JRT5000

Been a few year since I've taken a cruise.  Thinking of taking the family on the Oosterdam.  Last time we went on the Eurodam the back pool was adults only...and the Lido pool with it's shade was crowded with older folks that were not too thrilled to have young kids swimming around...ie splashing them.

Seem's to make sense to reverse the rules...outside for everyone...indoors for the adults.

 

Anyway...just wondering if the rules still apply.

Thanks

 

It was good...

I would pick the Italian Night. Just returned from the Regal last week and the caribbean dishes are scattered across each night's menu....there's no Caribbean night anymore.

Great review. Can't wait to read the next installment! Get to it, my sweet DH!!!!

 

Yes...get going!!

Whatever you pick the kids will have a hoot. Been on the CB a few times... Will be on the Regal Sunday with a 6 and 8 year old so can tell you what I think in a week.

 

In my opinion though...not sure the western caribbean is better for families. The countries typically visited are the most dangerous in the caribbean ...especially Hondurus.

GO with the Regal....CB is dated...I would look into the availability of connecting balcony rooms on the Regal....I believe there's 18 on the ship.

Hurry up...

He is wonderful! He was at our meet and greet, what a great guy. His wife and son are on board with him this week :)

 

Oh - the winemakers was in the symphony dining room in the back by all the wine bottles. They have a nice room with lights and wine all around it and very comfortable chairs (seats 12)

 

Hi Wendy....Thanks for the info. If you have time, could use see when the early seating is in the Traditional MDR (Alegro). I am on the waiting list and it says it is at 6pm on the Princess website. A Patter from an earlier sailing I believe said 5:45pm.....an accordingly to the Princess website I'm confirmed in Traditional at 5:30pm......very confusing!

I've been asking the same question for a few weeks now.

 

I don't think they like us Rocketman....

RCL is turning into a cruise line for people who cruise for the ship when you compare overall itineraries of most RCL ships with other cruise lines!

The new, large RCL ships to us are sea based shopping malls!

 

I agree. Once you get over the wow factor of the ships....there's not much there.

Recently tried HAL....couldn't believe the quality difference in service and food.

Let's be honest....the food on Royal is bad....very bad.

Am I the only one that thinks the prices for bottles of wine on HAL are very high. I live in England and have only ever cruised with British ships where the prices of bottled wine seem to be much cheaper. Thoughts please?

 

I was thinking the opposite....I find the alcohol/wine prices much more to my liking than Celebrity and Princess prices.

Guess it's relative....

Just wondering if anyone had any copies of the new menus from Regal's most recent sailings?

 

Thx

And I'm thinking that the kids are in better care with the nannies than with the parents and grandparents.

 

Can't agree with you more. Feel bad for any child that has a grandparent that has that point of view..:mad:

Fact

I think you are safe with Princess. I'm on the Regal in early December with my kids and called Princess to see how many kids are booked on it.

To date...I was told there was 16 kids.....16 kids!!! Can you believe it?

I was shocked with a ship of 3500 passengers.

But ok with it as well....

 

Anyway.....Princess will give out that info....so just call them and tell them which date you are thinking about.

[quote name='Loonbeam']I shall now repeat what I said earlier. The infant still counts as a passenger. The passenger count per section is fixed regardless of age. Thus, the infant is taking up a slot, so if he or she goes for free that's one less slot than can be sold..

Princess should give up that revenue why?[/quote]

Actually I didn't realize that the infant was the 2nd passenger in the cabin. Totally agree on the full fare..and the tips etc.

But in terms of the the 3rd and 4th passenger....in my opinion a 6 month old..or a 1 year old even a 2 year old should not be charged full fare.

[quote name='piper28']Princess obviously doesn't feel that it fits their business model to discount for kids or infants, or to waive the gratuities for them either. But that's something one knows ahead of time, and should consider when booking a cruise as to whether you want to support that business model or not. My personal guess is that part of the choice in doing that is they're trying to discourage infants without explicitly banning them from the cruise line. Obviously that's something not everyone will agree with, but that's why there's choices in cruise lines. (Personally, I consider it a plus, because I really wouldn't want to be that person next to a screaming kid in the cabin next door. While Disney typically gets great reviews, I've never been that enthused about booking on them because I'd just as soon not deal with the kids there, so I choose other lines that aren't as friendly to kids.)[/quote]

I don't agree. I think Princess does not discount because they don't need to. All mainstream cruise lines are trying to market to this demographic.
Frankly 30 -50 year olds will spend more on excursions and alcohol, etc than the average 80 year old...

In my experience RRCL and Princess discount 3rd/4th passengers by 1/3rd at the most....that's because the demand is good enough at that % for their business model.

Celebrity and HAL discounts the 3rd/4th passengers at 2/3rds or as HAL does sometimes....free 3rd/4th promos.

They do so because they are having a harder time attracting that age group....

Totally disagree. You bring the child, the child must pay. Go somewhere else where infants aren't charged.

 

Of course you do. It's this over charging of infant fares that subsidizes your cruise fare.

We are doing the Regal in December with our 2 young kids. Lots of stuff for them to do on Princess. We did the Ruby with them last year.

It's funny though....in our experience, the cruise lines that have the fewest kids have treated our kids the best.

The crew of HAL and Celebrity both spent more time and effort on our kids than other lines. The crew were so excited to see young kids around.....many times we were told that they missed their kids and that our kids reminded them of theirs.

This is so true! The posters are probably trying to evoke sympathy by stating they pay full price for a child, when in reality, they pay the reduced rate of 3rd and 4th passenger. They are not paying the full adult fare.

 

I'm paying full fare for my two kids on the Regal this December. Do you want to see the invoice?

 

Now come on......a 1year old will be affixed to the mother the whole cruise....the cruise line won't do much if anything for the child. The baby will not take any resources from the ship......they should be on there for free in my opinion.

Judging from these comments...at 45 years of age...it looks like I'm much too young for this cruise line...

On all other ships that have a terrace pool it is Adults only. Will be VERY disappointed if this one is not !!!!

 

Yes...maybe we should ban kids completely.

I paid full fare for my children to come....there was no discount

 

The retreat pool is adults only...the splash pool in front of muts is crowded full of adults (according to many reviews)......that leaves one deep fountain pool for families.

 

The fountain pool is deep...maybe not the safest pool for younger children.

 

I don't see a need for another adult pool especially outside the door of the children center.

Sometimes it's nice to spend a quiet time in the pool with my family instead of being overwhelmed by the noise of muts.

That would be great news.

Though I think the aft pool on Crown/Ruby/Emerald is adults only even though there is also an adult only spa pool.

Does anyone know if the aft pool on the Regal is adults only.

It would be a shame if it is....being right outside the kids club.

 

Thx

No more rack of lamb in the MDR....replaced by a cheaper cut...toiletries have been cut back...