melski

If you are cruising during Spring Break, the teen club tends to be very strict about age groups as there are so many kids.

My last few ships there was a teen registration and wrist bands given out.  They will not allow the 18 yo in the teen club as they are considered a legal adult.  I do feel your pain as my DD just turned 18 a few weeks before our cruise last year and it was a tough adjustment.  

That being said most teens just use the teen club as a meet up area.  Since your teens already have a group, they may not need it as much.  They still may want to go the first night if they want as that is the meet and greet night.

The teens tend to be split when there are a bunch onboard like during a school break.   Going to the teen club the first night is key to have a chance making friends.  There are teen only activities but some cruises many teens will participate and others not so much.

There is no teen fitness center.  I've seen teens in the fitness center.  Try during a less busy time and make sure a parent is with her.  If the staff won't allow her in, there is a large track that anyone can use.

Love reading your review! YC looks incredible! So glad you and hubby are having a great time. Just caught up on the blog and still have some scopes to catch up on as I have yet to be able to be on live during a scope. Can't wait to see about the rest of the week.

You need the reservation number and last name for each stateroom and then you can link it. There should be a link that says "add guests from another reservation" at the bottom after you add it to your cart. Click on that and add each reservation. You can also call but you will need the same information.

There is no firm rule for this situation. You need to go onboard and ask if the 11 yo can be moved up to the teen group or the 12 yo moved down to Voyagers. Since you are going when won't be a ton of kids onboard I think they may allow more flexibility. There isn't anything you can do before you board the ship as it will be up to the AO staff for your sailing. If they allow the younger to move to the tween group, realize that most kids don't actually do activities in the teen center but use it as a meeting place and then wander the ship. The worst case scenario is that they say no and you plan on where you'll allow the girls to wander and how you will communicate with them.

DS turned 15 last week on Harmony. I ordered a cake from Guest Services for $25. Guest services made a note on where we were eating dinner (MDR). I double checked with our waiter the night of the birthday and she had everything taken care of. They put a candle in and sang HB to him. Dessert on RC isn't my favorite but I thought the cake was good. Our waiter saved it so we had it for dessert the following night too.

Any idea what time on the first night they meet at Adventure Ocean?

First night opens at 8 pm. The other nights AO opens at 7pm.

Like others have said, I would price out 2 connecting rooms especially if traveling with another adult. You can have a conversation in the evening without being worried about waking up the kids.

The advantage to a JR suite besides the space is that you can eat in CK for dinner. It may be quicker than the MDR.

My only suggestion is to eat breakfast and/or lunch in the MDR when possible with little kids. I think WJ is a nightmare to manage when kids are that young and even though my youngest is now 6, I still try to avoid it as much as possible.

 

Pack outfits, underwear and socks in large zip locks. It helps keep your clothes organized in your luggage and things you don't need to hang can stay in the bags and you can stack them on shelves in the closet or place in drawers.

I do this for my little kids after our first cruise they wore all their clothes by day 3. I put a daytime and evening outfit in a ziplock bag and label it with the day to wear. They reuse evening outfits but I label that too on their bag.

Also at the end of the cruise you have a bunch of bags to use for dirty/clean clothes, etc.

Right. So they won't have an issue with two kids aged 8 and 15 in a room?

You can actually book it this way. Some TAs won't do it because they have to call RC but it is very simple. Then there is no need to get extra keys.

You can have the kids in their own room if adjoining, connecting or directly across from the adult room. I've booked all 3 ways for my kids.

So going to the show the first night is a bad idea? We’d have to change a lot around to move that show to a different night, but I want the kids to have a chance to make friends

Very bad idea if she wants to make friends in the teen club. Honestly, my kids do not go to any shows...they'd rather hang with their friends in the evening. We go to the shows without kids and pick up younger ones from AO at 10 and my teens stay out later than us.

Go Noles :)

 

I looked at the website and it looks like we can prebook our dinner times so I’ll do that. Since I have all the shows booked it should be easy. Would two hours before a show be enough time for dinner? Most of the shows are at 8:30 so I was thinking dinner at 6 or 6:30.

We've always done MTD. It is hard the first night as so many people don't have reservations. We book at 6:15 (there is a gap from 6:15 to about 7:30 where you can't book those times online) and get there a bit early the first day. After the first night, MTD is smooth and you are typically at the same table. Dining at 6:15 allows my teens to go up and meet their friends in the teen club at a good time.

For your first night, please change the aqua show or at least don't have your 14yo attend it. AO opens at 8pm the first night and they should be there right when it opens and stay. It is so important that they are there the first night as that is when they do a meet and greet and the teens basically will sort themselves into groups that they will hang out with the rest of the cruise. Its not quite as urgent for the 9yo. There will be a ton of kids onboard as there always is on any school break.

Please don't listen to the Disney crowd. Many of us are very happy with RC and keep coming back to RC with our families. It is a great product at a good price. The family vacation is whatever you make of it but I think you will have an amazing time.

If you use a TA, make sure they don’t send you anything. My TAs send me coupon books and a sometimes a note.

Typically there are movies by the pool nightly. Not always young kid friendly though if that matters.

Yes kids club is open the first night. It opens at 8. Other nights it opens at 7.

I've never done Family dining as we prefer My Time Dining. I tend to get a reservation around 6:15 as the 5:30 early seating is too early for us. We eat and then drop off the kids at the kids club around 7.

Jewel is a Radiance class ship. Make sure you sit outside to eat outside the Windjammer.

We book 2 connecting staterooms for my family of 6. Harmony and Symphony are the most expensive ships in the fleet because they are the newest, however $6k for 5 isn't a terrible price for those ships and still much less than DCL.

If you are wanting something less expensive, you can try Freedom or Voyager class. I'm thinking Liberty, Indy or Adventure with the slides and cute kids water area. Those are significantly less than Harmony or Symphony. We've been on Liberty twice and my kids always had a great time. I think they also have a few family oceanview staterooms which give you another option.

Thanks for the great pics and info. We will be heading there in Feb on oasis and yours is the first post I’ve seen that shows the condition of island. We also hired a tour guide because she will know better what parts of the island are best to visit now. Spent a week here a few years ago, loved it!!! Did you go to grand case at all? Wondering if anything open. We want to spend our money on this island to help those in need get their lives, businesses, and homes back in order! Thanks again!

 

 

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Do you mind sharing how your tour went? What is the name of your tour guide and if it was a private tour? Headed there next month and this port stop is the one place I can't decide on what to do.

My family loves to snorkel, however, I am reading reviews that there are fewer fish and turtles to see after the hurricanes. Can anyone tell me how the snorkeling has been recently? I would just hate to pay $120 x 7 people for a snorkeling excursion if its just ok.

Are there any beaches that we could snorkel off of?

The first night AO is open 8-10 pm. All other nights it is from 7-10. Try to get there early as the first night typically has the longest lines to check in.

I take all medicine, puddle jumper (if needed) for any non swimmer although they offer life jackets but my child would be more comfortable in her swimmers, diapers/wipes if needed. Don't forget that if not potty trained then they can't use the main pool but some ships have a small area for the swim diapers. Bring lots of sunscreen and any shampoo, etc if sensitive skin.

Now for clothes, I pack a day's worth of clothes (day and evening) in a ziplock gallon size bag and label it with the day. On our first cruise, my kids were on their own to chose and needless to say they'd change into a new outfit every time we went back to the room and then they ran out of clothes.

Then other things as needed for your shore excursions which may or may not be necessary: swim shoes, mask and snorkel, goggles.

There is also a family forum that has great ideas.

Following along! Thanks

On my last cruise in March on Liberty, I was at guest services and listened to a very irate passenger arguing with them about how they took away their drone at embarkation. They had planned on using it at the ports and they knew they couldn't use on on the ship but the ship wouldn't let them have it back as it was prohibited. So I wouldn't bring it and chance an expensive item being taken away.

Liberty was one ship we were interested in. Anyone know how the kids programs are?

My kids loved Liberty and we've been on Liberty twice. Your 12 yo will be in the teen program which has random scheduled activities during the day. There will be few more activities at night but most of the teens hang out in their newly formed packs...which is true of all RC ships. That being said, my teens loved the flowrider, rock climbing, slides and meeting new friends. My younger kids did AO and had fun there too.

What time is that meet and greet for the 12 year olds on the first night? We have 5pm My Time Dining and 8:45 Cats booked for our upcoming cruise next spring but we can change those.

It starts at 8 and goes the rest of the night. I wouldn't plan on your 12 year old seeing Cats. As others have said, it is really important to be there the first night. My teens skipped the shows the entire week to hang out with their new friends..

We always do MTD. You should make reservations however I doubt you'll be able to make 7 pm reservations. Lately I've seen that you aren't able to make a reservation between 6:15-7:30 at least for my Harmony cruise and I've heard other ships have done the same. I think RC finally figured out that the dining room gets full by 6:15 and there could be a long wait before tables clear. We like the 6:15 time as it isn't too early but still allows us to get to any shows.

Historically the clubs are usually only open for registration on the first night, however, our most recent cruise they seemed to be changing that to actually be open for operation.

 

Not sure if that is something changing fleetwide or not though.

All of our cruises had AO open the first night but it opened later at 8. Go and register during the day so you don't have to have a long line at night. If you have a teen, your teen definitely should be there the first night as they do meet and greets and that is when the teens will form groups.

During the day, AO tends to have less kids and they can be more flexible. During the day, it is more arts and crafts, etc. The evening has a lot more kids and tend to be large group games (like gaga ball).