TripleU

I was in Falmouth with my three 5yos. We walked around the port area, and then left the port area and walked around the city for about 45 minutes. Our waiter was from Jamaica, and he said what we did was quite dangerous. I never felt uncomfortable, but there’s nothing to see. Unfortunately it’s a high poverty area. If I were you, I’d make it a ship day. Or I would leave the kids on board and go somewhere with your spouse. (I can’t comment on the allergy part).

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I was on in August 2016 and there was a topper and the bed was fine. Then I went again January 22nd. The bed was a rock. I asked for a topper and was told they don't have them for sanitary reasons. He said he'd do his best to make it comfortable. He added another layer. It was better, but still hard as a rock. Night and day experiences 5 months apart.

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Thanks Triple U.

 

There is usually a Pirate Night for the 3-5 and 6-8 kids on Royal where they do a short performance on the promenade. It's different than the Disney Pirate Night for sure but it does happen!

 

 

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Interesting. I have 6yo triplets that have been on the Oasis when they were 5 and the Liberty twice as 6yos and I've never heard of pirate night. I'll look for that on our next cruise as I know my kids would enjoy it!! They spend most of their time in AO.

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I was just on this same itinerary on 1/22. The first night was Basil and the last night was the one with lamb shank. Monday and Friday were formal nights. They usually do M/Th, but for some reason they changed it on our sailing. Thursday was the one with Gyoza and Friday was lobster. I think the first formal was the one with the delicious filet (the only dish I truly love on RC). I think pomodoro was Wednesday. Tuesday we ate at Giovanni's.

There is no pirate night - that's Disney. I think our kids compass is different because there weren't many kids so they combined 6-11yo except on the last sea day when all the decks were closed due to weather.

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I found that surprising too, and I'll float a theory: The OP cruised in late January. What's going on in that time frame? Most younger people are back to work after Christmas break, and kids are back in school -- not a timeframe when younger people can cruise. Also, prices are rock-bottom, which appeals to retirees who want to stretch their travel dollar. Finally, the weather's a little colder, so the people who want active beach-oriented excursions aren't as interested ... yet the 70-ish crowd, who probably want a more sedate cruise, aren't deterred.

 

I'm guessing that this timeframe is what drew the older crowd. Agree or disagree? I've never cruised in January, so I'm making a guess.

Definitely!! I was on this cruise too. DH and I are 39 and we had our three 6yo daughters with us. I took them out of school. I enjoyed the older crowd. Despite having three kids, I generally am not a fan of kids. On the last night, I caught 2 young girls - probably 11-13yo - getting off on deck 2 where we were getting on to go to 12. They had pushed every button. I screamed at them, and I'm pretty sure I put the fear of a God in them when we took their room number and said we were calling their parents. I never followed through on my threat, but I think it really scared them as they looked terrified and were very apologetic. I hate that crap, and being with the older crowd means it happens less.

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I am trying to decide what to book for our Belize day and thus tendering chatter has me nervous.

 

I had been planning to do cave tubing with an outside agency. Would you recommend that? Or is the tender process too disorganized and time consuming to miss all of that time?

 

 

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I was on this same cruise, and we booked cave tubing with an outside company. I had a reading comprehension problem that morning, and I spent over an hour in the wrong tender ticket line. I would have been first in line had I read the compass correctly. We ended up with ticket "I" as in just before J. I thought we were doomed and would have to find something else to do. Had I known they weren't checking tickets we would have just gone when they called the first group, but we went when our letter was called. We got to the port at 10:30. Cavetubing.bz got us right on a shuttle and off we went. It. Was. Amazing. I'm so glad we did it. I had my three 6yos with me and my husband, and they loved it too. We weren't rushed - lunch was a tiny bit rushed, but we still got 2nds and 3rds if we wanted. They had us back to the port at 3:45. The last RC tender was 4:30. There were also Carnival people on our tour and their last tender was 4:15. We still had time to take a few picks at the Belize sign and get on a tender. Highly recommended!

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I took a 4 night Majesty cruise a few years ago. It wasn't during spring break, and it was overrun with college kids. The only time it was a problem was at Coco Cay. They were so drunk and obnoxious. On the tender ride back there was a group of really drunk guys shouting rude things to women AND very racist things. It was very uncomfortable. I was glad my kids weren't with me so I didn't have to say anything. Overall we didn't really see them much. They made karaoke more fun. It was really just that tender ride that was awful.

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We've done Nachi several times, but have never been to Chankanaab. Curious what the ballpark cost of lunch would be at Chankanaab?

When we went I had booked everything online with them for the dolphin swim. I arrived with the coupon for the entrance discount (for the ones not doing dolphin swim as entrance is included with that). They then asked me to pay for the buffet lunch - no alcohol included. It ended up being around $80 for 7 of us (4 adults and 3 kids aged 5 who I think were "free") just for the lunch. It was all done in pesos with their conversion rate. The food was ok. They gave us a bracelet and said we could only go once, it it didn't appear anyone was monitoring. I was annoyed by the whole thing. The beach isn't nice - it's very rocky and in most places you take a ladder down to the water. There's only one part that's good and it's packed with kids (mine included that day). If you're not doing the dolphin encounter, Nachi is much better, IMO (been there too). I couldn't understand the sea lion encounter lady. She spoke in Spanish and English, but the microphone wasn't working well and I couldn't hear/understand her. Definitely more to do, but not as relaxing.

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I think you are referring to this story: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2121215

Yes!! I can't believe it was more than 2 years ago.

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We did it back when it was free on the Oasis. Honestly, I wouldn't do it again even if it was still free. It's most definitely not worth $10.

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Where's the link to the long thread about the guy who waited for his son (who was actually already onboard) and missed the ship in Nassau? No passport, limited money, friend's cell phone. Several days later he met up with the ship at another port. Don't. Miss. The. Ship.

To answer your question - it can take forever to get back over the bridge. Play it safe. We left at 3:45.

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Just a few weeks ago it was $49 Including VOOM internet for 1 device and 14% gratuity on my January Liberty sailing. I assume the discounted gratuity was due to the fact the internet part doesn't have a service charge. This would have only saved me about $9 total off the last sale I bought both things under. Normally I'd take advantage as $9 is $9, but I had to cancel the credit card I had originally charged both things on due to fraud. I was afraid the hassle of refunding onto a canceled card outweighed the $9. Has anyone ever had experience with refunding onto a cancelled card? I'm wondering what would have happened.

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I did it with my 5yos when it was free. I would never pay for it. Same food that everyone gets in the MDR. If you go eat breakfast at the same time it's going on, you can watch but not participate in the photos.

I've always been able to use my own camera at all photos ops around the ship.

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Just take them. My three 5yos sat through 3 hours of Cats on the Oasis without a single complaint. They loved it!! They didn't even go the to restroom during intermission because they got to go on stage and take a photo with Old Deuteronomy. Now they're 6, and last month we saw Saturday Night Fever on the Liberty, and they loved that too. If you set high expectations for them, they can meet them.

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I just looked and my iPhone 5S doesn't seem to have wi-fi calling as an option. Is that just a 6 or better thing? That would be a great thing to have for a client's house since the cell service there is pretty bad.

 

Edit to add, I'm with AT&T.

I have a 6s. I just googled it, and it should work with a 5s (but not a 5). Make sure you have downloaded all the software updates. I initially discovered this feature when I called AT&T customer service to complain about my cell not working at my house. Maybe they can help you too if Google doesn't do the trick. Good luck!!

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So for an iPhone with AT&T service I just need to put it into airplan mode and enable wifi? Do I need to turn off data? Turn off international data? I too paid for the ships plan and also had to pay roaming/international charges to AT&T. I just want to pay for 1 service, not 2! Help me please to know exactly what settings to change. Thank you!!!

Yes, put on airplane mode. If you go to settings and scroll down to phone, you can turn on wi-fi calling. I always have it on because I don't have good cell service at my house. This changed my life - now my phone works at my house. The phone will say wi-fi in the upper left next to AT&T. When on the cruise, make sure you're in airplane mode. Then you can basically use your phone just like at home - text, make phone calls. It's amazing. And no data or roaming charges.

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I had the upgraded VOOM on Liberty the first week of August. I have an iPhone. I put it on airplane mode and had wi-fi calling enabled. Not only was I able to send text messages, but I also called my parents when I found out our itinerary was changing due to hurricane Earl. That's right I made a phone call in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. The connection was perfect with no delay. I do not have an international plan, and I was in airplane mode. I just got my bill, and no extra charges. I was beyond pleased with the VOOM internet on the Liberty!!

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Tweezers are a must have. I was hiking in the jungle in Costa Rica with my friend when something stung her. She kept complaining about the pain, and we were getting behind and losing our guide. I had tweezers in my purse and pulled it out. The guide finally noticed us. He saw what I pulled out of her arm, and he said I saved her a trip to the ER because it was poisonous. She had a small rash for a few days, but if I wouldn't have had tweezers in my purse, he said she could have died. Unreal. I don't know if what he said is true or not, but I'll never travel without tweezers again.

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I just got off Liberty today. I packed a 15 pack of water and 8 cans of Starbucks double shot. That bag was the first one delivered to my room. No issues at all. I like having the water to take with us on excursions.

We just disembarked this morning with luggage tag 28. We took our time, and we had to deal with a missing bag - ugh! We still don't have it. I live about as far from the port as Hobby, and I pulled into my driveway at 11:30am. Had we done self-carry, we could have easily been home by 9a. I would agree a 12p flight should be ok, but I might make it 1p or later just in case and because I hate feeling rushed.

We arrived in FLL very late, and we stayed at a hotel in FLL. Jiffy Jeff picked us up at the hotel and took us to the port in Miami. He is huge on communication and was very easy to work with. He then picked us up at the port and took us to the airport in FLL. We were back in FLL by 9:00am. Excellent service - I highly recommend Jiffy Jeff.

Are they still selling drink punch cards? When and how much? Thanks!!

I just got back from a week in Cancun. My friends all used herbal or natural type bug repellents. I used Off. I'm normally the one who gets eaten alive, but I came home with only 1 mosquito bite, and they were covered in them. You're less likely to be bitten on a cruise because you're not typically out at dusk and dawn. Use a stronger bug repellent like Off, and you should be fine.

Random question. While I know there's no sharing of a drink package - what about the discount on bottles of wine? If I have the package and my husband does not, can we share the bottle of wine that I got at a 20% discount because I have the drink package?

 

I hadn't even mentioned my peanut sensitivity (it's not a full-blown reaction so far...yes, I carry Benadryl, and yes, when we can convince the insurance company that it COULD become more serious so they'll cover an epi pen I'll have that, but I refuse to pay almost $500 for something that SHOULD be covered for an adult-onset sensitivity/allergy!!.)

Totally off topic, but I just got 4 free epi pens for my daughter using a manufacturer's coupon. Super easy to get the coupon. Just ask the dr or google it. Even the pharmacist can locate one for you.