Oceaneers Lab and the reservation rush...

[noahsmom]

Does anyone know what time the Oceaneers Lab opens for registration? Is it true that if you don't register early enough they may run out of room? How exactly does the registration work there? I've read that you are given pagers, do you get them right away and keep them for the entire cruise or do you get them only when you drop your child off?

Thanks for any insight you can give me on this. DH asked a lot of questions and wasn't satisfied with my answers, lol.

Kelli

 

[floridaminnie]

They only allow x amount of children on board, so there is no fear of room running out forthe oceaneers lab. You can check the kids in before the boat drill or after. It is suggested that you make your ressies for place like Palo's and the spa before even thinking of heading over to the oceaneers lab. Once you fill out the form, you will receive a pager that you will keep for the length of the cruise. Also if you go to barb's website, she has navigators for the kids clubs for the seven, four and three day cruise.

http://www.castawayclub.com/

 

[WHITEHC]

Registration for the Lab opens at 12:45. I went there after lunch the first day (around 1:30) and it wasn't crowded at all. You fill out the registration form and get the pager at that time. You turn the pager back in the last night of the cruise.

 

[peg2001]

I've heard that if you wait until after the life boat drill, the kids clubs will be very crowded with registration. It's probably best to do it earlier, is possible.

 

[cruisnfamily]

I believe it is open for registration all day but word of advice....go before dinner!

Last time, we waited 'til after dinner the first night and the place was insane! this time we will do it in the afternoon so that after dinner they can just be dropped off.

I wonder why they don't let you preregister before hand? Then you could just drop off and get the beeper the first time the kids visited. It sure seems like that would be easier....oh well, nobody consulted me when they set the thing up I guess.

 

[Masonpips]

do they have snacks for inbetween hours? My DS (4) is a snack-aholic. For example, we get up from dinner and he's asking for a snack.

And, I've heard the pagers don't work off the ship. Has anyone left their kids on board while doing an excursion? My kids are both too young for the Stingrays and we'd both really like to do it

Thanks

Debby
10/26 - Magic - Western

 

[Michelle]

Debby, they do not serve snacks at all in the club, but if you're child is checked in during lunch and dinner they take the kids to eat both meals.

As for the pagers, I know they have a range limit but I'm not sure what it is.

 

[4nana]

Can someone pls explain how the lab/club system works? Once registered, are you allowed to bring/take your children at your convenience daily w/o appointment or is it set up like Flounder's appt times w/limited amount accepted?
Thanx

 

[floridaminnie]

Once they are registered, you can bring/take them at your convience except for fifteen minutes before an activity (there are moving from one place to another) You do NOT need to set up appointments for the club, but you DO for Flounders. Flounders is a babysitting place were as the Oceaneers is a club.

 

[tkd lisa]

Register as soon as you possibly can. For specifics, you can read my trip report, but we lost our daughter just before the lifeboat drill, and since we hadn't registered yet, they had a really hard time contacting us. She's 10 and was fully capable of telling them who she was, but she didn't remember her room number. If we had been registered, they would have paged us right away, saving us about an hours worth of panic!! If she had been younger, I don't know how long it would have taken!

As far as food/snacks, they don't do snacks (food or drinks). There is a drinking fountain in the club, but if they want something else you will be paged to come get them. They do regularly go up to Scoops (the ice cream place) in the afternoon. Check the navigators on Barb's site to get a better idea of the flow. Also, there's a trip report from MJASP on the trip report page. Joanne's 10 year old daughter Amanda wrote the report from her perspective. It's probably a good place to look to get one person's view of the lab experience.

 

[bennett]

We registered right away-about 1:00-no crowd at all but when we went by later to show some friends it was extremely crowded. I really liked the fact that we could come and go as we pleased-really only used it when we went shopping on St. Maartin and bingo-plus when they had a someone "special" coming-my children were offered snacks but they weren't interested-I know they did ask me if my children were sensitive to any foods so I don't know why some didn't get snacks---I do know the pager does not have a good range-once we went back on the boat from the island-my pager beeped-I checked the time I was initially paged and it was just as we were in line to board outside the ship-I never heard that initial page-

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Although you don't run the risk of being shut out by not registering early, you stand a better chance of your child enjoying the Club/Lab if you send them there on the first night of the cruise. Everybody will be a little shy there on the first night and lots of friendships are formed that will last the entire cruise. If you wait until the next day, your child will have a tougher time feeling included.

 

[4myguys]

When we boarded the boat we went directly to the lunch buffet. We then went to the Lab and registered our DS8 and DS12. They weren't crowed at that time. If you specify, your children can check themselves in and out (which our DS12 loved).