Itchy&Scratchy

We loved staying there. There was a Pollo Tropical 1-2 minute walk away and Burger King. We ate at the Pollo Tropical - it was pretty good for a late night dinner after the long day of traveling. This time we are staying at the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon (because I sadly couldn't get the same great rate at the EB hotel again). I am glad to hear there are some eateries around it as well.

Thank you! Nightlight's USB plug goes into the USB phone plug with two equal prongs which then goes into the razor outlet. Since we bring several USB adapters with us, there is no shortage of those. thank you for letting me know. It will be our first time on MSC. We do have a battery operated one we can take with us.

mine's cuter. 🙂USB plug.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2956063-is-the-5-extra-entree-charge-true-in-mdr/

We went to the Pirate Beach club once and didn't like it. It was underwhelming. We like a good beach for swimming and exploring, and don't care to have food or drinks. We like going to Blue Bay Beach Club. Last year the entrance fee was $12 per adult and $6 per child, which gets you as many chaises as you want, but they don't have umbrellas. They have a few free palapas for use on a first come first serve basis. It's a small beach, so it gets full quickly, but it's not overcrowded like some beach clubs in Cozumel. We must have shade, since we burn easily and have a red head in our midst. I would wear water shoes. Once you get in the water, it's sandy and you don't need them, but we don't like the occasional pokes of the sharp rocks on the beach. They have a nice bar/restaurant on the premises, but we don't usually buy food on shore, so I can't comment on the quality. The taxi is $40 each way (per taxi, not pp). There might be more space beyond the point between the blue and the green buildings although we never went that far, but I think the palapas there belong to the Blue Bay beach club as well.

I too would like to recommend Princess. Our first Celebrity cruise will be next year, but Princess is usually more upscale and sophisticated than Carnival or RCI. That said, I would stick with Royal class and newer ships on Princess. Longer cruises tend to attract a much older crowd. We usually go during school holidays which attracts families with kids, but last time we went on a 10 day Thanksgiving cruise, and the average age seemed to be 75+. We are in our late 40s. Celebrity is similar to Princess - more posh than Carnival or RCI. RCI does offer lots of fun and active things to do on most of their ships, like ice skating, zip lining, rock climbing, laser tag, surf simulator.... We like RCI a lot as well. Their shows are usually great as well (but look for newer ships). I don't have an opinion on any of the more upscale and premium lines - never been on them, and don't plan to either. We travel with our kid and we are not luxury oriented....

I had a different problem. When I added our passports, MSC website automatically changed the day of issuance by one day. Let's say I was entering August 4, 2023. It ended up being August 5, 2023. I changed it back, saved. It's back to being one day off... Sigh. When I checked in, the docs showed the correct day of issuance.

yes. This is what I used on Enchanted last November. We didn't have any motion activated lights in the deluxe balcony cabin. I plug it in the bathroom, because I am night blind, but I don't want to wake up the entire family by keeping it outside the bathroom. I crack the bathroom door open and keep the night light on a dim setting - just enough for me to make it to the bathroom without falling or stumbling into furniture. I get up a couple of times a night, but nobody else in my family does.

At that point in time we were always seated at a large table with strangers, and both my son and husband are introverts who do not enjoy talking to strangers. Also, not many adults enjoy a conversation with somebody else's 3 yo. We know what worked for our family and I simply shared it in case it helps somebody else's. Please note how my post is all "this is what we did" and "this is what worked for us" instead of "you should do this" and "what you will need to do is."

well, every kid is different. Mine would have been bored to death with just the adults talking about adult things and would start whining, probably, but our friends' kid has ADHD, so for him it was nearly impossible to sit through the dinner. He was running around, getting under the table, etc. A tablet would have most likely saved everyone a lot of trouble. Learning to behave and being able to sit through a 2 hour dinner are different things. Also, mine had separation and stranger anxiety, so we couldn't ship him off to kid's club even if we wanted to.

I would go with Sun Princess. Voyager is older, but it does have lots of fun things for kids. Sun Princess is new and is supposed to be a lot more fun for kids than other Princess ships. It's very different! I have booked RCI ships in the last few years, but my kid ended up NOT wanted to do any of the activities except for laser tag. I overpaid for all the fun he refused to have. He wants to go on Princess ships... European cruises are more port intensive than Caribbean cruises. You may end up spending a lot more time on shore....

you are going to have a wonderful cruise! We cruise with our kid (he was 3 when he started) and he had a blast on all of the cruises. He especially loves Princess ships, even though they don't have much for kids, and he doesn't do kid's club. Princess is a lot like Celebrity - more sophisticated and upscale than kid-friendlier lines. But nobody hates or despises the kids... As for tips, I only have a couple: when he was 3 until about 10, we always brought a tablet with headphones with us to the dining room, with a small tablet stand. This allowed us to enjoy dinner in peace, while DS enjoyed cartoons or kid movies. People always remarked on how well behaved nd quiet he was. Once he got to 10+ yo, he decided that he was grown enough to have conversations at dinner table in MDR and be entertained by them as well. 🙂 At 3-8 yo we also brought a small container with small toys for him to play with when chilling in the cabin or elsewhere. He still brings a stuffed toy with him to sleep with. He is 12 now.

there have been multiple threads on the subject over the years. Last year I bought these on Amazon by searching "airtag holder bracelet" . We like them a lot. If you have very wide wrists, you may find them to be uncomfortably short. My hub's wrists aren't as chubby as mine, but he found them to be too tight. I liked mine even though it was on the very last hole. Kiddo loved his. make sure to get this type of closure: others unsnap easily. Previously we used the clips: we liked them just fine, but I think we like airtag watch bands better. My parents like both clips and lanyards.

Costa Maya has a nice port area, but it could get extremely crowded with many ships in port. Other than that, it's a lovely beach destination, but that's about it. Honestly, Western Caribbean ports can all be exchanged one for another without much loss or regret. In Belize we did an underground cave river tubing tour and it was terrific. Not through the cruise. Requires regular mobility and ability to carry your tube for about a mile, though. all cruise lines occasionally make changes like this. Princess is by far not the only one. I am sure you won't regret sailing with Princess. We sailed on Regal Princess a couple of times and loved it.

lol, we didn't even go cruising and we got covid several weeks ago. It's going around now and it's been back full force for a couple of months at least.

that's not true in every case. We got the "free Easy Plus and Wifi" promotion at the time of booking of a Caribbean cruise. We all know it's not actually free, but that's what MSC calls it. Both adults have the Easy Plus and Wifi, while the child automatically got the Minor Package. We didn't have to purchase a package for him separately.

does it have to be a tour? We just love going to the beach in both Bonaire and Curacao. Klein Bonaire is a heaven for snorkelers.

that is by far not the only area that sets them apart. We were on the Oasis this year. The food was good, definitely not the school lunch level (I have a middle schooler, so I would know), and definitely better than what OP is describing. I expected much worse, because the new menu was rolled out right before our cruise, but my fears were for not.

car seats, internet connection speed and female hygiene products. 🙂

Thanks! We are more of a $50 or less people if we can help it. 🙂 And we eat on the ship.

I am with you on that one. 🙂 Other than that, Costa Maya does have lovely beaches, and we'll never ever skip a beach day.

not true for everyone. We always go to Mahahual (Blue Kay beach club, not AI) and enjoy a super relaxing beach day. So, no excursion, and definitely not staying in an inside room on the ship all day.

well, darn it, it's actually rolled out on the ship we are going to be sailing on. And yes, it applies to all 2nd+ entrees, we've already discussed that.

If McD's sold their product as an all inclusive, I'd be very surprised to see an additional charge for a second burger.

I booked it last year. MSC added the service charge this week. How could I have known last year when I made a booking that MSC would sneakily add a service charge for 2+ entrees this year? Are you posting for the sake of posting or...?