ntourtelotte

My kids only have passport cards as the only time they've been out of the US previously is driving to Canada. Based on my reading, I think those will work for our cruise. We are taking the Breeze out of Galveston and stopping in Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan. Am I correct?

And, I had previously assumed that you should take your passport with you when leaving the ship. I read recently that this isn't really the case and then in port you should just take your sign and sail card and that's good enough?

Thank you!

Question that relates to this thread-How does it work to give permission for your child under 13 to use the HUB app? And, each person in your party has their own unique username or number?

Our family of 4 made reservations for a cruise in April. After we made reservations, grandma and grandpa decided to come along with us and made their own reservations. We both have My Time Dining. Is there a way to connect our reservations so that we can be seated together? Will that make a difference or can we just request that? What about embarkation? We are on the Breeze and I think they assign times? How would we request the same times?

I'm sure there are obvious answers to these things, but we've never done this.

Are there many differences between the Magic and Breeze? For the week we are looking at, 7 days on the Breeze is $800 less for our family of 4. Why? I think I'd pay a about $200 more for transportation two and from the airport in Galveston than Port Canaveral so that is a still a significant savings.

The Breeze has 3 port days instead of 4. Is that part of the price difference?

One advantage for me is that I'm a little nervous about ship movement while sleeping and I can get a lower, center ship room on the Breeze compared to the Magic. Does that make much difference on the big ships?

I'm looking at a cruise that leaves March 2018. I'm seeing lots of full rooms, especially rooms for 4 already. Should I be booking already? I read 2 things on another thread that I'm looking for more info on.

If I call, would the person on the phone have access to more rooms than I can see online?

I also read not to book "early saver". That is the prices I see online. Are there other options?

Should I be booking now? I feel like there are sales a lot. What is a good sale for Carnival?

Thank you!

The magic port stops are by far our favorite. You had better like anthem, because that is a bunch of sea days.

 

 

 

Can you share what activities you would recommend or really like about some of these ports?

 

Thank you!

Thank you so muchfor suggestions so far.

We are not ableto drive to any ports. We are very mid-west located. Here are some of our mostviable options at this point-

RCL

Anthem of the Seas, $4700, Orlando; CocoCay; Nassau, Bahamas

Liberty of the Seas, $3260, Cozumel; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth,Jamaica

Freedom of the Seas, $3600, Basseterre,St. Kitts; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; San Juan,

Labadee, Haiti

**Liberty of the Seas seems like a good selection here except that itleaves from Galveston and it seems like transportation from Houston airports isexpensive so that adds to the cost.

Carnival-

Magic-$3300, Cozumel—Belize—MahoganyBay—Costa Maya

Vista-$3500, Ochos Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

Breeze-$2700, Cozumel—Belize—Mahogany Bay (Galveston again)

Glory-$3100, Half moon cay, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

NCL

Escape-$3900+2 free upgrades, St Thomas; Tortola, Virgin Islands, Nassau,Bahamas

Haven't looked as much at others here.

Also wondering about gratuities if we do free specialty dining.

We are looking at a Spring Break cruise the first week of April 2018. We have 2 boys, 10 and 13. We do not need the newest and fanciest ship, but want to have plenty of amenities, including water slides, mini golf, ideally a rock climbing wall, and some dining selections. We've seen various other amenities that look great--besides the ones listed, variety is good. We are trying to make a budget-aware decision. We don't need the cheapest available, but want to make sure we are aware of how everything adds up-general cost, gratuity, ports, etc.

Here is some of what we are looking at-

RCL-Anthem of the Seas or Liberty of the Seas (Liberty is cheaper, but Anthem stops at CocaCay where we could have a beach day for free)

Carnival-Magic, Breeze, Glory (Glory seems a little smaller, but stops at Half Moon Cay where I think we could have a beach day for free and I like the other port possibilities more)

NCL-Escape or Epic

One question about NCL-they have free add-on options. If you do the Free Specialty Dining, do you end up paying extra gratuity on that?

Any feedback on any of these ships?

And then, here are some of our port options. Ultimately, I think we'd like to have a day at a beach somewhere and we like old towns that would allow us to see something historic or just walk around a safe town (think San Juan). Thoughts on if any of these ports would easily allow for either of those--Nassau, George Town, Falmouth, Cozumel, Belize, Mahagany Bay, Costa Maya, St Thomas, Grand Turk, Tortola?

Finally, am I understanding the "ship owned island" correctly for CocoCay and Half Moon Cay? Is it true that we would be able to get off the ship and hang at the beach and that lunch on the beach is part of the cruise so we wouldn't really have to spend anything unless we rented snorkel stuff or an umbrella?

Thank you!