MaddyandMax

Be careful weighing yourself during a cruise.  A ton of people retain water while on vacation.  I came home 5lbs heavier but it was gone in less than a week.  It will make you freak and stress over nothing.

Maintaining a 170lb weight loss.  Took a break on vacation and despite eating more and indulging more I didn't actually gain any weight.  Do the stairs and you will be fine.

1 hour ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

You can't get into the water park without a pass so no, you wouldn't be able to use the cabana. There are cabanas outside the water park but they cost more and don't include the park passes.

Thanks for the response! I figured as much but thought I would ask just in case.

Question about the water park cabanas.  We are a group of 8.  But myself and my son will not be in the water park (I have no interest and he might be too small and doesn't like heights).  Could we all use the cabana but only 6 use the water park?  Never been to CB so I have no idea about location of these cabanas.  Just a thought in my head, wanted to see if it would work before speaking to the rest of my group.

9 hours ago, steveru621 said:

 

No disputing what you witnessed, but there is a different theme.

 

My fully potty trained granddaughter had a difficult first day at the pool.  She tried both kids pools, but was intimidated by the much bigger kids in the non-diaper pool.  We then brought her to the swim diaper pool and we were told flat out NO, this pool is for swim diapers ONLY.  We went back and forth for an hour or so with the same answers.  Finally I told the attendant at the swim diaper pool she's going in whether you like it or not.  Call security if you wish.  She had a great hour of fun.  Then decided to try the big kids pool again, no go, they intimidated her on the slide.  Back to the smaller pool, again, she is not allowed in without a swim diaper.  FINALLY told you can get a free swim diaper at the station.  Happy again, until she tried using the other slide.  NO SWIM DIAPERS in this pool.  Off with the swim diaper, on with the bathing suit.

 

This went on for the rest of the week.  Swim suit on and off.

 

 

Your situation is definitely different.  I'm not looking for a debate.  Just letting the OP know what I witnessed on the ship so they know what to expect.  The children I witnessed were not your LO's age.  I witnessed parents taking diapers off children/babies under 2 and well under 2.  Children who couldn't walk or talk.  Children who were being fed baby food from a jar at their recliners...

For the poster who asked about going to guest services.  What's the point?  I spoke to the Adventure Ocean staff who were manning the slide, who saw all this and they just shrugged their shoulders (this was all happening at the bottom of the slide area - for those who know Adventure - there is a lip where parents like to sit with their feet in the water).  Why would I waste my vacation time with my children sitting at customer service when I'll get the same response?

OP I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  We took my youngest when they just turned 3 so they could go to Adventure Ocean but I am sure you will have a blast even without Adventure Ocean.  Our last cruise in May on Adventure because of the ships doctor (long drama story I won't get into on here) my kids could not use AO after the first 2 days and we still had a complete blast (once we got over the sadness and anger).

Happy Wednesday!

Was on the Adventure in May.  There is a tiny splash pad for babies with diapers.  I would say 4 kids and their parents would fit in the area at one time.

That said, the few times I saw no swim diapers enforced (may 3 times in 8 days) in the other areas (specifically by the kids slide), I watched parents just simply take the diaper off and put their childs bathing suit back on.  Then they would spend hours in there...  I saw this at least 20 times from multiple parents.  So take that information how you will.  I was not impressed.  And I have children, hence the reason I always had a chair right by the kids splash area.

We've found whenever we sail with my brother and his family we always save money with the kids sail free and he does not.  Looks like if you only have one child the sale isn't sale, but having two kids in the room makes me worth while.  We saved over $300 on our upcoming cruise when we repriced during the kids sail free.  So from my experience if you only have one child in the room it isn't a sale.

12 minutes ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

Just let your wait staff know not to bring the bread out and they will be happy to accommodate you. That's what I did after my cruise after having the sleeve done.

 

Also when ordering if there is something that comes with the meal that you would rather not have on your plate just let them know to leave that particular item off. One night they were serving roasted turkey (which I love and since I had my surgery a couple of weeks prior to Thanksgiving and was not able to have any) I asked if they could leave off the mashed potatoes and stuffing and let me have a double helping of turkey no problem and they were happy to make me happy.

 

Enjoy your cruise. 😊👍

I wish, but the other 12 people I am traveling with would be upset to not have the bread LOL.  I'll have to have some self control and just have half a bun every other night and those days stay away from bread earlier in the day.  At least that's the plan LOL

Thanks for everyone's answers here.  I've  been stressing about this for a few months but was too nervous to post.  I sail in 3.5 weeks and am almost 14 months post op.  I'm in maintenance now (170lbs down) but am totally stressing about gaining weight while away.  I'm not a huge drinker luckily but I'm packing some mio and will just ask for vodka and water and put some mio in it if I want a drink.  My biggest worry is the bread at dinner.  I love bread.  At home it easy to stay away but I'm worried staring at a bread bowl every day will make me bonkers.  I also plan on getting the sugar free desserts.  Luckily refined sugar still really bothers me so I won't be tempted to overdue it as I know how much it sucks afterwards.  I've only "dumped" a handful of times because luckily my stomach very loudly gives me all the warning signs.

Thank you everyone for your responses.

I do allow her freedoms at home.  We've allowed her to stay home by herself since 10 and with her brother since she turned 11 while we run errands, grocery shop, etc.  That said, we also have an alarm system and I receive text messages when any door in the house is opened.  She's never misbehaved or done anything bad.

I think we are going to see how it goes and do it on a day to day basis.  It certainly be handy to have her be able to sign herself and her brother out at 5:00pm to come back to the room to get ready for dinner.  So those are something I am considering.  Her older cousin who is 16 is cruising with us.  I'm going to allow her sign out privileges so they can hang out without her "annoying" younger brother.

Like I said in my original post.  This has nothing to do with my lack of faith in her of doing the right and responsible thing.  It's the rest of the world I don't have faith in.  Boats are floating large cities and anyone who doesn't think bad things can and do happen on them is wearing rose coloured glasses.

I sincerely appreciate all the input.  It's definitely made my decision harder.  I've gone from a hard no to a I don't know.  So I think we'll go, see how she likes it and then decide.  She's always LOVED Adventure Ocean and never wanted to leave before.  But I also know she's at the horrible age where she is no longer a kid and not quite a teenager and it always makes this gray area in these situations.

10 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

I am not a parent but these are things I have scene more than once...

 

A group of kids meet at Kids Club. They decide to go "exploring". This group now wanders the ship doing "kids stuff" (think dropping stuff over railings, getting soft serve but making a mess, making noise in hallways, pushing all the buttons in an elevator, etc).

 

Again, nothing overwhelmingly bad. I like what @ShillyShally said about having a discussion with her about parameters.

Yeah that would never fly with my kids and they KNOW the consequences of that.  On our last cruise on Explorer we actually saw a group of kids (13-16) all over the ship all the time.  Myself, my husband and my parents all saw them at different times stealing or trying to steal from the stores. They were reported multiple times but we never saw any of them with parents... Ever. We also saw them taking stones out of the flower pots near the elevators and leaving them strewn on the ground for people to trip and interrupting multiple shows to come sit at the very front row on the floor, half way through the show...

My dd likes to spend time with us so I'm not so much concerned about her roaming the ship with other children, but you just never know.  I don't want to be that parent who says after the fact, "I never would have thought my child would do that", because when push comes to shove they are all capable of being "that" child.

Maybe at first I won't allow the sign out and see how she likes it.  If she's not having fun and things seem to be going well maybe I'll reconsider allowing it. Because I also don't want to be the parent who doesn't allow any freedom.

Parenting sucks sometimes.

35 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

One rule that is almost universally mentioned is to make sure the child knows never to go into any other stateroom.

Oh boy, I never even thought of that.  Though she's friendly I think she would know better...  I do credit myself as a good parent but really you never know what your children will do when you aren't around and are getting peer pressure.

Hello Everyone,

My family and I are cruising on the Adventure next month.  My daughter is 11.5 years old.  I recently learned we can give sign out privilege to her as she is over 10.  My first response was a hard NO.  But I've been reading some reports of people who have children younger than mine who have allowed it so now I am second guessing my immediate response.  I don't want to be "that" parent LOL.  It's not her I distrust, it's others I don't trust.  She is far from a shy child and has no problems talking to strangers.  Also, crime happens on ships, we all know that.  I'm also not willing to pay for all of us to have internet so she can text us to let us know when she's leaving and where she is going.  But on the flip side, she is also not the type to leave to go do something on her own.  If she was bored she would probably just search us out on the pool deck.

So I thought I would come on here and see how other parents feel as, other than a few recent trip reports, I haven't really seen it mentioned in recent posts.

Thanks for opinions and information

Sara

This happened to my parents on the Freedom last year but they were a table of 10. It was so packed one side had to get in and sit down, push the table towards them so the other side could side down.  And there was a loud speaker over the table that was broken and crackled very loudly continuously.  They finally had enough after 3 days and complained and were moved but were upset to see they just moved another bunch of people to that horrible table.  The waiter couldn't even serve properly.  The food had to be passed down the table.

You are going to have a very hard time without a medical reason.  I've had bariatric surgery and cannot drink alcohol or sugar (I'm one of the ones who dump immediately - for people who know about the surgery).  I had to not only get a note from my family doctor but also my surgeon's office.  I was able to buy the pop package instead (which I won't use but at least it's cheaper). You might have an easier time if you agree to buy the refreshment package.

We found the easiest thing to do since ours loved it so much was to take them there at 5:30pm and the staff would take them to a closed off area of the WJ for dinner and then back to Aquanauts for the evening program.

 

This option that many confuse with Family Dining is called "Adventure Dining"...check with the staff and your Kids Daily Planner for info on this option.

Our cruises are always family cruises. We can do whatever we want during the day but we all have to sit down and have dinner together every night. And it's always something I believed in anyways. We pull the out for dinner and take them right back afterwards.

My kids love the kids club so much they beg to go back every meal. Our last cruise my son was 3.5 and he cried when he had to leave for dinner. They will LOVE it.

We were on Explorer and there were milkshakes on the kids menu in the MD (can only remember Oreo right now). My husband had the ultimate package and ordered them nightly. They were covered in the package.

My parents just got off a ship less than two weeks ago (I am 75% sure it was the Grandeur) and he was able to purchase the alcohol package for himself no problems. They came around selling the package and he asked if he could get it just for himself (my mother does not drink anything except water and coffee) and he said no problem. My dad asked him to confirm with his supervisor and he came back 30 minutes later and said it was perfectly fine. He didn't have a problem the entire time he was on the ship. I can confirm tonight what ship they were on.

My parents got off the ship a week ago and had no issues and new of nothing being broken. They said the ship sailed fine and they never saw anyone sick.

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I can't remember if this was my Explorer or Liberty cruise but it was a Halloween cruise because that is 99% of the time when we cruise. It was between 8-9 pm. My brother, myself and our spouses were on the deck enjoying the night and deciding our evening when two women and a man get in the hot tub right beside us. They were older, I'm not good with ages but the man had all white hair. They proceeded to make out and grope each other as a threesome. By now there was a group of at least 30 people (maybe one of you lol) on deck. Some watching some trying not too. Then all the sudden they decided they wanted to go in the pool. Instead of walking out like you would expect, they all slide out of the hot tub along the ground into the pool (picture a slug crawling) and continued what they started in the pool until security finally came. It was like they had no clue anyone was there.

If you're reading recent reviews like I have the issue, from what I've understood, is that a lot of residents have been (or were) living on the boat because of the hurricane. For many the ship for a few weeks was their home.

When we went with our 3 year old and 4 year old (different children and different years). The cabin steward would put the pullman mattress on the floor in the evening and put it away in the morning. It was perfect! He had no problem doing it and we always tipped extra at the end for the extra work. Much nicer than sleeping on the sofa.

It's a very small world! I'm in Oshawa!

I was on the LOS and my husband bought a package and I did not...

Oh don't be nervous! They give you a phone so you can call. If our son wouldn't go when we dropped him off (we'd make him like another poster did) we'd call an hour later and they would make him go while we were on the phone with them. It won't be a problem! You just can't drop off and forget or not worry like you can the older kids. You're going to have a ball!