ChicagoBound

I'm part of a family group of 12 people on the Dec. 21 Anthem sailing. Some in my group are suggesting My Time Dining. I've cruised RCL 7 or 8 times, but always in a group of 6 or fewer people and always at the late seating--the way I like it!

I can't recall if the largest tables in Main Dining Room are for 10 or for 12 people. Assuming they have tables for 12, I'd prefer the late dining. I'm worried that with MTD, it will be difficult for us to just show up and get a table for 12 without a long wait. Or perhaps, they'd just split us up into two tables or seat us with other folks at tables for 10--which wouldn't be too bad, but I'd prefer us to all be at the same table. Would this work if I tried to make MTD reservations for a specific time each night? (Sorry for all of the questions.)

In all our past cruises, we've just done the late seating--which I much prefer). Let me know any tips/pros/cons/strategies. Thanks!!!

We have a plane and have flown to Scholes (Galveston) municiple airport several times. That airport couldn't handle a commercial jet as the longest runway is only 5,000 feet.

Actually the runways are listed at 6000 feet. According to the airport website, the airport can handle 737s, 767s and Airbus A320 variants.

I was down in Galveston a few weeks ago (not for a cruise), and I happened to swing past the airport there. It's about 1.5 miles from the cruiseport (probably a five minute ride on a shuttle bus). It's small but big enough to handle commercial flights.

It got me thinking given how much of a pain it is to get from either of the Houston airports (George Bush Int'l and Hobby) to the Galveston cruiseport--not to mention how crazy expensive it is.

I'm wondering this of fellow Royal Caribbean cruisers: If one of the discount airlines--like Spirit or Frontier--offered nonstop flights from northern cities to Galveston, would you take them given the hassles sometimes associated with the discount airlines (i.e., paying for checked AND carry-on luggage, paying for seat assignments, paying for sodas, lack of reliability). And assuming that they flew out of secondary or tertiary airports (so for example, instead of flying out of Chicago's O'Hare or Midway airports, you'd have to fly out of Rockford or South Bend), or from Columbus flying out of Rickenbacher instead of the main airport--you get the picture--would these all be deal-breakers?

Also assume that the airfare may be cheaper flying nonstop to Galveston than flying through the Houston airports. Plus, you'd pay about $10 per person to be shuttled 1.5 miles from the Galveston airport to the cruiseport instead of 5 or 10 times that to/from the Houston airports.

Just curious if the hassles of getting to the Galveston cruiseport from the Houston airports are great enough that you'd be willing to fly nonstop to Galveston on a cheapo airline. Let me know your thoughts. Maybe I can use the feedback to start lobbying the airlines to start flying nonstop to Galveston!

To go that early you will have to be on the north side of the inlet. on the south side John U Lloyd park will not be open that early.

 

generally speaking 2000 South Ocean Drive, Fort Lauderdale, is where the onstreet parking for visitors exists (either side of that building address). There isn't a lot of on street parking.

 

*The public entrance to the beach is tricky* It is across from the corner of Anchor Drive and South Ocean Lane. Between the high rise condo and a smaller 2 story old style condo is a small gate. That is the public beach access. From that point to the tip of the Jetty is a 10 minute walk in sand but not too bad.

 

If you are parked by 5:00AM and walk out you will have great views of the ships just offshore as they get their pilots and then come in through the inlet.

Great info! Thanks!!!

Wondering on average what times ships return to port in Ft. Louderdale on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I'm in Florida and am considering going to that park near the port to watch the ships come in, recognizing that the ships may come in at 4am. (I'd be willing to head over at 4am if necessary.)

Any insight would be appreciated. Thx!

Merry Christmas to each of you- may your day be filled with family - friends - fun and all your heart's desires!

Agreed. Don't want to start a flame war on Christmas Day. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

BULL TWINKIES. who the hell said that children should never experience adult environments?! hell Carole herself heartily endorsed it, just NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER NON FAMILY ADULTS.

 

the proper way/place to teach kids how to behave in adult situations is at home. I do not want to be part of a teaching moment unless it is MY kid.

Perfect! I'll start preparing degustation menus at home for my kids. Personally, I don't care if my 12 year-old twins and my 8 year old see adults imbibing a little too much as they eat good food. That's actually part of acclimating them to how adults behave. And some of us think that spending money on their kids experiencing fine dining is worth spending $100 per kid on it (as opposed to spending $100 on them to buy a BB gun or some apps).

Personally, I would wait till my kids are 14 or 15 at least for CT, but by that point, if I've raised them to be sophisticated enough to appreciate such things (and I have), they would get their money's worth because it would be a meal they remember 50 years later--as opposed to twenty $5 meals from McDonalds that they can't remember three hours later.

Back in the old days, kids routinely went to fancy restaurants and were taught to behave and have a sense of decorum. Nowadays, kids are taught that they only belong at places like Chuck E. Cheese's, and they grow up accordingly. I'd argue that the way things were done in the old days is preferable.

"Haters" might be too strong of a word, but the OP asked a simple question about RCCL's rules and regulations, and most of the respondents weighed in with their opinions that kids should never experience adult environments (or learn to appreciate good food). They didn't answer the OP's simple question.

Wondering if all those who think it's inappropriate for kids to go to Chef's Table also think that adults without kids should be banned from going to the Character Breakfast?

I agree, Chef's Table really isn't for a minor, per se.

I agree that Per Se probably isn't for minors since it's about $400/per person.

I think it is great that you are taking your nephew. When I was a kid, my parents would rarely take us out to dinner, but when they did, they would take us out to very fancy places. This allowed us to learn two things: 1) how to behave in an adult environment; and 2) how to appreciate good food. I think there are few better things you can do for a young person than to take them out to a fancy meal that they can appreciate and have good memories of. You can take them out to Cracker Barrel a hundred times, and they'll never have any memory of that garbage. Or you can take them out to a fine dining experience, and they will remember it for the rest of their lives. Don't listen to the haters.

We booked the room about 10 months in advance. I forget what it cost for the five of us but it was definitely less than a Junior Suite. It was around $4500 if I recall. To me, that was a tremendous bargain given how big the room was. We've had JS's and a GS once, and this room is much larger than either. It doesn't have a balcony but it has amazing wrap-around views.

Both bathrooms have showers. The bathroom just off the smaller bedroom (the one with two lower double beds and two Pullmans) has a standard small circular shower. The bathroom attached to the main bedroom has a large shower/bathtub.

Great article!

I saw a very brief comment a little while back regarding the small size of Adventure Ocean on Vision. We're going to be on Vision in a couple of weeks and are really hoping that our kids spend a decent amount of time there so their parents can get a litte R&R too. Does anyone have any comments on the size of AO on Vision and its amenities (especially compared to Radiance and Oasis class ships). Thx.

I reviewed Royal's policy on bringing wine aboard. It says that I can bring two bottles of wine per room. "Guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne onboard may do so only on boarding day, limited to two (2) 750 ml bottles per stateroom." We have booked two adjacent rooms on Vision for 28 March. My wife and I will be in one room. Our minor kids will be in the room next door. Does that mean we can bring a total of four bottles aboard--two for each room--even though the kids obviously won't be drinking any of it? The Royal policy doesn't really address this, but I don't feel like bringing relatively decent bottles of wine aboard, only to have them confiscated.

We stayed in Serenade 1054 on a cruise last year. In a word: Phenomenal. Frankly, I don't want to say too much because then it will be impossible to ever book this room again. The room is ENORMOUS. And because it isn't a balcony room, the price--at least on our sailing--was UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the hump provide an amazing view. The main room is CAVERNOUS. The second room is small but great for kids. The master bedroom is pretty spacious. All in all, this is a great room.

My only criticisms are that the room seemed really creaky to me, and it wasn't just the motion of the ocean. I've been on enough cruises to know that the problem lay in the room, not the seas. I think when they installed the new room after removing the Conceirge Lounge, they didn't slot it in quite right. Second, in the master bedroom, the noise from the Centrum's music is pretty loud. Bring earplugs if you want to go to sleep before midnight.

Let me save you some time and sum up the Texans-Colts game for you: Luck passes for 420 yards and 5 TDs. JJ Watt has a sack. Final score: Colts 42 - Texans 13. Now you have three extra hours to relax on your cruise!! :D

- Signed a diehard Colts fan

Any idea if the hot chocolate, like most foods/drinks aboard, is made from scratch, or is it out of a Swiss Miss-type packet? Just curious. My kids will drink it either way.

Here is the real deal with this room. It is phenomenal!! In the past, I have been reluctant to fully sing the praises of room 1054 because I don't want it to be perpetually sold out. But it is unbelievable. Regarding the recent question, there is a separate room that sleeps four. It has two lower beds and two Pullman beds. Kids will absolutely love this room.

And this room is far enough away from the adults room that you won't hear the kids at all. The living room area is enormous. Because you are on the hump, you have five or six huge floor to ceiling windows the provide you an awesome view out the side and down the front of the ship. Again, this room is off the hook. And it is generally much cheaper than most other rooms its size. This is probably the best room I have ever been on on any Royal Caribbean ship.

My only criticism's are the following: 1. From the adults' bedroom, you can definitely hear the music from the Centrum at night. If you plan on going to bed before 11 or 1130, it might be challenging. 2. There is a lot of creakiness in this room. I'm not sure if it is when they installed the room during the drydock and they just didn't install it completely correctly, but the room is a very creaky. Maybe they have fixed it since we were on the ship about seven months ago.

I was surprised how little of the food is pre-prepared before on-loading and how much is made from scratch.

I just read a great (albeit typically loooong) article in The New Yorker about feeding 6000 people with excellent food. The article is really fair and largely very positive about feeding so many people and feeding them well. David Foster Wallace is rolling over in his grave! Lots of insights. Here's the link:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/03/floating-feasts

1056 isn't under the ping pong tables and the WJ outdoor seating. It's a little forward of that. It's right under some of the pool seating. We just got off Serenade in 1054, which is right next door to 1056 and is just aft of 1056. We didn't hear any noise from above (but we did hear a lot of creaking, perhaps because of faulty install of the new 1054, which used to be the Concierge Lounge). But that's a post for another thread. But we heard no noise from above.

We have taken our kids to these in the past. They really enjoyed posing with the characters. Our kids are 10, 10 (twins) and 6 now. Since it's only free for kids under 6, that means it would cost us $50 to go to one in the future. We'd enjoy going, but it's just not worth $50 when I think of what else we could use that $50 on either on the ship or at a port. No more character breakfasts for us.:(

Not to put you off the rooms, but on the Radiance the family suites seem to be all right at the front and so therefore very susceptible to movement. Something to keep in mind...

There are at least some that aren't right up at the front. In a couple of weeks, we are going on the Serenade (also Radiance class), and we are staying in a family oceanview that is midship. It's room 1054 and is where the Concierge Lounge used to be. It has a main room and then a second small quasi-room (separated by curtains but not a wall) that has bunk beds. There's also a pull-out sofa that can sleep two. So you can get six in there total. If you search for "Radiance 1054" or "Serenade 1054" on the RCCL threads, you can find some posts with pictures. The Radiance version apparently has a small balcony. The Serenade version just has floor-to-ceiling windows. It's basically on the hump and high up, so the best place on the ship if you are looking to avoid motion sickness.

I'll post a room review after our cruise.

I'm enjoying these comments, and it seems like an interesting issue. And again, let me stress that this is NOT something I plan on doing. As one person pointed out, spending all day in ports trying to sell clothes, electronics, etc. is probably violating all sorts of customs laws but also kind of negates the point of going on vacation. But an interesting idea to ponder. It just popped into my head.