Aggiebuttercup

I agree with the response to the email.

I don't think anyone should feel entitled to book a certain cabin, no matter how many times you've sailed on that line. I'm a little surprised that someone would refuse to sail on a line because they can't book a particular cabin or a particular area. I might refuse to sail if I was only allowed to book, say, on deck 2...but that's not what is happening here. If your vacation will be ruined because you can't get a specific cabin, then you are much more particular than I.

It does sound like RCL no longer fits with what the OP wants for their vacation. Perhaps a cruise on another, more higher-end, cruise line would fit better.

I don't think it is fair for us to expect that all the services and things we take for granted will always be there. Companies reposition themselves. They cut costs. Etc etc etc. It's up to each of us to weigh what the company is currently offering and whether that fits with our vision of what we want to get for that amount of money.

You would think that with all the advances in navigation, electronics, etc. that these guys could sail in and out in any kind of weather. Airplanes land in zero visability all the time. I realize these ships are huge and can't manuver on a dime but unless it's an issue of someone else running into them, Im suprised that fog is an issue.

Cruise Critic actually has http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4395]an article about fog in Galveston.

 

By process of elimination, she should be going to Galveston. The question is whether or not Galveston will have a ship during the summer, depending on whether or not Liberty does a summer Med. season.

According to the agreement that RCL just signed with Galveston, there will be a ship sailing from there in summer 2015.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/01/royal-caribbean-agrees-to-bring-more-cruises.html]Houston Biz Journal

The article does not make it clear whether the bigger ship will arrive in summer 2015 or fall 2015.

I took my first grader out for a week to take a Disney cruise because the line was only in Galveston during the school year and I didn't want to have to fly in the summer. A good friend brought her granddaughter, who was the same age (in a different district).

I spoke with the principal first and explained what I was doing and how I intended to make the trip educational. She said she understood, that the absences would still be unexcused, that in my state 10 unexcused absences can mean either truancy charges for the parents or being held back, and that it was up to the teacher whether to allow make-up work. Then she told me to have fun.

I spoke with the teacher before school started and again a few weeks before the trip. I had a plan to present to her on what I would do on the trip - a math workbook that I bought at an education supply store, grade-level-appropriate books to read every day, lessons I drew up on reading maps (to be used to plot our course and to plot where our fellow cruisers were from; I put a piece of paper on our door asking people to write where they were from), a journal she could write fun things she learned about the different countries we were going to, etc. My daughter's teacher told me my kid would be fine missing school, there was no need to make up work, I shouldn't worry at all. Her friend's teacher sent a big packet of work with her. For two hours every afternoon (while the 3-year-old napped), the two girls did schoolwork together. They brought their books to dinner and read to each other.

I would do it again in a heartbeat at elementary ages. I might think twice for older kids.

The prices are so high, but I really think it is worth it for a "once in a lifetime" deal.

I took my kids on the Disney Magic for my daughter's 7th birthday. We sailed in October, two months before her actual birthday, because I couldn't afford the December fares. :eek: She was happy with the trade-off (and the week off school...I'm not so worried about missing first grade, and we made the trip educational).

It really is the perfect age to take them and the price difference was worth it. I sailed Princess and Carnival within a few months of that cruise (without kids) and have sailed RC before, so I am used to lower prices. I got off the Disney cruise confident that I got my money's worth.

Service was excellent. Entertainment was excellent. Everything was geared so much better towards travelling with a family than the other lines.

If you can travel during the offseason, do it.

Yea! The first official confirmation that Royal Caribbean will likely bring a larger ship to Galveston in 2015.

I agree that renting a car may be the best solution. If you do, there is lots that you can drive to see. Downtown there are several museums and the zoo.

For many people it isn't just money, it is also time. They have taken time off work. They may not be able to arrange that length of trip again any time soon, if at all. They think they'll be well again in just a day or two, so it will be okay.

Or, possibly, they board without symptoms and come down sick the first day of the cruise.

There were dolphins in the port of Galveston. After we boarded the Magic and were able to get into our cove balcony we sat and watched 3 dolphins play right next to us. Almost felt like we could reach out and touch them.

There is room for a mattress...but you'd have to remove the other furniture that is out there, and you might get yourself and the mattress wet. I don't know if that would result in a charge or not.

Balconies are great for families with small children - mine go to bed early and take naps sometimes. The balcony gives me a place to sit and relax while still watching over them - and I don't have to sit in the dark!! If I cruise with the kids I'll either have a balcony or adjoining rooms that are balcony or OV.

I am glad I didn't have a balcony on my Alaska cruise (too cold), and I don't think I'd have one on a European cruise that is extremely port intensive either.

At a minimum, you put on enough to pay the tips.

The max amount depends on what you plan to do.

I don't drink alcohol. My H would likely have fewer than 5 drinks in a week. I know either people who might have 3-5 drinks a day.

I DO like pictures. :) My H on his own wouldn't buy them.

Are you going to use that to pay for shore excursions...or are you going to go off by yourself?

Are you planning to go to the spa?

Do you like to shop?

Totally agree with the "age is just a number" post.

My middle child will be 7 on our next cruise, and she won't get the freedoms the eldest had at that age...because the middle child LOVES people and will stop and chat with anyone and believe whatever they tell her. She's much more vulnerable, so she has more limits to protect her.

My daughter (8) has significant freedom at home (more than many of the neighbor kids, less than others), which she has earned by proving that she knows what to do in the potential situations she might face.

We cruised when she was almost 7. Our friends, with a daughter the same age, were 4 doors down. We allowed the girls to check themselves into the kids' club (stairs were right outside our rooms, kids club was almost directly above us). They had to go together, and they had strict rules to follow (and the first time they went, one of the adults followed discreetly).

She'll be 9 when we cruise next, and while I won't allow her to wander around by herself on the ship, I will likely allow her to go off without an adult if she has one of her cousins with her (they'll be 11-13). Even then, she'll have limits about where she can go.

For my mom's 50th, she did not want a fuss and so "ran away" on a cruise with me and my sister. We hung black crepe paper on her door with a sign that said "Happy Birthday!" She took it down so we hung up more.

She ended up having a lot of fun with it... because all week people she didn't know stopped her to wish her a happy birthday.

Our biggest disappointment was that we would linger with other people at our table at the late dinner seating and pretty much miss the evening entertainment. Everything except the discotheque pretty much rolled up around 11 pm, whereas Carnival seems to go much later, which we love.

I was on Sapphire Princess in 2011 and this is still the case. There was very little to do in the late evenings, and by 11 everything was pretty much shut down.

I didn't take my kids on my Princess cruise. It was an Alaskan itinerary, so the demographic is expected to be older...but I was surprised at how few people under 40 were on that ship. It may be different in the Caribbean, but I think it will still skew older.

I'm planning Carnival for my kids' next cruise.

The first thing to decide, probably, is whether you want to be midship, forward, or aft.

Then, how high or low? If seasickness is an issue, you can think about - proximity to the kids' club (will the kids be allowed to walk there by themselves?), proximity to food or the pool or the spa. Maybe you want to be further away to force yourself to take the stairs and get exercise. Maybe you want to be lower to be closer to debarking on port days.

Once you've chosen your preferred area of the ship and know about which decks you want to be on...then you can start looking at individual rooms.

I personally prefer a cove balcony...lots of threads here debating the pros and cons.

Princess and Norwegian both are/will be sailing in fall/spring. Royal Caribbean and Carnival are both currently year-round. All offer 7-day cruises, and Carnival also offers 4 and 5 day.

The Houston Bayport terminal is out in the middle of nowhere. It is closer to HOU (Hobby) than to IAH (a 30 min - 1 1/2 difference, depending on traffic).

If possibly, I would advise taking the cruise line transfer from the airport, if available.

I cruised with a 6-year-old on Disney. We loved the Disney experience, but she really enjoyed the cruising experience most. There is a lot to do on any ship outside of the kids' club (dancing after dinner, movies, pools, room service, coloring in the lounge where you can see out the window). She spent an hour or so in the kids' club every day, but she had more fun outside of it. Even dinner was exciting - all the courses and the new foods and, best of all, dessert!!

We travelled with a friend and her 6-year-old granddaughter, and we gave the girls more freedom than if we had been home. If they were together, they could go from the cabins to the kids' club alone, or from the cabin to the movie theater.

I think when we next cruise we are going to put the kids in an adjoining room rather than across the hall, unless I can convince a teenage cousin to come along and make sure they won't leave the room after dark.

I loved Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise, but that is going to be a lot of driving. I hope your kids are good in the car (mine are not - they will be quite a bit older before they get to go to those places). There is a lot of family-friendly hiking in those areas. I hiked with a six-month-old strapped to my front, and I think my kids would have been able to keep up even at age 3 (but they are outdoorsy kids).

The Alaskan cruise I went on was a much slower pace on sea days than the Caribbean cruises. The crowd was much older - I saw very few children on board...and not that many under 40. The pace should suit small children too.

It sounds like a wonderful trip overall :)

My son had been potty-trained for about a month when we went on our cruise.

Then he experienced the cruise ship potties for the first time - and he flat-out refused to use the potty for the first three days. (Finally I coaxed him on and then promised not to flush until he was well out of the bathroom and I had closed the door so he didn't have to listen to it.)

So bring diapers just in case your child decides that cruise toilets are not what he signed up for.

I cruise with an almost-7-ear old and a 3 1/2 year old on Disney. They are begging to go again.

We went off-season, so it was cheaper, and we drove to the port. I felt very comfortable on Disney as a family - pretty much everyone was a parent/grandparent and understood that kids sometimes get fussy, and the staff was just excellent with the kids. The staterooms were geared towards families (bathtubs), the shows were streamed to the room tv so that parents could watch while the kids slept, there was a curtain dividing the two sets of beds.

That said, I agree that the kids' club was chaotic - even though it was offseason and the ship wasn't full. I didn't think there was as much geared for the smaller kids. I think my oldest spent an hour or two a day in the kids' club. The youngest was overwhelmed in general and didn't want to leave me to go to the kids' club. We did go to "family time" for half an hour or so every day when parents are allowed in with their kids.

There was plenty to do on Disney - characters to see (lines), movies to watch, etc. It was an amazing experience I am glad I was able to give them...but next time we are cruising on Carnival or RCL.

The kids LOVED seeing Mickey, and loved the stores (little one ran away from me once to get to the shop, and he has yet to sleep without his Mickey Mouse doll, a year later). But overall, I think they just liked the cruising experience.

We danced in one of the smaller lounges after dinner every night. We swam in the pool. We watched movies and ate ice cream and watched the water and sat in a lounge and colored or read stories and went to the deck parties and ordered room service (the kids were so excited that ice cream bars and cookies could be delivered to the room). We didn't do any official excursions, just took a taxi to the beach or wandered around the markets.

I would not necessarily count on your kids spending a ton of time in the kids' club at those ages (mine have gone to day care since they were babies but still balked), and you can have a terrific experience on any line with just the regular every day cruising kind of stuff.

My favorite is Grand Cayman (Carnival and Disney Magic). Haven't done an official excursion, just take a taxi to the beach and then wander around the downtown area.

I also very much enjoyed Aruba and Curacao.

St. Thomas is beautiful.

I left out of San Juan and enjoyed a few days before the cruise to explore.

Jamaica was actually fun - we went to a pineapple plantation and got to drive through a lot of the island.

I haven't done much in Cozumel yet.

I really disliked St. Maarten/St Martin.

You have to have 8 cabins (16 people) to get a group discount.

If you only have three cabins AND you choose not to do any time dining, you can (and should) link the reservations after you've each booked. That makes sure you will be seated together at dinner. (With ATD, you just show up together and ask to be seated at one table.)

I went on a Disney cruise with two sets of friends. Two of us had cabins on the same deck (about 5 cabins between us) and the other friend was on a different deck. We still saw each other a lot, so don't feel like you all have to book side by side rooms.

Have fun!

With children, I did the early seating. I didn't have to worry about waiting in line (several times I had to wait 10 minutes or so when I had ATD)...my kids don't do lines well when they are hungry. It was also good for them to have a set schedule for when they could eat - their tummies tended to get hungry at the "normal" time anyway.

When it was just me and DH, we liked ATD. Some nights we were paired with other couples, some nights at a table by ourselves. We tended to eat at about the same time every evening - halfway between the two set seatings.