jc24cruiser

Lovely review, found it very useful as I am taking my kids on their first cruise in October :) Especially great to see how you found Adventure Ocean, not planning on using it much as un-fortunately due to working full time I don't see much of them, but I know that they will enjoy Adventure Ocean if we are planning on doing something "boring" x

Another NO vote....not worth the stress IMO!

Will your flight company let you re-arrange with out any charges?

Part 3/3 ....

Charisma :(

Elegance :)

Siren :(

Odyssey :(

Tranquillity :)

Kingdom :)

Oh, and I broke the 60 second rule and can't even pull a shocked face about it!!!

Part 2/3...

Pulse :eek:

Paradise :) / :confused:

Escape :(

Euphoria :(

Eminence :(

I am sure that my opinion means nothing, but here goes....

Sovereign, empress and monarch - :( once retired, should stay retired

Essence :D

Passion :) / :confused:

Vantage :(

Ovation :(

.....TBC (I broke the 6 smiley rule!)

Can I just check that I have got the new way right in my head.....

On our cruise last year we have 2 options...

* Pay reduced deposit (£75 per person) for an open booking

* Pay full deposit (£150 per person) for exact sailing

So will the new system mean we can pay the reduced deposit AND choose a date, plus get more benefits???

We actually wanted to choose a date there and then, but they would not let us do it with the reduced deposit so did an open booking, so if I have understood correctly the new system will be a double win for us!

Thanks in advance

Jenni

If the rule holds, (and I don't see any reason why it won't in this case):

 

12218 bed by the balcony

12220 bed near the closet/bathroom/hall door.

 

 

Yes.

What rule is this???

I have recently upgraded from a balcony room (which I know the bed was near the balcony due to recent footage of that stateroom on You tube) to a Junior Suite and some of the graphic pics show the sofa near the balcony.

We are actually on a different ship, but would be great to work out which way round things are as we are travelling with children who will be sleeping on the sofa bed.

Thanks in advance :)

I have never eaten in any speciality restaurants as we have always stuck to the MDR.

But I am a sucker for Italian food and this post has made me want to try out Giovanni's so thank you to everyone who posted :)

Although I am now craving spaghetti and meatballs at 7:30 am :confused:

Hi,

My kids will be 7 and 8 by that cruise. By then they will have been on the Independence for 4 nights with an aft balcony. They know that they are getting treated for their first cruise and that we can either go all out every few years or down grade and go more often.....they have a good understanding of money already :)

It will involve taking them out of school for a week of term time, so although it is a holiday some of the "at sea" days will be filled with some sort of learning.....but my kinda learning is probably different to schools :)

Ooooooh, had forgotten about the double points for the Junior Suite......SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your advice, love these boards!

I just didn't want to pay the extra as it is quite a difference and then find that we had to battle to open the doors to get onto it during the actual crossing!

We are sailing with an aft balcony in October, always gone for the hump before! So will be interested to see what it is like :) Went for it for a safety reason due to taking the kids, but have heard wonderful things about the views :D

Just got to persuade my partner that I need to book a third cruise, only ever had one booking under my belt at a time, so I am already pushing it apparently :rolleyes:

PS just found out to "upgrade" the balcony to a Junior Suite is a mere £3 per person per day.....wish me luck!!!

Never heard of these chocolate breakfasts :eek:

Got a couple of shot cruises this year, are they likely to be on a 4 night itinerary??? Hope so :D

Hi,

Hoping to book a Trans Atlantic cruise for next Spring. I have travelled in interior and balcony rooms before (but not exterior). I am looking at Vision of the Seas (so any added advice about this ship and its compatibility with family cruising would also be great.)

Itinerary is.....

1 - Tampa

2 - Florida

3 - Cruising

4 - Cruising

5 - Cruising

6 - Cruising

7 - Cruising

8 - Cruising

9 - Cruising

10 - Cruising

11 - Madeira

12 - Cruising

13 - Gibraltar

14 - Malaga

15 - Cruising

16 - Barcelona

Is a balcony a welcome break for that big chunk of cruising in the middle?

Or is it usually too windy and choppy to make much use out of it?

It changes our price from £1,600 to £2,700 so trying to work out if it is worth the extra. Or would a compromise of an exterior at £1,800 be better value....though there is not going to be much to look at for a week I guess!

Thanks in advance for your advice :)

Hi,

Doing a 4 night cruise in med in October, does any one know which menus it will be for the other days?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help :)

We did an adult cupcake course and did the burger one.

It was our "day at sea" so was a lovely distraction! It was made up of 3 big cupcakes and we had a great tie doing it. The end result was fab and tastes yummy.

It is something I will use again, but doesn't sound like what you are looking for :(

You can take your food to go as others have said, you could even get it back to your cabin and it will still be hot enough to be edible.....I just don't get why???

I completely get that eating on your private balcony is great, but for me that is what room service is for :)

Part of the appeal to me at Johnny Rockets is the atmosphere in the restaurant, the cheesy servers, having a ketchup smiley to dip my fries in and best of all....the juke boxes! Happily paid $4.95 for the whole package :)

Thanks for posting your views.

Even though we are quite placid cruisers this sounds a little too placid. Was just looking at a 14 Night Trans Atlantic with 3 kids, will look elsewhere :)

Jenni

Booked on AOS in May, but have not been on her previously so won't know the difference. I did love the out door screen and touch screen monitors on the Liberty of the Seas last year though :)

Does any one have any pics of the added structure on Deck 12 mentioned on here, don't understand what the fuss is about as I can't picture in my head what it all means.

Thanks

Love all the lists and have experienced a few of these but can't wait to get to the point where I can actually contribute something new :)

I've heard that it isn't the case that certain ships don't have the free style machines "yet", it is the case that certain ships won't have them. Mainly those that do the European cruises due to the supply of the syrups I think. Looking forward to hopefully going on one of the ships with the Free Style machines next year though :)

I have done a B2B before where we had to move cabins and I don;t remember it being a painful experience.

We are possibly adding some extra nights to an already booked cruise, I have already checked if our cabin is available and was quite surprised to see that it is :)

Put a courtesy hold on it and will call them in the morning, just wondered how it worked with the deposit. Is nice to know my position before calling them :)

Thank you :D

Had not considered the wine allowance! :p

I have been on a back to back years ago, but it was courtesy of my Dad's bank card as it was my last family holiday before moving out.

So.....when booking a back to back do you have to pay 2 lots of deposit???

Also, what happens if you have already booked a cruise but then want to add another one to make it into a back to back....do you need to pay a deposit to add the extra days on???

Thanks in advance my helpful fellow CCers :D

Wow, I didn't realise how many people were going to comment. I can't believe the range of the answers given!

Still taking on-board everyone's comments and suggestions and will adapt them to fit in with our family.

I have had a couple of things happen to us since I posted the original question that has made me see things differently....but both for different reasons.

a) My son has written a letter to Santa that says....

"Dear Santa and your elves,

Please can I have a bike helmet and some snow boots for Christmas.

And can I have some money to give to poor people that don't have any presents...etc"

This is followed from last year's letter that asked for some food to be sent to Africa.

BUT

b) We have been struggling with my son's behaviour due to the first 2 and a half years being VERY difficult for him which is still affecting him. It looks like he will be diagnosed with ADHD in the next few weeks (I don't need any comments about how ADHD was not around till recently and that it is down to the parents!)

Hoping that point a) out weighs point b) and that by next October everything will have settled down so that we can enjoy our first family cruise :D

We also dress up every night and then extra on the formal nights. We do it because we like it to feel special as we do not get much chance to dress up with hectic lifestyles at home. We feel comfortable in what we wear which is important.

We are taking our kids on their first cruise next year and they are already excited about dressing up after seeing our photos :)

Another yes vote!

However would like to add that I hated one cruise where a couple ordered 4 entrees between them and left at least half a plate of each one....they repeated this EVERY night!

I think it's great to try different things, but hate the fact that some people will order loads of plates with the intention to waste some.

My partner and I ordered 3 desserts between us during our last cruise, but I made the sacrifice of making sure all three were finished and enjoyed! ;)