SharkTums

Since when is Red Robin a 'gourmet burger eatery'!!?!? Seriously!?!? That is a decent line up of restaurants though to enjoy when you're done being bored on the wheel!

^I didn't ride any water rides in India or China...with my immune system I would probably be dead 7 times if I did!

You guys posting all of these pictures missed the best one by far... Yet another amazing Larry photo!!!

^There are many 'cabs' that are just people driving around for money. They are not registered, and while most of the time they won't cause any problems for you (other than maybe charging you and extra $3-$5), there is no meter and it could end in an argument that you won't be able to win. Sometimes when at a mall or hotel they will have connections and the people working the taxi line will try to put you in one. Just politely say no and wait for a metered and marked taxi. The car service was certainly worth it!

Robb didn't believe me at first when I pointed out the bed issue to him! Great for the majority of their clientele, but pretty much confirms we could never do a TPR Cruise as we need those separate beds for all of our people! I really liked having a true Queen sized bed instead of the two pushed together thing as on every other ship. Great question on the 2-Tops. I honestly cannot say I remember seeing one. They must have a few, but literally, a few. There were very few four tops, and we had to fight to get our own private table for 5 people.

He was at least easy to spot and then avoid!

Rhapsody is one of the older ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet, so don't go expecting too much from the ship itself. My parents have done some of the Australia based RCCL Cruises before and said they were really fun though because of all the crazy Australians on a boat! Radiance and Voyager of the Seas also spend time down in Australia, if you can ever get on one of those, go for it, you won't be disappointed!

^This one was just as good. The op seemed to love Americans and was really getting into it with us. He was giving crazy rides with lots of bouncing.

So who was it that turned 21 again? I don't think I heard anything about it!

It's so frustrating dealing with parks that look so good, and operate so poorly. The best was still the SLC that operated us for morning filming, then they just never bothered opening it again for the public!!! We looked back and sure enough that mouse was also not operating back in 2008. Pathetic.

I don't do spinning rides, but I'll jump on any Tagada I can find! Maybe I can buy one!?!

^AQUATRAX for the win!!!!

Pretty picture of a terrible ride!

This is a lot of questions and information...let me see what I can help with quickly. First off, I love Dubai and the UAE, you'll have such a good time! I would rate it just below Japan in my places I like to visit! 1. We love the Four Points Sheraton on Sheikh Zayed Road. If for some reason you don't like that, I would still recommend that area (I know there are a couple of cheaper hotels there as well). Walking distance to a ton of restaurants, night time places, a grocery store, and a short taxi ride to many attractions (including the Dubai Mall) 2. Stick to your hotel bar for this. 3. I love falafel, but that's about all I like for Middle Eastern food. If you're sick of Middle Eastern food, there's a Wagamama and Pizza Hut walking distance from the hotel I suggested...there's also EVERYTHING ELSE ON EARTH within a 5 minute cab ride or 30 minute walk. Tons of restaurants at the Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates. 4. I never did the Aquarium but it didn't seem amazing or anything enough to get me inside. Check out the big wall of water and move on. 5. You can hit up some smaller Dubai or Sharjah FEC parks, sleep, go to the beach, shop, etc. 6. From what we saw of the 'Evening Desert Safari with Dinner' is that it didn't really matter which company you used. Similar to a cruise ship shore excursion they all had very similar compounds, vehicles, and itineraries. It was a lot of fun and we would certainly do it again. 7. Did you mention taking a tour of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi? That would at least fulfill some culture! 8. The river cruise seemed a bit dumb from what I saw...we didn't bother with it. Also, once you've seen one giant mosque or souk, you've kind of seen them all. 9. The Metro is actually NOT that great. A lot of the stations are still a 20ish minute walk to the actual place you're going. 20 minutes in the heat with no side walks and the drivers there is quite dangerous. Cabs are cheap and easy. Stick with the marked cabs unless you've already agreed on a price with a private car service. Be careful with the monorail at the palm island, I don't think it runs as much anymore and may not be able to get you to the park by opening. 10. I think some of our people did the bus, we arranged a car service through the hotel that was super fast (they drive REALLY fast between the speed cameras) and a relatively good price. 11. HAHAHAHHA!!! Good luck with Rossa, as you know from our trip reports it certainly has issues. I agree with you though, do NOT pre-buy the express tickets, we did and they were really only useful on one or two things. If you get there early and have a WHOLE DAY (I think that's too much time for that park) you'll be fine. BTW, Ski Dubai is awesome and I would definitely go do it even if you're not big skiers...it's just so unique and awesome. Hope this helps a bit, have fun!

Let's be honest, there wasn't THAT much theming that needs to be redone!

The smell from that ship must be horrific! The latest I heard was that the plans were delayed and it would likely still be sitting there into next summer.

Sounds great! We were looking for a reason to get back to this 'somewhat' out of the way park and this will certainly do it!

We cruised with Kristen starting when she was 9 months old. It was an EXCELLENT form of vacation and now it's only better as more and more lines offer nursery programs for babies and toddlers too young for the kids program. Seriously, every time I walk by one of those nursery's I get angry that they didn't have that option when we were cruising when she was a baby! Most lines charge for babies. It's a 3rd/4th passenger rate so it's lower, but you do need to be prepared to pay. Some parents won't cruise because of this because they say "well they're not eating as much or anything, they're not using the facilities, etc." Just basically bitching up a storm. In reality, your baby is taking the place of someone who may shop, gamble, drink, etc. There also needs to be space in the lifeboat for them. Plus they create a lot of trash! There are a ton of food options so if you have a new eater you can encourage them to try a ton of things and see what they like without wasting money. You can look for some of the kids sail free promotions, but they're usually on smaller ships or lines or unconventional times.

^Remember that those deals only come out sometimes, and usually NOT on the bigger ships. I believe in the past year they've only offered the Kids Sail Free deals on the Magic out of Galveston and the Wonder out of LA (and only on select dates and itineraries). If I had to assume it would either be 9 years old (The normal Disney Child cutoff) or 17 (as it's really just a 3rd/4th person in a room deal).

Love the idea of a mini-Cheetah Hunt.

Oh god...those photos elicit terrible flashbacks!! AHHHHHH!!!!

Red Panda's are the red headed step children of the Panda world. It's pretty much a fox!

You have way too much free time! Seriously though, I believe my breakdown of the China Coasters on the trip was 90% Crap, 8% Decent, 2% Good. Looking at your graphs it may actually be less than that 2%!

Did anyone get a photo of the infamous bathroom at Crab Island!?!?

^Not a contest! The Pirates would run away terrified of the Karnival Kruisers!!!!