moesyk4

Thanks everyone! I went back and looked at our cruise and noticed that just for our sailing, they had randomly changed our private island stop to a Nassau stop, blech. That is a dealbreaker for us. By the time I switched to the next cheapest sailing that still hits the private island, it was only $200 more to go for the ocean view.

Hope they don't change that sailing too!

We have our 10 year anniversary cruise picked out for November 2015 on the Allure of the Seas, first time on that ship!

Originally, we booked a boardwalk balcony, as far aft as we could, on deck 11 so we could see the Aquatheater from our balcony. I also liked that you could see some ocean as well. With the recent sale, our room is down about $350 from what we already booked at.

I recently realized that one of my club memberships offers travel perks and one is $70 OBC for cruises booked through them. I went through them to find a similar room, but that entire floor of boardwalk balconies now appears to be booked (checked RCCL and a couple other websites and nothing is coming up). Instead, I found a Central Park view balcony for an additional $150 off plus the $70 OBC. I figure we can always do the 'secret" balcony to watch the shows, so that wasn't a dealbreaker, but I'm worried that not seeing the ocean is going to make me feel like I'm at a nice hotel instead of on a ship.

We also looked into just doing an oceanview balcony, but it would add an additional $150-200 per person to our cost...we did a cove balcony with Carnival on our last cruise and honestly, it spoiled me. The privacy, the closeness to the ocean, the sound of the waves, it was perfect. I am worried for the additional cost, a "regular" balcony is going to seem not worth it now!

Anybody have any insight that I'm missing? We currently have a reservation on both the boardwalk balcony and the central park one.

We took our just turned 4 year old with us on the Carnival Breeze back in January and this was the thing I was most disappointed in..we planned to have DS in the kid's club for at least two hours a day so that we could have adult time too. From the way people described it, their kids were obsessed with the kid's club and never wanted to leave, and the activities were amazing!

We didn't have that impression though...we did drop DS off almost every day for at least a little while, but I felt much more like I was dropping him off at our gym's child watch. As in, I felt like it would enhance his vacation and be a great addition, it felt more like a babysitter instead. He did fine there, but was always happy to see us.

Screen time was on the schedule at least three times a day...usually in the evenings (either just listed as a movie or as part of a themed "party"), then at least 1 hour of Wii time, and then randomly at another time. The staff, while nice, were never engaged in whatever activity happened to be on the schedule at the time of drop off. For instance, one night they had a pirate party planned, and DS loves pirates, so we talked it up all day to him. The schedule listed face painting, treasure hunts, crafts, tattoos, and prizes. He walked away with a pirate hat that was premade and that was it. They didn't do anything else listed.

Also, something we noticed, was they closed the kid's club at key times on sea days for pay activities, like Build a Bear. It was always at times that I felt would be peak times for dropping a child off.

All that to say, get a lot of feedback from others as far as the actual club as opposed to just what the cruise line brags about. Like I said, it was fine, but I like you wanted DS to be experiencing stuff he couldn't just do at my house's living room!

Yes, it makes adjoining cabins generally a better deal, which is really nice! We had our anniversary cruise booked on the Oasis next September and booked right away because of the type of room we wanted (boardwalk balcony with good view of the aquatheater). With this sale, we ended up switching to the Allure, same itinerary, better dates (we have sailed in September before and while doable, it's SO hot!). We got the same cabin placement and saved about $400 for two of us. The price was great to begin with so I was happy!

I put a hold on a 5 day Independence cruise next December for us, our (will be then) 3 children, and my MIL as she has wanted to cruise with us. For THREE promenade rooms, the total including taxes was right around $2,200, a fantastic deal IMO. Let the hold go though...as I have no desire to travel with a 1 year old, 2 year old, and 5 year old, as well as my MIL in a car for 22 hours, even for a cruise. :p

If my dates are right you have already sailed :), but we went on a cruise this past January with another couple where both of us found out we were pregnant after the final cancellation date. I was 14 weeks at cruise time, she was around 7 or 8 I believe.

I had morning sickness up until the day before we left, and it came back as soon as we came home, go figure. But the whole cruise, I was fine!

She on the other hand, was in the thick of it. I think you just have to go into it knowing it's not going to be like a "normal" cruise and be ok with what it is. She still really enjoyed the cruise and had a great time, but was ok with just relaxing a lot, and didn't get disappointed if she felt like going to bed early or skipping dinner one night.

Will have to check tomorrow, we have a cruise booked during that time frame. We are not picky on dates, so even if we had to book a new one, it'd be worth it. We are picky on rooms though, not sure if the ones we want (boardwalk balcony with a view of the aquatheater) are still available or not!

My DH and I have said for years we would like to do a big trip for our 10 year anniversary, which is coming up next summer (2015). We really can't afford to do more than one cruise every two years, and just took one this past January, so barring something major that would be it for another 2 years.

We currently have a 4 year old son who came with us on our January cruise and LOVED it. We also loved having him along, although we weren't impressed by the kids club on the Carnival Breeze and so didn't get as much alone time as we'd like to try out Serenity and such, so there is definitely still pros and cons.

There is a chance our foster son will become adoptable and he would be a little over 2 at that age. We are also pregnant with our second and she will be a little over a year at that point.

DH and I went on our last cruise, a 5 day one with 2 hotel nights, when DS was just over 2 and although we definitely enjoyed ourselves, by the 4th day on the boat (and 5th day of vacation), we really, really missed him and were somewhat ready to be home.

That being said, I have absolutely no desire, and I mean none, to take a child younger than 3 on a cruise. We want to be able to utilized the kid's club and not have the entire cruise stressful dealing with naps, not being able to do any excursions we like, etc. With DS this past January, we were able to adapt nicely with his age, which was great.

Ok, so on to my point. I've got a deposit down on a 7 day for the two of us for next summer on the Oasis of the Seas and am very excited about it. But I am torn as well! I think it would be extremely difficult to leave DS at home when we know how much he loved cruising, especially knowing it could be a long time until he can go (by then, he'd be 7 years old). But then, we won't have any time as a couple besides a couple of hours here and there, and wouldn't be able to afford another couple's cruise.

Also, I have a feeling 7 days is going to be way too long away from the other two and we will be homesick by the end...I'm a big supporter of couple's times alone, but a week is a long time at that age. I would prefer not to do a shorter cruise though, have done that before and it was way too fast.

Any suggestions, tips, ideas I'm not thinking of? I know we have time, but if possible would like to book our "preferred cabin" in advance with the option of changing if need be.

Loved, loved, loved our cove on Breeze in January. We had the roughest seas I have ever experienced and the balcony was never noticeably wet. It was so private, so close to the water and peaceful, just perfect. We actually have a balcony booked on the Oasis of the Seas for our 10 year next year and I'm a little worried we aren't going to enjoy it because it'll be so normal and exposed compared to the cove. We lucked out and got one with a slight break in the lifeboats, so got both sun and shade.

without a single supplement? Is there an easy way to look?

We have a bunch of airline miles that are about to expire and I thought it'd be fun to send DH on a short cruise. I can't go with because it would significantly raise the price and I'm more than 25 weeks pregnant...are there any promos for this going on now or a way to look it up?

I snatched up a boardwalk balcony on the Oasis for Sep 2015 when it was released because it was one on the end of deck 11 and you can see the Aquatheater from there. Now I am having second thoughts, thinking we can have an ocean view and then just use the secret balconies to watch the shows. Is there something i am missing besides the fact that it would just be your party? Does it get crowded, or closed, or anything I should know about?

It's our 10 year anniversary, with the exception of just upgrading to a suite, is there any particularly awesome room on this ship that would be worth switching to instead?

Our last cruise was on the Carnival Breeze and i'll admit, the cove balcony completely spoiled me. I'm worried going back to a "regular" ocean view balcony will seem like a downgrade.

We did river tubing privately with Courtney Taylor with our 4 year old and I'm almost positive it was not the same place as the ships go, but our son had absolutely no problem. We brought his puddle jumper with, the tubes had a bottom, and it's shallow. I think the deepest it got was right towards the end, and it was maybe 4 feet? There were some very small "rapids" but nothing our son didn't enjoy. They all had ropes so we could hang on to each other as well.

We went to Bamboo Blu beach with Courtney Taylor and I would be surprised if there was a cruise ship group there...there were maybe 75 people on the beach total, and it's not very big. And not a place I would imagine they would make a whole excursion out of...I mean, we loved it and it was perfect for us, but it's not a big "touristy" stop...as in, lots of vendors, drinks being sold, etc. It was very laid back.

Hey, that's me! Glad I could help :)

As the PPer stated, we took our 4 year old to Jamaica through Courtney Taylor tours in January. My understanding is that you can't climb Dunn's River falls unless you are over the age of 6, and unfortunately most tours included that, so it was tough.

We ended up doing river tubing with Courtney, it was so beautiful and peaceful. We saw 2 other people the whole time, and that was at our break stop. They were excellent with our son, and he loved it. Some little rapids, but no problem at all for him, and most of it was peaceful. Fairly short (1 hour total), which it could've been longer!

Then he took us to Bamboo Blu beach, which was small but very nice and only one vendor, which was sooo nice not to be harassed. They have nice bathrooms and a little restaurant as well. Then we went to Scotchies. I believe they had a 4 person minimum, our DS was free and then we had 2 couples. We had a blast!

My DH got the AI package and the drinks were not watered down, in fact, he had to ask them to remake his first couple because they were too strong, and he can drink strong drinks usually no problem.

I can't compare to other places, but there would be plenty for all ages to do, that's for sure.

We just went in january and booked privately, it was super easy and for us, much cheaper than the cruiseline. We prepaid through their website and DH got the AI package and our 4 year old DS and I both just paid for the day pass. In hindsight, I would've just gotten us the buffet too and to order food was pricey and not much better. It ended up being a wash as far as that goes.

Anyway, taxi I believe was $16 each way (for up to 4). It was about a 10 minute ride, absolutely no issues.

A big plus for going privately is being on your own time...we got there an hour before the ship's excursion and stayed 45 minutes later.

And I agree, I know some people on here are big Nachi or Chakanaab fans, but Playa Mia was fantastic for kids...besides the really nice kids play area (which had at least 7-8 little slides, tons of little fountains, pirate ships, etc.) they had the big water slides (DS was too little), the water toys (it was windy and quite chilly that day so we did not use), a playground on the beach, a kid's play area with toys, and beach toys scattered in the sand, in addition to everything adults would want like kayaks and the adult pools.

Playa Mia is extremely easy and much cheaper to do on your own. Cozumel is well known for being easy to do by taxis and all the rates are set and clearly displayed, so no surprises. We preordered online through their website with no issues, which was nice as I am pregnant and couldn't drink and obviously DS didn't need an AI package. I think we saved $30-40 per person just by doing this as opposed to through the ship.

Taxis are all lined up waiting when you arrive, and it's about a 10 minute taxi drive. $16 if I remember right for up to 4 people. When you are ready to go, there are multiple taxis waiting, same cost back.

When we went, we arrived a good hour before the ship excursions and got to stay about 45 minutes later, so it was well worth it for that alone.

We went with Captain marvins in January and it was amazing, highly recommend!

As the PPers have said, you meet at a little storefront and they drive you over. The storefront is just outside the port area, you can see it. Their boats (I think all of them) are in a little cove about 15 minutes from port.

We did the 3 stop with beach lunch tour so I'm not sure if the snorkeling is in the same spot, but it is about 10 feet deep. My son was 4 at the time and had gotten overwhelmed at the conch dive at the previous stop, so DH and I took turns snorkeling. There was another in our tour group that stayed on the boat the entire time, not sure why. It was obviously not an issue! The water was so clear we could show our son the fish and sting rays from the boat. They do provide little life vests if you are interested, and the salt water is so bouyant you practically float.

The sting ray stop was very shallow, maybe waist deep? Even when you hopped in. Our son had a puddle jumper (type of life vest) and was totally fine going in and hanging out with the sting rays.

I can't answer the rest as our tour was different. There was plenty of little restaurants by the pier so if you wanted to wait to eat, I'm sure you could. Our beach lunch tour obviously included lunch, which was nice.

We did a private tour with Captain Marvins when our ship arrived at 8 am and last tender was at 3:15 I believe. Our tour was set to meet at 8:30 am at the center right there and ended at 2:30. i didn't realize until we met them it meant the boat returned at 2:30, so it didn't include a return trip.

We were on Carnival and had their FTTF, so it gave us priority tender. If we had gotten there immediately at 8:00, we would've been fine probably, but we were running slightly behind and so we were late to meet the group by maybe 15 minutes. It was a tight squeeze.

Our tour ended early because of weather by maybe an hour, and traffic on the way back was horrid, don't know if that's normal, but the whole port area was extremely clogged. If we had left at 2:30 as scheduled, we would've been extremely close if we would've made it at all. I would ask if it means ship to ship time or just the tour time, as that will make a difference.

Our son turned 4 just a few weeks before his first cruise. The shore excursions were a blast and he loved them, but I agree you will have to know your child and know what you are comfortable with. Our son still napped most days, especially with all the activity, so that got a little tricky. If I were to do it again, I probably would've picked shorter excursions since we had early dinner and it made naps short and somewhat hectic "You need to fall asleep right now!"

Other than that though, it was sooo worth it to take him with us. We did all private tours, which I highly recommend. You can cater more to your family and your child.

In Jamaica, we did a private tour company that took us river tubing, to the beach, and out for an authentic lunch. The river tubing was perfect for him, fun, fairly short (around an hour total), and not too intense. The beach of course was great and good amount of time (we stayed 2 hours).

In Grand Cayman, we took a private company beach snorkeling tour. We tried him in the water for snorkeling, and he was excited, but the sea was choppy so that ended fast. He was happy just hanging on to me that first stop, and the second stop DH and I had to switch off snorkeling. The third stop was the sting rays, which he absolutely loved, as he did the 4th stop which was starfish. Of course, in both stops, lunch was fine. This one had a lot of time on the boat, which he really enjoyed.

In Cozumel, we went to an AI that was also known for its extensive kid's play area. DH got his fill of drinks and food, I got a mix of laying out and playing (I'm pregnant so no drinking for me!) and DS had a blast playing in the sand and the play area.

We are hoping to sail Oasis or Allure in 2015 and I saw a few months back a pic of the Boardwalk balcony cabins on the end with the great view of the aquatheater. I snatched one up now that the new itineraries are out, but I wanted to show DH a pic to see if he would prefer that over ocean view (we were on a cove on Carnival last cruise and it was incredible). I searched but can't find the pic, does anyone have one? We are on 11727 specifically.

I also picked 11 because I heard of the secret balcony, does anyone have more info on that and pics as well? TIA!

We got back from our cruise a couple of weeks ago and used Courtney Taylor in Jamaica...we loved it! Courtney himself was our driver and we had a nice, air conditioned van all to ourselves. He was waiting for us when we got off the ship and we were on the van within 5 minutes of talking to the transporter. The two girls in our group were pregnant and we also had a 4 year old so our activity selection was limited, but we had chosen the river tubing, beach, and lunch combo.

The river tubing was amazing and sooo private. Our guide was an entertainer and sang the whole way lol. But we literally did not see anyone along the whole river except when we stopped for a break and saw one other couple. It was very relaxing, and my husband enjoyed the beer :).

Courtney drove us to the beach...they take you to a more private beach, which is nice as there were no vendors. He asked us how long we wanted to stay and was there waiting when we were ready.

Then it was lunch at Scotchies! Delicious! We liked that Courtney was willing to talk about anything, from the touristy stuff to more personal things that made the tour better than just a generic one. They were great with our son and we always felt safe. One of the highlights of our trip!

Meant to say as well, the drinks my DH said were very strong and plentiful. There were at least 4 places you could order drinks from depending on where you were. There were a few small shops if you were interested in shopping as well.

We just returned from our cruise last week and went to Playa Mia at our Cozumel stop. We LOVED it. We had a 4 year old with us and it was perfect for him. I'm pregnant, but since we went through the website instead of Carnival we were able to order the AI package for DH and then just the beach passes for DS and I. The taxis are $16 set rate each way and the ride is less than 10 minutes. There were at least a dozen taxis waiting for us when we were ready to go. The cruise ship group came an hour after us and left 45 minutes before us so I would definitely go on your own.

It was very clean and well maintained. The kid's area had probably 15 different little slides and play structures which my son loved. There are two big waterslides which we never used. There is also a pool with a hydrotherapy tub (didn't call it a hot tub, and it wasn't hot, just warm) in the middle and another pool with a swim up bar. The bar was not open and no one was in that pool for some reason. There is a cute playground on the beach as well as a covered kid's area with toys. There were plenty of beach toys laid out as well, and some hammocks. It was fairly cool and very breezy the day we went, but the inflatable water toys were open, although the kayaks and sailboats were not. We did not try the water toys.

The chairs on the beach were never more than a 1/3 full the whole time. My DH was happy with the buffet...DS and I ordered off the menu. Next time, I would just pay for the middle package which included the buffet as the regular menu was pricey and I don't think the food was significantly better.

Here are some pics!

This is the playground area...

The food area

Kid's water area

The beach

Pool with kid's area in the background

We chose against Peat Taylor because I had heard his private tours are not necessarily private as in your own group. When we were in port, we passed his bus which had at least 30 people on board. If you were looking at doing your own thing, I"m sure he could arrange it.

Anyway, we took Courtney Taylor and primarily did the beach...we had a 4 year old and 2 pregnant ladies so most of the touristy stuff was off limits. We did a short river tubing expedition first which was fantastic and then went to Bamboo Blu Beach. I was very, very happy with this beach, primarily because I had heard Jamaica is one of the worst as far as vendors go, and I HATE that while trying to relax. This beach appears to be privately owned (we had to go into a gate community next to the RIU to get there) and so there is only one person there selling massages. They asked once and then left us alone. The beach is not terribly huge but is also not busy at all. There appeared to be chairs for rent and also a few tented bed type areas. There is also a sit downish restaurant in the middle and very nice bathrooms. We spent about 2 hours there, which is usually plenty of time for me at the beach, but we wanted to stay longer at the end. The water was very clear and not rocky at all.