BethCarp

We just flew in today and are staying on Seawall Blvd. We had a group of 6 and limos were very expensive for more than 5 so we did Super Shuttle for $107 flat rate, plus tip. Very happy with it. It was a van and not a town car, but it was comfortable, clean and the driver was very nice. Easy transfer.

http://www.voyager-class.com

you can see pics of the aft balconies on this site. They're big, but obstructed.

udamom, thanks for sharing your pictures! I definitely want to zip with South Shore but was unsure about booking ahead of time. Were you able to request a time or did they give you a time? I noticed we couldn't pick a time when booking and I emailed them for an answer about that and didn't get a clear answer. I don't think they understood what I was asking. We're the only ship in port so I'm wanting to sleep in, get a nice breakfast and then walk off the ship when we're ready and find them at the port.

OK, I wasn't able to find any pictures of 8508, but I did find a whole album from someone who stayed in 8008 which is the mirror image of 8508 but is on the Port side.

 

http://humu.ipac.caltech.edu/~jason/pics/Radiance1024/Page1.html

 

There are pics of the balcony and it looks like a regular size, but that it is partially enclosed by the superstructure of the ship.

 

Hope that helps!

Tee hee! Those are my friends' pictures! I'm in a few of them towards the end of the album.

I took my 3yo and 6yo to PB in November. With 6 ships in port, it was predicted to be crowded. Since we docked late (10am), we decided to head to the beach after lunch. It was crowded when we got there, but we were still able to get 4 chairs together and a couple of umbrellas. After about an hour the crowds really thinned out. We got two floating mats and swam the kids out to the tramps on those. They both loved the trampolines.

If you're going at a peak time (spring break) or there are many ships in port, try going in the afternoon if you can. I think it's generally more crowded before lunch.

Bid $65 and was accepted immediately for 3* in San Pedro. Taxes an additional $16.91. This is for one night Jan 3.

This is the first time I've ever had my bid accepted the first time. Cool! :D

That's great to know about embarkment!! I guess JS doesn't count for CL but does for priority check in!!! Good to know. DD is just PT-ing now, I'm hoping she's there by the cruise so that she can go in the splash area especially given she is too young for camp. Did you use the babysitting at all? Was this DS's first cruise?

Yeah, the perks for the JS were priority boarding and 2 cruise credits. We had the corner aft on deck 7 so we also had the awesome huge balcony and the walk-in closet (which I believe is only in the aft cabins). After our Monarch cruise (we got a CHEAP rate for an ocean view), we'll make sure to get a suite again. We'll probably even move up to the Grand Suite. I know it's awful to say, but we actually found the JS a little cramped for the 4 of us. We did love the walk-in closet though. That will have to be a must if we sail with the boys again.

I hope your daughter is potty trained in time. She'll love the pools, if it's warm enough. I'll warn you, it was pretty chilly when we were moving.

Thanks for your reply Beth! I am very curious to hear your experience cruising with your 3 y/o....we're bringing our 2 y/o on in December.

Well you may not want to read this. My 3yo was not the best travel companion. But it really was just his personality of late. He's been going through a very difficult stage in the last month and he let it all fly out on the cruise. He did very much enjoy the pools and the beaches though. If you haven't been there yet, check out the family board. Lots of great tips for traveling with the little ones. You can even read about my horror story. :eek:

Oh I forgot to mention before that we sat in the regular embarkment line for about 20 minutes before I saw the sign for Suite Priority Check-In. I saw the sign when we first arrived, but for some reason I only read the "Platinum, Diamond member" part. I didn't see the "Suite Guests". :o I saw a different sign later and asked someone if the JS count and she said yes. So we got up and walked right through security and check-in. We were on the ship 5 minutes later. :rolleyes:

Does anyone know if the the Concierge Lounge allows JS occupants in? It's right next door to our cabin and I thought it might be useful for DH and I to alternate going in while DD is napping --since it's right next door.

No it is not available to the JS. But I believe if you are a platinum or diamond member, you can use it. Your balcony should be a good place to sit while your daughter naps.

Just back and it was everything I was hoping for. And my parents loved it as well. They were very impressed. The ship was perfect, but alas my 3yo was not. So we didn't get to enjoy as much as the ship as we were hoping to. :(

We had the corner aft JS 7600 and it was sooooooooo worth it for the balcony alone. Although the hike to the centrum was rough. We are so spoiled now, that we will likely move up to a full suite for our next cruise. Oh and we're leaving the demon child at home.

What can you recent EOS cruisers tell me about the dinner menus in the dining room? I'm trying to figure out if we want to maybe skip formal night so we don't have to pack DH's suit. Also cuts back on two pairs of shoes. We plan on going to Chops one night and was thinking maybe formal night would be a good night to do that. I'd like to chose a night that would be least appetizing to me. I know on the Radiance a few years ago one night was like fish night so we skipped that. Is there something like that on EOS?

Fourth, we are in Key West from 7 am to 2 pm with all aboard at 1 pm. Can we still hit the pubs in the morning?

What's this "all aboard at 1pm"? Do we have to be on the ship an hour before hand? I plan on giving myself plenty of time to get back on the ship, but a whole hour? :eek:

Well....in our school district the children of bad parents were punished. :eek: If they went on vacation they were not permitted to make up the work and were given big fat ZEROS on all assigments.

Oh yuck. My district allows 5 days for vacation per year. I don't particularly feel comfortable taking them out longer than that anyway. We're only missing 3-1/2 days for this cruise. And my son's in first grade. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. Thanks for the remarks on the other kids too.

Beth, I guess it depends on how many other kids you feel would need to be there for your children to have fun........

I think with your children being younger, you might find more playmates on a cruise at that time of year........

I hope you feel able to take them to AO and have some "couple time"; but if it turns out you don't, then look at it as an excuse to cruise again and leave the kiddies with granny!

I don't expect a lot, just enough for them to hang out with. If there's 10 kids, I'm sure it would be fine. We'll just live with it, however it works out. And we're already working on our next adults only vacation for January. So no worries there. :D

I'm starting to get a little worried about our cruise. We're taking the boys (3 and 6) on their first cruise the first week of November for a 5-night cruise. I'm worried that there won't be any other kids on board since it's off-season and not one of the bigger ships. Obviously, I know there will be some (there are a couple of 2yo on our roll call) but what about school-aged kids? If you've gone on EOS off-season (ie during school), have you noticed a decent amount of kids on board? I'm not expecting huge amounts of course, but hoping for at least a decent sized group.

Of course, this won't ruin our cruise. We plan on taking them to each port and taking them to the pool and stuff. But DH and I would like to enjoy some time alone (during the evening especially) and know that they are having a great time with other kids in AO.

What are the dress designations for dinner on the 5-night? I know there's one formal night, but what are the others?

And could kids (ages 3 and 6) wear nice khaki shorts and a polo or button-down shirt to the dining room on the first night? I'm not planning on taking them to the dining room any of the other nights and would hate to have to pack slacks for them to wear once. But I will if I have too. I don't want to be one of *those* people. LOL!

Whoever just posted those pictures, they are just beautiful! She does not look like an older ship! Love the few pics of Paradise Beach at the end!

If you go to outside the My Fair Lady dining room on either level the menu should be posted in the early afternoon.

Thank you. I will make sure to check there first.

 

We LOVE the Radiance Class ships (you can see in our signature), and wanted to do a Back-2-Back on one of those, but they are either in Alaska (Too :eek: Cold)

We went to Alaska (on Radiance) in July (2003) and it was in the 80s most days. Definitely NOT cold. Unless you're looking to be able to sun and swim on deck and go snorkeling, Alaska is a really wonderful vacation.

I really loved the Radiance and would love to sail her to the Eastern Caribbean next time. But unless we go during school (or go without the kids) she won't be there. That's kind of a bummer. I really don't want to sail on the really large ships and Enchantment doesn't have an Eastern route.

Does anyone know if there's a way to find out (on boarding day) what the menus are each night in the dining room. I'd like to pick my Chops night based on what's I'm missing in the dining room. I remember on Radiance the menu was on the room service menu in the room. Did they have this on EOS?

I don't believe you need carseats officially when on buses/shuttles, but I'm not sure I feel safe without them.

You can not use car seats on buses or shuttles so problem solved.

OP, will your 8yo need a carseat/booster? Your 4yo could probably use a backless booster which could easily store in a suitcase under the bed. IIRC, neither will be required by law to be in a carseat in the state of Florida.

We will have a 3yo and a 6yo when we go in Nov. I am going to try to get a shuttle to and from the airport, pre cruise hotel and pier. If I can arrange that, then we will not be bringing carseats for either. If I can only arrange a cab, then I will bring a backless booster for my 3yo.

We just got back today from the Majesty of the Seas! Great cruise!! We were in Nassau yesterday from 8am-5pm. We probably deboarded the ship around noon and tried to find the #10 bus when we got outside the terminal. A taxi "pimp" (as I like to call him) approached us and said he would take us to Cable Beach for $5pp (there were 3 of us). I wanted to just find the bus, but my friend started bartering with him. We finally got him to agree to $3pp, which he was reluctant about. So we decided to take one of his cabs since they were right there. Cab driver was very nice, taxi/van was nice and air conditioned. He dropped us off at the Wyndham Casino entrance (his choice) and told us $15. We told him that the "pimp" agreed to $9 and he said "no". My friend told him to take it up with "pimp" and he relectantly agreed, but was aggravated. Probably would not take a cab next time. The whole thing was just uncomfortable for me.

We walked inside the Wyndham and the casino was right there. We walked through the casino (there was a map showing how to get to the beach) and right out into the pool area. Beyond the pool area was the beach, but it wasn't a very nice beach. There was sand, but it was up on a sea wall, so you couldn't walk right into the ocean. Off to the left was another small part of the beach that was at ocean level. They had very nice chairs with cushions and it was very quiet. There was a little noise from the wave runner rental that was right there.

After a few minutes laying there, the sun went behind the hotel, so we went over to the Radisson. Thank god we did that. The Radisson was so much better, IMO. They had nice caribbean music playing from the bar. It wasn't too loud, but just enough to make it a nice atmosphere. I didn't think the chairs were as nice here, but there were PLENTY of them. The beach was also a lot bigger and nicer here too. The buildings were not blocking the sun at all. There were quite a few people there, but it didn't seem crowded and nobody was loud or obnoxious. The waitress came around to us a few times and we had a few drinks. There was a beach grill restaurant there, but we didn't eat there--kind of expensive. The pools looked beautiful, but we didn't try to use them. We brought our own beach towels (instead of RCI's) so that it wouldn't stick out that we were cruise passengers. No one once ever approached us about not being guests.

As far as activities, I didn't really see a whole lot. I saw a couple on a kayak, but I don't know where they got that. There were waverunners at the Wyndham (didn't get the price on those, sorry). There was also beach volleyball, but not much of anything else. Maybe people weren't just using any of the activities. We weren't there for activities, we just wanted to lay on the beach, so that was fine with us. If you're looking for activities, you may want to go somewhere else.

When we were ready to leave, we walked into the hotel and right through the lobby. We asked the porters outside where to catch the jitney and they told us to just walk down to the street and they would stop for us. I think we waited for about 2 minutes. I thought the jitney was a lot better (not to mention cheaper) than the taxi, and would take it again in a heart beat.

We're planning on going back next year. If we do, we'll definitely take the Jitney rather than a cab. We'll probably also enter through the Wyndham since that entrance took us through the casino rather than through the lobby. Then we'd just walk over to the Radisson.

I would really suggest this to people who are looking for a great relaxing beach day, without wanting to spend a lot of money.

ETA: the water at both coco cay and cable beach was cold upon first entering. Once you jumped in it was fine. It actually felt really good. We had cloudy days too, both days. Temperatures were in the lower 80s.

Ok, so what's the difference between the Hilton and the Radisson/Wyndham? Why is there a charge for the Hilton and not for the other two. I'm looking for a nice, comfy beach/pool area with maby some water sports/activities. I'm not interested in Atlantis.