I have had the first IC post up for three weeks. Everyone has had fair and equal opportunities to make there CS's and get their posting done, save the later characters. If you're traveling as a group, everyone just needs to get their post out of the way, then slide by. However, I can't be terribly lenient when a full twenty days past and I only received eight IC posts. What's hard to pull off is a whole Avatar world like this, and getting the IC posting done right. At times, I do have to be strict. 

What I will likely do for your case is allow the majority of you to post your intros, then let the remainder of your group fall into place later. There's a couple of you RP'ing together, no reason someone whom hasn't finished their CS can't pop in later. I also know the holiday player gave permission to use their character while asleep, so it shouldn't be terribly hard to work around it.