cadien

I was a child in the 70s, no electronics or organized activities, but I was still incredibly bored on family vacations. Personal interests are not hereditary.

Whining is unacceptable, but I wouldn't punish our son simply for being bored. Or take him on the next cruise.

And chores are their own kind of boring.

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The excursion I'm most looking forward to on our upcoming MR cruise is a Puerto Vallarta street taco tour. Not offered via the ship, of course.

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One useful bit of advice we've picked up here is that the kind of port makes a difference. If you can just walk off the ship, easy. But if you're waiting in line for a tender, like possibly at Cabo for your cruise, people who booked ship excursions get off first on some lines and that can save you as much as an hour. That's worth something.

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If someone clicks through to your public profile it's there. Although it's not a hyperlink.

If you like pictures check out our www.flickr.com/photos/magickpyggie/sets and choose the Star set. In a Suite we had the Butler serve dinner on the balcony as we sailed from Stockholm, magical.

I love the photo where you're having nothing for dessert.

When you pre-order an entire regular-sized bottle of something, you get three cans of your choice of juice for mixing. But that's not much.

I don't think I'd consider the bathroom scale a perk!

Definitely updated information on Mazatlan. We're booked for next spring.

First-hand experience on the Cabo semi-sub would be a bonus.

Thanks!

This site is a great resource to answer that : http://cruisewithgambee.com/norwegian-drink-lists/

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That was such a fun video. Thank you for sharing it.

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You're not at all alone. My first cruise is April 2015 and I'm spending all my free time on it.

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That price list makes the three bottles that come with the suites much more impressive.

I heard that the kids club costs extra? Is that true?

The kids club charges you for lunch and dinner on port days, if you leave the kids on the ship, and any day after 10:30pm. That's it.

http://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/freestyle-family-fun/youth-programs/faq#4

I would put a dollar value on the extra Latitudes points but not $1,000.

You are my new favorite poster! We'll be doing this cruise (our first ever) next spring with a 3-year old.

For what it's worth, my brother and I are sailing with our parents on the Breakaway on Sunday (!!!). My mom is Platinum but the rest of us are not. She called and was told that my father (in same cabin) would get the priority embarkation, but that my brother and I (different cabin) would have to go through the regular check in. Granted, that's not the same thing as the suites, but it is an example of them limiting perks to those entitled and not the rest of the linked reservation.

I'd hope the wheelchair etc would lead to more flexibility though. And more understanding from the other passengers.

I did just read this yesterday.

Fourth post in this thread : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976074

"The worst though, and scariest in my opinion, is that one night I came to pick up my DD. I handed the woman my cards and gave her my password (which I THOUGHT was a nice security touch) and as I was doing that a little girl walked up to the gate. The woman working there was distracted but I heard her say "where's my Mommy?". I wanted to reassure the girl so I started saying that she would probably be there soon. Before I knew it, the woman opened the gate, the girl walked out in hallway and we were both standing there as the little girl walked out of the room. I thought maybe the counselor was going to take her somewhere, but she sat back down at the computer desk and started typing. After a moment, she looked at me like "why are you still here?" and I told her I was waiting for my daughter! I realized in that minute that she thought that girl WAS my daughter so I ran out of the room and found the girl ready to go down the stairs! The counselor got her and apologized and went to get my daughter, but OH MY GOODNESS, that did not instill confidence in me! I can't even imagine what would've happened if the girl was quicker etc. Again, I know that things happen and mistakes are made but that seemed like a fairly big one when you're talking about a child's safety."

This is really only an issue if the ship is tendering. Not if docked. You can easily empty a ship in far less than an hour if docked.

 

Only Cabo is a tendering operation, normally.

That is so helpful. And will make a difference in our planning.

I've seen so many comments about tendering nightmares that I didn't know yet that it doesn't apply to all ports. Again, we've never actually done this.

We're taking that same cruise on a different date (it will be our first) and one piece of advice I've been seeing in the other forums is that sometimes (always?) people on the official excursions get off the boat first. And the difference can be a couple hours. In cases where we'd be doing the same activity either way, trading money for time can be worth it.

As a side thing, I've discovered that the excursions section of Carnival's website has much more detail on the Mexican Riviera excursions. The same activities with the same companies, but they have many more photos etc. In the case of the Cabo semi-sub, for example, Carnival even had better/more photos than the company's own website. We're definitely taking NCL but I'll take my data anywhere I can get it.

here is the cakes and party packages available

http://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/gifts-and-more

But Jade isn't on the list of available ships, unfortunately.

Available for sailings on the following ships: Norwegian Epic starting March 9, Norwegian Dawn starting March 16, Norwegian Jewel starting March 23 and Norwegian Star starting April 1, 2014. If you cruising on Breakaway or Getaway, more holiday and special occasion themed cakes from Carlos Bake Shop are available to pre-order