Athankfulheart

We love the Breeze and haven't had any issues or concerns. 

We prefer to travel with govt photo ID for our children. When we leave passports on the ship, we take thier non-driver ID with us. 

On 2/5/2019 at 11:22 AM, K&RCurt said:

On the Sunshine last week my DW got the Lobster tail in Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse as well as the "Steakhouse selections" Lobster Tail in the MDR one night.  The one in the Steakhouse was larger and come out hotter and was more tender than the one in the MDR.

This was my experience as well.

Ordered the lobster because tablemates didnt want to pay for steakhouse. The lobster wasnt as good as the steakhouse. Wont purchase again. 

We have only done a "spring break" sailing once. It was the Dream out of PC in 2012. If I remember correctly. Our cabins were on deck 6 aft. There was nothing noteworthy about the week other than maybe a higher number of families with kids. You will find badly behaved adults or poorly trained/supervised kids on any sailing if you are looking for them. 

On 1/26/2019 at 7:16 AM, Athankfulheart said:

Mr Sanchos has inflatables but precious little play space in the sand. In all the times we have been there, including with tweens/teens, I have seen very few little kids. One thing to note is that the inflatables are really difficult to climb onto! My hubby had to pull grown men up to them lol. Your children would feel out of place, but it may not be as much fun for them as an older kid.

"Wouldn't feel out of place". Typo

There are signs at every pool. Some people probably see but ignore, while others probably never see them. The suggestion of a notice to the cabins with infants is a great idea. 

The dream class ships have the BEST thermal suites ! Judging by the deck plans, the Mardi Gras spa is windowless, which sounds awful to me ! We love all the dream class ships and really enjoy the Magic. My daughter will be spending her honeymoon aboard the Magic in April 😃 

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

I miss the ding, haven't heard it for years. They scan your S&S with a tablet device.

And that is why I put it in quotes. We all miss it and wish someone would program the ipads to ding when a card is scanned 😃 

My children have been stopped when attempting to "ding" off the ship at port ahead of me. I wanted to see if this is a standing policy and found this at Carnival's FAQ page: 

Getting Off the Ship in Port

• Minor children 16 years of age and older may debark the ship in port without a parent or guardian. If the parent or guardian wishes to raise this age limit, they must contact the onboard Security department.
• Minor children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult (18 years or older) within the same travel group in order to debark the ship in port.

When your purchase a package, it will be associated to your name (and when aboard ship, your folio number). If only one has a package then sharing can be done by using the sign in info of the one who's name the package is under. Only one device can be signed in at any given time using that passengers credentials. 

We use Travelex and they offer a free pre-existing conditions waiver if you purchase the policy within 2/3 weeks of your booking ( depending on which of thier 2 policies you buy). Other companies offer similar. Prayers for peace and a successful surgery and quick recovery. 

They ask you not to lock your luggage when you check it on to the ship, but if they want it unlocked, they will leave a note in your cabin to come down to them and unlock the bag for them. No problem locking it when you check it off the ship. 

We did this itin on the Valor after a week in PR. Our fav trip by far! Highly recommend Calabaza Sailing for Barbados. Beautiful relaxing day on an uncrowded catamaran with amazing food and attentive service. Snorkled and even saw sea turtles. 

At St Kitts we took Thenford Grey's grand tour. It was a pleasant day which ended with some beach time. He is a very knowledgable gentleman and an excellent host.

We went to St John on our own from St Thomas.

We spent the day at Jalousie beach in St Lucia. We took a speed boat there which included a fun tour and gave us more time on the beach. This beach has the best off beach snorkeling ever! We used Spencer Ambrose Tours.

I bet if you explained to your cabin attendant he or she would be happy to make up your sofa as a bed too. Sofas on the Breeze are static and no folding/unfolding is needed. Think "daybed". The reason for assigning a max occupancy to a certain block of triple cabins has more to do with life boat assignments. So even though a cabin could sleep 3, if it isnt designated as such for life boats, then 2 is max. 

Check the list of prohibited or tightly managed items for your cruise line. I remember Carnival prohibiting wagons/folding wagons. They did allow folding wagons for use in ports, but you couldnt roll them on/off the ship. 

Mr Sanchos has inflatables but precious little play space in the sand. In all the times we have been there, including with tweens/teens, I have seen very few little kids. One thing to note is that the inflatables are really difficult to climb onto! My hubby had to pull grown men up to them lol. Your children would feel out of place, but it may not be as much fun for them as an older kid.

Don't overpack and do tidy up daily
Use the spa bathrooms for showers and stinkies
Bring poo-pourri if you insist on using cabin bathroom
Pee before right before bed 

We have always been asked for govt photo and BC/Passport . We started cruising with BCs and switched out family over to passports a few at a time. We now get in the passport line at CBP but used to have to get in the BC line when we had a mix of both. Why would the lines be labeled BC/PP if only photo ID was required ? 

OP- I would see if she could get a copy of her docs emailed to her. It may be a long morning, but CBP cannot deny entry to a US citizen. Tell them no need to panic. If they don't find it, do report it lost/stolen for future reasons.

When the forms first disappeared we were asked the same questions at check in. When they streamlined the check-in process to one stop I don't recall them asking. 

You have probably already got this on your to-do list, but definitely  get a letter of permission to take the teen on the cruise and include the entire itinerary of countries visited as well as anything else that may require parental permission on the ship. Also a medical release stating that you are authorized to seek and provide medical care and the name of the person who is responsible for the bill. When we travel with minors without thier parents we also insist on a travel insurance policy that will pay in advance of treatment if required. 

Sometimes there is a whirlpool for the Couples Rasul. Im not sure which ships offer this, but it differs from a couples massage.

We love Tuxedo Ride. 

In my experience you can get extra sides. Not sure what the official policy is.