And identical to that, our Caribbean cruise with my household is over. Insert all the feelings right here. It was a marvelful journey on the Surprise of the Seas, and I’d completely suggest this ship, our itinerary, and gathering your whole household for every week and crusing away for an journey of a lifetime! We weren’t certain how it could go together with an virtually one and a half 12 months previous, however I do know that we walked away feeling prefer it exceeded all expectations [a little more on how to cruise with a toddler below!]
In the event you’d prefer to see video of our time on the ship, you should definitely checkout the Cruise Spotlight on my Instagram account right here! This was our third cruise that Shawn and I’ve traveled on collectively and we’d completely do it once more — observe: I do want to house out cruising each few years. We love them, nevertheless it’s a means of touring I don’t have to do yearly. We’ve discovered spacing them out each few years makes them extra fulfilling!
Earlier than diving in, I ought to observe that nothing about this journey was sponsored however merely private pleasure! I booked / deliberate / and skilled all of it 😉
Royal Caribbean Surprise of the Seas! We’ve traveled on Royal Caribbean twice earlier than and completely liked it so we determined to go this route once more! We love Royal Caribbean because the ships are extremely clear, the workers may be very pleasant, the meals is scrumptious and the leisure is top notch. The ship was unbelievable and didn’t disappoint. The Surprise of the Seas is a part of the Oasis Class [there are 6 ships in this class] and they’re all very comparable. The set-up of this class of Royal Caribbean ships is by neighborhood – you have got the Royal Promenade, Central Park [my FAVORITE area on the boat!], Boardwalk, Pool & Sports activities Zone, Leisure Place, Vitality Spa, Adults Solely Solarium and Youngsters Zone. Whereas the ship is gigantic and there are a LOT of individuals on the ship [with crew I believe it’s around 8,000], because of all the totally different areas and neighborhoods, it fortunately doesn’t really feel too crowded or packed. My dad and mom sometimes journey on smaller cruise ships they usually have been involved they weren’t going to love the large ship, nonetheless, they did say that with how unfold out all the pieces is, they really actually loved the massive ship and would do it once more!
7 nights, Japanese Caribbean Cruise. We sailed from Port Canaveral, FL to CocoCay, Bahamas [Royal Caribbean’s Private Island], San Juan, Puerto Rico and St Marteen! Extra to return on what we did at every cease under! Word: The Surprise of the Seas is transferring its port to Miami for future bookings!
Shore Excursions: This was our first time on a ship the place we didn’t ebook any shore excursions. With having Crew, we didn’t need to decide to any schedule off the boat and there weren’t a ton of choices that we thought he may simply get pleasure from! Nevertheless, we did get off the boat at two of the three stops which I’ll share in additional element under! Word: If you’re reserving excursions, you are able to do so all simply by means of the Royal Caribbean app! That is additionally the place you may ebook eating, drink packages, present reservations, buy WiFi, and so forth!
- CocoCay, Bahamas – That is Royal Caribbean’s island within the Bahamas and it was a lot enjoyable! We merely acquired off the ship and went to the enormous Oasis Lagoon pool to drift round with Crew! There was a pool bar we may order drinks from and all the meals on the eating places are included in your ship’s value so that you don’t should pay! You may pay for excursions right here [there is a waterpark you can do, my parents did a kayak tour, etc] or you may simply lounge on the seaside or pool without cost! It made for a soothing and enjoyable cease!
- San Juan, Puerto Rico – This was our first time to Puerto Rico so we positively needed to get off the ship to stroll round and expertise the town in order that’s precisely what we did! We strolled the previous streets [literally, Crew in his stroller] and simply took within the structure, outlets, and so forth! All without cost, no value to get off and do that!
- St Marteen – We’ve really been to St Marteen a number of occasions, so we opted to remain on the ship at the present time and benefit from the empty boat whereas most poeple have been out and about! My sister’s household did do a catamaran journey that took them snorkeling and it was their favourite a part of the journey!
How We Booked: We did use a buddy who’s a journey agent as we have been reserving the cruise for 3 households [us, my parents and my sister’s family]. This simply helped make issues extra seamless, nonetheless, up to now when reserving for simply ourselves, we’ve at all times booked immediately by means of RoyalCaribbean.com as I discovered that the pricing was comparable [if not the same] by means of totally different on-line journey businesses!
Boarding The Ship: Previous to departure, you’ll be able to checkin on-line through the Royal Caribbean app. At the moment you enter your passport info and take a selfie of your self. On the port the place you board, all the pieces is finished by facial recognition and it actually took about two minutes for us to get on the ship. The identical was true for departing on the finish of the journey!
We splurged and opted to remain within the Proprietor’s Suite [room 1832 to be exact] and it was unbelievable. This room kind is included of their Sky Suite Class which gives a LOT of wonderful facilities which I’ll get into! As a result of we had Crew with us, it was necessary for us to have a room that might enable us to expertise the comforts of residence, in order that we may maintain him on his regular sleep schedule [and allow us the ability to enjoy the room while he slept]! This room kind has a pleasant dimension mini room [think of it as a nice closet] that match a pack n play completely. We have been in a position to have him in there throughout naps and bedtime and be capable to perform about our room [the living room and our bedroom] simply advantageous! One other bonus: it has a bath within the toilet which meant simple bathing for him! Moreover, the balcony is HUGE and we love having fun with our time exterior! Yet one more large bonus: the quantity of space for storing on this room was insane. We couldn’t almost use all of it. Usually on a cruise ship there’s quite a bit left to be desired for space for storing and wow, this had cupboards and closet in all places you’d flip round!
Lots of people have requested about the price of reserving this room and whereas the associated fee is at all times going to differ relying in your actual journey dates and itinerary, it seems to be like on common it’s about 5x the price of your fundamental inside stateroom. I’ll clarify what else you get with this suite in a second [aside from the incredible room itself]!
Once you ebook sure suite ranges [Star or Sky] you’ll have entry to Coastal Kitchen [a suite guest only dining room] for breakfast, lunch or dinner which serves wonderful meals, all without cost. Moreover, you’ll have entry to the Suite Lounge for complimentary cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres each night from 4-8 [fun fact: you can enjoy free beer and wine at any time in the lounge!] My favourite amenity was accessing the Suite Solar Deck which was a LARGE personal space for suite company solely to put out. The world additionally had it’s personal bar, bogs, scorching tub, soaking pool, and tons of lounge chairs and couches. This was a lifesaver as we by no means needed to fear about saving chairs or not having a spot to put for the day. Further suite facilities embrace having your individual concierge who’re there for something that you could be want, free limitless excessive velocity web, precedence boarding and departure [this was insane – it took approximately two minutes to get on and off the ship, including at shore stops!] and some different enjoyable extras like Malin + Goetz toiletries, luxurious pillow prime mattress, and extra! Due to all of this, it made the journey SO stress-free and allowed us to get pleasure from each second with out ever feeling like we have been crowded amongst 1000’s of individuals. Price each greenback in our opinion!
suite solar deck
suite lounge pool
suite eating room and lounge
Room service with a view
On the Surprise of the Seas there are 7 complimentary eating choices and 12 specialty eating places [this means that they have a cost to eat there – each restaurant has its own flat fee, ie: $25 per person and it ranges on the specific restaurant for the cost. Once you pay the flat fee, you can order anything / everything off the menu]! For breakfast we both at all times ate within the Coastal Kitchen [suite guests only] or had room service delivered proper to our balcony! For lunch, we visited the Windjammer Cafe, El Loco Recent, Johnny Rockets, or Central Park Cafe! For dinner, we sometimes ate as a household in the principle eating room [we did the reserved seating for 5:00 pm], however you can even go for later, or do my-time eating, which implies you may go anytime between 6 and 9:30 pm!] We did eat at one specialty restaurant on the ship, The Mason Jar, which was good and is de facto enjoyable with dwell nation music! Listed here are the specialty eating places we ate at up to now on different ships and my ideas:
- Giovanni’s Italian – YUM. This was certainly one of my [actually, it was] my favourite meal of the complete journey. Shawn ordered the truffle pasta and I ordered the lasagna. Each have been scrumptious however that truffle pasta, MY MOUTH IS WATERING THINKING ABOUT IT. So good. The garlic bread for an appetizer was additionally scrumptious. And dessert, completely order the brownie. You’re welcome.
- Chops Grille – That is the steakhouse on the ship and actually, it’s good, however I don’t know if both of us LOVED it. In order for you a steak whereas on the ship, I’d suggest going to Hooked and getting it there [Shawn got surf & turf at Hooked and said the steak there tasted better than the one at Chops!]
- 150 Central Park – If nothing else, go right here for a Tableside Central Park Martini, oh my, sure. Shawn and I each actually favored our meal right here and would eat there once more! We ordered two desserts [oops, we accidentally did this every night] they usually have been so good.
- Wonderland – Discuss an expertise. In the event you’re on the lookout for a eating expertise in contrast to something you’ve ever encountered, that is positively one thing to strive. It’s based mostly out of Alice in Wonderland [complete with the Mad Hatter who comes around and talks to you] with meals ready in a means you’ve probably by no means had. I’ll say, it’s odd consuming issues that you just aren’t completely certain what it’s, nonetheless, all the pieces tasted good! I don’t assume we might pay to eat right here once more simply because we’ve skilled it as soon as, however would suggest if you’d like one thing completely distinctive!
- Hooked – This was Shawn’s favourite meal of the journey and my second favourite [aka, we loved it]. The nautical vibe of the restaurant was proper down my alley and whereas it’s a seafood restaurant, the hen I ordered was very good [don’t worry – Shawn had seafood and loved it]! The macaroni and cheese was so good and the Boston Creme Pie was scrumptious for dessert!
- Izumi – That is the hibachi / sushi restaurant! The perfect a part of the meal was our chef on the hibachi desk who made it so entertaining and enjoyable! The meals was good, nonetheless, the worth per particular person to eat right here is kind of excessive I felt like. I don’t imagine we might select to eat once more at Izumi except we simply did the sushi, as we have now native hibachi locations we like simply as a lot!
- Bottomless Galley Brunch – We additionally opted to ebook this brunch one morning as it is a means to enter the Galley and see behind the scenes within the kitchen space and study extra about how they serve meals to 1000’s of individuals each week. It ends with a brunch and bottomless mimosas. A enjoyable option to see components of the ship not everyone else does! ps. Pack closed toe footwear for this!
Formal Nights Word: There have been two formal nights on our 7-night cruise. I really feel prefer it’s actually as much as you the way fancy [or not] you need to get. All of us women in our household wore a gown and the blokes wore a button up shirt and both pants or shorts! You may see extra on outfits right here!
When cruising, alcohol, pop and bottled water sometimes isn’t included in your value. They do supply drink packages which you could buy at a reduction both upfront or on the primary day of the cruise. We opted to easily do the Refreshment Package deal [and only I did this] to have the ability to get pop, bottled water, smoothies, espresso drinks from Starbucks, and so forth! I actually don’t know if we have been cash forward or to not purchase the package deal – we simply didn’t eat a ton of something beverage smart it appeared [outside of bottled water], so it actually simply will depend on whether or not or not you assume you’ll be ingesting and the way a lot on if it’s value it or not! Enjoyable reality: You might be allowed to deliver 2 bottles of wine on the ship [I believe this is per person]! Deliver your individual wine opener to keep away from an uncorking payment!
All the exhibits are free, which is very nice — I’ll say, the Surprise of the Seas leisure was not as good as a number of the different Royal Caribbean ships we’ve been on! We did ebook all the pieces upfront for the complete group, but additionally realized as soon as on the ship that in case you are a collection visitor, you don’t have to order and also you merely present up 20 minutes prior to point out time, they usually have a reserved part for suite company solely!
- InTense – That is the Aquatheater present and the perfect present of the cruise! Completely see this!
- 365 Seasons – Ice Skating Present, all of us loved this!
- Voices – We needed to depart due to Crew’s bedtime, nonetheless, my household actually loved this!
- The Effectors II: Crash ‘n’ Burn – None of us actually acquired into this one!
- Comedy Present, ebook upfront
- Love & Marriage Recreation Present [this is so funny]
- Quest Recreation Present [adult only scavenger hunt, also hilarious]
- Battle of the Sexes Recreation Present
- Stay music on the Pub
- Silent Dance Get together [my sister’s family attended and had so much fun!]
- Film Nights [a couple of the nights they will play movies either outside at the Aqua Theater or inside the Royal theater – while we didn’t go, it’s a relaxing evening activity you can partake in!]
Central Park was our favourite “neighborhood” on the ship – it’s so peaceable and stress-free and an important place to take heed to dwell music earlier than or after dinner!
The Royal Promenade – plenty of bars, eating places and outlets right here!
Adults Solely Solarium
certainly one of my a number of pool areas
Apart from all the exhibits, bars / lounges, eating places, there are a ton of different issues you are able to do to remain entertained whereas on board. Listed here are a few of these issues….
- Swimming pools & Scorching Tubs – There are a number of smaller swimming pools and a ton of scorching tubs on the ship! I’ve had a number of individuals ask about if it’s a must to mark your spot on a chair early as a way to get one and I’d say so long as you have been out by 9-10 am you need to be okay! By the afternoon, it was packed. On the suite deck, you might go up anytime and simply discover a spot! The Adults Solely Solarium is a enjoyable spot with a small pool, scorching tubs and bar that additionally has a ton of chairs to put out on!
- Splash Pads For Youthful Youngsters – Any baby that’s nonetheless in diapers and never potty skilled shouldn’t be allowed within the swimming pools, nonetheless, the splash pad was an important spot to chill off and cling with Crew! He liked it!
- On line casino
- Purchasing
- BINGO
- Spa
- Health Middle
- Waterslides
- Zip Line
- Flowrider Browsing
- Mini Golf / Basketball / Pickleball / Ping Pong
- Arcade
- Carousel
I may go on for this, so as a substitute of together with ALL of that proper right here – I’ll merely allow you to click on right here to see ALL of the outfits that I packed and what I’d suggest for taking with you!
I’ve acquired loads of questions on whether or not youngsters are allowed on this ship and/or within the suite areas. The reply to each of these is sure! Royal Caribbean has a childcare program, Journey Ocean, from 6:30 am – 10 pm that solely costs $6 per hour per baby for childcare. They do actions with the children all day and maintain them entertained. We did register Crew, nonetheless, we by no means ended up taking him [perks of traveling with family ;)]! We did study that within the 6-36 month previous class they restrict the # of youngsters to six and there are 2 caretakers always! The older youngsters appeared to adore it from what I may see! There are additionally simply so many issues for youths to do on the boat, that they shouldn’t have an issue being entertained!
Childcare Room for 6-36 months
A number of further ideas for touring with kids:
- Kids who aren’t potty skilled will not be allowed in the principle swimming pools, nonetheless, they do have age-appropriate splash pads for the kiddos to play and get moist in, which was excellent for us to remain cool!
- We did pack a light-weight stroller to tote him across the ship, together with a stroller fan as a result of it was scorching!
- We had room service ship complete milk to our room each night, that means we have been at all times stocked!
- Word on the fridge in your room: We had learn that they didn’t keep very chilly, so we did request a small medical cooler to place our milk in to make sure it stayed cool sufficient!
- There’s a free carousel on the Boardwalk — Crew liked occurring this!
There are such a lot of issues for youths of all ages to do — they do supply childcare [at the same $6/hr rate] as much as age 17 with totally different actions and enjoyable areas, age-appropriate! Outdoors of that, listed below are a number of different issues [there were many more!] that stored my nieces and nephew entertained [ranging from ages 9-17!]:
the arcade — you do pay to play!
water slides + common slides – so enjoyable!
Zip Lining
Browsing
WiFi: Sure, you may have wifi on the ship! This got here without cost with our room, nonetheless, when you have a room that doesn’t supply this without cost, you should purchase it per day or for the week! The wifi labored nice on my cellphone however was a little bit slower on my laptop computer. We did at all times flip our telephones onto airplane mode when at sea to keep away from roaming costs [you can still text via iMessage with airplane mode on and can also use WiFi].
Movement Illness: Our seas have been very calm throughout our crusing, nonetheless, I may minimally really feel the ship transferring one night. We did take non-drowsy Dramamine with us and took it the primary day as a preventative to keep away from something, however neither of us ever felt sick from the movement. Remember that these ships are very massive so that you don’t discover the motion all an excessive amount of.
Avoiding Germs: There are hand sanitizing stations EVERYWHERE. Additionally, when consuming in the principle eating rooms or any buffet type restaurant, it’s required to scrub your palms first [they have hand washing stations as you walk into the restaurants]. I additionally packed sanitizing hand wipes to make use of sometimes and to wipe off our telephones. The ship was immaculate and I used to be by no means apprehensive about choosing up a illness from anyone!
Gratuities: Gratuities are charged to you every day [$14.50 – $17.50 per person per day depending on your room type] which you’ll be able to both pre-pay earlier than your cruise or on the finish after they add it to your folio. Tipping past that is non-obligatory. We did discover ourselves tipping our bartender that we ordered from day-after-day after which wait workers within the night if we thought they did an important job. We additionally left an additional tip for our housekeeper [they clean your room twice a day] however once more, that is completely non-obligatory and as much as you!
General Price: Whereas I don’t assume it’s useful to provide you an actual value of our journey because it’s going to be totally different for everyone [sailing dates, cruising itinerary, room type, shore excursions, dining and beverage packages, etc will all vary] this was certainly one of our dearer holidays [by the time it was all said and done with flights, hotel the night before, suite room, dining and drinks, gratuities, etc]. You may completely make cruising as inexpensive or as dear as you need, it’s completely as much as you!
If there are questions that I didn’t reply, ask away and I’m blissful to assist! General, we liked each second and are so grateful for our time away collectively! Who’s able to set sail now? Prepared, set, GO!