Itchy&Scratchy

My 12 yo kid refuses to go to kid' club. He is an introvert and does not want to socialize with kids on cruises. His favorite cruise line is Princess, which is a lot like Celebrity. It's not exactly kid oriented. Your kids will be fine. Have them bring tablets or Nintendo switches for the times it may get boring. Mine stopped using his tablet during MDR dinners at 10 because he was no longer bored during said dinners.

I think you may have misread this post. 🙂

I am sure their pass onto the ship was far from free. 🙂 OP met ALL the documentation requirements, not just the last name match one.

no, but in order to get a US passport for a minor, BOTH parents have to produce a whole bunch of documentation, including docs with prove familial relationship. A US birth certificate provides both citizenship and familial relationship proof.

your example has nothing to do with the original post. And, yes, airlines as well as cruise lines have had rules in regards to pregnancy terms for years and years. Has nothing to do with race or racism. Racially motivated and racist are different things.

a US citizen minor's passport can only be obtained with permission from and personal appearance by both parents. Their IDs are checked by the passport acceptance agent and copies are made and sent in with the application. The child's birth certificate is also checked and a copy is sent with the application. It proves both citizenship and familial relationship. If one of the parents is not available personally, additional hoops have to be jumped through to prove that they agree to the passport issuance of a child. P.S. We've just got a US passport for our kid for the 3rd time.

and how would the original adoption papers prove that the child of color is not being trafficked?

actually, our first Celebrity cruise - one week on Reflection for Spring break 2024 - is the same price as our first Carnival cruise on Horizon for Thanksgiving 2024 (also one week). Not sure who spreads rumors that Carnival sells their experience for cheap. Neither cruise is actually cheap compared to our previous and future cruises on Princess, RCI and MSC.

well, let's see. There were other children of the same age, but of the same color as the parents, who were NOT questioned about their origins. Was it racially motivated?

I don't think he is looking for a free cruise. He wants more training and common sense for the land crew.

that implies that trafficking only happens to people of a different color than the rest of the family. As in an all white or all black "family" couldn't possibly be trafficking kids of the same color as the people pretending to be the parents.

nope. My friends just traveled on Carnival with their adopted kid and their biological kid, and nobody questioned whether they are trafficking either child. Was it because they were all the same color? But wait, there is more! These friends also traveled with their entire extended family which includes both black and white people and their biracial offspring, and well as their biracial offspring's offspring, and NOBODY questioned them about trafficking any of the kids. While interracial adoptions are very common now, the kid may not have even been adopted, so asking this question only stigmatizes the adoption or implies that no one could possibly have a kid of a different color. A 17 year old adopted kid does not need to provide adoption papers to prove that they are not being trafficked so that they could cruise with their family. Nope.

nope, our cruises are less than $3K for all three of us (including port fees and grats), so yeah - Viking is so much more expensive. We only purchased wifi 3 times over the years (it cost us less than $100 each time). We rarely drink alcohol, and our excursions don't cost more than $200 a day, and most of the time way less than that. Maybe, because we currently cruise in the Caribbean only, but still. The cheapest Viking cruise I see available is $4K pp. Even if we add a ton of excursions, we won't get anywhere close to $12K total. I believe it's a misconception to think that someone who can only afford a mainstream line always gets ALL the packages and, therefore, brings their total cruise cost to be on par with a premium line like Viking which includes all this premium content in their base fare.

all this leaves me wondering - who visits someone else's house and decides to throw anything out unless it's literally in the trashcan already? Especially without asking the host?

we were on Oasis this year It was great! If interested, please see review in signature, but in short - we loved it.

oh, I didn't realize Max was so tiny. He is so handsome! Poor baby had to hold it for so long. I feel for him.

It is great! The zero proof version was also our kid's favorite.

I am going to try that, thank you! Our cabin accounts are connected, and I will be using my CC on both as well - I hope it helps. yes, we will be, but how can they use THEIR OBC to pay for my kid at a specialty restaurant? When I make a reservation for him, it gets charged to OUR cabin's folio. This would be the easiest and most useful way to spend their OBC (they seriously don't need anything else onboard). thank you! Wasn't sure how that worked, since I saw "credit applied" when I tried to make a reservation at a specialty restaurant.

I have questions.... How does one "load funds into one's medallion"? We've never gambled on a cruise before, so I don't know how it works. We will have a small amount of non-refundable OBC from Princess ($50 pp x 3 people). We will use it towards gratuities and specialty dining for the kid who doesn't have the Premier package. Our parents will have $100 OBC. Is there any way to transfer their OBC to our cabin's folio? They also have the Premier package and will have no use for their OBC. We, however, could use it toward our kid's 2nd specialty dinner. If it is impossible to transfer OBC to someone else, can I use the "casino trick" to cash it out? Or do I just have to spend it on purchases? Also, an OBC related question - if we don't do specialty dining on our cruise, will this credit remain a non-refundable OBC or simply burn up? We'll have premier package - also our first time with that.

I'd have to be permanently drunk as heck to justify this cost. When I booked our MSC cruise, I opted for the fare with Easy Plus and wifi included, and this inclusion was a lot more reasonably priced. I had several fancy coffees a day, lots of bottled water and sodas, and a couple of alcoholic drinks a day. I cannot handle more than 2-3 a day because I don't drink at all. Same with hubs. Since our drink package price was rather low, we didn't feel that we had to break even or make it worth the price, so we paced ourselves.

Ds was taking the first round of antibiotics for a bacterial infection unrelated to his cold. The first day of the cold just happened to also be the first day of the antibiotics for a bacterial infection. Sadly, it didn't prevent a sinus infection, hence, the second round of antibiotics for it and suspected bronchitis.

no, it was just a very mild cold for both of us (the kiddo got it first and then got me sick), but the cough part was non-stop, persistent and not relieved by the regular cough meds (Delsym for the kid, Mucinex for me). I had to sleep with a cough drop in my mouth for 3 weeks, otherwise, I was up all night. It was not covid - I had to have a surgery after the cruise and had to have a pcr test for covid as part of my pre-op testing. I scheduled my surgery 2 weeks after the cruise specifically because I was afraid I was going to catch covid onboard, so 2 weeks would provide me with time to recuperate. The pcr test was done about a week into my symptoms. I already knew about all sorts of respiratory illnesses going around, including what's referred to as a "forever cold". The first round of antibiotics for my kiddo was actually for something completely unrelated to any respiratory illness. He started taking them on the first day of his cold, and his cough while on antibiotics was manageable, even though still awfully dry and unproductive. FF 10 days to when he was done with antibiotics, his cough became just like mine - unbearable, non-stop and still dry. A week later I couldn't take it anymore (for him, not myself) and we went to his pedi. Sinus infection and something like bronchitis. Another round of antibiotics which honestly made no dent in his coughing (I had my own cough as a baseline). We just have to wait it out, but here we are exactly a month later - still coughing, although nowhere near as bad as it was. By the way, having to cough while recovering from an abdominal surgery is not pleasant to say the least, but I am healing nicely and looking forward to our next cruise and then to an Enchanted one. Wishing you all health and swift recovery from whatever illness you may pick up this holiday season!

you can check out my recent review of this same itinerary (click link in signature). Basically, the cheapest was Ocho Rios. We went to a public beach next to port. It exceeded my very low expectations in a very pleasant way. We did an MSC excursion in Grand Cayman (never again through MSC). Cozumel turned out to be very expensive this time, even though we went to Playa Palancar before. It cost just about $200 total for the 5 of us ($45 taxi each way, $20 pp for the beach access/chaises, plus 3 drinks). Last time we were here, they didn't charge $20 pp. The fee doesn't even include a welcome drink like it did in other ports. P.S. You will find a ton of information if you check out the Ports of Call subforum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

we are still coughing since the start of the symptoms on Nov 27th.... The "forever" illness is going around. DS has done 2 antibiotics rounds (10 days each) and he is still coughing. I am still coughing and I didn't get to take antibiotics. Evidently, they make no difference anyway.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/58-first-time-cruisers/ lots of "what to pack" questions answered.