Free vests are available at the life guard stations....no need to stand in line at Gill's.
Everyone MUST wear a vest if they have a mask on their head....in any of the areas...not just the snorkeling lagoon. The lifeguard on the water "fort" spent much of his time on a megaphone announcing this. My DD-11 just "looked around" in the water fort area while I was on my float next to her.
BTW, it only costs $5 to rent a mask and snorkel. We got to CC and found that ours were not in the beach bag. DH returned to ship and never did find ours, so I rented her some.
Melanie