cruisegirl06

Yes! I’m hoping for info soon. We’ve got kiddos under 12, so a fully vaccinated requirement would prevent us from sailing (unless kids are the 5%), but I also need to understand what will be open/restricted. If many activities are reservations only and pools/kids clubs are limited there are better vacation options for us this year. 

I don’t really want to extend final payment because I assume then I would lose my deposit at least (vs right now having the ability to cancel without penalty)…

What is everyone thinking will happen for August? We’re booked on the Panorama on the 28th, but getting close to final

payment. 
 

I don’t want to make final payment without a clear understanding of how probable it is the cruise would happen and what protocols/restrictions will be in place - BUT things seem to be shifting daily so I don’t know when to expect this.

Other August cruisers - what are you thinking? Any ideas of when we’ll get an update from Carnival?

1 hour ago, sunshine755 said:

I too am booked on that cruise and they just pulled it from the booking site. I hope that is not bad news.🥺

Yes - I noticed that too. We’ve been working on alternate vacation plan ideas, and it’s seeming more and more likely that’s what we’ll wind up doing for August 

It looks like a lot of August sailings aren’t available at the moment either - I’m only seeing the Galveston ships.

I got the email too. We’re booked on 8/28 on Panorama and our cruise is still showing up as bookable on the Carnival site. It looks like there are fewer Aug cruises than before so I’m wondering if some are on hold (or “full”)?

I really hope we get guidance soon. We’ve got 3 kids under 12, so if vaccinations are required we can’t cruise and/or if there are serious limitations to pool use/kids clubs/etc. we wouldn’t want to go - I do not want to be stuck in the cabin with bored kids!

Hoping we hear something soon!

Thanks for the responses!

Agreed - regardless of which group she is in, I don't want her to be able to sign out, so I'm glad I can restrict that. I don't think she would anyways, but just in case.

I'll see how she's feeling and possibly ask about moving her down. The girls may prefer some time in their own clubs anyways, but it's good to remember we can always ask if moving her down seems best.

Club HALs current age groups are 3-6, 7-12 and teen. Does anyone know if they let kids go down an age group? My oldest will have recently turned 7 when we sail - I'm not sure if she'll be into the "tween" activities and may prefer to be with her 5YO sister if they allow it.

Just wanted to see what others had experienced so I can prepare her accordingly. (We're sailing over New Years, so I imagine there will be a decent number of kids)

Also, is the 7-12 YO group allowed to sign themselves in/out of the club? If so, can we chose not to let them?

We did Junkanoo when our daughter was about 16 months old - it's walkable and quite fine. The water was enjoyable. We went for conch fritters after then walked back to the ship - mellow, easy and relatively cheap day.

We usually use a Maclaren Quest, it's an umbrella stroller (easy to store under the bed) but it reclines and has a decent sunshade. It's been our go-to. The retail price is a bit high, but we've had luck finding them used in the past.

We did a 10-day over spring break on HAL many years ago (early 2000s). I think there were about 30 teens onboard and maybe 60ish kids/teens all together. It may have changed since then, but at the time it was a large enough group to be fun but small enough that it never seemed crazy.

Now that I'm cruising with my own kids in the kids clubs I'm back to keeping track of this! That said, we did Royal over Thanksgiving a few years ago and we're advised that clubs may hit capacity but never had an issue getting our kids in (not sure if others/other ages ever had issues).

Has anyone tried the Mifold yet? My ODD is in a low back booster in our second car and does great, but I'm looking for options for travel/carpool. I did have her just take he lowback booster to school one day when our sitter had to pick her up, but something smaller would be ideal.

I was about to buy a bubblegum, but I am also intrigued by Mifold for these situations

We did connecting OVs on Naviator last year. We saved about $600 off of connecting balconies and still had plenty of space. We did miss the ability to get outside a bit, but with the two rooms at least DH and I could relax/talk/watch TV after the kiddos were asleep. We just made sure to enjoy plenty of outside time when we weren't in the room.

I agree about 2 cabins. Defiantly get connecting if you can. We had connecting last cruise and I was going batty running between the two rooms the first hour until our steward opened the door and connected them :-). There were only 4 of us (this was still cheaper than booking us all in one room - go figure) but the extra space and bathroom made a huge difference.

We are a family of 4, but our last cruise connecting rooms were cheaper than getting two separate rooms. It was great to have the extra space (especially with a pack and play and baby stuff!). The extra bathroom is also nice.

If you are looking to do kids sail free or something you could invite grandparents/family/friends along since it might not increase the overall rate too much.

I believe Carnival will allow non PT 3 year olds in the kids club but will not change their diapers. My youngest when we sail them, and as I understand they change 2YOs but not 3YOs. Either way, your son should be able to partake in their kids club program (included, and drop-in-as-you-wish) with the 2-5s.

We sailed Royal when my oldest was 3 and solidly (but somewhat newly) potty trained. I was nervous, but made sure to show her where the bathroom was during open house and asked the youth staff to remind her (I assume at that age they do!) and always took her before. She was great at home and daycare by then, I was just nervous about a new environment - she did great with no issues and loved the kids club. From what I have read they are strict on the kids must be potty trained for the club.

On that trip our youngest was 1 and in the nursery. The nursery was perfectly fine for her, small some baby/toddler toys, toddler movies, space to nap, etc. There were a few kids that looked like they were older who maybe weren't potty trained yet. I think it's technically 6-36mos, but I'm guessing they would accommodate non PT 3s? The nursery is for-fee and you need to make reservations (you can drop by and see if there's space, but if you know you need a time a reservation is the way to go). I think my then 3YO would have been bored in there, it probably would have been okay for a few hours here or there (I.e. To go to dinner), but she wouldn't have been begging to back like she did for the kids club.

I bet the nursery is more profitable than it looks on paper. Even though the hourly rates probably aren't a huge profit, then the parents can go spend money elsewhere. I know we've frequently used it so we could do specialty dining or go to some of the bars on board. When our older aughter was 1 we cruised on a ship without a nursery and I'm pretty sure our onboard bill was pretty low on that cruise compared to cruises where we've had a nursery available. (Granted not all lines care to target families with babies). But, As long as we're traveling with an under-3 the nursery/available childcare is a big consideration

Our last cruise it was cheaper to book 2 cabins (2 of us in each cabin) vs all 4 of us in one cabin. At the time we were using a pack-and-play for the baby so the extra space was great, and w had connecting cabins which is a must with preschool age kids.

Our upcoming trip we're all in one room. The 2YO is still in a crib at home, but I think we'll try the sofa bed for her on the trip to save space. We'll have to do a dry-run at home first, but if we can make that work I think it will make 4 in a cabin much easier.

I agree on packing any meds they might need and extra sippy cups. I also always pack lots of extra diapers, wipes, and some disposable changing pads that I can use to change them as needed (if potty training is going well adjust this list as needed :-).

Another thing I do is buy/bring a bunch of small toys that I can dole out at dinner (we do the MDRs and our kids usually join us, so having something to keep them entertained if the food is taking a while is nice). I also order them appetizers right away at dinner so they don't have to wait too long (or there's always bread).

We haven't done Camp Carnival yet, so I'm anxious to see how it is for 2YOs. Like the PP we have a 2YO and a 4YO and I'm glad they will be in the same group. Our 4YO has fond memories of Adventure Ocean on Royal and is VERY excited for the kids club, and of course the 2YO is into whatever the 4YO is doing, so I'm cautiously optimistic :-)

The pools/splash zones are usually for potty-trained kids only. If your little one is still in diapers I would either avoid the pool with them or get one of those duck tubs/a small blow up pool you can use. We used one on our balcony when my older daughter was about 1, but mostly we get our swimming in on beach days.

Consider sleeping arrangements too. Our 2YO is still in a crib at home, but I think we'll put her in the bed with a bed rail on the cruise. Pack and plays take up a LOT of space in the cabin and with 4 of us in there, we're going to avoid the pack and play if we can (fingers crossed!)

We've done Disney, Royal, and Norwegian with under-3s and have a Carnival cruise coming up.

As others have mentioned, Carnival is the only of these that lets the 2YOs in the kids clubs for "free" and drop-in, we'll be sailing them with a 2YO in April so I can provide feedback after that.

Royal (some ships only, I believe) and Disney both have nurseries where you pay by the hour (I think Royal was $6-$8 depending on time of day, and Disney I think is $10 now? These numbers may be wrong, it's been a while since I looked at these!). These need to be reserved in advance, although we've had luck calling day-of and getting additional time booked if we are flexible :-). On both of these the kids were around 1 year old and enjoyed them, but they are more "nursery" based, so I don't know if an older 2YO might be bored?

Norwegian - this was 3 years ago on Star - did NOT have any drop-off programming. They did have playgroup type activities that you could go to with your child, but that was the only option. I think some of their newer ships may have additional programming.

Just make sure you are checking the ship they are interested in. The facilities/programming can vary by ship (it sounds like you are looking into this)

We took our kids at 1 and 3 years and it was great. I don't know that they have designated "stuff" for younger kids, but we had plenty of fun eating, playing in the sand, sitting on the beach, etc :-)

We were there thanksgiving week and found it to be very family-friendly and not rowdy. This may vary by time of year??

If we get to the port around noon is FTTF still helpful? We aren't in a rush to get on (FTTF is more for our tender ports), but would like to avoid the chaos at the port as much as possible. I assume the FTTF line is available throughout the whole check-in window?

If we leave on our auto gratuity and give a little extra to those who went above and beyond, do those individuals get to keep it, or is it pooled?

We've got two little kids, and while we clean up after them as best we can, I'm more than happy to give a good cabin steward or waitstaff extra the extra clean-up/attention they may give. I'm just curious if they get to keep it or not.

Are there any beach clubs in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo - similar to Mr. Sanchos or Paradise Beach in Cozumel? We loved Mr. Sanchos last time we were in Cozumel and would love to do something similar. We're not looking for anything fancy, just a nice beach, some drinks, food and a relaxed, family friendly atmosphere. All-inclusive or pay-as-you-go is fine. Thanks in advance!

We got a paper with occupancy limits and a note that they may have to turn kids away on a Royal Caribbean cruise over thanksgiving just over a year ago. We had a 3YO and never had any issues getting her into the club, we did usually go right when they opened. I think she went almost every day and at various times, so it certainly wasn't a consistent issue (at least in the 3-5s group!) We were also able to secure plenty of nursery time (I signed up for the max allowable on embarkation day and then at some point day one or day two they opened up the rest of the hours so you could get more). Both kids enjoyed the clubs, and while the counsellors noted that they were somewhat limited in activities since there were so many kids, the kids had a blast!

Honestly, I fully appreciate that they need to maintain ratios (my kiddos are in daycare, so I see the importance of having enough adults!), BUT they know how many kids are on the cruise and kids clubs are an advertised feature. If we had been turned away a few times, no big deal, but if it happened regularly, I would have been pretty frustrated and probably escalated the issue (they should staff accordingly on busy weeks).

We're sailing Carnival this spring. My friend and I both have 2YOs, and we specifically picked Carnival because they will accommodate our 2 year olds. I'm a bit nervous about clubs reaching capacity, but hopefully it will all be fine.

We got married on the beach at a resort in Ocho Rios, it was gorgeous and a most wonderful way to start married life. We're hoping to go back to the resort for an anniversary sometime.

Our wedding was at an all inclusive (that we were staying at) and the resort did all the arrangements. I know they required that we be there 2 days before the wedding, but I'm not sure if that was a resort thing (logistics) or a Jamaica rule - just something to check into (although hopefully whoever is coordinating the wedding knows the current info).

Sorry I'm not terribly much help with it. I hope your daughter has a lovely wedding!