Kids-and-Chickens

I've been following this thread - such a sad story.

There is a new article in the Miami Herald posted yesterday that has reenactment photos from a different angle, and it does change the perspective of what might have actually happened and why the GF didn't realize there was glass:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article239684053.html

Awesome, thanks!!!

We are going to be in CocoCay in February. I rented a "Thrill Waterpark Cabana and full day pass" for our day there. There are 5 of us in our family. I am having trouble understanding the fine print. Does the cabana come with ONE full day pass or passes for everyone in my cabana? It's confusing because the title says "a full day pass," hinting at a single pass but in the bullets it says " • Your Cabana Concierge will take your tickets and provide you with wristbands for your whole party." So I'm unsure if I should purchase 4 more full day passes or if we're all set with just the cabana rental.

Any help is appreciated!

I believe Uvas has a package for both.

Cool, thanks, I will look into it!

Looking for advice.... we have never been to Cozumel (or anywhere in Mexico for that matter) and want to make the right choice for our day in Cozumel! I am trying to decide between snorkeling and dune buggies. My kids have never done either of those. They love the water.... but they also love excitement! They will be 15, 13, and 11. Dune buggies sound fun but I don't want to miss out if the snorkeling in Cozumel is amazing! Is it? We will be in Costa Maya the day before and I don't have plans for that either just yet.

Any suggestions from an experienced Cozumel traveler? Thanks!!

Oh and we will be in port from 7 am to 6 pm

I wish we'd have kept ours from when we cruised on Allure over Christmas! I'm sorry I don't have them. My teens weren't super interested in the daytime activities (ping pong tournaments, etc.) and the evening activities that they did want to do were always scheduled over our dinner which was at 8 PM. On our next cruise I learned to schedule dining earlier so my kids can do the things they are interested in.

We were just on Allure and requested our 11 year old participate in the teen group with her 13 year old sister. We just had to sign a paper because the 12 and ups are free to go as they please but the 11 & under have to be signed out. Otherwise there was no issue.

It was the case on Allure. Hot tubs were open all night tho.

I like the speed of just having my card swiped -- not having to wait for a printout and then sign. And, I don't have to deal with the issue of whether to add extra tips for each drink.

We were on Allure over Christmas and had deluxe drink packages. We had to wait for a printout and sign a slip for EVERY drink order. The slip had a line for “tip” as well. So even with the package, you’re not getting out of signing or potentially getting guilted into the additional tip.

I've gotten noro twice and both times I got it on a plane (my best guess anyway). We hear about cruise outbreaks because people are confined to that area for the duration, but it's everywhere.The first time I got it I had a toddler who stuck her fist in my mouth without warning... after touching who knows what. So gross. Our whole family got sick on that one. And the second time I guess I was just careless because I was traveling alone. So now when I travel I carry lysol wipes in my carry-on and wipe down my seat area. And I'm careful not to touch my face without washing my hands first. This is hard because I rub my eyes a lot without realizing it.

Anyway all I'm saying is that it's everywhere, unfortunately.

Depends on the size of your party. For a party of two, 15-20 minutes should get you a decent choice of seats. For a party of 12, I'd get there at least 45 minutes in advance.

Thank you! For this show we are leaving the kids in the room so it'll just be the 2 of us

Thank you, and I have another related question:

If it's a 9:30 show, what time should we be there to find seats together? We have reservations, but I think it's still open seating...?

Good ideas, thank you! I didn't even think of telling the wait staff :)

We are sailing next week on Allure and this is our first cruise. We have opted for traditional dining w/ an 8:00 pm seating. On day 2 we have reservations for Mama Mia at 9:30, and everything I've read say to allow 2 hours for dinner. I didn't realize this when I reserved the show, and now it's totally booked so I can't change it.

If you have traditional dining, can you book a reservation to dine at a different time in the MDR for just one night? Or are you restricted to 8:00 pm for the whole week?

These are great - thanks for posting

We are cruising next week on Allure and I bought my kids the soda package for this same reason - to use the Freestyle machine, so I get what you are saying. Would be very frustrating to find there wasn't a machine on board!

I found this blog post from a couple years ago that lists which ships have them:

• Allure of the Seas
  
• Anthem of the Seas
  
• Enchantment of the Seas
  
• Explorer of the Seas
  
• Freedom of the Seas
  
• Grandeur of the Seas
  
• Jewel of the Seas
  
• Majesty of the Seas
  
• Oasis of the Seas
  
• Quantum of the Seas
  
• Harmony of the Seas
  

LOL

Our first cruise' date=' I had my boys (then 11 and 13) wear the same khaki pants to dinner three nights each (one was pirate night). Wouldn't you know the poor server dumped a cup of milk into DS 13's lap on the second night. Thankfully it was captured by and large in the napkin he'd already placed across my son's lap, but it did have some stray splash to it. After dinner we just spruced it up a bit in the sink in the stateroom and hung them for the third dinner.

 

For our seven night cruise, I only had two pair of pants for them for the seven nights. They only wear them for a few hours.

 

My girls, on the other hand, prefer a new dress each night. Thankfully sundresses take very little room.[/quote']

 

LOL! Exactly my fear. I think we'll see how much room we have for extras and stick with darker shades for dinner

 

And thanks above for the tip about the sweaters - on my packing list! I'm always cold in A/C

Thank you this is all very helpful! So they probably COULD wear shorts, based on what I'm seeing I'll have them wear their nicer pants or skirts and somewhat niceish shirt.

Mostly I'm trying to keep packing to a minimum... It makes me nervous to have them planning to wear anything twice because they are total slobs most of the time and I do NOT want to wash clothes in the sink LOL

Thanks, in the RCI guidelines it wasn't clear if shorts were ok for the MDR for dinner, so I wasn't sure. :)

We are sailing on Allure on 12/24 for 7 days. This is our first time cruising! I have 3 girls ages 9, 12, and 13.

I need help with attire for the kids:

What is typical for girls of that age in the main dining room on non-formal nights? I found some posts on this but they were maybe outdated so I wanted to ask.