DukeASUGirl

On 3/25/2023 at 11:39 AM, I Fly said:

How far out is the unlimited dining plan offered before a cruise begins?  Our cruise sails on May 12, 2023, 8-night cruise, and they aren’t offering Unlimited dining package.  Might it be offered closer to the cruise departure or just not offered on our cruise if it’s not offered yet?

It's probably sold out. We sail on a May 19 cruise, and have had it available to select for months now.

We hit 45 days today, but got the invitation to bid on a Royal Up a couple of weeks ago.

45 minutes ago, WeMissSeaView said:

I will be on a 7-night Navigator this Friday and I will try to send you one.

Thank you!!!! We'll be on the 5/19 sailing - have an amazing time!

Thank you!

1 hour ago, topnole said:

The ship slides are way smaller than typical water park slides.   Went to an Orlando Hotel with quite a big slide (pretty similar to the size of the ships)  when he was 4 and he was allowed on that one.  He is also allowed on one at a public park near where we live that is probably bigger than the ships slides.  

All the local public pools or hotel pools that have waterslides near us require the kid to be 48 inches, even on slides smaller than the ship's slides. So this wouldn't make me bat an eye at all. I guess it's all what your experience has been, but 48 inches seems to be a standard at many places.

2 hours ago, topnole said:

Our 5 year old is not small by any means and a good swimmer, but you have to be 48 inches as I recall so he couldn’t do it.  

That's pretty standard. I've never been to a waterpark (or pool that has good waterslides) that doesn't require you to be 48 inches for the better waterslides.

If anyone has a recent 7-day entertainment schedule for Navigator, I'd love to see it! The 7-day cruises only happen once a month, so it's been hard to find this.

I tried at 9, and it didn't work. I've been periodically trying and still nothing, so I'm going to try to stay awake for the next 54 minutes, but I'm already dragging. LOL

Thanks!

Royal Caribbean is headquarterered in Miami, so Eastern time zone.

My 45-day check-in is tonight at midnight, but I'm getting conflicting information. Is it midnight Eastern (where Royal is headquartered) or is it midnight Pacific (where the ship is located)?

I live in Arizona, and the cruise goes out of LA, so I'm on the same time zone as the ship currently (because we're rational and don't daylight save in AZ unlike the rest of y'all with your silly Spring Forward), so I'm hoping the check-in is based on time at headquarters, because then that's only 9 pm for me. Much easier to stay awake to check in at 9 pm than at midnight, but you do what you gotta do.

I'd assumed it was based on ship's time, but people on the board for my sailing on another social media are saying it's based on Miami. I guess I could always try at 9 pm, and if it isn't open yet, try again in 3 hours.

We've rented through Cloud of Goods for our cruises. They work with smaller local scooter rental places and let you know if your bid is accepted. It's always come in less than Special Needs at Sea or Scootaround, and have been happy with the service.

41 minutes ago, Jussabitconfused said:

This is ridiculous. You are paying for food served not space taken.

Actually you're paying for both. When they seat a party of 4 at a 4-top, it means they can't sit a different party of 4 there. If the party seated only is charged for 2, it means that they're making less than they would for the party of 4 who would otherwise actually pay for 4. They only have a set number of tables.

On 3/28/2023 at 2:48 PM, Starry Eyes said:

Not many people would pick option #1, but maybe for personal reasons someone would rather cruise in June.  
Option 2 does not work for everyone as many schools are back in session.

Option 2 wouldn't work for my family, because school starts July 19 thus making an August sailing out of the question. But Option 3 gives you the flexibility to pick a new date not limited to June or August. We would definitely take Option 3.

My very first cruise was Alaska when I was 9. I desperately want to take my kids (11 and 13) on an Alaska cruise, but my husband hates flying, so that limits us to ports we can drive to, but I honestly think Alaska is an awesome cruise for kids.

On 3/18/2023 at 5:44 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

KSF definitely doesn't apply to any school breaks.

Wrong! It might not apply to your school district's breaks, but it most definitely applies during Fall Break and the start of summer break for us, but then again we start back to school in July and get out mid-May.

Our cruise we had to cancel back in October was during our Fall Break and was a KSF cruise, as is the one we replaced it with sailing May 19, which leaves the day after school lets out for us. There are plenty of kids whose schools have breaks during weeks when KSF applies, albeit not as many as during other weeks.

On 3/18/2023 at 3:18 AM, melbur said:

Kids sail free..., please stop this promo. ... I had 2 young teens at 4am harass me for any cash I had on me cause they wanted to go back to the arcade and had no money left.

Hellooo, parents?

"Kids sail free" doesn't apply to teenagers. Ages 13+ are considered adults per Royal's pricing. (I know this for a fact bc we had to cancel a cruise due to a hurricane when my daughter was still 12, and rebooked for a later date after she'd turned 13, so we lost our KSF promo.)

On 3/16/2023 at 2:56 PM, sandebeach said:

Do you think it was the Scarecrow or was it the Tin Man?

Cowardly Lion, for sure.

On 3/15/2023 at 10:29 PM, Tree_skier said:

I can't imagine trying to land a double axle with moving ship below you.  Those are hard enough when the rink doesn't shift beneath your feet.

Daughter's coach was in the skating show on Harmony, and she says it's always a weird experience when taking off because you never know what level the ice will be when you land. Maybe the ice will be closer than expected; maybe further. But almost never in the same spot as when you took off.

On 3/15/2023 at 4:29 PM, jeh10641 said:

 

 

Were you cruising during "Spring Break" time for schools? Cruise ships at that time usually sail at more than 100% of capacity because of kids staying in cabins with parents. 

Yes, March 6 is prime Spring Break time, both for colleges and public schools. Of course it's going to be crowded!

Is there any place to snorkel on your own in PV without taking an excursion?

I'm not anti-excursion, but we're doing a horseback excursion in the morning, so there really isn't time to do a second one. We have roughly 4 1/2 hours for a trip to the beach, so I was hoping maybe we could take a taxi to a beach where there might be okay snorkeling (I know the best spots are only accessible by boat). Looking for somewhere close we can do on our own right off the beach, if this exists.

Alternatively, is there any decent snorkeling off-the-beach in Mazatlan? We were planning to do a DIY walking tour of Old Town in the morning, then head to the beach in the afternoon.

On 2/14/2023 at 12:07 AM, Ashland said:

Enjoy Navigator and don't miss the ice show...iSkate Reach For The Stars. One of the best fleetwide.

My daughter's long-term figure skating coach was a member of the ice show on Harmony, but she says Navigator's Reach for the Stars is her very favorite show (and if she ever does another cruise contract, that's the one she wants to do).

On 3/3/2023 at 9:34 AM, moposh said:

I don't know why people want an early boarding time.  Rooms aren't ready.  What can you do?

Eat before the crowds, explore the ship before the crowds, pool, waterslides, rock climbing/surf/etc, sign up for kids club/teen club...generally we eat, then go to pool deck. Yes, we have our carry-ons, but it's really not that big of a deal.

Dragging a carry-on around on a cruise ship is infinitely more interesting to me than hanging out in a hotel room waiting to head to the port. And usually you don't even have to drag it much - plop it down while eating lunch, then head to the pool deck where you plop it down again. By that point, it's usually time to head to cabin.

Looking at my photos from when I did my Alaska cruise, I appear to have been bare-legged in my dresses at night for dinner, just like I would be anywhere else. I don't think I've worn either tights or nylons in years. I didn't hang out up on deck in my dress - it was just for dinner/shows inside where it felt fine to me. If we decided to go up on deck after dinner, I changed into sweats.

We were looking at a 1:30 tour (with a 12:30 arrival in Cabo) and asked the private tour operator, who suggested we do their 3 pm tour instead. They said that an hour is too short a turnaround if you don't have priority for the first tenders.

I made a final payment for my parents and have done stuff in my cruise planner. No problems.

6 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

It looks like all aboard is at 5pm for our three ports which made 5:30pm dinner really nice - get back on the ship by 4:30pm, shower and get ready for dinner, head down to eat with plenty of time. Now if we want to eat in MDR we have to cut our port time a little shorter, and the days in port are fairly short anyway.

Our "all aboards" for our 3 ports are 8 pm, 6 pm, and 6 pm, so Early Dining at 5 just won't work for us. It's unfortunate. 😞