open, but thought we might try to board earlier this time to take advantage of the ship.

As always, thanks for the assistance!!

:) amcb

Big news about Symphony that can be revealed.

Rahul Barua (currently on Grandeur) and Raj Bhugwatch (on Harmony) will be concierges -- not sure about the lounges. Also do not know who will be the 3rd Concierge.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Pz4Im5qh4cqd1zE5A9srLm3wGd0_SNZwTdbLTa59EF4/edit#gid=0

We’ve had both Rahul and Raj and both are excellent! Symphony will have a great team.

Thanks so much, Bob and Judy! I was hoping that would be the case. As I mentioned, it’s our first holiday cruise, so I wasn’t sure what the situation would be. :)

Hi Everyone.

We will be traveling this Christmas on Oasis, for our first holiday cruise. Does anyone know if there is any type of service/mass offered? Does it depend on if there are any clergy/pastors on board? We normally attend Christmas Eve or Christmas morning service on land and have no idea what to expect on board.

Thanks in advance!

:) Amcb

That’s exciting news about the free access to the Internet. We don’t usually let the kids access the Internet while on cruises, but then they pester me to borrow my phone to text their grandparents when we are in port. Sounds like this could solve that problem! Then again, it would be one more thing to keep track of, so we might keep those codes secret for a bit. :cool:

Wow! Even after all these years (15) of being part of Cruise Critic, I’m always so impressed by how helpful everyone is.

Alfareric - thanks for the Christmas suggestions. I grew up in Miami so am familiar with “Florida Christmas attire”. :) It’s always hard to know on a cruise with people coming from so many different places. We will plan accordingly. :) It’s primarily DD (9) who is concerned about attire. She’s very fashion aware and likes to be dressed appropriately and fashionably. :rolleyes:

PapaFlamingo - Great info! We are in a full suite, but as I noted, it’s our first time on a ship that has Coastal Kitchen so I knew things would be a little different. Also, thanks for the confirmation on the swim shoes. We we definitely plan on bringing some. Do they require the kids to wear life jackets at the beach on Labadee? I also didn’t realize we got free Internet. We’re in a Royal Family Suite, so I’m not sure if that applies to us.:confused:

Frank808 - Thanks for the info about the slope. 10 ft sounds about average so we’ll plan on swim shoes to avoid the rocks. :)

:) amcb

Swim shoes are not necessary but the suites beach is a little rocky until you get 4 feet offshore.

Thanks for this. Does it get deep very quickly? My youngest is 6 and I’m thinking the swim shoes might be a good idea for her if she has to stay closer to the shore.

Thanks everyone for your kind replies. So it sounds like holiday fancy will be fine for the formal night. That will make my older DD happy. These are important issues when you’re 9. :rolleyes:

I will give a slightly different perspective with respect to the two rooms vs. one. We have always chosen to travel in a suite with our 3 children. A lot depends on your kids, but there was NO WAY we were going to allow them to have separate access to the outside without us knowing about it. And with my kids (at least the older two), you can be sure they would have tried it, if only so they could say that they got away with it. I completely understand that not everyone is in a position to travel in suites, but for us, one room that would accommodate all of us was non-negotiable.

Our children love the kids club. We’ve sailed on smaller ships (Grandeur) up to larger (Independence) and always had a wonderful experience with the kids club.

I hope some of this information is helpful.

:) amcb

Thanks Bob!

I knew you would have the answer to at least a few of these questions. :)

Hi everyone!

Although we have cruised many times on RCCL, this will be our first cruise on one of the “really big” ships and also our first cruise to the Caribbean (historically we have cruised in Europe, once to Alaska, and once up the Northeast coast of the US). It is also our first cruise during Christmas.

Our first formal night will fall on Christmas Day. Do people tend to do more “holiday” type outfits for the holiday sailings, or just regular formal? My older DD (9) is concerned her Christmas dress will be too “wintery” for the Caribbean.

Does Coastal Kitchen have different menus everyday, or is there only one menu (more like a specialty restaurant)? Also, will they have any special menu items on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? From all the positive things we’ve heard, we were planning on dining at Coastal Kitchen most every day. Will that be overkill? Also, if we’re in a regular suite, do we need to make dinner reservations there? I know Jr. Suites do but am unclear about regular suites.

We are hoping to reserve a cabana with the concierge once we get the pre-cruise email. Will there be towels in the cabana or do we need to bring our own? Are swim shoes necessary or is the beach sandy (not rocky)? Will the kids’ soda package allow them to get drinks in the cabana?

Any other helpful hints for a family who are not RCCL newbies but are Caribbean, Big Ship, and Holiday newbies would be greatly appreciated!!!

:-) amcb

Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful! :D

amcb

Thanks everyone!! We are in a full suite so it's good to know we can just get there early to get the reserved seating. We don't usually know what we're going to be in the mood to do on any given day, months in advance! So this is great info. :-)

I don't think we'll be doing the comedy club since we're traveling with our 3 kiddos.

I'm assuming this applies to the water and ice shows as well?

:) amcb