shareen3

12 hours ago, BlueHerons said:

How are they going to be strapped in on the plane?

Not sure when the last time you traveled with kids are but car seats are not required for air travel with kids. I also don’t care what other people’s stance on that are 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

14 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Bringing car seats is an option that many do every day.  I would also search the family cruise board to see what others travelling with small children did in your situation.

Bringing car seats is not an option for me. That’s wonderful for the families who do it everyday. We got it all worked out. Thanks. 

21 hours ago, JohninDC said:

You can take the Disney transport back to MCO and from there catch a shared shuttle - Cortrans, Cocoa Beach Shuttle or GoPortCanaveral are the most often suggested.

 

I would also look at a one-way car rental - all of the agencies near PC offer free shuttles to the port after you return the car and you can rent car seats from the agencies.

 

You can bring your own car seat and open up lots of options.  Bringing your own seat is the only way to guarantee that the seat is properly sized and maintained. The airline will check the car seat for free if you choose not to use it on the plane.  I would also search the family cruise board to see what others travelling with small children did in your situation.

Thanks! Bringing car seats isn't an option. I will look into renting just to get to the port

Hi all!

Looking for recs on how to get from WDW property to the port. I initially thought to take their transfer service but I believe that is only if you are going on Disney Cruise. I'm not sure how long the walk is from Disney to the RCI terminal. The main issue is I travel with 2 kids and on the Disney bus they do not allow car seats which works out considering I am not bringing one. Lyft/Uber is great but again - car seat issue for my youngest (8 months)

Any personal recs on a company to hire that will have car seats or another transfer option. 

thank you 

Hi all!

Looking for recs on how to get from WDW property to the port. I initially thought to take their transfer service but I believe that is only if you are going on Disney Cruise. I'm not sure how long the walk is from Disney to the RCI terminal. The main issue is I travel with 2 kids and on the Disney bus they do not allow car seats which works out considering I am not bringing one. Lyft/Uber is great but again - car seat issue for my youngest (8 months)

Any personal recs on a company to hire that will have car seats or another transfer option. 

thank you 

3 minutes ago, Grabthars Hammer said:

I put myself on the waitlist for 5:30 and signed up for the 8:00 and hoped for the best. When I was able to log into my reservation later I saw it showed a 5:30 dining time so it could happen.

 

I've also read that you could try to go to the main dining room and wait as a stand by as there are no shows for tables. They could of chosen to eat at a specialty restaurant instead, etc. so slots/ tables could free up. 

good to know! Thank you 

3 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Send a email with your request, it is a biggie as 830 dinner dose drag out . Go to Matra d' when you first board 🌝

Thank you! I will send an email today. 

It's been a few years since I last took a RCI cruise. I booked and noticed I am waitlisted for the 530 seating and was given the 8pm seating - no biggie except I'm traveling with a 8 month old and 4 year old. 

Anyone have experience with this and if they were able to get the earlier seating?

Hello!!!

I am trying to book some tours for a friend that is headed on a MSC cruise for her honeymoon. Unfortunately - I am not a big fan of the tours offered from the cruise line to this port. I am open to a variety of different types (food, city, etc.) but would love to hear what some of your favorite were that you booked from outside tour companies in advance for these ports:

-Genoa, Italy

-Naples, Italy

-Messina, Italy

Thank you!

Hello!!!

I am trying to book some tours for a friend that is headed on a MSC cruise for her honeymoon. Unfortunately - I am not a big fan of the tours offered from the cruise line to this port. I am open to a variety of different types (food, city, etc.) but would love to hear what some of your favorite were that you booked from outside tour companies in advance.

Thank you!

Hello!!!

I am trying to book some tours for a friend that is headed on a MSC cruise for her honeymoon. Unfortunately - I am not a big fan of the tours offered from the cruise line to this port. I am open to a variety of different types (food, city, etc.) but would love to hear what some of your favorite were that you booked from outside tour companies in advance.

Thank you!

Can anyone recommend a company for a tour from Naples on a boat. I am open to that boat heading to Capri, Postiano etc.

We are very open to any suggestions but did hear about a 4 hr boat tour that cruised around and also entered the Grotto (if able to) but the person never mentioned the company.

Any help is appreciated

If i continued reading I would answer my own question lol ROME IN LIMO. I'm def. going to look them up

Lovinggg your review! Do you happen to remember the name of the place you had lunch at? Also, where did you book this Rome transfer or tour? I will be headed there in 2 weeks and waiting 4 hours in line just seems like that would be my whole time alloted in the city lol Even though my ship is docked for 12 hours, the drive to and from the port is 3 hours total which doesn't leave enough time to see everything so would like to make the most out of the day

Lovinggg your review! Do you happen to remember the name of the place you had lunch at? Also, where did you book this Rome transfer or tour? I will be headed there in 2 weeks and waiting 4 hours in line just seems like that would be my whole time alloted in the city lol Even though my ship is docked for 12 hours, the drive to and from the port is 3 hours total which doesn't leave enough time to see everything so would like to make the most out of the day

Now it was FINALLY time for lunch!!! One of the benefits of doing this tour is they take you to a local restaurant for lunch with real authentic food rather than to a really touristy place in the middle of the chaos.

 

We went to a little place that had a great menu full of many choices. I wanted to celebrate our new friendships and toast the wonderful day we were having with our group by ordering an apetizer for everyone on Paul and I so I asked the waiter to bring an order of Bruscetta for the table to share. Well I had my first lesson in being more specific when ordering in Italy because he didn't bring out one order of bruscetta, he brought out eight bruscettas, one for each person! I almost had a heart attack but Paul said it was no big deal they were very inexpensive. It was a great lesson to learn though!

 

 

Paul and I wanted to try some pasta and pizza so we got both to share. I think this was possibly the best pizza I have ever had. I keep trying to recreate it or someone here in Chicago tells me about a place that has real Italian pizza that is compareable but it never measures up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course some vino!!!

Thanks for the info, im so interested in doing a similar trip next year :) I'm new to CC and have no idea how to send private messages or I would of asked you that way lol

Back to you Chrystal - sorry for getting off track.

No, unfortunately Royal doesn't go to the Galapagos. They are very strict about the size of the vessels, RCL could send a life boat from Allure, maybe;) ( actually even those are too big...most vessels are 20-90 pax)

 

Celebrity has a very nice (I'm told) expedition ship there, I looked into it, but the itinerary didn't work for us. It's 1 week on board and a day or two pre or post cruise in Ecuador.

 

My family needed more time in Ecuador, so for about the same cost, we are taking a longer trip that includes lots of cultural activities in Ecuador too, but the cruise is a little shorter. ( that worked for us too, as my folks are coming with us and we have done these "safari type" trips before and the pace can be quite punishing...up early, hiking out to see animals, back for lunch and a nap and then out you go again, more animals, in this case, snorkeling.

 

We are really looking forward to it! Sorry, to veer OT, Chrystal!

Off topic, noticed your ticker for the galapagos island :eek: is that with Royal as a cruise? that will be an awesome trip!

Wow! Thanks for your review and the wonderful pics...you tempted me to look at itineraries for Liberty (maybe a b2 b for DH and me in 2013?)

 

Ok, so when I saw your "cast" photos, I thought..."oh my, those girls are so CUTE! They will not be left alone for long!" And sure enough you were propositioned at the port, and the Macho men were dropping trou and dancing with you on the first day:eek:;)

 

Looks like you were having a great time! Can't wait to read the rest!

i am LOVING your review!!! can't wait to read/see the rest and its making me EXTRA excited about my May 13th cruise on Liberty :)

love this!

Excited to hear more about your trip :) Esp. because my first RCI cruise in 2 months is on the Liberty!

Hello all! Now that I’ve had some time to rest and recuperate from our vacation, I’m so excited to share our trip with you here on Cruise Critic. We sailed the Liberty of the Seas on March 8th out of Fort Lauderdale. This particular sailing had two sea days, with a stop at Cozumel in the middle.

 

We spent one night pre-cruise, and then spent the day of disembarkation in town until about 6 PM, since we had late night flights. Every second was fabulous- we barely slept so I have lots of details and photos to post.

 

This trip was to celebrate our 30th birthdays. We’ve been friends for several years and have been through a lot together. Originally, we wanted to go to Barbados, however the cost of flights shot up quickly. I figured it would be awesome to cruise on a Freedom-class ship, and we all agreed that cruising would be an incredible value. None of us had ever been to Cozumel, so we quickly booked our cruise and flights and anxiously awaited our turn to sail. Two of us have birthdays in April, and one had her birthday in January, so we kind of met in the middle ;)

The cast:

 

Chrystal (me): I LOVE cruising. My friends call me the “momma hen,” the voice of reason, the one they come to for a listening ear. I love travel and want to just live well and enjoy every second of life. I try to see the beauty in everything. I arranged the entire trip and wanted the girls to have a relaxing and fun time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rae: I am blessed to have three best friends, but she’s the closest friend I have. I believe it’s because our lives have paralleled in so many ways. We were in each other’s weddings (one month apart!), live around the corner from one another, our husbands are close friends, and I’m their son’s godmother. She’s bright, funny, and very stylish. One of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. And she has an incredible singing voice!

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal (yes, two Crystals on one trip- note that I have an “h” in my name): Strong, generous, hilarious, fun, soulful, just a beautiful person to know. I met her a few years ago and we quickly became friends. You’ll see she has a larger than life personality and becomes the life of the party wherever she goes. She’s a mother figure to a lot of people. One second she’s whooping it up, then next she’s giving you incredibly wise and insightful advice. Love her!

 

 

 

 

 

So, for those of you who are familiar with my reviews (you can see them in my signature below), this will take me a while to get through. I like to chronicle our trip by the hour, with lots of photos. I actually purchased my first Canon camera before the cruise, since I wanted to take great pictures. I have the compasses as well.

 

Feel free to ask questions, I love helping to plan travel whenever I can. Hopefully this will help those of you preparing to cruise, and if you don’t have one booked yet, may this serve as a virtual vacation!