I posted this over on CC but also wanted to share here since both boards were very helpful.
I tried to keep it short, but please feel free to ask any questions!
Our sailing group included two families (4 adults, 3 kids). We both had panoramic oceanview staterooms on deck 12 and those were awesome, but my kids (11, 7) both agreed that they would like to have a balcony for our next cruise. Our room steward, Wilson, was the best!!!! We had Scrabble letters on our door and each day he would write us a new message. I can't say enough nice things about him!
We had My Time Dining at 5:45 PM most nights and had the same great waiter/asst. waiter - Vijendra and Shardul. They were really great and knew what we wanted for drinks after day 1. The kids loved them and loved our head water, Savio. We also had the 3-night specialty dining package and went to Chops two nights and Giovanni's Table one night. Chops & Giovanni's were excellent, as was the main dining room.
We really liked the ship. I didn't think it was that big (our last cruise was a few years ago on the Disney Wonder). Maybe our next cruise we will go with a bigger ship. The shows were ok... we saw Invitation to Dance, Impact, A Night with Adele and our hands-down favorite was the ice skating show. I have no idea how they skate on such a small rink.
For the ports...
Labadee: We took the historical tour which was an hour long and it was too long for our group. I think we were just itching to get to the beach and the Beach Bed that we had reserved. I had read that the water at Adrenaline Beach was rocky and it definitely was the farther out we went from shore. But the kids loved the water and didn't really notice the rocks as much as the adults did. The Beach Bed was great. It came with two loungers, two floating mats and a cooler with 6 large bottles of Evian water. We thought it was definitely worth it. We also had all-day passes for the Dragon Tail Coaster. We didn't go to the coaster until well after lunch and there wasn't a line by that point. The kids got in many rides and had a blast.
San Juan PR: Our first stop in sunny San Juan was Senor Paleta's for refreshing fruit popsicles. We walked over to see the umbrellas on Fortaleza Street... those are so cool. Great photo opps! And then we made our way to El Morro. I wish we had brought a kite because it was a great day for it. The kids explored the fort for a bit and then it was time for us to catch our ride to El Yunque National Park for our rainforest horseback ride that we booked on our own with Carabali Rainforest Adventure Park. My only gripe was that they ask you to arrive 45 minutes prior to your reservation time (our time was 5 PM), but you end up waiting for 40 minutes. I thought the time would be spent with an orientation and getting ready, but that didn't start until 5 PM. We would rather have spent more time at El Morro, but what can you do? The ride and the guides were great. We really enjoyed it. And the horses were so gentle (except for mine, it wanted to go faster and be at the front of the pack). I was amazed that the younger kids could ride on the horses solo. And then we headed back to San Juan and back on board for a late dinner. Carabali recommended two taxi companies and I made the transportation arrangements with them directly.
St. Maarten: We booked an island tour and the Bucaneer Beach Adventure through Royal Caribbean. We probably could have booked on our own, but St. Maarten was the last on our planning list and we just went with the easiest options. The island tour was ok. We were limited to the Dutch side due to a taxi side on the French side. I wonder if that impacted the ability to get a ride to the beaches on the French side. My oldest was so happy when we stopped at the carousel and went to the French bakery. She ate an entire baguette on her own. Then our next excursion was to Bucaneer Beach. The nice part was that lunch was included as were loungers, a small table and an umbrella. We had inflatable pool noodles that the kids used to float around.
St. Kitts: I think this was our busiest day... started off with a tour with Jim from Rose & Jim's Taxi Tours. Jim was great! We even saw his childhood home on our tour. He took us around and we made many stops including Romney Manor, Brimstone Hill Fortress, and the Black Rocks. A beach stop was also included but we had to pay separate for chair/umbrellas and lunch. As part of our tour, he also took us to our excursion we booked on our own to Dolphin Discovery. Swimming with the dolphins! That was really cool and the kids really enjoyed that. Jim was waiting for us to take us back to the ship. We loved the tour and how accommodating Jim was with taking us to Dolphin Discover and back to the ship.
One thing that I heavily researched were items to bring/buy for our cruise. For us, the most helpful things were 1) magnetic hooks - wish I had brought more them!; 2) a magnetic nightlight; and 3) something to add more outlets - and I learned after the fact, that the one I bought and used was one that I should not have used, despite what Amazon told me.
Those are the highlights... I could write on and on but I won't. Onto the next vacation!
I tried to keep it short, but please feel free to ask any questions!
Our sailing group included two families (4 adults, 3 kids). We both had panoramic oceanview staterooms on deck 12 and those were awesome, but my kids (11, 7) both agreed that they would like to have a balcony for our next cruise. Our room steward, Wilson, was the best!!!! We had Scrabble letters on our door and each day he would write us a new message. I can't say enough nice things about him!
We had My Time Dining at 5:45 PM most nights and had the same great waiter/asst. waiter - Vijendra and Shardul. They were really great and knew what we wanted for drinks after day 1. The kids loved them and loved our head water, Savio. We also had the 3-night specialty dining package and went to Chops two nights and Giovanni's Table one night. Chops & Giovanni's were excellent, as was the main dining room.
We really liked the ship. I didn't think it was that big (our last cruise was a few years ago on the Disney Wonder). Maybe our next cruise we will go with a bigger ship. The shows were ok... we saw Invitation to Dance, Impact, A Night with Adele and our hands-down favorite was the ice skating show. I have no idea how they skate on such a small rink.
For the ports...
Labadee: We took the historical tour which was an hour long and it was too long for our group. I think we were just itching to get to the beach and the Beach Bed that we had reserved. I had read that the water at Adrenaline Beach was rocky and it definitely was the farther out we went from shore. But the kids loved the water and didn't really notice the rocks as much as the adults did. The Beach Bed was great. It came with two loungers, two floating mats and a cooler with 6 large bottles of Evian water. We thought it was definitely worth it. We also had all-day passes for the Dragon Tail Coaster. We didn't go to the coaster until well after lunch and there wasn't a line by that point. The kids got in many rides and had a blast.
San Juan PR: Our first stop in sunny San Juan was Senor Paleta's for refreshing fruit popsicles. We walked over to see the umbrellas on Fortaleza Street... those are so cool. Great photo opps! And then we made our way to El Morro. I wish we had brought a kite because it was a great day for it. The kids explored the fort for a bit and then it was time for us to catch our ride to El Yunque National Park for our rainforest horseback ride that we booked on our own with Carabali Rainforest Adventure Park. My only gripe was that they ask you to arrive 45 minutes prior to your reservation time (our time was 5 PM), but you end up waiting for 40 minutes. I thought the time would be spent with an orientation and getting ready, but that didn't start until 5 PM. We would rather have spent more time at El Morro, but what can you do? The ride and the guides were great. We really enjoyed it. And the horses were so gentle (except for mine, it wanted to go faster and be at the front of the pack). I was amazed that the younger kids could ride on the horses solo. And then we headed back to San Juan and back on board for a late dinner. Carabali recommended two taxi companies and I made the transportation arrangements with them directly.
St. Maarten: We booked an island tour and the Bucaneer Beach Adventure through Royal Caribbean. We probably could have booked on our own, but St. Maarten was the last on our planning list and we just went with the easiest options. The island tour was ok. We were limited to the Dutch side due to a taxi side on the French side. I wonder if that impacted the ability to get a ride to the beaches on the French side. My oldest was so happy when we stopped at the carousel and went to the French bakery. She ate an entire baguette on her own. Then our next excursion was to Bucaneer Beach. The nice part was that lunch was included as were loungers, a small table and an umbrella. We had inflatable pool noodles that the kids used to float around.
St. Kitts: I think this was our busiest day... started off with a tour with Jim from Rose & Jim's Taxi Tours. Jim was great! We even saw his childhood home on our tour. He took us around and we made many stops including Romney Manor, Brimstone Hill Fortress, and the Black Rocks. A beach stop was also included but we had to pay separate for chair/umbrellas and lunch. As part of our tour, he also took us to our excursion we booked on our own to Dolphin Discovery. Swimming with the dolphins! That was really cool and the kids really enjoyed that. Jim was waiting for us to take us back to the ship. We loved the tour and how accommodating Jim was with taking us to Dolphin Discover and back to the ship.
One thing that I heavily researched were items to bring/buy for our cruise. For us, the most helpful things were 1) magnetic hooks - wish I had brought more them!; 2) a magnetic nightlight; and 3) something to add more outlets - and I learned after the fact, that the one I bought and used was one that I should not have used, despite what Amazon told me.
Those are the highlights... I could write on and on but I won't. Onto the next vacation!
