rm1247

[quote name='jmrothermel']I will post them for you when I return. Once I found out that my phone posted such crappy pictures I stopped updating for you guys. But I will post high quality pics when I return![/quote]

Just checking in. I know post-cruise is crazy busy, especially with kids. But we are leaving this Saturday and I would love to see some recent Kids' compasses if you are able to post some. :D

Let's go skydiving, or better yet lets watch others.. Looks like fun!

 

https://vimeo.com/126064262

 

 

This is awesome!! Thanks so much for the review. We are boarding on Saturday and my kids are so psyched about iFly!

Yes us too!! I'll have a 11 year old girl and 8 year old boy. We were beginning to think they would be the only kids on board.

 

YAY! My 10yo dd will be very glad to hear that! We were on a TA Sept 2013 and there were only about 20 kids on board. They still had a blast, and enjoyed all the extra attention from the kids' club staff. :D

Thanks!! I'd love to see the teen ones too if you can grab them.

Has anyone used the kids club on Royal Caribbean just for the occasional dinner alone. Our daughter will be 4 at the time and this will be her first cruise. I really can't see us wanting to use the kids club except for dinner time because she does get bored sitting at restaurants. How do we sign her up if that is even a possibility?

 

What ship will you be on? If the ship has a Johnny Rockets, they might offer the dinner with the kids' club every other night. That is a really nice option and my kids enjoyed it (it is free). You drop them off at Johnny Rockets and after they are done eating the staff takes them directly to the kids' club where you can pick them up at any point in the evening.

 

Dinner can get really long for the youngest ones, but we've found that the waiters do a great job of bringing their food out fast (especially if they order off the kids menu). We've never had the pick up in the dining room option work (bc we weren't sure how to arrange for them to be picked up). So what we did is either my husband or I would run them up to the kids club once they were finished eating. It only took about 5 minutes to run them up and get back, and then we'd enjoy a leisurely dessert and coffee. It was important for one of us to stay at the table so the wait staff knew were weren't finished eating yet.

I'd love to see the Kids' cruise compasses if you are able to post them when you return!

So a few more best bits from my 40th birthday (just skipping day 4 for one since it really is already written in a way that's too much trouble/discomfort to do now).

 

The day started with listening for the shout out my mom put in the CD's box.

[ATTACH]346512[/ATTACH]

I really enjoy Dru's dry sense of humor, and in a different way Jose's wacky sense of fun. I think they make a good and balanced pair.

 

Next came the character breakfast. After some trouble with where to sit (short version would be a waiter who didn't know the venue or how to get a wheelchair through spaces), I had a great time.

Having a chocolate laden breakfast was one of the main reasons I booked this for my birthday.

[ATTACH]346509[/ATTACH]

The muffin was blah, but the other sliced thing was awesome.

Character photos

[ATTACH]346510[/ATTACH]

Dancing with King Julian was lots of fun, although I'm never posting the video that this shot is from. I enjoyed shaking my booty with him, and no one needs to see that.

[ATTACH]346511[/ATTACH]

And I got mom to get up for the photo with Gloria.

[ATTACH]346513[/ATTACH]

 

After the breakfast was when I went wandering for something fun and ended up at the rock wall.

 

Could you fill me in a bit on how this works? We will be on the Quantum in a few weeks with our kids, and I'd like to take them to at least one of the character breakfasts. We've never been on a ship that offered them. Do you have to reserve it in advance or can you show up that day? Where is it held? How long does it take? I read somewhere that kids are free - do you know if that is true?

 

Thanks for your help!

Bumper cars do not have to be scheduled by right now they are only running from 9 am to noon on sea days.

 

I am saving the cruise compasses because someone ask to see them and when I get back home I will scan them and post them on the cc boards as those will turn out much better than they seem to do in a photo

 

Would you be able to also grab the kids' cruise compasses? I'm specifically looking for the 3-5 group, 9-11 group, and teen ones.

 

The only ones I've been able to find are from last November, and I think they've changed since then.

Did anyone try texting just using wifi and not the Royal IQ App? This $15 charge is changing things for us as I was hoping our group of 6 could use it to keep track of each other. But $90 for that convenience seems a bit steep.

 

We were also planning to buy the unlimited wifi for 2 devices. I'm wondering if we do that if we could just use our regular wifi texting apps to keep in touch. In the past when we purchased that plan we could use multiple devices to log on, but could only have 2 on at a time.

 

Anyone know if that will work?

Thanks for reposting the link. It appears that this link above works on the app as well so you should be able to access the pics from the app now.

 

Thanks!!

I would love to see them too, but you can't pm on Cruise Critic. Could you put them on photobucket and post the link here?

What is offered for breakfast in 270? I keep reading about how that is a nice option. Are there tables in 270? What hours is it open for breakfast?

 

Thanks!

What aged kids? I have the 15-17 yo Compass.

 

 

I would love to see the 15-17 yo compasses!

From what I have read here, the position of the bed & sofa is determined by whether or not that sofa is just a sofa, or if it's a sofabed.

 

We were in 11306 & 11308, connecting balconies. Our bed was by the door in 306, and in 308 the bed was by the balcony.

 

Thanks! Is the sofabed by the door or the balcony?

Woohoo!! We are traveling with kids on Quantum on the TA and it has been hard to find out much info on the kids clubs, etc. I will be following!

 

Thanks!

Thanks for the pics of the cabins! Did all of your interior cabins have the beds by the door? Also, was there a curtain to separate off the sitting area? We'll have three teens in a category K, and I'm trying to picture how that will work.

Question about Adventure Ocean: On the deck plans it is shown on both deck 11 and 12. Can you access it from both decks, or just one?

 

I've had a hard time finding much feedback on the clubs. My kids have loved AO on other ships, and will be disappointed if these clubs are boring. I was concerned about the windowless layout.

 

Thanks!

Wow - thank you!

 

Any chance you have a copy of the kids menu to post? Any of the kids' club compasses? We are traveling in a few weeks and I'd love to give the kids an idea what to expect.

 

Are you saying it is easier to have a dining reservation and change it than to try and book without a reservation? There are two nights that the only time available for our party of 8 was way later than what will work for our kids, but I did go ahead and book it anyway hoping to change later.

 

Did you have any connecting rooms? Was there anything different about their setup?

We have two connecting inside cabins for our upcoming cruise on QOS, with 2 in one cabin and 4 in the other and I'm wondering where the door will be located and what difference there will be in the furniture (to make room for the door). The symbol for the room with 4 indicates a sofabed, so I'm assuming it is supposed to sleep 2.

 

If anyone can post pictures or give a description, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks! I have two in those groups plus a 4yo. I'd love to hear how your kids enjoy the clubs. Have a great trip!

Does anyone have scans or a link to Daily Teens & Kids Compasses for Quantum?

 

Also, is the children's menu the same for all restaurants? Does anyone have a scan of it?

 

Thanks!

Thanks for this review. What category of inside did you have? Also, do you have the compasses for the kids' programs?

We were just on Serenade and they had the unlimited option - but only for one device. It wasn't an issue because if you logged on with a second device it would just bump the other one off. My husband and I were able to share it this way and had no problems.

Thanks for the suggestions! I just checked seatguru and we will have power outlets!

My daughter turned 3 the first full day of one of our cruises. She's cruised quite a bit, and loves it!

 

At home she also has an early, fairly consistent bedtime and she sleeps 12 hours but does not nap during the day.

 

I definitely agree with the advice to be prepared to go with the flow, and plan for a later bedtime at least.

 

However, I also found that by evening she was very overstimulated and almost begged for her bed, bunnie, and blankets. Some consistency in her routine, even on vacation, is comforting to her. Tag teaming so you get a chance to go out in the evening, is a good plan. We also tend to go to bed earlier when we travel with the kids, and just make better use of the morning activities than some. :)

 

I don't know if your little guy takes naps, but I know that even some non-napping kids will nap on the ship, and that helps with the late nights. It wasn't true for my daughter, although I did sometimes have her rest for an hour to recharge.

 

One additional tip - I don't know which cruise line you are sailing on, but on RCCL we would take her to dinner with us, but one of us would run her up to the kids' club once she had eaten and was tired of the dining room. It was a quick run up and back, and then we could enjoy a quiet leisurely end to our meal - dessert, coffee, etc. She would stay in the kids club for an hour or so and then we would pick her up to go to bed.

 

Have fun! I love cruising with my kids!