GarlicBread

Magic, Wonder, Fantasy expect luggage by 5.30pm.

Dream by 6pm.

Chances are it will come before that.

If it doesn't, how long will it take you to get ready?

Without any information about the actual medical condition, I don't think anyone can give you any helpful information for you exactly.

When you register let them know everything, they may get you to fill out an accommodations form just so they are aware of all the what/where/when/how etc...

This does not mean you have to stay onboard however.

They only time I've heard of parents being asked too stay onboard is if kids are in diapers for a medical condition as the staff are not allowed to change them even if there was somewhere to change them.

Nope.

YOLO!

So you're actually posting that the age policy onboard RCI for their Aquanauts program and the liability issue can be disregarded by staff....very interesting comment.

What liability exactly?

I absolutely do also....Perhaps there is some flexibility with Adventure Ocean and older aged groups cross-over's ...but not in this very young age group. There's been recent discussion on this board about this very subject.

Yeah, you got me. I just troll and give incorrect information to ruin people's vacations :rolleyes:

How many years have you worked at RCI?

I work there. I bump up 2 years olds on an almost cruisly basis! Parents ask and have to fill out and sign an adventure ocean registration form. They give their full consent: There is no liability. We don't just whack 2 year olds into AO without their parents knowledge.....

You don't have to believe me. Doesn't mean it's not true.

Do you have personal experience with this? When and what ship?

Absolutely. Why would I even get the idea to make this up and go to the effort of posting It? Haha.

Youth Staff since 2014.

Many different ships.

It won't fill up for registrations, and you can register at any time during your cruise, but there's a chance a session may fill up. They're strict on ratios for everyone' safety.

Kids get a kid compass everyday that will list what' going on in each session that day end in gives them a heads up if they'l enjoy it or not.

It is free up until 10pm. Between 10pm and 2am there is a charge per kid per hour.

Actually they do allow fully potty trained 2 year olds in aquanauts, so they could possibly be together if the older sibling is between 3 and 5.

Fully potty trained, able to communicate and follow instructions and (usually but not always) within 3 months of a 3rd birthday.

However, sometimes they may request you try the nursery first and they'll make the judgement call.

Sometimes they may not due to numbers. A few manager just say no to any age group moves.

If a 2 year old is bumped up, it' only ever a trial. One accident, back to the nursery. Unable to follow instructions, back to the nursery. Parents don't come when asked, back to the nursery.

Don' let people tell you it won' happen, they clearly haven't worked there, but you won' get a definite answer on that one until you actually get onboard and talk to the staff of your exact cruise.

Enjoy your cruise!

Being a retired paramedic in a family of RN's, I have quite a bit of medical exposure. No, I'm not a doctor, but I worked with them and I am very familiar with what goes on in an ER. Even ER's can and do make mistakes and not only are they trained in ER medicine, but they have a complete lab and specialists they can contact.

 

The main thing that puts the cruise ship doctor at a disadvantage is they do not have your medical records or know your history. They don't know your meds, frequency, or amounts. That means they may be guessing based on symptoms. Too many symptoms can be attributed to several conditions.

 

Is the doctor a GP or is he certified in ER medicine?

 

It doesn't take much of a search to find appendicitis diagnosed as a cold or other cases where a misdiagnosis was made..

So, as a retired paramedic you'll know this is pretty much the same for emergency services on land then...my mom got picked up by paramedics a few of years ago, they didn't have her records or history, and they guessed based on symptoms. They guessed a stroke. Once at hospital with access to all history and notes and lab equipment they took her to the stroke ward. 2 days later they eventually did some more test and found out she had meningo-encephalitis which is very different...

As for how trained they are, a simple search will tell you what is required to apply.

When it comes to trauma and life threatening illnesses onboard, the ship doctors job is to keep you alive until they can get you to someone/somewhere, that can actually help.

A cruise ship can sail without a captain, but it cannot sail without a doctor.

Thanks for the info...good to be able to go up in age range, bad to be playing video games all day. My daughter wouldn't mind though.

The ship I was on didn't have any video games in adventure ocean. Just a wii and xbox for the teens...

They'll work with you as much as they can, at the end of the day they want the kids to be happy and have fun.

I have a daughter who is 8 years old but will be turning 9 a couple days after the cruise. She is quite mature for her age, and I am wondering if they would let her into the 9 and older age range?

Theyll usually move a kid around a group within 3-6months of their birthday (up or down), however, any age group change is only ever a trail and if they feel a kid will do better in another group they'll move them.

Also, you havent said which ship, some ships still have 6-8's and 9-11's all together.

Yes, they close at 5 (on sea days). And they take the kids that are there to dinner. It's not a service they really advertise, so a lot of people don't know about it. We're on a 9-night at the end of May and will use it a few times ourselves (definitely nights 1 & 2 since we did the BOGO :-) )

Its on the daily kid compass...

And normally on the first day compass theres a whole load of information on it, when to sign up by, the times its on.

There is only one option for dinner - Pizza. Every night.

I'm just going by the information that I spent the last 6 months working to.

Obviously the ship you went on differs muchly, and whichever ship this was on is the only one I've heard only offer pizza.

However, if your kid is there for lunch time on a port day, then yes, usually they'll only be offered pizza and fries.

Did they tell you what the obstruction was?

I once had an obstructed OV on another cruise line. It turned out it was the corner of the thing they use to go along the side the ship to clean the windows. You didn't notice it in the room and you had to go up to the window and really look out to one side to really notice it. In port it moved and wasn't there at all anyway.

We all thought we got a good deal. We paid for an obstruction that really wasn't there. That and we were only really in the room to sleep when it's dark and might as well have no window at that time.

Unless the reason for your cruise was to sit out at the window and lookout the whole time, just accept it and let it go and have a wonderful cruise.

I've never worked on a ship, so I don't know for sure, but from reading here it seems like the actual captain has a LOT to say in regard to how rules are applied on his/her ship.

 

Maybe the captains of Indy have stated NO ONE EXCEPT MARRIED COUPLES but whatever captain Garlicbread had was cool as long as you registered as a couple.

 

Our chief engineer has stated multiple times that some things are completely at the discretion of the captain and not corporate, but I'm sure the captain is aware what could cause an issue that they aren't interested in dealing with.

Well if it is the just the Indy it's pretty recent, I had a roommate for 2 weeks who'd shared with her ex BF on Indy just last year. Must be a grumpy captain haha.

I know a couple of people off to the Indy in a few weeks and at least one of them and his GF will find out there then, don't think they'll be happy, probably try and go back to their current ship.

My last company it was fleet wide policy that only married couples had a chance. The captains said they wouldn't mind either way if it meant their crew were happy.

Doesn't matter to me anymore, my BF is finishing his contract and then leaving to go back to school.

I love PDC. Food is expensive there but there's some great street food options if you want a snack before heading back.

If you walk outside international terminal and get a taxi right outside the gate it's $7 to the ferry. Just give yourself plenty of time to get back, ferries often run late or they just miss one with no explanations. I'd use the yellow and blue ferries, the white ones were the ones that were bombed and the orange ones are the ones that sometimes don't show up.

Thanks for the replies. We are my time dining so I guess it makes sense that the pickup program is not in effect for that. Great information on the timeline and what the kids club provides. Our son is 3, we are hoping to use this 2 or 3 nights on a 9 night cruise. Related; does anyone know what the ratio of staff to children are for the younger kids?

 

 

Honestly, if MTD can get us in and out in 45-60 minutes I'd be thrilled with that as well; I'll ask if that is possible.

1:4 in the nursery (0-3)

1:15 in the aquanauts (3-5)

1:20 or 25 for Explores/Voyagers (6-8/9-11) (having a mental block on that one...)

Assuming you mean the kids going for dinner with the staff:

It happens every night apart from the first one.

You need to sign up before hand as space is limited. Usually then you'll say what your kid will want: pizza, hotdog, burger...so they can put in the order earlier and the food is ready.

The kids meet in the club and then all (all ages 3-11) go to the WJ together around 6pm. They can either stay through from the afternoon session or drop them off around 5.45 (so all kids are signed in and allergies checked, hands are washed and shoes are on and ready to go on time)

Dinner lasts however long it takes for kids to eat, which can vary greatly depending on how many kids, their ages and eating habits, but they'll be back before the evening session starts.

Before going for dinner, and after if they get back early-ish, they'll usually watch a movie/tv.

The only surprise is maybe getting a cookie for desert if there's no kids there with allergies and they have time.

Are you sure its not the wristbands for the kids?

As a crew member I much prefer it, and when ever this came up all other crew I spoke to would rather just have one name on it. You don't need to know my last name.

If you need to track me down onboard, my first name, department and/or country would be more than sufficient.

Do you have a link to this tag? Are they actually new? I don't remember seeing last names or flags on name tags on any of our cruises for a long time.

They're on the symphony at the moment but not all ships.

I wasn't on for these music charters, but they sound awesome! Please tell me more about the Metal Cruise!

 

Yes, only if you are married can crew members request a cabin together. Just being boyfriend and girlfriend doesn't qualify, no matter how long you have been in a relationship for.

This isn't entirely true for Royal. Last contract (which ended last month), me and my boyfriend shared a cabin and we're definitely not married, not even engaged, and neither are high enough ranked to get a single cabin. Just became a 'registered couple' and the next time a cabin became free we moved in (they actually moved someone out so we could move in together).

My friend was also dating someone from a lower rank and they could live together as long as she was ok with moving into a lower ranked room as she didn't have a single cabin either.

Another friend moved in with her boyfriend but he had his own cabin, so her roommate ended up getting a cabin to herself haha.

Now, the last cruise line I worked for you had to be married to even out in a request for a cabin together, and even then it wasn't guaranteed.

Royal are a lot more accommodating in this area.

For a lot of departments/roles crew had to apply to go. The majority that got chosen have already opened an Oasis class ship, and I know people who applied and got told they had to go and work on an Oasis class ship first which they did and are on the Sy now.

I think there are lines for about 6 on the form. If you really want more just ask and see, different managers handle it in different ways, so it could vary ship to ship. If not, just put the 6 most likely to be picking up.

At 9 she can also be a self-signer, that way, anyone can come and get her/call her over and she can sign her self in/out.

Thanks for the update. Sounds like dry dock work will still be continuing on the TA,

No problem.

And probably, along with training for the new stuff they're adding.