EMOSEA

I got some magnet decorations for my birthday door. 

Just now, Aplmac said:

Order the Indian Veggie thing!

 

I get the Indian Vegetarian at least half the nights! Love it! 

I'm vegetarian, and also allergic to wheat. I eat dinner in the MDR and order the night ahead (on the first day of sailing I talk to the maître d and order for that night). Lunches have plenty of options - Guy's has a veggie burger and GF buns, Buffet has salads, Pizza has GF crusts if you ask for it (last time I did this it was terrible, maybe they are better now?). My favorite lunch spot is Blue Iguana.. if GF you can get corn tortillas, if just veg you can get anything with just beans and whatever toppings. I've never gone hungry on a cruise. 

Our cruise is on Sep 26 from NOLA. We've thought a lot about this, but if there was a big outbreak on the cruise we're in a balcony (if they let us stay in our room). We're traveling with N95 masks in case we need them. And if we were to test positive, we'll be bringing our work computers and can work remotely from a quarantine hotel. Our kids will be safe with the grandparents and we'll just let their schools know they can't come back until we're done with quarantine. I hope it doesn't happen, but we have a few plans in place in case it does. 

That was the last cruise I took before covid. Have a great time! 

Before our upcoming cruise we've been more frugal. Our upcoming cruise we're splurging a little more (balcony, drink package, private cabana for our shore excursion). When we take the whole family on our next cruise after that one we're back in oceanview cabins and DIY shore excursions with no drink packages. 

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Aft excel corner suite.   My fav

 

 

 

 

 

That tub 😍  Just went on my bucket list, lol

I'm booked on Glory for Sept 26th and can't wait to see her in person! 

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

I’m sailing with a dear friend who is 100% vegan on Sensation this November. Don’t suppose anyone here is vegan or has sailed with a vegan and can help me out on what her options will be? It’s her first cruise and we picked a short one (5 days) since we are nervous about vegan options on a smaller boat. 

I'm vegetarian and gluten free.. so not vegan but definitely dietary restrictions. Blue Iguana will make vegan burritos and tacos, Guy's has a vegan burger, the MDR will make vegan options (there are two or three veggie options a night and you can order a night ahead to make them dairy/egg/meat free. There's also options for breakfast for both on port days (masala dosas are my favorite here!), and sea day brunch. The pizza place will make a pizza without cheese, and there's plenty of salads in the buffet. If you have a sushi place on board, they'll make veggie sushi as well. 

never mind.. I saw you already selected refund. 

I'm booked on the Glory for Sept 26th and so excited I get to go on this cruise! I wanted to sail out of NOLA for my birthday since that's where I was born (I haven't been there since I was 5). 🙂  

32 minutes ago, Sagittarius traveler said:

I love if they add more indian or other vegetarian dishes on the menu.

Same here. I know Royal has a whole vegan menu in their MDR, that would be so nice! I love Indian food, so I usually order the Indian Vegetarian at least half the nights. 

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

another thing I thought of - OP, when was the last time you were in Florida during the summer and walked outside all day?

My business trip was in April, and it was HOT and HUMID in Orlando. Like, awful. And I am from GA, which is much closer to FL, and I would assume much more similar climate wise. 🙂 Just something to think about.

I have thought about that. We can also consider for their spring break instead, but we don't know when that is yet 🙂 

1 hour ago, toad455 said:

I missed Heald's announcement this morning, anyone have a summary of what he said?

He said they'll hopefully announce by the end of this week. 

1 minute ago, imola said:

We are sailing first one out in October and bought our plane tickets the week before 4th of July before fares jumped up again. 

I was tracking our fares and had to jump at the price drop when it happened. So I guess if it doesn't sail I'll be spending the week in NOLA, lol. 

Just now, Crazy planning mom said:

If you want to a shorter cruise, try a 4 day cruise.   That gives you a sea day to enjoy the ship and the 4 day sailings are more family friendly than a 3 day 

 If we take out trying to squeeze in Key West, I think we we could do a 4-day. Thanks! 

1 hour ago, bury me at sea said:

 

You will be contacted prior to dinner about allergies and aversions and the chef will accommodate your needs for specific courses.

Not OP, but.. I've always wanted to try something like this out but figured my dietary restrictions wouldn't allow it (vegetarian & wheat allergy). Do you think they'd accommodate something like that? 

2 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

We have a large family too and understand that airfare is a significant expense when you have many children.  Many times it actually becomes the deciding factor.  Just a "big family - small cabin" hint:  You can take advantage of the showers at the gym/spa area on most ships if you have too many people trying to shower at once in your cabin(s).  They are actually bigger and nicer than the showers in your cabin.  They have towels down there so you don't need to bring.  I'd vote for something out of Port Canaveral so you can include Disney/Universal.  With the ages your boys are that would be a perfect vacation.

Thanks! We definitely do want to do Disney while we're there, and my friend in FLL area that we're planning to visit actually works for Disney so she's planning on saving some of her buddy passes for us so we can all go together. That will definitely help with the cost, Disney World is more expensive than taking the kids on a cruise! 

43 minutes ago, WisconsinFan said:

 

 

Key West as the crow flies doesn't look that far away, but A1A is a two lane highway and you usually will drive 50 mph or less! My first time to Key West I was at a training conference for the BSA at Sea Base and we had an afternoon/evening off to see the sites. We were on Lower Matecumbe in Islamorada (mile marker 73.8) and so the drive down was 73 miles and took 2.5 hours at least due to a bad accident on our way.

 

Enjoy the planning and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Thanks for this! Key West is just one of those places I'd like to visit someday, but we don't *have* to do it. Visiting a National Park was how I talked DH into doing this trip, lol, so I can't axe that one. 

9 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

 

 

oh, no, you didn't just say that.... You simply MUST go on a 6-7 day cruise with your kids - RCI ships offer so much! What's the use of planning a cruise 2 years in advance if you are going to end up on a booze cruise for college students?

I would LOVE to, but vacation days and budget are a factor as well. It's pretty pricey to fly a family of 6 to FL to do a cruise and Disney. Hopefully it won't be our one and only and the kids will know if they'll like Carnival or Royal better for our next one (we promised our kiddos a graduation cruise so it won't be too long until we do it again). 

Hello good people. I'm in the first stages of planning a big 'ol Florida vacation with our family of six in 2023: 2 adults, and 4 boys who will be 16, 13 or 14 (depends on if it's June or July), 11, and 8. We're from SLC, Utah and we've only cruised Carnival so far. This would be our kids 2nd cruise. One of the things we'd really like to do there is take the kids on a Coco Caye cruise. We also have a friend in Ft. Lauderdale who will plan to visit and go to Disney World with. And while we're there we also might want visit Everglades National Park and Key West. Anywho, I like to plan early so I want to see what kind of room(s) we should get once they open up for summer 2023... should we call and book a family size room or go for adjoining rooms? We don't need anything fancy as we're just going to do a 3-day, because we really just want to go Coco Caye and don't care about the other ports. 

So.. should we pick a ship out of Miami, FLL, or Orlando (Port Canaveral)? We'll base our other vacation days around our cruise. But with having a friend in FLL area it might make sense to cruise out of there and stay with her family for the night. I don't know what else to ask, really, just trying to get a feel for what we should plan and see if all you lovelies have any tips or advice for us. Thanks! 

I've only cruised on Carnival so far. My first favorite breakfast is coffee delivered right to my room as soon as I usually wake up. I love not having to wander to the Lido to find coffee half asleep. Then after I'm fully awake, my second favorite -- I love the masala dosas on port days. I wish they'd add them to the sea day brunch menu because I don't always have enough time on port days to go to sit down breakfast (and also I'm not usually a breakfast person, I'd rather get them for brunch/lunch). 

Really crossing my fingers for Glory in September! I jumped the gun and booked airfare already 😬 

After debarkation we have until about 4pm to get to the airport. Is there a place to keep luggage for a few hours while we grab lunch and hang out somewhere? I'd rather not have to haul everything around with us, or hang out at the airport for half a day. TIA! 

My parents picked my first cruise, The Big Red Boat (Premier Cruise Line SS Oceanic). I was 16-almost-17 at the time, in 1996. 

The first cruise I picked was in 2018, and because my mom had a free cruise voucher from her timeshare and offered it to me since my DH and I never went on a honeymoon. We booked a 4 night cruise on Carnival Inspiration, in part because it was out of CA and the grandparents could watch the kids for us within driving distance to the port, and in part because we thought a 4 day would be a good amount of time to see if DH liked cruises (he did 🙂 ). We've only been on one more cruise since then (Panorama 2020), but have three more booked.