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Karen Powers

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  1. We sailed out of Puerto Rico several times. The first time, our flight was the same morning as embarkation. Although everything went fine, we felt a little rushed as we watched Puerto Rico buzz by from the taxi. Subsequently, we now fly to PR a day or two ahead - and have even started staying a day in PR post cruise. It is much more relaxing - and gives us time to explore. We usually stay at either the El Dorado beach resort or the Ritz Carlton - both of which we highly recommend. Traveling to the fort and downtown PR from these hotels require short taxi ride, but that was fine for us!
  2. We have sailed several times with large parties and have found the following works for us - maybe some of them will work for you - In the past, we have taken walkie talkies, but they never worked - peeps forgot to keep them with them, etc. Plus, it can get expensive getting enough for a large group. We pick one central place that some of the adults will usually be hanging out - for us it was in a shaded area near a pool (and a bar). We make sure that everyone knows exactly where the meeting place is - i.e. take everyone there the first day to show them - before you turn them loose to explore the ship. We have also had a table near the ice cream machine in the past - kids instinctively seem to know how to always find that!! We also generally take a few brightly colored towels that we hang over our chairs - while we are sitting in them of course - so they are visible from afar to those that forget the area..... We assign everyone a "cruise buddy" - then, we instruct everyone to please make sure their cruise buddy knows where they are - generally. Cruise buddies do not have to stay together, only be aware of where each other generally are. This helped us immensely when we are walking around and see Johnny on the basketball court. He can tell us where Kevin is - and he tells us that he is over playing table tennis. Kids are pretty good at keeping tabs on each other! We try to eat as a group most nights - so we can all review each other's day and exchange experiences. We do have a couple "off" nights - so our peeps can do as they please. We also try to pre-plan at least one night - including time and location - for the group as a whole to gather for a group picture. Usually the first formal night. We try to get it over as quickly and painless as possible - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We also use sticky pads - a lot. Everyone has a list of everyone's cabin numbers on them - we usually tuck it into the lanyards of the kids to keep them from losing them.... and then we regularly write notes and leave them on our cabin doors saying where we are - such as - Mike is at the sports pool - 3pm. We have seen others use those write on/ erase boards - but we have not used them ourselves..... We also have a door decorating contest - so our cabins are easily visible for younger ones coming down the hallways. We have also tried in the past to have a "check in" time for cruise days - just to make sure everyone is ok - the problem we found with this is that sometimes a peep is in line for the flow rider at the time and doesn't want to lose their spot in line - for example. We have since cut this out because it goes against the carefree aspect of being on a cruise. Before we leave for the cruise, we always have a group "meeting" - or maybe two - the first one - we discuss excursions and who wants to do what, and then, right before the cruise, we meet to discuss how to use the cabin lists, sticky notes, supper schedules, and anything else "last minute". Hope these tips help you - or helps you create your own!!
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