Review: Vision of the Seas- Headed South For Spring Break! Was My Wife Right Yet Again?

[wolfganghowell]

Yeah, I hear ya.  Some friends did the 9 day Radiance to Key West, CocoCay and Bimini and enjoyed it.  I think they have some interesting itineraries coming up next year.  Galveston is just so far out they have to do longer trips to get to a lot of ports.  I'm with you on Costa Maya.  Happily we really love Roatan and Cozumel - just hanging on the beach or in the water is my happy place.  We're in Richardson so the airport is quite the drive for us.

[RCCL Fan]

13 minutes ago, wolfganghowell said:

Yeah, I hear ya.  Some friends did the 9 day Radiance to Key West, CocoCay and Bimini and enjoyed it.  I think they have some interesting itineraries coming up next year.  Galveston is just so far out they have to do longer trips to get to a lot of ports.  I'm with you on Costa Maya.  Happily we really love Roatan and Cozumel - just hanging on the beach or in the water is my happy place.  We're in Richardson so the airport is quite the drive for us.

 

We were booked on that  radiance sailing to key west and bimini.  It was sky high though.  We cancelled it and switched this 10 day, and even losing deposit money, and buying airfare we still saved money and got to much better ports.     Just luck of the draw sometimes.

 

DFW takes us 7 to 10 minutes usually, so yes super easy, but hey richardson is awesome, it's an area we regret not considering when we moved to Texas a few years ago. 

 

 

[xtremegk]

@RCCL Fan Always love your reviews. Maybe it's just the writing and photog/video styles (former network radio reporter myself, 10 years between ABC & FOX), but I always feel like you and @Sea Dog have such a relatable style to chronically your experiences.

 

And as a big ship fan married to a small ship fan...you bring up a lot of points that are making me scope out some Vision class itineraries. My concern lately has been activities for the kids -- we have a 4.5 year old who is ALWAYS on the go and looking for what's next. O & Q class are easy for entertaining him.

[Sea Dog]

6 minutes ago, xtremegk said:

@RCCL Fan Always love your reviews. Maybe it's just the writing and photog/video styles (former network radio reporter myself, 10 years between ABC & FOX), but I always feel like you and @Sea Dog have such a relatable style to chronically your experiences.

 

And as a big ship fan married to a small ship fan...you bring up a lot of points that are making me scope out some Vision class itineraries. My concern lately has been activities for the kids -- we have a 4.5 year old who is ALWAYS on the go and looking for what's next. O & Q class are easy for entertaining him.

 

Thank you for the compliment. As a professional story teller I try to make it conversational and interesting. @RCCL Fan is a incredible writer as evidence in his reviews. I've learned a thing or two from him and I can only hope my reviews will be as interesting as his.

[Tom_n_Sara]

Your journalistic skills show thru. Really enjoying reading your review! Thanks!

[RCCL Fan]

Day 6

St. John's Antigua

 

 

Happy Birthday To Me.  This was a day a lot of the family was looking forward to.  This was my wife's first time in Antigua, and my youngest's pick for excursion.

 

Yes we let each family member have a port where they chose the excursion choice.   We booked horseback riding including riding the horse into the ocean.  I've done this previously in Jamaica and absolutely loved it.

 

There are two horseback riding options I found in Antigua. One was nearly an hour's drive away, the other 15 - 20 minutes.  Both were around the same price, so I went with the closer one.

 

The email confirmation I had instructed us to walk straight off the pier, toward the red Levis store and wait there for pick up.

 

 

Well, we got off the ship, walked straight and walked and there was no Levis store.   There were 50 other folks trying to get me to book a tour with them instead, which did nothing but take a stressful situation and dial up the temperature a bit. 

 

We got someone to help us.  Vision came into one pier, the Levis store was at the end of the other pier,  so we had to go back to the ship then walk over to the other pier.    We finally got to the Levis store, no sign of our guide.  I called but couldn't get through.   Dad rant:  My adorable family has a tendency to expect me to be an unending source of knowledge of all things.   Questions like, " So where do you think he is?" ;  "What should we do?" ; "Could he have left already?"  also tend to rise the temperature up a bit,  especially when I reply, "Ladies, I don't know"  lol

 

There was another couple there also waiting for him so that calmed things down a bit, and eventually our guide showed and directed us to his minivan to take us to the horseback ride.

 

The drive was quick, the van is quite old and I was a little fearful the bottom might fall out at any point, but we made it.......   to......  the side of the road.    

 

 

Literally we parked on a side of a road where the horses were all waiting.  tied to trees and what not.  There wasn't a stable or anything that I saw.   Little to no communication just kinda had us stand around while they got them saddled up.  We asked where we should put our beach towels and what not.  As our tour was supposed to include beach time.  We were instructed by the second guide to put them in the van and she would lock them up.  We did.

 

Well off we went down the street,  literally just down a city street for a good 15 mins or so.  No explanation of where we were, what  neighborhood we were in nothing.  Just follow the leader on a horse.    Now the one guide had taken an affinity to my oldest daughter and he was talking her ear off, leading the pack, but the rest of us were in the dark.    I did feel good though that one guide was with both my kids.  The youngest had a tiny horse and the other guide stayed with her, leading the horse by hand.  I felt safety was important to our guide and that's really the most reassuring, but man I would have loved to know where we were and what we were looking at.

 

I kept asking questions, trying to lead him that we were yearning for some information here,  "What is that building?"  "What's this area called?"   "What's up ahead"  I always got very short quick answers.

 

 

What we lacked in information we did gain at the end of the road when we got to the beach at Dickenson Beach, it was simply perfect,  crystal clear water, the kind that looks fake, it's so perfect, and amazing sand. I was like oh wow this is going to be amazing.   Except of course we just walked onto the beach for a good 5 - 10 minutes and back on the road and made a U-turn.

 

 

We went back the way we came through the quick section of beautiful beach, back down the road and then into a clearing in the trees that lead us to a beach area.  This was our beach spot.  Lets just say it wasn't appealing, old dirty lawn chairs, which had a fee of $20 a chair or something of the sort, no food, but drinks for sale cash only.   

 

 

 

It was a beautiful beach, but it looked like someone hobbled together old second hand chairs and attempted to make a beach area.  It was not for us.  Even worse, our towels, sunscreen, beach gear, everything was in a bag in the van.   No one ever explained the game plan, and we were told to leave our stuff in the van.   I explained the issue, and was told, no problem they would go get it. 

 

 

 

At this point one horse was led out to the ocean and you were allowed to ride him if you wanted for an additional fee.   So the girls did that while I lay in the beach chairs angry and my failure to pick a good tour, in such a beautiful place.    Well, My youngest made a beeline for the water and I went with her, and once in the water, in such amazing surroundings it's kinda impossible to be in a bad mood.  I had a wonderful time playing on the beach with my little one, we swam and goofed off and enjoyed ourselves, while my wife and oldest soaked up the sun on the loungers. 

 

 

Well, like an hour passed since we got here and we never got any of our stuff, with no sign it was coming,  All the people from the tour were gone and we were left with the beach guy.   He called the tour guide again to find out what was up and we were assured our stuff was on the way. Well, we waited again,  nothing.  So I finally just said I was going to walk back to the van, fearful what may have happened to our stuff.  As I was leaving the guides showed up,  without our stuff and seemingly clueless that we were waiting for it.    They walked with me back to the van, where I got everything, and then instructed the girls to walk straight down the beach to a restaurant by sandals resort.  It was nicer, cleaner, populated, and more our speed.

 

 

They met us and we got a table. Well.....  that place was packed and the wait, well, was FOREVER.  At this point my girls got hangry and my frustration was back. We got our meal, which was quite delicious, and then called a cab to take us back to the ship. 

 

 

Back at the pier my youngest and my wife wanted to do some pierside flea market shopping,  the oldest and I were done and got back onboard.   I decided to head to a bar for alcohol,  to salvage this day a bit. lol  

 

Those of you who read my reviews regularly know I love  frozen mojitos.  I drink them so much that one year on Serenade I was known by all the bar staff as the man who drank all the mint! lol

 

Post pandemic, Royal started using a new vendor for the mojito mix and oh man some of them were green and mouthwash like, my favorite drink ruined.  But then they seemed to figure out that it didn't work and tinkered with it and it became drinkable again and often differed ship to ship whether my drink was deep green, or white with green flecks.  It was so odd.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well on this sailing of Vision I got all three.   When I ordered a frozen mojito I never knew what I would get, something I would love or compare to scope.  So I decided to walk around the ship from bar to bar and keep ordering them and you can see just how different they are.  It was really quite funny.

 

 

 

 

My wife was back on board at this time and she knew where to find me, my favorite place on any Royal Caribbean ship, The Viking Crown Lounge (yeah i know... wonder.... quantum class.... i try not to talk about it, it brings me great sadness) 

 

 

So she joined me as I sipped mojito number 4 and took in the view from the wall of windows.  We started talking and I said, "I really wish I had scheduled my massage for my birthday, I scheduled it for the  sea day on the way back, but it would have been a nice birthday treat."    She said, "go get it!  we were going to buy you one for your birthday anyway and surprise you, why don't you go down there now and see if they can take you" 

 

 

She had just come up to sit with me, but she said I should go, so I said what the heck.   Walked in, and they were able to immediately take me for a hot stone massage.  Today was stressful and I needed it.

 

 

I walked out of there all oiled up and felt great.   The girls were already up in the concierge club, enjoying pre-dinner drinks and snacks, so I told them to just meet me in Chops, because our reservation was in like 20 minutes.  They were insistent I come up there and I saw why.   Jamie had Espresso martinis (my new favorite) and a slice of cheesecake waiting for me in the club.     

 

 

It was so funny he was sitting at our table with the girls when I walked up and was hiding the cake in his lap so I didn't see it when I first walked up!  hahaha

 

After the lap cake we headed down to Chops for my birthday meal. We had a great table.  and like the best food.  My wife's steak was under done, even after a refire, and so they butterflied it for her and insisted we come back tomorrow, on them.  I was like that's super kind but totally not necessary.  It was really no big deal. But they kept insisting we finally had to say yes just to get out of there! lol

 

They too saw it was my birthday and had a second slice of cake waiting for me.... this one was something else,  maybe red velvet, whatever it was it was something I didn't eat, so I'm guessing red velvet. lol  But loved the fact they did it.  There were a few other birthdays and we all gave cheers to each other.    It was really a great night in Chops

 

 

 

 

It was a long night and we had full bellies.  We made a brief stop at the centrum for whatever shenanigans were going on.  I believe this was the night I entered a contest, involuntarily again, where you listened to the first few seconds of a song and had to give all kinds of details about it,  I failed miserably. 

 

 

After that we returned to the room where I had the most amazing towel creations waiting for me.... I haven't given our cabin attendant his recognition. The man was a towel making master!  Every night was so elaborate,  We had kissing swans on our anniversary, there were all sorts of cool creations and always 4, one for each of us, I was mega impressed by his work.     

 

 

We all turned in after another great day.

Oh yeah, we added to our champagne collection today too. Actually opened on this time!

 

Tomorrow was exciting, my first new island in YEARS, St. Lucia

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by RCCL Fan

[jean87510]

I know the exact beach you were at as we stayed in condos near there on a land trip.  That is such a shame.  Glad the rest of the day went well.

[TPCRUISER2]

Happy Belated Birthday! Always enjoy your reviews! 

 

[A&L_Ont]

8 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I know the exact beach you were at as we stayed in condos near there on a land trip.  That is such a shame.  Glad the rest of the day went well.

We stayed at that Sandals and know the area too. The beach is amazing, I wish the horse ride had been better for them. 

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

Happy Birthday To Me. 

Happiest of Birthdays wished to you! Looks like a great place to celebrate!

[retiredgram]

Happy Belated Birthday.🎂 Enjoying your review.

 

[cruisingpeople]

Happy Belated Birthday.

[OBX-Cruisers]

The descriptions of the MDR meals on your cruise review are graphic with the pictures as proof.  So many other reviews I have read make the new menu choices sound great but I have wondered; particularly with the deletion of the daily repeatmenu items they had for so many years

Now I see the total absence of prime rib, "Mama'a Pork Chop" Lamb Shank with only periodic mention of shrimp cocktail and escargot appetizers.  AND, now almost $20 when gratuity is added for a second lobster tail the size of a large crawdad (for someone from New Orleans).    The push for people to go to the specialty restaurants is very, very obvious.  

 

We on the East coast will be very happy when the VOS comes to Baltimore this year because reviews of the current Enchantment of the Seas are not inspiring.

[Another_Critic]

32 minutes ago, OBX-Cruisers said:

Now I see the total absence of prime rib, ...

The "Welcome Aboard" menu has Prime Rib.

[cynt]

OMG! Frozen mojitis are my new fav too. And you are absolutely right they come in all forms and fashions. On the Symphony the Boleros had the best mojito if a certain waiter made it. Strangely enough the dining room mojito was delicious too. At least 3 of more 4 freebies are frozen mojitos.

[willing292]

Great review.  We saw you and your family in the Concierge Club, and were very impressed with the excellent behaviour of your daughters, and loved how your family seemed to spend a lot of time together.  

[RCCL Fan]

6 hours ago, willing292 said:

Great review.  We saw you and your family in the Concierge Club, and were very impressed with the excellent behaviour of your daughters, and loved how your family seemed to spend a lot of time together.  

 

Whew!   That's good to hear.   We actually do enjoy our time together, and yes, my daughters truly are well behaved good kids, I always say just give them a chance!    Thanks for the compliment and by all means chime in on anything you agree or disagree with!

 

7 hours ago, cynt said:

OMG! Frozen mojitis are my new fav too. And you are absolutely right they come in all forms and fashions. 

 

They are so not uniform and you never know what you're going to get, sometimes I love them, sometimes they're crap! lol

 

17 hours ago, OBX-Cruisers said:

The descriptions of the MDR meals on your cruise review are graphic with the pictures as proof. 

 

graphic?   I don't know that I would say all that.   The fried chicken plate was rough,  and yes there's a clear change and lesser quality food in the MDR  but honestly those windjammer burgers were the biggest offender to me. lol

 

 

[RCCL Fan]

 

Day 7

St. Lucia

 

 

We had an early wakeup in St. Lucia.  Another tour booked today.  My wife's choice for the day was to go to the mud baths and have the minerals take 10 years off her life.

 

The drive from the port to the baths was more than an hour, and I previously mentioned I don't do well on car trips.  A fellow cruise critic member suggested a tour which took you there by speedboat.   Sounds right up my alley  They were set to pick us up from the pier where the ship docks, and take us from Castries where the ship docks down to Soufriere where the mudbaths are and the Pitons which I was excited to see. 

 

 

We met shipside, it was much easier than the day before, this time someone was waiting with a sign as soon as we stepped into the terminal.  She sat us off to the side, and as the group gathered brought us to the boat. 

 

At first I was a bit nervous that we had too many people, for the two boats they had available....  That was probably my fault, as many in our group were from the social media group for our sailing.  I had mentioned this was what I was doing and some other families signed up as well.  I also think due to our last two tours being just us, we had gotten spoiled.    (yeah the horses were just us and one other couple)   

 

Anyway we got on the boat, and the process was a little slow getting on and settled, but we made it and were off.

 

 

The ride was wonderful, windy, and FAST,  We sped by a lot of sights at full speed, but I understood why.   The big benefit of this tour was the "beat the crowd" aspect that we would arrive before the other tours from the ship.  Although lets face it, vision didn't have a ton of people and we were the only ship in port that day.  But nonetheless,  we sped past the Pitons and arrived in Soufriere.

 

 

 

From there we boarded two minibus taxi's that took our group up the mountain to the mud baths. The drive was great and scenic.  My  wife loves trees and mountains so I knew she was having a ball.  Once we arrived at the baths the smell of sulfur was there and strong.  Be mindful if you're sensitive to that.   We got into our swimsuits and made our way to the baths which were essentially empty,  we had first billing rights, and hopped in.  

 

 

 

Man on man was that water warm to hot , and let me tell you I take hot showers and I still felt it.  But eventually your body adjusts and you slide right in.  In feels like a big ole bathtub.    Now I'm not exactly excited about bathing with 50 strangers and what I loved was that the bath was divided into 3 or four separate pool areas.   So I walked to the pool furthest back, which was actually closest to the source.  The water poured fresh into this pool, filled it, then cascaded down to fill the other two.  I felt like I got the purest minerals and less human "backwash"  lol

 

 

 

By now the folks who drove were starting to show and things got more crowded, so we hopped out and there were buckets of goo from the springs that you could use to smear the mud all over you, everyone was having fun making art, and handprints and what not.   Of course the kids loved this, and the tour guides helped, while making sure dad gave permission and supervised. hahaha

 

 

We had a really good time here and enjoyed our early morning mud bath.  Even the youngest who wanted to part of it before we got there, was happy to get in, enjoy, and make some body art with the mud.   After this we headed off to swim in a waterfall.

 

Well we got there, and it was beautiful, however, it's in a clearing in the mountains with lush vegetation and there was a large stalk of bamboo that had fallen in the rains early that morning.  It was kind of dangling off the side of the mountain and the operators were concerned that if it fell it would harm someone.  So they  cleared the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and sent crews up to cut it so it would fall, and they could fish it out.  Well after about 15 - 20 minutes of waiting they couldn't get this thing to fall.   The group agreed to move on.

 

Next was back downtown for lunch, a buffet lunch was included in our tour price.   I'm sorry I didn't get photos.  But it was this small restaurant with these older grandmother type women who had been cooking all morning, and were beaming with pride at the lunch they prepared.    I will admit there was little to nothing I would eat, and lots of unnamed items, I didn't recognize, and as a picky eater I was disappointed in the selection.  But it was one of those things, you couldn't help be  soak up the pride they had in the meal and you smiled and thanked them profusely.      There were chicken legs as a main, and I don't eat those, so  I had some salad and rice, and made do with that.  My kids struggled too, and I understood, but my wife was in heaven at the authenticity of it all and pressed them to eat. 

 

 

After lunch we headed back to the speedboat which took us to "jealousy beach"  . It was located smack between the two pitons.   It was an amazingly beautiful spot.  As we pulled in, they showed us a cool bat cave and told us how the bat dung was harvested to go into makeup and doritos.  A quick google search revealed not to be true.  haha    There was a beach club hotel here.  It was beautiful with chairs/loungers and a restaurant.    Well, they told us we couldn't use them as they belong to the hotel and are very expensive but could lay a towel down on a beach.   They said while basically everyone here was from the hotel, the law is that all beaches are public and so they couldn't stop us from being there.   Now, I still felt like a freeloader! 

 

 

Now, I like the nicer things in life, and I didn't want to lay on any royal caribbean towel on the sand.   So after we docked, I was like I'm going to get us beach chairs. It's vacation,  and we have the money, like it's been a great day and I'll pay more.   Well,  I get to the clerks and they tell me the cost of the chairs is $90 per chair!  I was like *****.   That's insane.  The crew was like I know.   I was debating in my head, it wouldn't kill us, and I didn't want to lay on the sand.  I told the chair clerk well it is a great view, so I guess.....   she interrupted me, "non hotel guests have to stay in the last row, all the way back"   So $90 a chair and the chair is 5 rows back from the water.  Yeah nope, not doing that.   I was kinda annoyed.   We were going to be here for two hours or so and I needed someplace to sit.  But, I wasn't going to pay that much for the last row. 

 

 

We laid down some towels and made a spot and then all of us made a run for the water.    My wife and oldest went to the snorkel area and went snorkeling and I got in the water to swim, while the little one played in the sand, she was afraid of the fish and what not.  I eventually coaxed her in and we had a ball,  She played with me for a while and dove for rocks while I chatted with some others from the group.    Before long our guides brought over rum punch and beer and what not which I guess they had on the boat.  Swimming between the beautiful pitons, enjoying the cool water and drinking my rum punch, I forgot all about a deck chair, before long it was time to go.

 

 

We hopped back in the boat, and headed back toward Castries, now with a bar open on the boat.   I was like where was all this earlier!!  We had beer and drinks, the music was playing, and we leisurely made our way back with our guides stopping this time to show us all sorts of sights along the way. 

 

 

 

 This season of Below Deck was shot in St. Lucia  so they were showing us the spots they shot the show.  We saw beautiful homes.    The pink one is Oprah's and the beige one Mick Jagger's.

 

 

They even stopped for folks to hop in for a brief swim or potty break!  It was a lively, fun trip back,   There was an awesome family sitting with my wife and the girls (we were separated for weight distribution) 

 

I had been hanging out with the dad and his son who were really lively and fun,  the mom was more reserved and quiet.  My wife said after a few of those rum punches she was the life of the party.  Made us all happy to see everyone having such a good time.

 

 

Just as our boat was pulling back up next to Vision with the music pumping, our youngest had a "EMERGENCY RIGHT NOW" bathroom call.  So we jumped out of our boat and were making a rush to the bathroom in the terminal.  Just as we were rounding the corner to go, the owner was coming back on the other boat and yelling for my attention.  I think he was appreciative that I had brought folks from my group and wanted to shake my hand,  I gave him the biggest wave I could muster, yelled thanks for a great tour and ushered the little one off to the potty.  

 

 

 

After that and with a few bottles of piton beer in me (and I don't even like beer)  the girls wanted to go shopping and I just handed over the credit card, while they did their thing and enjoyed my last beer sitting in the St. Lucian sun.

 

 

We got back on Vision and my wife's rum punches had set in and the little one wanted to nap.   But my oldest LOVES a good steak and she wasn't about to let our free night at Chops go unused.  So she and I got dressed up and had a date night in Chops. 

 

 

 Our food was WONDERFUL and the service was  just as good.   I got a text that the other two went to the  dining room and actually enjoyed their dinner.   my wife's words, "it wasn't amazing or anything but it was good, I enjoyed it"

 

 

 

After dinner we changed into our swimsuits and went up to the pool deck to enjoy some time in the hot tub.   We sat and talked and caught up on the drama with her biology teacher she can't stand, and her school responsibilities.   

 

 

 

The movie The Fabelmans was on, and we thought it was weird and bizarre, but like any good crash you stop and stare.   We sat and watched, even got some popcorn, and drinks from the bar to cap off a great night.

 

Tomorrow, our final stop.   St. Kitts.

[RCCL Fan]

Day 8

St.Kitts

 

 

Woke up this morning for our last day on the endless island tour!.   There was so much interest my the food experience, figured I'd share a bit about breakfast.  As suite guests we were allowed breakfast in Chops, but we never made it.  Windjammer wasn't a fan favorite this trip either.   We took advantage of room service breakfast each morning.

 

Food was as expected.   Not bad, not good just the standard breakfast fare. One really weird thing that happened to us this week that never happened on another ship with room service.   Stuck plates.

 

 

The brown food covers would be put on the plate and no matter what we did we couldn't get it off.   Yes I'm holding the stop of the cover in that photo and the plate wont fall out the bottom.  It happened like every morning. You could see your food through the hole, but you couldn't remove the cover to eat it.   I tried prying it off with a butter knife it was the weirdest thing.  We started ordering a bit extra each day to account for the fact that we probably wouldn't be able to get into some of the plates!  Again never seen this anywhere else... including on Vision last time we sailed her.  We love our room service.   So weird.

 

 

Anyway we put on our green for St. Paddy's day and headed ashore.   Today we had a tour through Royal Caribbean.  Last time we were in St. Kitts my wife and I had no plans,  hopped off the ship and wandered the street and wound up jumping on the back of this weird converted open air truck for a tour.   Well, my wife thought it was the best tour ever, and she loved the experience.  She kept talking about wanting to do it again with the kids.    But that was 10 years ago and I couldn't remember the name of the random truck we hopped on for the life of me.

 

I searched with no luck online but saw on the Royal Caribbean website that they had a tour that sounded exactly like it,  and the photo used on the RCI website looked similar too.    So I signed up.

 

 

We all lined up in the terminal and were led to about four of those converted open air busses.   I was a little concerned that because we were at the end of the line we'd be split up but while they kinda crammed everyone in the first three busses which looked like they were from the same company, their was a 4th bus, parked off to the side, looked like backup/overflow  not form the same company.   One of the handlers allowed us to board that one which was empty and then the few stragglers.

 

 

Well the guide driving that overflow bus seemed upset that he had so few people and plenty of room on his bus and the others were packed.   

 

He and the other drivers argued voices were raised and eventually our driver stormed off from the driver huddle, hopped on our bus and kinda peeled out of there.

 

Well, I was like great just great, we got the guy with anger management issues who is all annoyed.

 

Well after a few slightly too fast turns to get out of the parking lot, he came on the loudspeaker, with like the happiest coolest voice ever.  hahaha 

 

 

It was all sunshine from there,  He got in his groove, and was an amazing guide maybe even better than the one we had last time. 

 

We took us around downtown, through "real st.kitts" and even on his street where we met his parents. And of course a small monkey that my youngest was in love with.

 

 

Funny side note, we stopped at one spot and the guides from the other bus asked if we would take more guests.  One  complained how crammed in they were, and another had a bad leg and needed more space.  We had plenty.

 

 

We made our way up to Romney Manor, the botanical gardens type spot in St. Kitts,  My wife is a garden lover, and this was her happy place, she was loving it.

 

 

 

While we toured the gardens our guide disappeared.  We were done and couldn't find him or the bus and were a little concerned. He pulled back up finally and his absence was explained. 

 

 

He ran to the supermarket and bought soda, beer, snacks, cookies,  (not included with the tour) but just bought them for us to have a snack for the ride back.   How cool??

 

 

We made our way to the other side of the island, snacks in tow and got some pictures at the high points of the island overlooking where the Caribbean and Atlantic meet.

 

Here I saw the tour guide from the first time!  I made a mental note.We headed back to the ship a little after noon.  Stopped off for some shopping, I again handed over the credit card and let the girls do their thing. We had  to get a stuffed monkey to go with the memory of the real one.

 

 

My other daughter has an "old school" name, she's named after my mom.   So her name is never on the trinkets in souvenir shops.  My name "Wayne" was often hard to find too, so I related to her pain.   She was thrilled to find a shot glass with her name on it.  I was like seriously, could it have been on anything but a shot glass.  We didn't want to buy it,but I said oh please, she's a straight "A" kid, and a huge rule follower.   I bought her the shot glass. lol

 

 

It had been raining off and on most of the morning, our first rainy day all week and a decent shower was hitting so even though it was just 1pm and our last port day, we got back on the ship.  We decided to head up to windjammer for lunch.  It was my first time in here for a while, and man as soon as I passed the salad, because well I'm not healthy enough to eat a salad in windjammer normally I got to the main food section. 

 

 

 

There were very few dishes on the main food area after the salad bar.  Rice, some stew,  fish, mashed potatoes and gravy.  That's it.  I was like  this is insane.   Everything looked very unappetizing.

 

 

Now around the corner were the burgers and dogs and fries but you know how I feel about them.   I was two seconds from complaining to someone.  Then I spotted the holy grail, big fresh juicy looking chicken fingers, the same chicken fingers you get in room service.  Not the crappy dried up ones I had spotted here earlier.  Oh it was on.

 

So I made a plate of chicken fingers and fries, and  went back and actually got a salad and put some of that fish on top of it.   It was filling and good.  The chicken fingers made all the difference. 

 

 

 

After lunch I went to the schooner bar, and a fellow guest from the social media page  pulled me aside for help and advice.  Her parents had been on board all week with no clothing.  Their suitcase didn't show up.  So I was giving her suggestions on what to do, once she got home (spoiler alert she left it in her car mistakenly, the cruise line hadn't lost it )

 

 

We went to some more games in the  centrum and had some drinks and just hung out the four of us.   The captain warned us that the weather was going to be bad as we left tonight, and that there were be moderate to rough seas and there would be sea sickness medicine available at guest services.

 

As we sailed away and got further away from the island yes some big waves were present and we were rocking and rolling quite a bit.

 

The girls wanted some time together to spend their arcade credits and hang out, so they left us and we went for a solo visit to the concierge club to talk and hang out just the two of us.      We actually got a new table this night.

 

 

One of the awesome things of having a kid start to get older is that you can actually get some time together as adults, which is new for us, as we usually never let our kids wander a cruise ship alone.  But our oldest is at a point where some leeway is given.

 

 

So We had the three night dining package, and used our diamond plus bogo coupon, so we still had one night left of the dining package to use.  We always like the dining room on the last night, for all the goodbye songs and what not.  The night before that is lobster night,   which I always enjoy, so this was our last night to use that dining package.     I didn't want to do Giovannis again, the oldest and the oldest and I had done Chops last night, so I voted for Izumi again.  Little one agreed.   But the other two wanted a return to chops.   I thought we had a 50/50 split but then the little one says, "I'll go to chops, I like it in there, I just wanted edamame from Izumi"   So......  We returned to Chops, three nights in a row now. lol  and I stopped at Izumi and got an order of edamame to go  for the little princess.

 

 

 

I mixed up my appetizers and desert each night,  but kept with the salmon and filet for my mains.

 

We sat tonight at Chops as if we were in the main dining room.  It had kinda become home this cruise.   We laughed and told jokes like we would around the kitchen table.

 

 

Little one got the trivia, and we enjoyed the evening together.

 

As the night went on though.... the waves got rough, really rough.  We all went back to the room.... check out the nightly towel animal.

 

 

The cabin steward is so talented. My wife and youngest went to bed,  but my oldest and I weren't sure we could sleep in the waves.

 

Just writing this I'm feeling the motion again.   Shows you how much of it is in your head.  I never count how many cruises I've been on.  But it's fair to say 25+  and it's pretty fair to say minus one cruise on the whale tail line, where an entire bar full of booze crashed to the floor, this was the worst motion I've ever experienced. Oldest and I hung out for a bit before she said she was going to try to sleep.It didn't help that our room, cabin 8000, was at the very front of the ship.  right behind the bridge.

 

 

My wife didn't realize the pack of children's Dramamine she brought was empty.

 

I went to guest services and asked for some children's Dramamine.  I was given individual packs of meclizine and as I was about to give it to my daughter I see on the packet it says. "Not safe for children under 12 years of age".  

 

I went back to Guest Services and clarified I needed meds for kids, the agent said, "That's safe for kids, we give that to kids" 

 

I pointed out the warning on the package and the agent said, "our doc says it's for everyone, I dunno, I'm not a doctor"

 

You guys commend me for never losing my cool. I kinda lost it here.  You don't casually dismiss giving my kid some pills she shouldn't have.

 

I went to the medical facility, and was immediately told I would have to pay for children's motion sickness medicine. I said that's fine, I just need it. 

 

I did question why adult meds were free but not kids.  I was told, "kids have to be under doctor's care to get this"  I said, no that's children's Dramamine, I can walk into any drug store and get it, just like tylenol.

 

 It's no biggie, charge me, but I'm just trying to understand the logic.

 

Still a little testy from guest services, I also pointed out the experience upstairs, and the nurse just kept typing in silence, like she heard me,but didn't want to address it. 

 

 I said, "I really think you need to have a conversation with guest services, so they're not instructing parents that this drug is safe to give their kids"  

 

silence.

 

She gave me the pills for free, she kinda just wanted me gone.   I wasn't the nicest.

 

bottomline if the cruise line is going to provide free motion sickness meds to passengers, that should include children. 

 

At the very least, staff need to know not to tell parents it is safe to give kids medication, when the package says it's not.  

 

 

I got back to the room and everyone was sleeping, so I just held on to the meds, but the waves were so bad, I took meds for the first time ever on a ship, and was convinced they would wake up and need them.  But they never did.

 

I took a video of the curtains moving but you really can't tell much.

 

I pulled one of the chairs and faced forward and tried to focus my brain to not get sick, before finally about 2-3am feeling like I could sleep.

Ginger ale and GIn helps?  right?

 

 

Next Up ---  our Two Sea Days home

 

 

 

[topnole]

Always enjoy your reviews.  As a dad of 3, I very much relate to the Clark Griswold efforts to make things perfect (which is seemingly impossible).  My kids are a bit younger than yours and have only done the big ships.  However, we have a smaller ship cruise later this year.   It will be interesting to see how they do on that one.  We will definitely be creative in creating entertainment for them.  
 

The Dramamine thing is ridiculous and dangerous.  That should get reported to the highest levels (I’d tell the SL concierge to escalate it).  
 

The horse riding tour, just sad.  Maybe I missed it, but please tell me that wasn’t booked through Royal?   If it was, you should definitely say something.  

 

You have me a bit nervous about food

options.  We’ve been on Oasis class since covid and in suites.  So we haven’t relied on WJ for much.  I guess we are in for a surprise.  I sure hope they have fresh fruit and veggies each day and some regular things the kids will like. 

[MJSailors]

Wayne-Lovely family photos and an interesting cruise recap.

I have a few thoughts about the disappointing horseback riding/beach excursion.

You may know about this, but Trip Advisor has reviews of the various tours/ excursions available at your selected destination. Before booking, it may be a good idea to try to get feedback about the tours/excursions that you may be considering.

My DH andI have been taking cruise vacations since 1987.

Now,as 70 somethings, we are no longer interested in the port excursions, but opt for obtaining a day pass at a lovely resort. This way, we are guaranteed a beach, pool and lunch surrounded by pretty  grounds and a relaxing atmosphere. Once we are docked, we get a cab to the resort and relax for the day. For the return, the valet/doorman arranges for a cab to the ship. Easy peasy !

If you want to do something more than a relaxing pool/beach day,

I am thinking that booking a tour/excursion from such a resort would be something you could do to insure that you and your family will have an enjoyable time .

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

[RCCL Fan]

13 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

Wayne-Lovely family photos and an interesting cruise recap.

I have a few thoughts about the disappointing horseback riding/beach excursion.

You may know about this, but Trip Advisor has reviews of the various tours/ excursions available at your selected destination. Before booking, it may be a good idea to try to get feedback about the tours/excursions that you may be considering.

My DH andI have been taking cruise vacations since 1987.

Now,as 70 somethings, we are no longer interested in the port excursions, but opt for obtaining a day pass at a lovely resort. This way, we are guaranteed a beach, pool and lunch surrounded by pretty  grounds and a relaxing atmosphere. Once we are docked, we get a cab to the resort and relax for the day. For the return, the valet/doorman arranges for a cab to the ship. Easy peasy !

If you want to do something more than a relaxing pool/beach day,

I am thinking that booking a tour/excursion from such a resort would be something you could do to insure that you and your family will have an enjoyable time .

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

   Thanks for the advice MJ

 

I'm a big user of trip advisor reviews.   I can assure you that this particular company ranked 5 stars on trip advisor, and had very positive review.   pretty sure it's where I found them.   I don't know why but our experience just doesn't match the other reviews I found on there.  Anyone's entitled to an off day, I guess.

 

Also very familiar with the resort experience.  We usually do that in places we've visited several times.  This cruise was all about exploring and trying new things!

 

[RCCL Fan]

5 hours ago, topnole said:

Always enjoy your reviews.  As a dad of 3, I very much relate to the Clark Griswold efforts to make things perfect (which is seemingly impossible).  My kids are a bit younger than yours and have only done the big ships.  However, we have a smaller ship cruise later this year.   It will be interesting to see how they do on that one.  We will definitely be creative in creating entertainment for them.  
 

The Dramamine thing is ridiculous and dangerous.  That should get reported to the highest levels (I’d tell the SL concierge to escalate it).  
 

The horse riding tour, just sad.  Maybe I missed it, but please tell me that wasn’t booked through Royal?   If it was, you should definitely say something.  

 

You have me a bit nervous about food

options.  We’ve been on Oasis class since covid and in suites.  So we haven’t relied on WJ for much.  I guess we are in for a surprise.  I sure hope they have fresh fruit and veggies each day and some regular things the kids will like. 

 

Dad's have to plan and get it right!

 

It's pressure!

 

The Dramamine thing really bothered me and, yes, I reported it 

 

Horses were NOT booked through Royal, I almost always book tours myself. 

 

Smaller ships are a different mindset, but as long as you welcome that, I think you'll have a wonderful time.   Which ship?  where are you headed?

[topnole]

37 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

Dad's have to plan and get it right!

 

It's pressure!

 

The Dramamine thing really bothered me and, yes, I reported it 

 

Horses were NOT booked through Royal, I almost always book tours myself. 

 

Smaller ships are a different mindset, but as long as you welcome that, I think you'll have a wonderful time.   Which ship?  where are you headed?

We have been on smaller ships and for me I have done them many times as my first cruise was at age 12 or so with my parents.  All ships were “small” back then, but we loved them all as kids.  Obviously expectations are different now.  Kid’s clubs and the like didn’t exist anywhere back then, let alone on ships.   For me and my wife, all it takes is a beer in our hands, the ocean, and a nice lounger.  But the kids will clearly need

things to do.  
 

Hopefully there will be a few other kids onboard and kids club helps (see below).  We have rarely used kids club as we generally enjoy spending time with them and aren’t looking to dump them off anywhere.  But in this case, it might be good since there won’t be any slides, splash zones, putt putt,

carousel, etc like they have been used to on Oasis class.  We will make fun happen either way so I’m not worried.  It will just take more work if the kids

club isn’t working for them.  But I have ideas already.   
 

We will be in Enchantment for the TA.  So we have a stretch of 6 days at sea.  But we hit a couple Spanish islands and the Azores.  The Azores will be new to my wife and I so that should be cool.  
 

We have the same cabin area as you.  But ours is a not a suite.  Same deck and same location I believe.  Ours has curtains and not doors to the sleeping areas, but still a bunk area and still 2 bathrooms which is a huge benefit given our kids are the age where they seemingly always have to go at the same time.  The cabin is the reason we booked it.  We did the symphony TA and booked round trip air with this being the return flight (RT was cheaper than one way).  So this is like the cheap second vacation since all airfare is already covered and the TA was pretty cheap.  

[elizabethbp]

I just read the entire review.   It was great and you have a lovely family.