DisneyPrincess16

Thankyou so much!! Seems I might be back to the drawing board!! I've always wanted to do southern too. Some I've seen only do 2 out of the 3 ABC islands...... which order would you put them in?

Maybe I could do a southern itinerary and then stay a few nights in Cancun on the way home?

Is November good weather wise....was unsure if I should wait till feb..... ether way school will be in

And I thought I'd have to fly to Dallas..... then I realized Houston is way closer!! And air New Zealand is cheap to there

I guess I feel like leaving from Texas I get more ports to visit. I want to see more of Mexico side. Having never been to either, it seems like there would be more to see going to Cozumel twice over labadee twice.

And if I'm comparing with the more ports on the 7 day princess..... the liberty is bigger than the regal too

I'm looking at November 17 to February 18

Hi. I want to do western Caribbean. Thinking of back to back adventure of the seas from Galveston (as 7 days is not enough!) or back to back with southern itinerary in navigator from Miami. Or 7 day western on regal princess (as princess have an extra port in 7 days over RC) from ft Lauderdale.

Anyone have recommendations?

Couple (leaving kids behind) looking for tropical beach adventure and relaxation.

Thanks for the info :)

Thank you, but as we picked princess, we aren't going to st croix. We are doing Barbados, Antigua, st lucia, st kitts, st Thomas.

Would appreciate any sites that do beach riding for minimum of 6 years old for these ports:)

Update, princess has the best itineraries, the only other one that covered all the ports we wanted left from San Juan, we decided its hard enough for us to get to miami, let alone further, plus we want to go to Orlando post cruise, so it was the most logical cruise to take.

And the one from San Juan only had 1 sea day, so weighing up the kids club wasn't really worth it for 1 day.

We have booked the royal princess for 10 day east caribbean :)

Thanks everyone

We decided on 10 day royal princess, easier to fly to and allows to drive to WDW after :)

Thanks everyone. We have decided on the 10 day royal princess. Seems the best coverage of the east from ft lauderdale :)

Thankyou, we have decided on princess

Thanks everyone, we have decided on princess. Will be back closer to the date to research more about ports :)

Thanks for that.

I think I would cope with the stairs/elevators layout.

My only concern is wondering if the pool is sufficient enough, it seems there is less than on grand class?

I've been reading lots more reviews, and no one has really mentioned it.

I love an aft pool, or at least hot tub, but it seems no lines do it now

does anyone know if there is a minimum age on princess cays for the paddle boat, banana boat, aqua bike or kayaks?

I couldn't find anything on their website

Our kids will be 6 and 8, so activities will be seated next to adult

Ok, so im getting a little closer to narrowing this down! Choosing between the following 2...

royal - princess cay, st Thomas, Antigua, Barbados, st lucia, st kitts

adventure b2b - st Thomas, st Croix, Antigua, st lucia, grenada, st kitts, st marten, Martinique, Barbados.

differences - st Croix, grenada, st marten, Martinique.....downfall, leaves from san juan rather than ft Lauderdale.

Firstly, opinions on the ships, royal princess vs adventure of the seas?

My only concern is there is only one main pool on royal, seems rather lacking compared to the grand class. im assuming the plunge pool is very small.

secondly, I started comparing shore excursions to see if this help, mainly looking at minimum ages as our youngest will be 6.

it seems RCI is less for minimum age. they do horse riding in Antigua from 6yo, but princess in st lucia is 12yo!

Does anyone know if there is any horse riding in any ports for 6 yo? I have an infinity brochure from the TA that says st lucia from 5 yo?

dolphin swim in tortola from st Thomas is 3 yrs RC vs 7 yrs with princess???

does anyone know if there is a minimum age on princess cays for the paddle boat, banana boat, aqua bike or kayaks?

I couldn't find anything on their website.

Although princess still seems the easier choice flight wise, im still considering san juan depart so we can see many other ports. if we choose princess we will go to WDW after, but if we have to fly to san juan, we will probably skip florida and head straight back to LA.

TIA, ive been so confused, but love hearing everyones thoughts! I just want to get it right because we are coming such a long way!

Ok, so im getting a little closer to narrowing this down!

royal - princess cay, st Thomas, Antigua, Barbados, st lucia, st kitts

adventure b2b - st Thomas, st Croix, Antigua, st lucia, grenada, st kitts, st marten, Martinique, Barbados.

differences - st Croix, grenada, st marten, Martinique.....downfall, leaves from san juan rather than ft Lauderdale.

Firstly, opinions on the ships, royal princess vs adventure of the seas?

My only concern is there is only one main pool on royal, seems rather lacking compared to the grand class. im assuming the plunge pool is very small.

secondly, I started comparing shore excursions to see if this help, mainly looking at minimum ages as our youngest will be 6.

it seems RCI is less for minimum age. they do horse riding in Antigua from 6yo, but princess in st lucia is 12yo!

Does anyone know if there is any horse riding in any ports for 6 yo? I have an infinity brochure from the TA that says st lucia from 5 yo?

dolphin swim in tortola from st Thomas is 3 yrs RC vs 7 yrs with princess???

does anyone know if there is a minimum age on princess cays for the paddle boat, banana boat, aqua bike or kayaks?

I couldn't find anything on their website.

Although princess still seems the easier choice flight wise, im still considering san juan depart so we can see many other ports. if we choose princess we will go to WDW after, but if we have to fly to san juan, we will probably skip florida and head straight back to LA.

TIA, ive been so confused, but love hearing everyones thoughts! I just want to get it right because we are coming such a long way!

Thank you, I do like shopping, but also love palm tree lined beaches and the less developed type (the only example I can give I've been to Pago Pago American Samoa, and that was the highlight of all the ports, it was just beautiful)

I was trying to find more info on the refurb, I see that more feature were added, but wasn't clear if it was classified as a 'total' refurb

The only downfall is there is only 1 sea day on each 7 day itinerary, doesn't leave much time to explore and relax on the ship :(

I posted this in a topic I started about specific port, but thought I'd update my ideas here too

I have a soft spot for princess due to an awesome honeymoon, one thing that bothers me with the royal though is it seems there is less pool than grand class, a main one and just the little plunge pool (we probably won't use the adults only), where as grand has the 2 big ones, the aft plus the adults.

I've also been looking at shore excursions and RC seem to offer ALOT more and also more for younger ages, like horse riding and a tube river ride for minimum of 6 year olds!! My kids would love that!

So am maybe thinking would have to fly a bit extra. If we left from San Juan, we could do a 7+7 and that gives us heaps of ports so we don't have to pick!! But would the adventure OTS be satisfying enough for us after originally planning on going on a newer ship? the layout seems ok

Thanks everyone, this helps, but my decision is no easier!

I have a soft spot for princess due to an awesome honeymoon, one thing that bothers me with the royal though is it seems there is less pool than grand class, a main one and just the little plunge pool (we probably won't use the adults only), where as grand has the 2 big ones, the aft plus the adults.

I've also been looking at shore excursions and RC seem to offer ALOT more and also more for younger ages, like horse riding and a tube river ride for minimum of 6 year olds!! My kids would love that!

So am maybe thinking would have to fly a bit extra. If we left from San Juan, we could do a 7+7 and that gives us heaps of ports so we don't have to pick!! But would the adventure OTS be satisfying enough for us after originally planning on going on a newer ship? the layout seems ok

The Bahamas are nothing to write home about, IMO. What is it that you want to see in the Bahamas? Could care less if I never went to Nassau or Freeport again. Would much prefer the Princess itineary you listed.

 

Roz

I was mainly thinking of the private islands each line has

Hi

after finding a perfect (for me) itinerary for april 2016, 10 days eastern voyager on royal princess, im looking for an alternative purely because im not happy with the age groups on princess kids clubs. mine will be 6 and 8, so I think RCI will be better so they can be together. Please note I didn't originally consider them because I was not fussed about ice skating and water slides, etc, my kids will be happy with a regular pool.

BUT we are coming all that way, so maybe we should just make the most of it!

Trouble is, im really stuck on giving up on st lucia, as not other itineraries include it that suit.

So im considering 7 night east + 7 night west on freedom (or similar ports on allure/oasis, but I feel the ship is just far too big)

or 8 night eastern on navigator

im just really stuck because I didn't really have an interest in western, and just wanted to see more of the east than just st Thomas and st marten.

there doesn't really seem to be any other that sees as many islands eastern as the princess :(

I feel flying to san juan will be too much for us (4 flights!) and same with the anthem from new York (not to mention price)

plus I would also like to see at least one Bahama island.

so out of the princess ports of

st Thomas

Antigua

Barbados

st lucia

st kitts

which ones are really a must see?

TIA :)

the sarcasm I was referring to was "age groups called classrooms" sorry, maybe 'down under' we interpret that a different way! lol

Its good to know there will be craft activities such as bracelet making, however if I had a 3 year old, I would not want such a young age to be around such craft chocking hazards!

And I definitely agree with having a family vacation, it is not my intention to get away from them, with an itinerary of 6 port days and 3 sea, I was only expecting them to be in the club for a bit on sea days and maybe in the evening after dinner. we are taking them ashore with us.

by 'mature' im not saying my child is a genius or acts like a 10 year old, im just saying in general 6yo have play interests more closely aligned with 7-8yo than 3-4yo.

The intention of my initial question was just to get a feel for the way they run as my last cruise was pre kids.

Anyway thanks for having a read and it seems a few other lines have a 3-5 group then a 6-8/9 group....so back to the drawing board to consider different ships/itineraries!

Wow, didn't expect such strong opinions and sarcasm to what I thought was a simple question and valid concern

It is what it is and I understand

But in my defence my mature 6 year old is far from a preschooler or kindergartener.

Now makes me curious as to if they separate different activities for the 3-7s, it's a HUGE age gap and i don't think my 6 year old would enjoy activities aimed at 3-4 year olds.

It seems maybe the negative reviews are from people who have done several cruises and are more fussier (in a nice way) because they have more to compare with?

I do agree with the layout issues (having been on the diamond princess for 28 days in 2006) I would maybe prefer the emerald, but the royal dates and itinerary suit us more. I've ruled out the anthem being $3k more, and I'm not really into gimmicks, it all sounds cool and I'd like to experience it one day, but I just want to relax! Also there aren't many sea days.

As far as more things for the kids, they will be happy with any activities and swimming in the pool, they don't need fancy facilities or slides

Food, yeah maybe these reviewers have had nicer, but I'm sure it won't be too bad for us :)

Just to confirm, is sideways not recommended if there are 4 people with bunks in use? I have 2 young kids, shall I go the normal way cabin? Is the size difference noticeable?

Hi, am wanting to go on the royal, kids will be 6 and 8.

I'm concerned with them being separated.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

Can the younger move up or the older move down? Are they flexible if it's to keep sibling together?

I know the activities will be aimed at the age group, but a 2 year gap is nothing to them and at home they always do the same thing, whether its aimed at the younger, or more so the younger one always does older kid things

I'm not sure if they would cope being separated :(