First time family cruise

I just booked our first family cruise for RCL Enchantment of the Seas for 3/30/15. We are a family of 7. Our kids will be 10, 11, 12 13, and 14. I am both super excited :D and scared :eek:.

And my parents are going and possibly my much younger sister and a friend. So there will be 9-11 of us on this sailing

If anyone has insight on menus in MDR, both kids and adult, it would be appreciated. We have 2 pickey eaters, and I want to be sure there will be something for them.

Also we would love to see Atlantis, but the excursion price for all 7 of us is almost as much as the cruise fare :eek:. Any thoughts on how to do this affordably?

My fiance and I have cruised NCL and Carnival in the past. Both were pretty laid back. I am worried that RCL will be a little more "stuffy"?? Will the kids (young boys) be completely out of place in nice khaki shorts and button down shirts in MDR? Our youngest has some sensory issues and clothes can be an issue sometimes.

I'm sure I will come up with more questions, but thanks for listening for now :)

Scared? Stop it! It's a vacation! RCI is NOT "stuffy"...more like Carnival!

Atlantis can be booked by getting a "day room" at the Comfort Suites next door to Atlantis, if the waterpark is what you're after. Google/call them. You don't have to go through the ship to do Atlantis!

In the dining room, long pants is appropriate, but no one will say anything if shorts are worn by young kids on the casual nights. Of course, on "formal" evenings, no shorts!

The menu has PLENTY for picky eaters...no fear! Anyone can order off the kid's menu, which is "picky eater" heaven! You can order adult menu items without this or that....leave off the sauce or onions, etc.....no one will go hungry, I assure you!

My daughter is a super picky eater and she always finds something. Don't stress about that at all and use it as a reason to try and make them try (for free!) a bunch of new things.

I just booked our first family cruise for RCL Enchantment of the Seas for 3/30/15. We are a family of 7. Our kids will be 10, 11, 12 13, and 14. I am both super excited :D and scared :eek:.

 

And my parents are going and possibly my much younger sister and a friend. So there will be 9-11 of us on this sailing

 

If anyone has insight on menus in MDR, both kids and adult, it would be appreciated. We have 2 pickey eaters, and I want to be sure there will be something for them.

 

Also we would love to see Atlantis, but the excursion price for all 7 of us is almost as much as the cruise fare :eek:. Any thoughts on how to do this affordably?

 

My fiance and I have cruised NCL and Carnival in the past. Both were pretty laid back. I am worried that RCL will be a little more "stuffy"?? Will the kids (young boys) be completely out of place in nice khaki shorts and button down shirts in MDR? Our youngest has some sensory issues and clothes can be an issue sometimes.

 

I'm sure I will come up with more questions, but thanks for listening for now :)

We were on Enchantment with our 8 year old last year and had a great time. There is a nice child menu in the main dining room. My son usually got the toasted cheese sandwich and he asked them to hold the slice of tomato that comes on it. There was also fruit, fries, veggies and dip, etc. I think our son wore kaky pants and a polo shirt. But for formal nights, we signed him up for Adventure Dining. The staff from the kids club (Adventure Ocean) takes the kids to dinner and then on to activities. The kids can wear shorts to that. I believe they took them to a side room of the Windjammer Cafe and fed them cheese pizza.

I think the only minor thing I noticed about the Enchantment versus the Radiance class of ships was in the Windjammer Cafe. On the Radiance class, the food stations are spread out and it is very easy to move about and fill your plates. On the Enchantment the food stations seemed close and we were elbow to elbow with people trying to fill their plates. But as differences go, that was a very minor difference.

Also on the first day, the Windjammer had a breaded chicken breast that tasted a lot like chicken nuggets and our son liked it. I think it was called honey stung chicken. We also ordered it through room service one day.

We also bring along Jif to go and a loaf of bread for our kiddo.

We did have a tradition of picking him up at 10:00 pm from the kids club and going down to the solarium pool area for a slice of pizza.

Are you leaving from Port Canaveral? The best thing we did was go down a couple days early and spend a day at the Kennedy Space Center. If you are able to schedule time there, make sure to plan enough time at the Atlantis exhibit and the Saturn V exhibit. We did so much that we ran short on time at the Saturn V. It was a great day.

Enjoy your vacation!

I just booked our first family cruise for RCL Enchantment of the Seas for 3/30/15. We are a family of 7. Our kids will be 10, 11, 12 13, and 14. I am both super excited :D and scared :eek:.

 

And my parents are going and possibly my much younger sister and a friend. So there will be 9-11 of us on this sailing

 

If anyone has insight on menus in MDR, both kids and adult, it would be appreciated. We have 2 pickey eaters, and I want to be sure there will be something for them.

 

Also we would love to see Atlantis, but the excursion price for all 7 of us is almost as much as the cruise fare :eek:. Any thoughts on how to do this affordably?

 

My fiance and I have cruised NCL and Carnival in the past. Both were pretty laid back. I am worried that RCL will be a little more "stuffy"?? Will the kids (young boys) be completely out of place in nice khaki shorts and button down shirts in MDR? Our youngest has some sensory issues and clothes can be an issue sometimes.

 

I'm sure I will come up with more questions, but thanks for listening for now :)

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Scared? Stop it! It's a vacation! RCI is NOT "stuffy"...more like Carnival!

 

Atlantis can be booked by getting a "day room" at the Comfort Suites next door to Atlantis, if the waterpark is what you're after. Google/call them. You don't have to go through the ship to do Atlantis!

 

In the dining room, long pants is appropriate, but no one will say anything if shorts are worn by young kids on the casual nights. Of course, on "formal" evenings, no shorts!

 

The menu has PLENTY for picky eaters...no fear! Anyone can order off the kid's menu, which is "picky eater" heaven! You can order adult menu items without this or that....leave off the sauce or onions, etc.....no one will go hungry, I assure you!

LOL, spend a day with my crew and you'll be scared too. JK, they are getting older and I know it will be fine.

I have looked into the comfort suites, but we would need 3 rooms, so more $$ than the excursion. Unless there is some sort of insider tip you may know of for a family of 7 :cool:

My daughter is a super picky eater and she always finds something. Don't stress about that at all and use it as a reason to try and make them try (for free!) a bunch of new things.

I do plan to have them try new things; it is the perfect opportunity for that

The kids menu in the MDR has most of the standard kids food you find anywhere...hamburgers, chicken strips, Mac N Cheese, etc.

If there is something more exotic they want to try, but you are not sure they will like/eat it...don't hesitate to order it in addition to the tried and true off the kids menu. They will usually bring you two entrees if you ask nicely.

Make sure you hit the kids club on the first evening. They will have an open house where you register and meet the staff. Not sure how much paperwork it is for teens (mine are still pretty young) but any amount X5 will take some time :)

LOL, spend a day with my crew and you'll be scared too. JK, they are getting older and I know it will be fine.

 

I have looked into the comfort suites, but we would need 3 rooms, so more $$ than the excursion. Unless there is some sort of insider tip you may know of for a family of 7 :cool:

We've done Atlantis with our family of 7 twice - you really need to price out your options, because the best deal depends on the season. We did CS once (two rooms - when you price it out, make note of the very high taxes and fees), and through the cruiseline once (off season - only around $100 per adult). You can also buy passes at Atlantis (if they are selling them - you might be going during spring break), through majestictours.com (not listed on their website - you have to call), or through another company (resortforaday, or something like it - do a search on the Bahamas forum).

Cruising is perfect for our family (kids now range in age from 11 - 18) because there is something for everyone. I've found that, with my teens, they go to the club the first night, and we see them at disembarment - maybe a slight exaggeration.

If anyone has insight on menus in MDR, both kids and adult, it would be appreciated. We have 2 pickey eaters, and I want to be sure there will be something for them.

DD was particularly selective -- but we discovered fairly early on that she really did not care for certain textures in food (think "meat"). We found cruises to be a great opportunity to try things with little or no pressure. If someone does not care for something, they can get something else and/or go up to the buffet. The wait staff/ kitchen staff were very accommodating, leaving off ingrediants, putting sauces on the side, changing out sides, etc.

The creamed or cold soups were interesting for her, and she developed a fondness for the vegetarian curries. She still avoids meat but has grown up to be a young adult who has a variety of tastes and many pretty exotic!

Agree with the above posters. Kids will be fine in khaki shorts. And the kids menu has a lot of choices. One of my daughters got pizza and one got chicken tenders every night. And they have the choice of ordering iff adult menu as well. They will accommodate just about anything. My daughter asked for a bowl of strawberries every night and he would get it for her. We couldn't afford Atlantis either so we just took advantage of the empty ship after we walked around the port for a bit. We just got off the boat last Monday and I wish I were still on it.. Have fun!

I just booked our first family cruise for RCL Enchantment of the Seas for 3/30/15. We are a family of 7. Our kids will be 10, 11, 12 13, and 14. I am both super excited :D and scared :eek:.

 

And my parents are going and possibly my much younger sister and a friend. So there will be 9-11 of us on this sailing

 

If anyone has insight on menus in MDR, both kids and adult, it would be appreciated. We have 2 pickey eaters, and I want to be sure there will be something for them.

 

Also we would love to see Atlantis, but the excursion price for all 7 of us is almost as much as the cruise fare :eek:. Any thoughts on how to do this affordably?

 

My fiance and I have cruised NCL and Carnival in the past. Both were pretty laid back. I am worried that RCL will be a little more "stuffy"?? Will the kids (young boys) be completely out of place in nice khaki shorts and button down shirts in MDR? Our youngest has some sensory issues and clothes can be an issue sometimes.

 

I'm sure I will come up with more questions, but thanks for listening for now :)

You see plenty of kids in khaki shorts and a nice shirt in the MDR, must be dressed appropriately for formal night. The kids menu is the same every night or they can also order from the regular menu. When eating in Windjammer there is also a wide variety of food for selective eaters, they will be able to find something I'm sure. As far as Atlantis, were you looking into the excursion that's a your only or that you can use facilities?

You see plenty of kids in khaki shorts and a nice shirt in the MDR, must be dressed appropriately for formal night. The kids menu is the same every night or they can also order from the regular menu. When eating in Windjammer there is also a wide variety of food for selective eaters, they will be able to find something I'm sure. As far as Atlantis, were you looking into the excursion that's a your only or that you can use facilities?

We would love to be able to use the facilities at Atlantis, but I don't see a way that we can with 7 people. I think it would be cool just to be able to see the aquariums and property. If we want to do a beach I would probably prefer to do a beach on the main island.

What other suggestions for activities/excursions that don't cost a fortune? We are going to be there until midnight, so we have lots of time to kill.

I am thinking about the Adastra Gardens. Any thoughts on that?

Has anyone hired a driver for the day? That may be a good thing for us since there are 7 of us with a lot of time. Any and all suggestions are welcome :D