Jkaczano

Yes, people choose their boarding times based on the order they check in. Do you need to check in immediately, no. It’s not like Southwest Airlines where you need to be waiting for the exact check in time and pounce in order to get a good boarding position. That being said, try to check in the day it opens because earliest boarding times do fill up and the earlier your boarding time, the less likely the terminal will be chaos.

Many of the people on DCL are families. 4 Binaxnow tests would cost $40-50 and back in January when there were reports of many families testing positive at the port, were very hard to find. These were people who were fully vaccinated (DCL requires it for everyone over 5) and had no symptoms. When do you test to ensure no disappointment - before you fly down? Just because you test negative on Thursday morning before your flight, doesn’t mean you will test negative Friday afternoon. DCL also advertises their cruises as part of a “land/sea” vacation (many of their cruises are 3 and 4 days). Do families test after the “land” portion of their vacation is over? What’s even the point? Personally, I find it ironic that DCL has everyone test at the port, but their theme parks went maskless even indoors earlier this month.

With Royal Caribbean, unless you have an unvaccinated child who has to be tested again at the port, there is no reason that you should be turned away at the port unless you are missing your documentation. Make sure you have your passport (or license/birth certificate for closed loop), your vaccine card with 2nd dose at least 14 days before, and a copy of your negative Covid test and you’ll be fine. I have a cruise scheduled with the cruise line that tests at port for September and I’m probably cancelling. I can’t imagine going through that.

Let’s not forget about the obligatory “I’m diamond plus myself” in each of the videos.

It’s old school, but I’ve had the best luck getting my OBC when faxing my submission. Submitting using their online system and it seems to get lost in cyberspace. The couple times when I tried emailing, the response is they can’t open my pdf attachment.

The last time we were on CoCo Cay, we got a thrill water park cabana. We never saw our teens even though we were in the park. What I’m trying to say is that unless you are planning on going on the slides, there is a very limited amount of watching or supervision that you will be able to provide. Bigger things would be to make sure he’s sunblocked and that he knows there’s free glasses of water by the snack shack so he doesn’t get dehydrated.

RC doesn’t provide. They are for sale on the ship, but are cheaper on Amazon.

Could be that they’re concerned about the 95% vaccination level they signed on to with the CDC for these particular cruises. Under 5 unvaccinated don’t count, but since RC still isn’t requiring vaccinations for 5-11 year olds, they may be hedging their bets.

Not what you asked, but 14 year olds are not required to have a parent or guardian with them in thrill water park. Not sure his maturity level (or your comfort level), but just mentioning it as an option. signed - the bad parent who is sending her 15 and 14 year olds to the water park in March without me

Some junior suites hold 5 people, even though each reservation number can only accommodate 4 names. So you would have 2 reservation numbers whether it’s 1 room or 2. I agree with Ampurp85 that you should contact whoever you booked through, and verify that you have 2 rooms.

My 3/18 Wonder cruise is showing no rooms left for 4 people on RC’s website, but if you search for 2 people, there were several suites left that have a capacity of 4. I’m guessing they may be trying to limit children, but that’s just a guess.

I personally like JetBlue. They’re flights are relatively comfortable with decent in flight entertainment. Size wise, they’re similar to Air Canada. Things I don’t like - in order to choose seats and be allowed a carry on, you must choose a blue rather than a basic fare. I have no hesitation flying them BOS (1 hour from my house) to FLL because there are multiple direct flights a day. If there’s a problem with my flight (weather or equipment) there’s redundancy. Spirit has a better priced, more convenient direct flight out of MHT (15 minutes from my house), but I would never use them for a cruise because there’s 1 per day. If there’s a problem, you’re SOL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_airlines_in_North_America https://www.tripsavvy.com/top-airlines-in-north-america-53734 https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2021/07/19/ranked-the-best-and-worst-airlines-in-america-in-2021-according-to-new-report/?sh=4996a12372c3

14 is a great age for an Oasis class ship! I have 13 and 15 year old boys and sailed Oasis in September. The teen club when we were on board would have “open” hours in the afternoons with planned activities in the evenings. The difference from Adventure Ocean was that activities were all over the ship (Flowrider, climbing, scavenger hunts, etc). Even if he dislikes the teen club, he’s old enough to do most activities without you present so long as you sign the waiver. With him moving all over the ship, you may want to consider either getting the RCI texting or we splurge and get them internet so they can keep in touch with us and their friends at home.

12 year olds were allowed in Social 298 on Oasis in September if their parents signed a waiver. The magic words (according to my 13 yo) were that they didn’t want their vaccinated kids in Adventure Ocean with the unvaccinated kids. YMMV

@JSB_Z51 not just you. Paid 13.4 for late September aqua suite last year (2021). Going for about $15.0 in 2023.

Other issues besides the $6000 they want in their basic cabin for 4 people for 45 hours. I can spread the 4 over 2 ocean balcony cabins for a 7 night Oasis for $4400. Disney has gotten greedy lately - and I say that as a DVC member.

I prop my iPhone up against the backsplash on my island. Test stays on counter. Perfect height.

My question is how are they defining “fully vaccinated”. Somehow I think going maskless is going to be tied to boosters.

I’m currently in a 2br aquatheater on one of the March sailings on Wonder. Royal up is still giving me the option to bid on the 2 higher level star class rooms on my sailing. At a minimum bid of $2500 per person, I just laughed.

Saw cats on Oasis in September - worst show ever! No longer an intermission so no leaving discreetly. Luckily I didn’t bring my teens because they would have killed me in my sleep. I have never even considered leaving early from a show but I would have. Unfortunately, my mother wouldn’t let me out of the aisle because it would be rude. Awful, awful, awful

Thanks Jill! Just checked in.

Week of February 21st

Have a great time!

Cyprus is closer for crew from India and Eastern Europe. It probably also makes sense to stagger arrivals in order to support crew quarantining before starting duty.

It’s 10 degrees in New Hampshire right now, getting down to -2 tonight. My kids (and I to be honest) wear sweatshirts outside. 60 degrees would be shorts weather for me right now and they would be in the water park. I bet you’ll be able to guess who’s from up north.