Tatka

I don’t get why people concentrate on kids remembering cruise. Kids may not remember other vacations too. Does this mean parents shouldn’t vacation with kids till they remember? As for behavior, parents know their kids… and again people vacation with all kind of kids. 🙂 Besides 2+ yo are not infants who may cry uncontrollably, unless there is some kind of huge developmental delay. In this case parents would know also. RCI is a family line.. why are people surprised parents vacation with young kids?

Because it’s a quality time with kids. People work and only see kids limited time. Cruise is where parents don’t have other chores and can spend more one on one time with kids. I remember some episodes of my first sea vacation with my dad at 2+ yo, but even if I didn’t I’m sure we had terrific time.

He loves the ocean. I doubt he works 24/7. Eating healthy and not drinking every day is not bad

Super Mario #2? I used to work from ships on some days when I didn’t have enough vacation. He is right about healthy lifestyle. Even without 300 days on board you gotta do it or you cannot cruise for long

We sailed on her in March 2022, and March 2023. Both times (old and Starlink) were very good... unlike to my surprise on Anthem last times (Thanksgiving 2022, January 2023)... which before was the best out of all ships.

People of all walks of life commit crimes, but you need percentage. It is not difficult. In US it is even more visible. Compare towns/cities/districts by income of population and you can draw a conclusion. Of course there are all kinds of exceptions because for example some groups of immigrants are poor, but very determined so less crime in such ethnic enclaves. Otherwise it is not difficult to see connections between income and crime data. Overall I see cruise crowd on average more prosperous than numerous districts of US cities.

I grew up in 1.5 million people city, some other people I know in 3-5-10 million people cities. While we knew some people in our districts, most people were still strangers. I attended activities in downtown for example. Rules were the same. I see huge issues with young people here in US due to over-protection. Do I need to say what happens on campuses of colleges or just when students rent apartments in another cities to attend colleges? This is what you do.. you gradually allow kids wander in the city, ship etc full of strangers. I actually think that ships are better than average city. Yes, there are bad people, but percentage is way lower due to costs.

5 is definitely too early. 7 is a bit too yes.

This is why kids should know basic rules like ... not talking to strangers, not going anywhere with strangers and such. US is very different from most of the world where cities are full of families with kids and suburbs are rather exceptions. Kids from the age of 9-10 easily take public transportation to schools, activities and such. Rules are all the same.

You know this particular kid? Did you watch kid whole day long? Also, what age? I took bus and subway from the age of 9 and walked everywhere. I hope strangers were not concerned. Why? Unless child is doing something inappropriate why are you concerned? Wandering is not breaking any rules. Riding elevators too! Do you watch adults wandering aimlessly? 🙂 Kids are overprotected till teen years and then parents are surprised teens who suddenly got freedom (and often a car as parents are tired to drive them everywhere) do stupid things.

This is a difference. I live in private months between cruises. Large house, backyard etc. Aside from weekends it is two of us. Cruises to us is like going out to restaurant.. travels. Also even when we do have balconies we do not eat there because I like to have variety in food and buffer, restaurants provide this. During summers we do not even cruise anymore. Last summer cruise was on Queen Mary 2 for Independence day in 2017. We camp and vacation on Cape Cod and Maine. We cruise around Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Year (or right after), in March and our last cruise is around Memorial day. All to maximize our vacation time as we work. Enjoy your cruises!!!

Agree. And they suddenly teenagers are difficult. When they are babysat for so long, they do not have gradual experience with freedom.

Which ships don’t allow it in Rising Tides Bar

Well, maybe she is with her parents (kids grandparents) and they are taking care of her daughter. Why assume?

Driving for 1-6 hours (usually 3.5) is also huge plus for us.

I have claustrophobia, but claustrophobia is usually caused by fear of suffocation. Ships have great ventilation systems so I never felt claustrophobia. Besides we have large house and backyard for two of us. When we cruise we spend minimum time in our cabin and most in Solariums, clubs etc. We basically only sleep in cabin. We will have balconies last two cruises this year and I am sure we will use it 15 minutes total. 🙂 again.

We rarely repeat ships during one year, but even if we do we enjoy small scale entertainment like Latin or other bands not less than large. And they do change even within the year. As do headliners. I find RCI entertainment invaluable. Tried to count how much similar shows would cost on land... well.. no comparison. For us visiting places is not subjective. We actually started with A/I 20+ years ago. First times it was exotics, but we got bored and after trying cruises it was no comparison. We sailed with 8 lines to find what we like better and due to various factors switched mostly to RCI and sometimes Celebrity (and we do other lines if itinerary kills us) We cruise because cruising is something that we love, and something I dreamed of since childhood. Sailaways (preferable in VCL) alone is something I need to have keep me happy 🙂 Food, drinks matter, but way less, although I always find something that I like... To be in shape I switched to eating way less that I used to do in the beginning of cruising. 5 times a year can be dangerous in this regard. We rarely do ships excursions and never in 58 cruises missed the ship (we always get off in ports except now in Port Canaveral sometimes). I know how to use watch and be organized. Independent proven guides know this too. They are paid after excursions and also they know that bringing us on time is a key to their business. Should they ever be late this will be all over the internet and the end. But we are travelers and know how to explorer places without guides too. We also rent cars in many places and explore by ourself. I sometimes miss late swim, AI is good for this, but this is the only thing I miss.

For us entertainment and the fact that we visit different places during cruises is a big thing. I am yet to see any A/I which comes close to cruises in terms of entertainment. Drinks? Yes, they are not included, we are D+ and for now it is enough. We do not cruise in suites, we do insides or balconies, but in A/I we do not spend much if any time in our rooms. We went twice to A/I during pandemic as cruises were not available. To Iberostar Paraiso Grand and Maya in Riviera Maya near Cancun. But then we returned to cruising 5 times a year. Southern Caribbeans several times a year, Bermudas, Bahamas, NE/Canada, occasional Europe.

Depends on age and a kid. Our son was coming from school since 8 yo, opening doors and being at home alone for several hours. First cruise was when he was 11. It was smaller than Wonder ship, but still a large ship. We allowed him to walk to club and be with his friends (we checked from time to time). Of course we explain basic rules of behavior on the ship. This is a "small city". Do not talk to strangers, do not go into anyone's room. This is very important. He enjoyed all cruise lines except for Holland (boring club) and Carnival (too many kids in club). Royal Caribbean clubs were the best for him... then I think Norwegian and Princess. Celebrity was fine till teen years.

Interesting. Prices for good A/I are downright scary ... We find cruise pricing is much more reasonable. And it is even cheaper if you do not need to fly there.

Yes. I never log off from one device. I just log in to another. I wouldn’t bet on travel modem.

There is a reason things are done differently in different parts of the world. Australia isn’t the only one with this approach, but nobody “should” copy.

I heard it was a tax issue. Less tax is paid from collected gratuities than from cruisefare. Also raising cruisefare Royal loses to competition unless all lines agree to do so. Also people working in MTD will earn less than in Traditional.

Interesting. We buy models of ships every time we sail on them for the first time, but we treat crystal blocks as artifact/memory from sailing we received it for when we reached certain number of points.

From my observations free lobster is not served overseas. I’ve heard it’s sourcing issues.