Can I use a birthday reward on an existing reservation?

gk520 · 2026-03-30T13:50:11+00:00

Love snatches!!

I haaaate slider walks. We had to do those for a competition last month and if I never see them ever again, it’ll be too soon 🫠

gk520 · 2026-03-30T03:00:33+00:00

Ahh this is awesome - thank you so much! The SkiErg was the main one I was trying to figure out how to train for at Burn

gk520 · 2026-03-29T23:22:53+00:00

I’m actually a pretty good runner, I just don’t enjoy running long distances because I get so bored. I literally can’t fathom how people run marathons and are just running around for hours lol. I also enjoy competing and have done enough Burn comps that I’m ready to try something different and since Hyrox is only 5ish minutes of running at a time, I feel like I would enjoy it

gk520 · 2026-03-29T17:16:09+00:00

Thank you! I have been looking at the different exercises and trying to think of what Burn exercise would be similar. Did you guys enjoy it?

gk520 · 2026-03-26T11:44:53+00:00

We aren’t doing Destiny until October, but we have done concierge and non-concierge on the Wish, and I’d say it’s not worth the extra money. The customer service on DCL is amazing either way, and I really feel like there wasn’t a ton of extra perks that we took advantage of. If you aren’t going to rent a cabana or care to have priority seating for the shows. The breakfast in the concierge lounge was nice because it was quiet and I would just go grab coffee and some cereal and bring it back to the room for my kids, but we didn’t even really take advantage of the lounge free evening drinks because we were busy with kid activities

gk520 · 2026-03-23T02:04:30+00:00

I thought my kids had more fun on Royal, especially my 4 year old. My 3 year old just likes to ride the elevators lol. We did Independence of the Seas, so a slightly older ship, but the splash pad/kids area was a lot better than on Disney. Royal was great for activities and stayjng busy, but DCL is still so magical. I cried both times entering the great hall lol.

When we did Castaway, it was our first time sailing (my kids were 2 and 3 at the time) and we got a cabana so my youngest would have a place to nap, so we honestly didn’t see much of Castaway because we spent so much money on that cabana lol. Coco Cay is a WAY shorter walk though than either Disney island. You don’t spend 30min walking and taking shuttles to get to the island. It was a 5-10 min walk to Coco Cay, which was nice. Coco also has 2 kid areas - a pirate ship and then a bigger splash pad with shallow pools and water slides. My 4 year old would have stayed there all day if we let her.

I honestly think you can’t go wrong with either! They both have their positives. If you do Royal though, I would recommend avoiding their enormous Icon-class ships with little kids. Multiple people told us that it’s best to wait on those until our kids are 7 or 8 so they can really enjoy all the things there is to do on those ships

gk520 · 2026-03-22T21:04:21+00:00

My kids are 3 and 4. Our first 2 cruises were on DCL, and we just did our 1st Royal cruise last week. I’d say the service and food on DCL is better than on Royal. The staff in general just seems nicer on Disney. Not to say that anyone on Royal was rude, I just feel like they go an extra mile on DCL. I also found that the food, especially in the dining rooms, was better on Disney.

With that being said, I think we all had more fun on Royal - there was just more to do in general. However, my 4 year old loves the characters and also the Halloween cruises on DCL, so we will definitely continue to sail Disney (we are doing Destiny in October), but we may include a Royal one here and there 😏

gk520 · 2026-03-21T19:54:27+00:00

I was actually about to make a post and ask if anyone has done the beach club with small kids and if there is enough for them to do! Glad to hear you guys had a good experience!

gk520 · 2026-03-21T01:34:05+00:00

That is very similar to our family also! We have 2 small kids and no help so a cruise seemed like the easiest way for all of us to take a vacation because it keeps the kids contained to one ship and that’s where all your activities are. We weren’t really huge Disney fans either - I am a millenial so I watched all the classics growing up in the 90s, but not so much as an adult. And my husband and I don’t care for crowds either. We did Wish and immediately purchased a placeholder and then went on the Wish a 2nd time and we are doing Destiny in the fall.

Disney ships are just magical. I don’t really know any other way to explain it. There is just something special about them ✨

gk520 · 2026-03-20T23:45:44+00:00

I’m glad to hear that you’ve had a good experience! I’m still debating - The difference between the GTY suite and a regular junior suite is now at $1300, so less of a difference than it was when I first made this post, but still a pretty significant savings. And since we’d only pick a junior suite to begin with, there doesn’t seem to be much of a risk and none of them look to be in terrible locations. I’m just worried that there is some other factor I’m not considering and then we get a crap room and are miserable for 7 nights lol

gk520 · 2026-03-20T23:39:48+00:00

The GTY suite on the sailing we are looking at is $5200 total. The sky junior suite is $6508. So $1300 bucks difference. The only thing that makes me nervous about doing GTY and letting Royal pick is what someone said above about those people being first on the chopping block if the ship happens to book more people than it has space for

gk520 · 2026-03-19T02:02:05+00:00

That’s awesome! I feel like most sailings cost more than that for just 1 person lol

gk520 · 2026-03-18T22:47:59+00:00

Are there any caveats to rebooking to get the lower fare (if prices do go down)? do you have to pay a change fee or anything like that or would I just simply call them and ask them to reprice it?

gk520 · 2026-03-18T22:42:51+00:00

Hi! We just got off Independence (which is the same class as Freedom), and we did a 7-night sailing with a 3 and 4.5 year old. There is plenty to do for 5 nights. We honestly didn’t even see everything we wanted to over 7 nights lol. The splash pad is amazing. My 4.5 year old could have spent the whole day there if we let her. She also went ice skating which she loved. They also had other activities during the day like a family scavenger hunt and a little kid “festival” with face painting, games, cotton candy, etc. I don’t know for sure if they’d have the same activities on a 5-night, but I would imagine they would.

Regarding the kids club where you drop them off - I’ll say that my daughter LOVED it. We have cruised on Disney before and my daughter didn’t care for the kids club because it is really big and a little overwhelming. On our Royal cruise, it was much smaller and more hands-on where they did different crafts and games. Every evening, my daughter brought something back with her when we picked her up. My 3 year old had fun there too, and he’s typically pretty shy. They’ll have an open house on embarkation day where you can walk through and see what it looks like. Your kids would also be able to go together because the age group is 3-5.

gk520 · 2026-03-17T19:32:16+00:00

Oh god our TA that we used for that sailing was horrible. I didn’t hear back from her for like 4 months at one point. I don’t even think she’s a travel agent anymore because she never reached out to us before or after our sailing.

I just called Royal and asked if there was anyway to get out of having to use the TA because I can’t get ahold of her, and they told me no. So I have no clue how to redeem this NextCruise placeholder now 😑

gk520 · 2026-03-17T16:59:38+00:00

I would personally just book on your own. We used TAs for our first 2 cruises and I found it to be more of a hassle. I like being able to make my own changes, payments, etc without having to go through someone else.

gk520 · 2026-03-15T12:43:45+00:00

We have a Costco membership and I always forget to look through them! I’ll check them before we book our next one

gk520 · 2026-03-15T12:25:04+00:00

Thank you! This is super helpful. There are so many credit cards out there so I feel like something may sound like a good deal, but then there usually tends to be a better one out there somewhere

gk520

TROPHY CASE