Cruising with a child under 12

[micruiser2002]

29 minutes ago, cured said:

I am sure it does not make sense and seems unfair to parents of children under 12 who are chafing at having restrictions imposed.  

 

However, in terms of science, it makes perfect sense.

Not sure what science it makes sense of, as I said above even the vaccinated can get and spread the virus (and WORSE not know it because they may be symptom free).  And even on ships tours the children can come into contact with the same people they would if on a private tour, so it is not preventing those under 12 from coming in contact with the same people outside of the ship as those not on a ships tour.  This policy is not going to prevent additional infections.  

[micruiser2002]

34 minutes ago, cured said:

Not so much with the Delta variant.  That is a whole 'nother ballgame.  All you have to do is look at the number of schools already in quarantine, especially in the south with the lower vax numbers, and school just started a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

And again the same can be said of the vaccinated.  If someone does not have any symptoms we will never know the true number of breakthrough infections from them.

 

[micruiser2002]

Another thing to keep in mind is there is a much higher percentage of people over 12 on the ship that will be allowed to move around as they want.  Even if their chance of a breakthrough infection is less that those under 12, the numbers could still end up higher.  I have no problems with all precautions but to just blindly assume a policy is really going to be effective just gives a false sense of security.

[cured]

49 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Not sure what science it makes sense of, as I said above even the vaccinated can get and spread the virus (and WORSE not know it because they may be symptom free).  And even on ships tours the children can come into contact with the same people they would if on a private tour, so it is not preventing those under 12 from coming in contact with the same people outside of the ship as those not on a ships tour.  This policy is not going to prevent additional infections.  

Perhaps you should present your "scientific" evidence to Royal Caribbean, the Bahamian government, the US Virgin Islands, St. Maartin, and all the other islands that have ship excursion only rules and see if they will change the rules for your child.  I am sure they will consider your evidence over all the actual immunologists, infection disease specialists, and scientists they all have consulted before making the rules that are best for their countries.

Edited September 1, 2021 by cured

[long4acruise]

Their ships, their rules! The islands and their governments also have their rules.  As much as some do not like the current rules and restrictions, we all must follow the travel mandates so we all can stay safe and hopefully lower the number of cases.

It may not be the ideal time to travel some places or on cruises with unvax'd children. We may have to sacrifice some family pleasures today for our tomorrow's. Don't understand why some can't realize and accept this. 

[broadwaybaby123]

On 8/30/2021 at 2:22 PM, katmmoore said:

Has anyone cruised with a child under 12 since the restart? We understand that we have to have an excursion through the ship booked if she's getting off with us which is completely fine. My question however is once we are off of the ship with the ship excursion is there anyway to also go to the stores in town? For example in Skagway we are going to do the Musher camp from 11-2 but we are in Skagway from 7AM-6PM and my husband I would still like to go to town too. Would we need to go on the excursion, take her back to the ship and put her into the kids club and then go back off or could she come to the stores with us? She's only 6 so she can't get vaccinated of course. 

 

Also for the kids club is there a limit on how often she can be there? We usually cruise Norweigan and she basically lives in Kids club, it's her absolute favorite part of the cruise however I'd heard different things about cruising right now with the kids. It's a 7 night cruise if that makes a difference. I've heard 15 hours, 21 hours, 20 hours and then on day 3 you can book as much as you want. Also when we are in Juneau it's our anniversary so we are doing an excursion on our own and having her stay at kids club so would that automatically take up 6 of her allotted hours? I want her to have as much fun on vacation as possible after so long without it! Any insight would be great! Thank you! 

 

I'm an Adventure Ocean alumni myself, and pre-pandemic, there was no limit on how much time you could spend in the kids club.  You just had to be with your family for every meal, but other than that, if you wanted to spend the entire day in the kids club, you could.

[ukmusic]

Their policy is what is stopping us booking.

our kids are both under 12 and caught covid in July so have excellent antibodies - BETTER PROTECTION THAN 2 JABS! yet we can't get off the boat unless its a big tour.

 

Someone from Liverpool said the tour did nothing to socially distance the group and went to indoor shared toilets and indoor shops as well as the beatles things.

 

They are not interested in stopping the spread - if so NO ONE would be allowed off if they are not vaccinated.

 

I think they should allow covid recovery certificates aswell for anyone like Europe do for up to 180 days.

[micruiser2002]

3 hours ago, ukmusic said:

Their policy is what is stopping us booking.

our kids are both under 12 and caught covid in July so have excellent antibodies - BETTER PROTECTION THAN 2 JABS! yet we can't get off the boat unless its a big tour.

 

Someone from Liverpool said the tour did nothing to socially distance the group and went to indoor shared toilets and indoor shops as well as the beatles things.

 

They are not interested in stopping the spread - if so NO ONE would be allowed off if they are not vaccinated.

 

I think they should allow covid recovery certificates aswell for anyone like Europe do for up to 180 days.

 

This is exactly what I keep trying to say.  I understand it is their policy but if people actually believe that policy is going to help minimize the spread they are sadly mistaken.  Again it is only a false sense of security.  If people are really concerned about the spread you are correct no one should be allowed off the ships period.  Even vaccinated can still get it and spread it.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, ukmusic said:

our kids are both under 12 and caught covid in July so have excellent antibodies - BETTER PROTECTION THAN 2 JABS! yet we can't get off the boat unless its a big tour.

I think they should allow covid recovery certificates aswell for anyone like Europe do for up to 180 days.

a friend of mine had regular covid in April, and right now she is sick with the delta variant. Both times - sick as a dog. She didn't get the jab... Insert eyeroll. Her sister got the jab twice and even though she is having the delta variant right now as well, she is doing much better than the friend who didn't get the jabx2. 

So, yeah, about that "better protection"... Needless to say - it's been less than 180 days.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[jacobtsf]

17 hours ago, TSC said:

We are travelling on Allure in December with our  3 year old granddaughter.

So - her parents will get "12 hours" of time to use Adventure Ocean but then can schedule more time? Did it ever fill up and you weren't able to get time? Did they make the kids wear masks the whole time? 

thanks for any additional info about the kids club. 

Last week on Allure a few time slots did fill up, mostly evenings. After everyone had a chance to register for time on day 1 they allowed families to make additional reservations. Yes, masks were required for everyone 2 and up 

[jacobtsf]

17 hours ago, TSC said:

We are travelling on Allure in December with our  3 year old granddaughter.

So - her parents will get "12 hours" of time to use Adventure Ocean but then can schedule more time? Did it ever fill up and you weren't able to get time? Did they make the kids wear masks the whole time? 

thanks for any additional info about the kids club. 

Last week on Allure a few time slots did fill up, mostly evenings. After everyone had a chance to register for time on day 1 they allowed families to make additional reservations. Yes, masks were required for everyone 2 and up 

[katmmoore]

1 hour ago, jacobtsf said:

Last week on Allure a few time slots did fill up, mostly evenings. After everyone had a chance to register for time on day 1 they allowed families to make additional reservations. Yes, masks were required for everyone 2 and up 

Would you suggest using the 12 initial hours to secure 7-10 slots mostly and then on day 2 sign up for the additional times? 1 other question you may know the answer to! Does the initial 12 hours include the late night hours that we pay additional for as well or as those separate? 

[dominicr]

Where did everyone get their kids under 3 tested at?  Walgreens and cvs both say 3 and up and my little one just turned 2 a couple months ago so can’t do that one.  

[soozles]

46 minutes ago, dominicr said:

Where did everyone get their kids under 3 tested at?  Walgreens and cvs both say 3 and up and my little one just turned 2 a couple months ago so can’t do that one.  

I’ve been looking into this as my kids will be 2… it looks like Quest will swab for kids over 2, PM pediatrics if you have one nearby, as well as some hospital testing sites is what I’ve found so far. 

[dominicr]

11 hours ago, soozles said:

I’ve been looking into this as my kids will be 2… it looks like Quest will swab for kids over 2, PM pediatrics if you have one nearby, as well as some hospital testing sites is what I’ve found so far. 

I’m not familiar with quest.   I know I can do an urgent care and go the pcr route but I’d rather do a rapid if I can so I don’t fly to Houston then learn results there that are bad and be up the creek without a paddle.  I have no reason to believe the little ones would test possitive but I’m the kind of person who prepares for everything if possible.  

[soozles]

3 hours ago, dominicr said:

I’m not familiar with quest.   I know I can do an urgent care and go the pcr route but I’d rather do a rapid if I can so I don’t fly to Houston then learn results there that are bad and be up the creek without a paddle.  I have no reason to believe the little ones would test possitive but I’m the kind of person who prepares for everything if possible.  

Quest is a lab (blood draws, urine tests, etc) and at least around me they’re practically every mile apart. They are doing free covid testing with an appointment. Might be worth seeing if they’re near to you, or if another lab is doing it. I personally prefer to keep my kids out of urgent care unless I need to, because there’s no separate space for covid testing for travel vs covid test for people with symptoms 

[abpplh]

@soozles - will your pediatrician's office do it?

[jcc1025]

We just got off the Independence with our daughter and 7 year old grandson. We did do two ship excursions with him. They did check a couple of times before we left the ship to be sure we had a ticket for him. After the excursion there was no control as to when h e went. In Cozumel for example once we got off the tour he was able to go into the shops around the port. They did have strict mask rules in place and with the low number of passengers it was not a problem. 

As far as Kids Club went, when my daughter first signed him up there were a restriction on the number of hours she could sign up for during the evening time fram but he could go during the day any time. The advised that the limits would be reviewed after the first two days to see who crowed they were and could be revised. Again it was a small passenger load, about 40% and not a lot of kids so after the second day they opened up the rest of the week for more hours. The Kids Club staff is the best and one of the resons why we sail Royal. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

17 hours ago, dominicr said:

Where did everyone get their kids under 3 tested at?  Walgreens and cvs both say 3 and up and my little one just turned 2 a couple months ago so can’t do that one.  

call your own pediatrician. Mine does tests in the office, but is pretty booked up, so no same day appointments are available.

[soozles]

Are the telehealth Binax Now tests (where you’re observed collecting the sample) accepted for kids under 12? Or does it have to be a pcr? 

[dominicr]

28 minutes ago, soozles said:

Are the telehealth Binax Now tests (where you’re observed collecting the sample) accepted for kids under 12? Or does it have to be a pcr? 

trying to figure that out.  Royal website says yes….cdc upcoming restrictions say no

[deliver42]

A lot of what you can do onshore depends on what that port wants, not Royal or the vendor.

[VCR]

How did the testing at the end of the cruise work?  Was it on the last day and what times were available to get it done?

[jcc1025]

On 9/3/2021 at 3:57 AM, VCR said:

How did the testing at the end of the cruise work?  Was it on the last day and what times were available to get it done?

We docked on Sunday. On the Thur. prior the ship contacted my daughter regarding a test for our grandson on Saturday, which was a sea day. They provided her with a reservation time of 11:30. They had a confrerence room set up on Deck 2 to do the testing. He was tested and about an hour later she got the results on her phone. 

[LadyShiva]

On 9/1/2021 at 3:35 AM, ukmusic said:

Their policy is what is stopping us booking.

our kids are both under 12 and caught covid in July so have excellent antibodies - BETTER PROTECTION THAN 2 JABS! yet we can't get off the boat unless its a big tour.

 

Someone from Liverpool said the tour did nothing to socially distance the group and went to indoor shared toilets and indoor shops as well as the beatles things.

 

They are not interested in stopping the spread - if so NO ONE would be allowed off if they are not vaccinated.

 

I think they should allow covid recovery certificates aswell for anyone like Europe do for up to 180 days.

No, that is not what the science says.  Your children would be best served by getting "2 jabs" after having had their mild case of Covid, as their immune system has a more complete education as to what to attack.  However, as Covid attacks the inner layer of our circulatory system, and we don't tend to scan every single circulatory byway, the best case is to get NO case of Covid before getting "2 jabs" so that Covid doesn't turn on latent mono viruses ("Epstein Barr") in that "mild" case, in addition to that undetected blood vessel damage we don't test kids for.

 

Covid does more than increase the chance of strokes, aneurysms, digestive system damage, and other damaged circulatory networking... it is able to flip on other resident viruses.

 

This is NOT a virus we want to be passing to others==even asymptomatically.  Who wants to suffer through another month of teenage "kissing disease"?  Who wants "mild" erectile disfunction, due to damage to THOSE circulatory pathways?  😆

Edited September 5, 2021 by LadyShiva