And identical to that, our Caribbean cruise with my household is over. Insert the entire 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 complete household for every week and crusing away for an journey of a lifetime! We weren’t positive how it could go along 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!]
When you’d prefer to see video of our time on the ship, you’ll want to 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 desire to area out cruising each few years. We love them, however it’s a method of touring I don’t have to do yearly. We’ve discovered spacing them out each few years makes them extra gratifying!
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 😉
ps. When you’re curious to see what all I packed and wore on the cruise, see this full weblog put up recapping the entire outfits!
Royal Caribbean Surprise of the Seas! We have now traveled on Royal Caribbean twice earlier than and completely cherished 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 unimaginable 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 may have the Royal Promenade, Central Park [my FAVORITE area on the boat!], Boardwalk, Pool & Sports activities Zone, Leisure Place, Vitality Spa, Adults Solely Solarium and Children 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], resulting from the entire completely different areas and neighborhoods, it fortunately doesn’t really feel too crowded or packed. My dad and mom usually journey on smaller cruise ships and so they had been involved they weren’t going to love the large ship, nonetheless, they did say that with how unfold out every little thing is, they really actually loved the big 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 beneath! Notice: The Surprise of the Seas is shifting 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 wish to decide to any schedule off the boat and there weren’t a ton of choices that we thought he might simply take pleasure in! Nevertheless, we did get off the boat at two of the three stops which I’ll share in additional element beneath! Notice: In case you are reserving excursions, you are able to do so all simply by way of the Royal Caribbean app! That is additionally the place you possibly can ebook eating, drink packages, present reservations, buy WiFi, and so on!
- CocoCay, Bahamas – That is Royal Caribbean’s island within the Bahamas and it was a lot enjoyable! We merely received off the ship and went to the large Oasis Lagoon pool to drift round with Crew! There was a pool bar we might order drinks from and the entire meals on the eating places are included in your ship’s value so that you don’t need to pay! You may pay for excursions right here [there is a waterpark you can do, my parents did a kayak tour, etc] or you possibly can simply lounge on the seashore or pool free of charge! It made for a soothing and enjoyable cease!
- San Juan, Puerto Rico – This was our first time to Puerto Rico so we undoubtedly 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, retailers, and so on! All free of charge, no value to get off and do that!
- St Marteen – We have now really been to St Marteen a couple of occasions, so we opted to remain on the ship today and benefit from the empty boat whereas most poeple had 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 good friend who’s a journey agent as we had been reserving the cruise for 3 households [us, my parents and my sister’s family]. This simply helped make issues extra seamless, nonetheless, previously when reserving for simply ourselves, we’ve at all times booked immediately by way of RoyalCaribbean.com as I discovered that the pricing was comparable [if not the same] by way of completely different on-line journey companies!
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 data and take a selfie of your self. On the port the place you board, every little thing is completed 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 unimaginable. This room kind is included of their Sky Suite Class which presents a LOT of fantastic facilities which I’ll get into! As a result of we had Crew with us, it was essential for us to have a room that might permit us to expertise the comforts of residence, in order that we might 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 measurement mini room [think of it as a nice closet] that match a pack n play completely. We had been in a position to have him in there throughout naps and bedtime and be capable of operate about our room [the living room and our bedroom] simply high quality! One other bonus: it has a bath within the lavatory which meant straightforward bathing for him! Moreover, the balcony is HUGE and we love having fun with our time exterior! Yet another enormous bonus: the quantity of cupboard space on this room was insane. We couldn’t practically use all of it. Sometimes on a cruise ship there’s lots left to be desired for cupboard space and wow, this had cupboards and closet all over the place you’d flip round!
Lots of people have requested about the price of reserving this room and whereas the price is at all times going to differ relying in your actual journey dates and itinerary, it appears like on common it’s about 5x the price of your primary inside stateroom. I’ll clarify what else you get with this suite in a second [aside from the incredible room itself]!
If 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 free of charge. 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 friends solely to put out. The world additionally had it’s personal bar, bogs, sizzling 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. Extra suite facilities embrace having your personal 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 high mattress, and extra! Due to all of this, it made the journey SO stress-free and allowed us to take pleasure in each second with out ever feeling like we had been crowded amongst hundreds of individuals. Value 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 usually ate as a household in the principle eating room [we did the reserved seating for 5:00 pm], however you too can go for later, or do my-time eating, which suggests you possibly can 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 admittedly enjoyable with dwell nation music! Listed here are the specialty eating places we ate at previously on different ships and my ideas:
- Giovanni’s Italian – YUM. This was considered one of my [actually, it was] my favourite meal of all the journey. Shawn ordered the truffle pasta and I ordered the lasagna. Each had 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 preferred our meal right here and would eat there once more! We ordered two desserts [oops, we accidentally did this every night] and so they had been so good.
- Wonderland – Discuss an expertise. When you’re in search of a eating expertise not like something you’ve ever encountered, that is undoubtedly one thing to attempt. It’s primarily based out of Alice in Wonderland [complete with the Mad Hatter who comes around and talks to you] with meals ready in a method you’ve almost certainly by no means had. I’ll say, it’s odd consuming issues that you simply aren’t completely positive what it’s, nonetheless, every little thing 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 need 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 excellent [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 most effective 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 value per individual to eat right here is sort of excessive I felt like. I don’t consider we might select to eat once more at Izumi except we simply did the sushi, as we’ve got 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 method to enter the Galley and see behind the scenes within the kitchen space and be taught extra about how they serve meals to hundreds of individuals each week. It ends with a brunch and bottomless mimosas. A enjoyable technique to see elements of the ship not everyone else does! ps. Pack closed toe footwear for this!
Formal Nights Notice: There have been two formal nights on our 7-night cruise. I really feel prefer it’s actually as much as you ways fancy [or not] you wish to get. All of us ladies in our household wore a costume 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 usually isn’t included in your value. They do provide drink packages which you can buy at a reduction both prematurely or on the primary day of the cruise. We opted to easily do the Refreshment Bundle [and only I did this] to have the ability to get pop, bottled water, smoothies, espresso drinks from Starbucks, and so on! I actually don’t know if we had been cash forward or to not purchase the bundle – we simply didn’t eat a ton of something beverage clever it appeared [outside of bottled water], so it actually simply relies on whether or not or not you assume you’ll be ingesting and the way a lot on if it’s price it or not! Enjoyable truth: You’re allowed to carry 2 bottles of wine on the ship [I believe this is per person]! Deliver your personal wine opener to keep away from an uncorking charge!
The entire reveals are free, which is very nice — I’ll say, the Surprise of the Seas leisure was not as good as among the different Royal Caribbean ships we’ve been on! We did ebook every little thing prematurely for all the group, but in addition discovered 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, and so they have a reserved part for suite friends solely!
- InTense – That is the Aquatheater present and one of the best 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 received into this one!
- Comedy Present, ebook prematurely
- Love & Marriage Recreation Present [this is so funny]
- Quest Recreation Present [adult only scavenger hunt, also hilarious]
- Battle of the Sexes Recreation Present
- Reside music on the Pub
- Silent Dance Occasion [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 enjoyable and a terrific place to hearken to dwell music earlier than or after dinner!
The Royal Promenade – numerous bars, eating places and retailers right here!
Adults Solely Solarium
considered one of my a number of pool areas
Apart from the entire reveals, 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 & Sizzling Tubs – There are a number of smaller swimming pools and a ton of sizzling tubs on the ship! I’ve had a number of individuals ask about if it’s important to mark your spot on a chair early in an effort to get one and I’d say so long as you had been out by 9-10 am you have to be okay! By the afternoon, it was packed. On the suite deck, you may go up anytime and simply discover a spot! The Adults Solely Solarium is a enjoyable spot with a small pool, sizzling tubs and bar that additionally has a ton of chairs to put out on!
- Splash Pads For Youthful Children – Any youngster that’s nonetheless in diapers and never potty educated isn’t allowed within the swimming pools, nonetheless, the splash pad was a terrific spot to chill off and cling with Crew! He cherished it!
- On line casino
- Purchasing
- BINGO
- Spa
- Health Middle
- Waterslides
- Zip Line
- Flowrider Browsing
- Mini Golf / Basketball / Pickleball / Ping Pong
- Arcade
- Carousel
I might 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 obtained a whole lot 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 prices $6 per hour per youngster 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 be taught 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 might 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
Just a few extra suggestions for touring with kids:
- Youngsters who aren’t potty educated are usually not 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 sizzling!
- We had room service ship complete milk to our room each night, that method we had been at all times stocked!
- Notice 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 cherished happening this!
There are such a lot of issues for youths of all ages to do — they do provide childcare [at the same $6/hr rate] as much as age 17 with completely different actions and enjoyable areas, age-appropriate! Exterior of that, listed here are a couple of different issues [there were many more!] that stored my nieces and nephew entertained [ranging from ages 9-17!]:
the arcade — you do play to pay!
water slides + common slides – so enjoyable!
Zip Lining
Browsing
WiFi: Sure, you possibly can have wifi on the ship! This got here free of charge with our room, nonetheless, in case you have a room that doesn’t provide this free of charge, you should buy it per day or for the week! The wifi labored nice on my cellphone however was slightly slower on my laptop computer. We did at all times flip our telephones onto airplane mode when at sea to keep away from roaming prices [you can still text via iMessage with airplane mode on and can also use WiFi].
Movement Illness: Our seas had been very calm throughout our crusing, nonetheless, I might minimally really feel the ship shifting 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. Understand that these ships are very giant 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 clean 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 fearful about choosing up a illness from anyone!
Gratuities: Gratuities are charged to you each 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 once they add it to your folio. Tipping past that is non-compulsory. We did discover ourselves tipping our bartender that we ordered from on daily basis after which wait workers within the night if we thought they did a terrific job. We additionally left an additional tip for our housekeeper [they clean your room twice a day] however once more, that is completely non-compulsory and as much as you!
Total Price: Whereas I don’t assume it’s helpful to offer you an actual value of our journey because it’s going to be completely different for everyone [sailing dates, cruising itinerary, room type, shore excursions, dining and beverage packages, etc will all vary] this was considered one of our costlier 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 totally as much as you!
If there are questions that I didn’t reply, ask away and I’m comfortable to assist! Total, we cherished each second and are so grateful for our time away collectively! Who’s able to set sail now? Prepared, set, GO!
ps. To see the entire outfits that I took with me or for heat climate trip outfit inspiration, see this put up!
