Liberty of the Seas (1/16 - 1/23) Sailing with kids and Covid safety measures

[Boymom349]

What an amazing week!  We were a group of 9; 2 diamond members, 2 emerald and 5 first time cruisers.  We had 3 kids in the group; 2 vaxxed (8&5) and 1 unvaxxed (3). We flew into Galveston.  We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites.  DO NOT STAY HERE!!  My mom is writing another post about it but it was horrific! Our ports of call were Costa Maya, Belize, and Roatan Honduras.  I'm going to run through boarding, covid measures that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else, excursions and kid-related things.  

 

Boarding
We boarded in Galveston.   Our board time was noon, the Uber driver dropped us off at 11 am.  They were already moving people through security. At the first security stop, they checked our Passports, covid results and Vax cards.  We had a hiccup with the results pdf from CVS.  It doesn't actually state that the result is negative.  So I had to find all of the results in my inbox.  Save yourself some time and take screenshots.  our 3 yr old got a sticker marking him as unvaxed.  Second stop was going through the security scanners.  They checked our passports and boarding passes.  Third stop, we broke off for 3's rapid test.  Your entire group accompanies them.  3 took the test like a pro.  Then we moved to the counter for our fourth boarding stop.  (You do not wait for the results there.   You keep moving and they have a waiting area right before the gangway.)  Royal Caribbean crew looked at our Passports again, Vax cards and covid results.  All Vax members got a green bracelet.  These were worn the entire cruise.  My advice is to put on your non-dominant hand.  3 got no bracelet.  When pictures were finally taken, we moved to the last checkpoint.  This was a waiting area for 3's rapid test results.  We sat as a group and waited no longer than 8 mins.  They called his name, and it must have been negative because we were up the gangway and onto the ship at 12:05 pm! All in all, it was very smooth.  

Our rooms were ready at 1:00.  Our seapass cards were stuck outside our doors, which was a little weird.  

 

Covid measures 
This is the time to cruise!  Our cruise was less than 50% full with less than 100 kids 12 and under.  The most stressful part about cruising during covid was making sure we got 3's PCR results in time.  Everyone was respectful of masks while inside.  I saw maybe 4 people without masks the whole trip.  Mostly it was people accidentally leaving their rooms, making it halfway down the hall and then going back for their forgotten masks.  All of the crew was double-masked.  We brought disposable paper masks.  I brought 100 masks for 3 boys for 9 days.  It was just enough.  I would recommend getting a lanyard to keep on your mask.  You don't have to wear it on deck but it is very windy and they blow away easily.  

 Everyone was served by crew members in the Windjammer.  Your seapass was scanned entering and exiting the WJ for contact tracing.  On our RC excursions, they asked for everyone's room number and recorded where they sat on the bus for contact tracing.  Cleaning, of course, was constant.  I never felt unsafe.  During pictures before dinner, all of the photographers have tables to put your masks on. We haven't waited for anything!  Not elevators, not photos, not water slides or flowrider, not hot tubs, and no line to get into the dining room.  There were plenty of deck chairs in the sun and shade!  

The only downside was there were no big events.  Nothing that would draw a big crowd.  We missed the sail away party, belly flop competition, 70s night, captains corner, captain reception, towel/napkin folding, ice carving, love & marriage show, and adult scavenger hunt.  The whole cruise vibe was pretty mellow.  

 

Excursions 
Since we had 1 unvaxxed, our choices were limited.  Unvaxxed passengers can only go ashore when they book a RC excursion.  And since the littlest is only 3, our choices were limited even more.  The only thing my boys wanted to do was build a sandcastle on the beach.  For each excursion, we had a special non Vaxxed meeting point, where 3 got a special sticker.  Our excursion tickets were waiting in our rooms upon boarding.  Upon disembarking, after they scanned 3's seapass, they checked our excursion ticket.  

 

In Costa Maya, we went to the Ukabenkah all-inclusive lagoon Beach.  It was an hour and 15 mins bus ride!  This isn't advertised anywhere, so heads up!  We had to wear masks on the bus but not at the destination.  Also, it also is not a beach.  There is pebble sand but no beachfront.  There is food, drinks and kayaking included.  You can swim but the water is not clear and it is VERY rocky.  Bring water shoes.  The staff was very nice.  The kids had a good time so that was all that mattered.  However, we got back after dark, which was concerning.  They also dropped us off at the farthest point from the pier.  We had to jog through all of the closed market shops and down the pier.  It was the latest I ever got back on a ship (within 30 mins of departure).  We missed our MDR reservation and since we had an unvaxxed, we could go to the WJ or wait until 8pm.  So we hit the WJ.  It was disappointing.  Our waiter came looking for us.  He offered to get us to-go entrees from the MDR at 8pm, which was really nice. 

 

In Belize, we took the Calypso Train Ride.  This was exactly as advertised.  There is a tender.  The crew will tell you 45 mins.  That is the whole deal, waiting in line, boarding, sailing, disembarking.  But you are only moving in a tender boat for about 20 mins. At the end of the pier, we met our contact.  You have to wear your mask 100% of the time while in Belize; on the tender, walking outside, on the open-air train. And the police in the pier enforce this law. It was an hour or so tour of the city.  I felt safe but the kids got bored 15 mins in.  They did provide water and bags of Banana chips.  This was their work around the mask law.  If you are eating or drinking, you can lower your mask.  3 ate banana chips from the moment we got on until we got off.  Afterward, we didn't explore the pier but caught a tender and headed back.  

 

Roatan was our best excursion! 3 adults and the 3 kids went to the Gumbalimba Preservation Park.  We explored the Port for about 30 mins before boarding a small bus.  The guide stayed with our group of 20 the whole time.  Masks were worn on the bus but not at the park.  The bus ride was about 30 mins.  It was very twisty up and down a mountain.  The guided walking tour was awesome.  Chris was our guide. We learned all about the Island’s history, trees, animals, bugs, and wildlife on the island.  8 was the perfect age! 5 & 3 enjoyed themselves but didn't listen as intently.  It was a lot of walking.  1.5 on paths through the jungle, up and downstairs, and over a swinging bridge.  We got to hold macaws and capuchin monkeys.  Bring lots of cash for tips for the guide, drivers, and animal trainers.  There are also photographers at both animal stops. (The photos are $15 per person for all of your pictures and $10 for additional people. Kids were free. So we got all of our pictures for $35!  They also take cc.)  After the tour, you have the remaining 2 hours to yourself.  There is a pool, beach, zip line or you can walk back through the park.  Buses return to the port every 30 minutes.  

 

Cruising with kids during Covid
This was our boys first cruise.  All of them spent the morning at the kids club.  You did need to reserve a spot but only for the next day. They are also not doing kid compasses at this time.  

 

8 was in the Explorers. He was either by himself or with 1 or 2 others.  The last 2 sea days there were 7.  They have to maintain physical distancing.  So they spent their time doing crafts or playing video games.  No big group games.  But it was his vacation too.  So if he wanted to play video games the whole time while I relaxed at the solarium, fine by me! 

 

5 & 3 were in the Aquanauts.  It had 5 or so in their group each morning.  They did crafts and read stories.  They also could only play with each other since they were brothers because of social distancing so that was a bummer.  

 

We had 2 connecting interior rooms.  It was enough space.  The hardest part was the mornings.  I have early birds.  They did play ipads when they got up, but keeping them quiet so as not to disturb everyone around us was a challenge.  More than one morning we ended up playing sunrise mini golf.  We were at the WJ when it opened at 7 then played mini golf again until Adventure ocean opened at 9 am.   

 

We did eat at the MDR every night (except when we missed our time on Costa Maya day).   They had Mac and cheese and fruit every night.  Once or twice they also had chicken strips.  And of course dessert.  I had a dinner bag with sticker books, dot to dots, a small container of legos and some dollar store toys.   I switch different things out every night.  We had practiced dinner manners for a couple weeks before.  They did great!  They sat by different adults from our group to switch things up every night.  Since there were not a lot of kids onboard, they pretty much had Splash Away Bay to themselves every time we went.  That is where we spent most of our time rather than the main pool.  My boys go to bed early since they are early birds.  So by 7:30 pm, they are dropping like flies.  I took 8 to one show but he was ready for bed halfway through. (He also fell asleep at dinner one night.  He plays hard! Lol)

 

A couple of lifesavers that I will pass on:

• Pop up hamper for dirty clothes
• Shoe organizer with magnetic hooks
• Magnetic motion sensor light for the bathroom.  (Purchase from walmart.)
• We brought their swimmies but didn't need them on the ship.  Kid sized Life jackets were provided. 

 

All in all, an amazing vacation!   My husband and I are scheduled for our 10 year anniversary cruise in April going out of Baltimore!  Hopefully, I will be able to sleep past 5:30 am and see a show, maybe even visit the casino……  ; ) 
 

[spooky981]

A few questions:

 

* Based on your description it sounds like you could've taken advantage of non-reserved time slots pretty much anytime you wanted?

 

* What was the kids club situation on port days?

 

* Did the kids enjoy the kids clubs or did they think it was like a prison?

[Boymom349]

@spooky981  I don't think we really needed to reserve time for adventure ocean.  But we did a day a head of time so the boys knew what we were doing the next day.  We did Adventure Ocean only 1 port day.  It was 5 & 3 and 1 other kid.  8 was by himself.  He played mario kart with the leader and was happy.  My kids were happy going.  5 has pretty high anxiety so he was glad that is was a small crowd.  8 was excited to play video games that he doesn't have at home.  I also didn't make it a choice.  It is just what kids do on a cruise.  "You are so lucky that you have a place with no grown-ups allowed."

[tborntreger]

3 hours ago, Boymom349 said:

Roatan was our best excursion! 3 adults and the 3 kids went to the Gumbalimba Preservation Park.  We explored the Port for about 30 mins before boarding a small bus.  The guide stayed with our group of 20 the whole time.  Masks were worn on the bus but not at the park.  The bus ride was about 30 mins.  It was very twisty up and down a mountain.  The guided walking tour was awesome.  Chris was our guide. We learned all about the Island’s history, trees, animals, bugs, and wildlife on the island.  8 was the perfect age! 5 & 3 enjoyed themselves but didn't listen as intently.  It was a lot of walking.  1.5 on paths through the jungle, up and downstairs, and over a swinging bridge.  We got to hold macaws and capuchin monkeys.  Bring lots of cash for tips for the guide, drivers, and animal trainers.  There are also photographers at both animal stops. (The photos are $15 per person for all of your pictures and $10 for additional people. Kids were free. So we got all of our pictures for $35!  They also take cc.)  After the tour, you have the remaining 2 hours to yourself.  There is a pool, beach, zip line or you can walk back through the park.  Buses return to the port every 30 minutes.  

Thank you for sharing this info!!

[Kellie in Texas]

We were on this cruise as well, just myself and DH, both vaccinated, no kids. We cruised on Liberty in July 2017 with our teenage son and I can't believe the difference in a hugely crowded, tons of kids splashing around cruise vs. this one that was pretty quiet.  We aren't big party-ers so I was fine with the quiet.  We almost never had to wait on an elevator and usually were the only ones in it.

 

@Boymom349did y'all make it to the ice show? It's the same one we saw in 2017 (and Saturday Night Fever was also the same; we didn't go to it this time).  The ice show is fun and I think kids would like it. 

[Boymom349]

@Kellie in Texas We did!  I had to drag them tooth and nail, but they loved it!

[Motor City]

We sail in early March with our 4 y/o, can you tell me the process of how you did the PCR test?

This is giving us the most anxiety, and we are thinking of biting the bullet and just pay for a rapid PCR.

We test Saturday and fly out first thing Monday morning for a Tues embarkation.

Traveling from Michigan to FLA,,,so likley we'll already be in FLA before we have results, which is nerve racking.

 

Any other suggestions on traveling with an UnVaxed child would be most appreciated!

Edited January 28, 2022 by Motor City

[Galveston Cruiser]

39 minutes ago, Motor City said:

We sail in early March with our 4 y/o, can you tell me the process of how you did the PCR test?

This is giving us the most anxiety, and we are thinking of biting the bullet and just pay for a rapid PCR.

We test Saturday and fly out first thing Monday morning for a Tues embarkation.

Traveling from Michigan to FLA,,,so likley we'll already be in FLA before we have results, which is nerve racking.

 

Any other suggestions on traveling with an UnVaxed child would be most appreciated!

Note that RCL requires PCR test no more than 48 hours from departure.  Sunday is the earliest you can test for a Tuesday departure.

[newbie070708]

2 hours ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

Note that RCL requires PCR test no more than 48 hours from departure.  Sunday is the earliest you can test for a Tuesday departure.

Isn't the 2 day requirement just for vaccinated guests and it's 3 days for unvaccinated?

[Motor City]

2 hours ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

Note that RCL requires PCR test no more than 48 hours from departure.  Sunday is the earliest you can test for a Tuesday departure.

 

yes, thank you for the clarification... I ment the 3 vaccinated adults test Sunday,,, our 4 y/o on Saturday

[Motor City]

I was MORE interested in HOW the PCR test was handled for the unvaccinated kids?

Like did you do a regular PCR test at CVS? Did you have a backup Rapid PCR test schedule in case the results didn't come in time, etc

Edited January 28, 2022 by Motor City

[Boymom349]

@Motor City we did a regular PCR at CVS.  I was just sick with worry that we wouldn't get the results in time.  But we got them within 24 hours of the test.  We didn't do a rapid PCR (if they had any in our area I 100% would have done it.)  

[Jenig0013]

This is so helpful! Bringing my 3yo this August on Liberty. And thanks for the reality check that the 3yo may not necessarily be able to go places bc of his vax status 😭😭.

 

Are you able to leave the ship with the kiddo at the kids club on port days? How did the 3yo like the kids club?