KimA75

I am also a planner. I book at least a year out. For my upcoming cruise on Icon I booked on opening day in October 2022 and won't be on it until September this year. So, almost two years. Booking early often gets you the better prices. But, once you do book, keep an eye on any price changes to call back in and get lower prices, better cabins, or more onboard credit. It also gives me the chance to wait for sales on excursions, drink packages etc. I was able to book everything through the Black Friday sale last year and got almost everything at much better rates than I had seen before and am definitely seeing now. Popular excursions can sell out ahead of time, so booking those early can help. Plus early booking allows me to manage finances better. I split the amount over the months and make smaller payments.

We take noise control headphones/earmuffs for when the cruise is leaving port. The horn they blow can be loud, but we also enjoy being outside for it. My food limiting child has always been able to find options at both the buffet and main dining. At main dining he will sometimes order from the adult menu with some modifications and often orders from the child's menu. They are more than willing to leave off sauces, etc, as needed for him. Buffet always has burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc that are always a good stand by for him. I encourage each of my boys to try kids club at least once while on board. My oldest, who is diagnosed as on the spectrum, has loved it and asked to go back. My youngest, who hasn't been diagnosed but wouldn't surprise me with his food aversions, noise sensitivity, etc, will argue about going. But, he will generally agree to go once and try it. So far, he has never really taken to it and I haven't forced him to return. I figure that vacation is supposed to be relaxing for all of us. If I force him into the club I may get more time to relax, but he will be miserable. That isn't really fair to him as this is his vacation as well. My kids have always found enough activities on board that they enjoy. And kids club has always been great with them on their cruises. We have only cruised Royal Caribbean, but Celebrity is under the same company and I would imagine the people on board there will be just as good.

My ex and I cruised on an older and smaller ship for our first cruise in 2016. All we cared about was that it went where we wanted. I never even noticed any issues or thought about it being older until we started cruising more and booking newer, bigger ships. For our first cruise, the older, smaller ship was absolutely perfect. We had such a great time and I am now addicted to cruising. Ever since then, the kids have joined in. Because of what they like, I am booking the bigger ships. But, I am looking forward to cruising on my own later and returning to the smaller ships to experience more port options. I have only cruised Royal Caribbean, so I can't give any advice on the itineraries you are looking at. All I can say is that I would definitely not hesitate to book one of these.

I know pre-Covid you were able to be seated at a larger table with various other passengers. I'm not sure if that is still an option. If it is, we met some really interesting people that when we did this. I've read that some others made lifelong friends this way. I am recently divorced and while I am cruising with my kids now, I fully expect to cruise solo later. I am hoping this will still be, or will become, an option.

I did the passport renewal on February 20 for my youngest and we did not expedite it. We had it back within four weeks. If you expedite it, you should get it back in time. I'm not sure if location matters, but we are in metro Atlanta, GA area.

I usually get it at $21.99 per day or $23.99 per day. I usually see the lower price on Black Friday.

We have been on several in the Caribbean and love it. However, I want to get the boys over to London to see some sights. I figured that since we love cruising so much, we could do several days in London and then move on elsewhere. I gave them a choice between the train to Paris to spend a few more days there or take a cruise and they both agreed on cruise. It is rare to get them to agree on anything, so I take it when I can. I think we have it narrowed down to the Spain and Portugal cruise though

Thank you Essiesmom. After looking, I think you are right about the fjords. Yes, we are loyal to Royal at the moment. My oldest son absolutely loves the Flowrider for body boarding on their ships. Other cruise lines don’t have this. He was born with some limitations, so the fact that he can do this and loves it keeps us coming back. I’ll expand to other operators later. Thank you for the other suggestions as well. I’ll definitely check those out.

We are looking at a cruise out of Southampton in 2025. Yes, I am an early planner, mainly to have time to make lower payments each month towards the vacation and better prices earlier on. Which of these would you choose for a multigenerational family? My boys will be 15 and 11 by then and my parents will be in their 80’s. We are from the states and have never spent time in any of these areas to help with narrowing it down.

I couldn't think of a way to conduct a search without getting 50 million returns. I am debating about staying on board with my kids while at Cozumel on our next cruise. They will be 14 and 10. It is mainly that we have been there a few times and have seen just about everything we are interested in. I am wondering what activities are typically available while a ship is in port. This would be our first time staying on board. It will be Icon, so I know there is not a lot yet known about this one. But, on Oasis class and others- are the slides or Flow Rider available? I am assuming the pools would be open and the shops and casino are closed. I never paid much attention to the cruise compass before when we were in port since we were getting off. Are there planned activities and games?

Royal Caribbean has the ultra spacious rooms, but they differ according to ship class. These have the king bed, pull out sofa and a set of bunk beds. The problem is figuring out which type they fall under. Some ships only have them as interior, some as ocean view, and some have this option with a balcony. And, they often book fairly quickly. So, you have to do a mock booking for a family of four, find a sailing with the ultra spacious room available and then call in to book it since you have more than four people. Or, if you are able to splurge, there are a few 2 bedroom suites available. I have never been able to cough up the money for one of these rooms though. Keep in mind, kids sail free promotions are not usually good for any sailings during school breaks. So, you may not be able to grab one of these promotions unless you homeschool or are willing to take the kids out of school during the trip. We have done one of these ultra spacious rooms as an ocean view and loved the extra floor space it gave us. But, we have also done the connecting rooms and really appreciated having a second bathroom.

Get the form to the parents. Have them sign with a notary and then mail it to you. You then sign with a notary.

We always had dinner together. If there were excursions that everyone was interested in, then we booked those together. But, with the younger ones enjoying beaches and the older ones not really wanting beaches, that didn't happen often. We also usually ate breakfast together to go over plans for the day in case anyone wanted to meet up for a show or activity together that day.

We started when ours were 6 & 10. They have been on Freedom, Adventure, Ovation, and Oasis. They loved all of them. We were most recently on Oasis and were blown away by it. It was amazing how much was on there. But, any of these would work.

Can you just call in and upgrade your cabin? It might be cheaper than a bid anyway. I'm not sure how they would handle an upgrade request on a cabin won through a bid, but it couldn't hurt to try.