Child Registration question

[barbie1231]

This is our third cruise and the first time I actually do the child registration online. I usually do it at the port where the kids then get their hand wrist, etc.

My question is ... if I register online, do I still have to stand in line at the port and get the kids set up? I am a bit confused on what I would need to do there or not..

Thanks

 

[Mr. Drauer]

You still have to get the bands, either at port or at the club/lab. Pre-registering makes it easier and takes less time with the CM's, but they still will check your kids registration, ask you for the password, and then put the band on. If you wait until getting on the ship, you likely will find less of a line at the club/lab than in the port.

 

[aidtrismommy]

You can either stand in line at the port while waiting to board or go to the clubs once onboard at some point. The kids will get their magic bands and the staff will review the registration with you.

 

[barbie1231]

Thanks so much ... that makes more sense to me now.

 

[Shanti]

Thanks so much ... that makes more sense to me now.

On the Fantasy a few weeks ago we were told that we had until midnight of embarkation day to get our kids' registration finalized on board.

 

[bookluvingbabe]

Don't forget the password! I did between registration and our cruise. Told them at the Port and they said as long as the parent was the one picking up, the password wasn't needed.

Nope. Went to pick up DS and was shocked when they asked for it. Luckily he had self check out privileges or else he'd be a ship's mate right about now. Reset the secret word since my Key to the World card proved who I was and was authorized to reset it and then they didn't ask for it the second time he went. They did ask the 3rd time though...

 

[bbel]

On the Fantasy a few weeks ago we were told that we had until midnight of embarkation day to get our kids' registration finalized on board.

Unless this has drastically changed in the few weeks I've been on vacation...
You can register at any point in the cruise (there's usually even a registration desk on the first morning, especially if it's a sea day)
So if you know you're not going to use the clubs the first night you don't have to stress about registering the embark day.
They may have meant that you can register up till midnight that day...

In the past I've registered children on the last night of a 7 day cruise, 30 minutes before we closed...

 

[bbel]

Don't forget the password! I did between registration and our cruise. Told them at the Port and they said as long as the parent was the one picking up, the password wasn't needed.

Nope. Went to pick up DS and was shocked when they asked for it. Luckily he had self check out privileges or else he'd be a ship's mate right about now. Reset the secret word since my Key to the World card proved who I was and was authorized to reset it and then they didn't ask for it the second time he went. They did ask the 3rd time though...

Yes! Any authorised adult that comes in to pick up should know the password even if the child is a self check. If they are a self check there's a good chance you won't get asked at all throughout the cruise, but there's also a possibility that you may get asked every time.

 

[barbie1231]

lol.... I think I already forgot the password. I need to check

 

[bbel]

lol.... I think I already forgot the password. I need to check

Don't stress about knowing the password just yet. You can change it when you get the bands, as long as the person who is the e-signature is there with their kttwc. But then that's the one that everyone needs to know.

 

[bumbershoot]

Told them at the Port and they said as long as the parent was the one picking up, the password wasn't needed.

That's bizarre. From our experience the ones at the kid checkin desk were the CMs onboard in the kid's club, so they should know how it works!

Luckily he had self check out privileges or else he'd be a ship's mate right about now.

FWIW I forgot the password and they gave me huge, heavy hints. Since I was the one that set it up and did know it at one point, the hints worked.

 

[bbel]

That's bizarre. From our experience the ones at the kid checkin desk were the CMs onboard in the kid's club, so they should know how it works!

At Port Canaveral, the CM behind the desks are not from the kids club, they just work at the port. Yes CM from the ship are there putting on bands and passing out reg forms. But the ones are the computers are not.
Miami is the same, although there are often CM from the ship nearby (although in Miami, if they are not American they cannot work in the terminal, which sometimes means it looks like they're not doing a lot)
From what I remember of other ports, Vancouver, San Diego, Galveston, NY it is CM from the ship.

 

[NewYorkcruiser]

How does the self checkout work? I understand I have to elect it for my child, but can a ten year old really just start roaming the ship?

 

[bbel]

How does the self checkout work? I understand I have to elect it for my child, but can a ten year old really just start roaming the ship?

If you chose for them to be a self-check then yes!
They say they want to leave and they will be checked out. Once they are out of the spaces they are free to go where they please. A CM can't tell you where they are, only when they left.
Any child aged 8+ (7 with a waiver signed) can be a self-check if authorised adults wish them to be.

 

[bumbershoot]

At Port Canaveral, the CM behind the desks are not from the kids club, they just work at the port. Yes CM from the ship are there putting on bands and passing out reg forms. But the ones are the computers are not.

Then the one time we checked in at the port had a HUGE exception, as the woman working the computer had been in the kid's club on our earlier cruise and was ON the ship on that cruise (not sure she worked in the club). This was not just the one putting on bands; she actually did the computer work as well. I remember this very well because she remembered my son from the cruise earlier that year.