Empress of the seas - 12 nights with Kids - Are we crazy?

[mtsublueraider]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Rooms on Vision would be larger than those on Empress.  There is an indoor pool on Vision for age 16+, though if the weather is cold, they sometimes let younger children use it for certain periods during the day.

 

I love that they take this into consideration. Trust me I LOVE the solarium when it’s kid free but if it is too cold for older adults to swim it’d be nice if we’ll behaved kids could take a dip with their parents supervision. 

[mtsublueraider]

3 hours ago, travelinmoma said:

Another tip I would add is splitting the bottom beds and setting up the room as two bunks on either side.  It makes it easier to get around and just seems more spacious.

this is a great tip! My wife agrees. I think that would save some toe pain! Ha! And it’s easier to get what we need from under the beds. 
 

 

[rimmit]

8 hours ago, mtsublueraider said:

 

 

 

We are of the same cloth. I will be reading your blog. YES, the devil on the shoulder that wants us to push our boundaries and try something new is a real thing. I keep telling my wife... worst case we have a HECK of a story to tell. 

And this is from someone who was on the infamous Oasis cruise that came back a day early because everyone had a stomach virus. That's a story. Good grief. 

 

Thank you again. It's good to know there others "like us" out there! 

We have many disaster stories as well from all our travels.  The funny thing is it’s the disasters that you remember and reminisce about the most.

 

The only time I remotely tell people with kids to not travel is if it’s truly a once in a lifetime type vacation as in those cases you want to optimize success.   Most people who travel with kids are young though such they will likely return to most of these places at some point in their life.  Also if you are doing serious travel with kids, you likely have the means such that this is unlikely to be a “once in a lifetime” event as well as you can afford to go back at some point.

 

Going with kids is always a good warm up to a place and lets you know if it’s a place you want to return to at a later date.

Edited January 13, 2020 by rimmit

[mtsublueraider]

12 hours ago, rimmit said:

We have many disaster stories as well from all our travels.  The funny thing is it’s the disasters that you remember and reminisce about the most.

 

The only time I remotely tell people with kids to not travel is if it’s truly a once in a lifetime type vacation as in those cases you want to optimize success.   Most people who travel with kids are young though such they will likely return to most of these places at some point in their life.  Also if you are doing serious travel with kids, you likely have the means such that this is unlikely to be a “once in a lifetime” event as well as you can afford to go back at some point.

 

Going with kids is always a good warm up to a place and lets you know if it’s a place you want to return to at a later date.

 

 

This is a great way to look at it. And actually, my wife and I have done this type of one-way cruise before on Queen Mary 2 in Canada so we would have a general idea on how to operate in that space. It's more about creating memories together but being able to do it safely and without much issue when it comes to transportation. We are people that can roll with anything and if it means skipping a port to take a day off because everyone is tired... that doesn't ruin the vacation. 

 

We are starting to lean toward an interior cabin on Vision for the 14 day trip. You swap NYC for Boston, add a Canadian port and get to do a unique overnight in Quebec City. AND you get one afternoon in Nassau to enjoy some sunshine. 

[kruzerci]

12 hours ago, rimmit said:

We have many disaster stories as well from all our travels.  The funny thing is it’s the disasters that you remember and reminisce about the most.

 

 

 

Maybe the ones that unexpectedly turn into disasters. I don't know why anybody would intentionally set themselves up for disaster for the memories...

[rimmit]

2 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

 

Maybe the ones that unexpectedly turn into disasters. I don't know why anybody would intentionally set themselves up for disaster for the memories...

Yes no one ever intentionally scheduled a disaster and in all honesty it’s kinda hard to schedule a disaster.  
 

The point is that the disasters always stick out in people’s minds.  Out of all the days someone lives,  the most memorable that many can recall EXACTLY what they were doing revolve around disasters.  Like “where were you when you first heard that planes were flying Into the WTC?”  The vast majority of people can give a detailed account of that exact moment.  Or when you heard someone important to you died.  
 

While some disasters are not exactly something that many will laugh about in the future,  there are many snafus that people hit when traveling that you will laugh about in the future.  We have drove to wrong airports before, been in hurricane level winds while a cruise ship was stuck in a channel causing it to tilt a dangerous angles causing literally EVERYTHING including furniture, plates, merchandise to fall to one side of the ship along with water pouring through the promenade deck flooding lower levels, we have booked wrong dates for flights only to find out the day of At the airport that we didn’t have a flight that day, and many others.   While at the time there was a definite level of anxiety, looking back on those times now we can always laugh about it.

 

11 minutes ago, mtsublueraider said:

 

 

This is a great way to look at it. And actually, my wife and I have done this type of one-way cruise before on Queen Mary 2 in Canada so we would have a general idea on how to operate in that space. It's more about creating memories together but being able to do it safely and without much issue when it comes to transportation. We are people that can roll with anything and if it means skipping a port to take a day off because everyone is tired... that doesn't ruin the vacation. 

 

We are starting to lean toward an interior cabin on Vision for the 14 day trip. You swap NYC for Boston, add a Canadian port and get to do a unique overnight in Quebec City. AND you get one afternoon in Nassau to enjoy some sunshine. 

 

The Vision would be a much better ship.  The cabins about 12 sq ft bigger and that makes a big difference.  We enjoyed the vision when we were on it many years ago.  Nice ship.  
 

Overall, traveling with kids is unpredictable and flexibility is the name of the game, so

missing a port here or there (scheduled or not) isn’t a bad thing especially if your family needs it.
 

When we docked in Le Havre,France,  due to a snafu with our phone in the room (the ringer broke) we did not get our wake up call and overslept (RCI eventually fixed the phone, and refunded our excursion).  We totally missed our tour to Paris for the day.  Due to jet lag we were just exhausted as well and clearly needed a slower paced day.  We ended up hiring a taxi and just had it drive us around the coast to honfleur and êtretat.  We had a great time and in all honesty we’re glad we missed the tour cuz we just needed a slower paced day.  It was much more relaxing than spending 6 hours on a bus and our son who was 3 at the time just enjoyed going to the small towns just as well.
 

We ended up just going to Paris a couple years later independently where we could spend several days there instead of just a couple hours.  In all honesty, as strange as this sounds, we almost find just traveling independently without kids more relaxing than on a cruise when it comes to sightseeing.  Primarily because you are 100 percent on your own schedule and you don’t have to worry about missing a boat.  You can sleep in if need be and not worry that you slept away the whole time in port.  The main negative is no kids club, but if your kids don’t go to the kids club,  it wouldn’t matter.
 

Dont get me wrong,  we do a ton of cruises, but if you step outside the comfort zone of a ship you’d be amazed how enjoyable it could be.  So look into it sometime.  It is annoying to unpack and pack,  but that’s what packing cubes are for and you see a lot more on your own time.  Nothing beats a cruise for relaxation though.

[LMaxwell]

OP has tunnel vision and is focused on brand and not experience.  In that case if brand takes precedence, yes, I'd take Vision over Empress.  

[cello56]

If God forbid anyone gets Noro Virus, I cannot imagine being quarantined in such a small cabin.

[fletch1027]

On 1/11/2020 at 11:22 PM, LB_NJ said:

 

The Edge is scheduled to open in March.  It is about a 1 mile walk from the Intrepid. 

Also at Hudson Yards is the Vessel.

 

Yep - the Edge is the deck at the top of 30 Hudson Yards... 😀

[mtsublueraider]

4 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

OP has tunnel vision and is focused on brand and not experience.  In that case if brand takes precedence, yes, I'd take Vision over Empress.  

 

 

While I see you point I don't 100% agree. Yes we do prefer Royal. From where we live we can easily drive to ports that are RCI friendly. Sure there's carnival and NCL options... but Disney is too expensive! 🙂

 

We are loyal because we know what to expect and that makes us happy. We're also just a few cruises away from diamond which would, in our opinion, open the door to some perks we do find valuable. 

[Jimbo]

8 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

While some disasters are not exactly something that many will laugh about in the future,  there are many snafus that people hit when traveling that you will laugh about in the future.  We have drove to wrong airports before, been in hurricane level winds while a cruise ship was stuck in a channel causing it to tilt a dangerous angles causing literally EVERYTHING including furniture, plates, merchandise to fall to one side of the ship along with water pouring through the promenade deck flooding lower levels, we have booked wrong dates for flights only to find out the day of At the airport that we didn’t have a flight that day, and many others.   While at the time there was a definite level of anxiety, looking back on those times now we can always laugh about it.

 

 

 

Definitely not traveling with you, give us all a headsup where you are going next.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Jimbo