schipke13

I just got off the Breakaway this morning with my almost 2.5 year old son, Parker. It was overall a great trip. He did have some meltdowns but there were 4 adults to take turns with him, when needed. My parents were in a connecting balcony with us and that helped having the extra space to run around in. He really enjoyed being out on the balcony a lot, too. My parents weren’t big on going to shows or staying out late so they would watch him so hubby and I could have a few date nights, New Years Eve being one of them. 

We had no expectations on this cruise but to chill. We did not book any excursions. But we went into all the ports for shopping. We were back by lunch/nap time with the exception of Harvest Caye. That was a beach day and that boy LOVED the sand. One evening my mom and I took Parker for a stroll on the Waterfront. He just liked walking around. A lot of time was spent going to eat, whether it was buffet, sit down meals, or getting ice cream at random times of the day. 

Also, NCL has a guppies program for 6 month old up to 3 years. They have a playroom with toys for them, but you will have to stay with them. Most evenings at 5:00 there were activities with the crew for about half an hour. One was balloon painting, another was storytime with games. Again, you stay with them the whole time during the activities, but it gives them a chance to burn off excess energy in a safe space. 

I hope that helps. 

Last year on the Jewel in Alaska, my favorite dessert was the Hazelnut Chocolate Bar. That thing was amazing, especially with a cup of coffee. I believe they had it available on the "Chocolate Night", which took the place of the chocolate buffet they had many years ago. I hope they have it available for your ship, too.

We ended up calling our butler one morning to order breakfast because the seas were a little rough and we didn't want to venture out. We did tell him we didn't need the white table cloth, full set up, just delivery. He wasn't able to bring it immediately since he was busy with other requests but I don't remember waiting very long. We were in an aft suite. So while it may not be ideal, it is possible to order last minute. You will just have to be patient.

In your case, you know ahead of time when you will want breakfast in your suite. Give them a heads up the night before, sit back, and enjoy being pampered! I'm jealous!!

What exactly is Concierge supposed to do for you?

We are in a Penthouse suite on the Jewel and I still am not sure of the purpose of Concierge.

I just got off the Jewel in a Penthouse so I can help answer this. Your concierge should be Florentina and we thought she was great. She was at the check in lounge when we first got to the port and introduced herself. She gave us sheets to fill out if we needed restaurant reservations or shore excursions booked at that time. She took us directly on the boat and up to Moderno's for lunch.

We would see her every morning when we went to eat breakfast at Moderno's. She would ask about our cruise so far and, on port days, asked what we would have planned and if we needed priority disembarkation. We would just meet her at Moderno's and she would whisk us away to the unload point and cut us in front of others waiting to get off. A few port days she would be at the gangway to welcome us back to the ship. I think she would have moved us to the front of the line to get back on the ship but we never had a problem with long lines.

She would always be at the balcony seating (left side of the theater 7th floor) acting as a bouncer in the Star Dust theater right before showtimes to make sure only suite pax sat there. The sign says "Haven guest and Owner suites only" (or something along those lines) but Penthouse suites could, too. I don't want you to see that sign and think you can't sit up there.

As a suite guest, you will get a ton of "mail" everyday. A lot of it comes from the concierge. There will be lots of information about priority disembarkation at ports, invites to parties, etc. She even held a "Disembarkation meeting" on the last sea day to go over what to expect when having to get off the ship in Seattle and for everyone to ask questions.

She will pretty much do whatever you need her to do (outside your stateroom) to help make your cruise more enjoyable. I just found her very helpful for just asking questions or advice every morning.

Have a wonderful cruise! And I hope you get Rodney as your butler. He was always smiling and happy to get us whatever.

I just boarded the Jewel out of Seattle a little over a week ago, so it should be the same set up. Once you get through security you will go up the escalator. Once at the top, there was a person with a clip board. I told her we were in a suite and she asked which room number, confirmed our names, etc and someone escorted us to the VIP room where we did all of our checking in.

I would just suggest finding someone who works for NCL, they should know what to do. However, if you are pointed to the lines of people off to the right of the escalator, you are NOT in the right place and ask someone else. We were taken to a completely different area of the building and not within sight of general check in.

Hope that helps.

We can slap a luggage tag on the 12 pack and have them delivered to our stateroom, correct? Just want to double check.

We do not have UDP either and we plan on hitting up only one of the specialty restaurants. Moderno. My reasoning is that we don't have a Brazilian Steakhouse anywhere near us. We have been to one before and we both enjoyed it, also, we are major meat eaters. We have several very good steakhouses and Japanese steakhouses in the area so I wasn't interested in paying extra for those. I thought about LeBistro for a bit but settled back on Moderno. I'll let you know what I think about it when we get back. We won't have our kids with us but I'll try to remember to check out the price for them.

Another advantage of the suite is that it allows we to lower the value of my kids inheritance. Why shouldn't I blow it rather than leave it to them?

Mom/Dad, is that you?!

My parents have those same thoughts about blowing it all, although they have never been in a suite yet.

I sail in a little over 2 weeks to Alaska and it will be the first time staying in a suite. I'm looking forward to it because of all the perks mentioned in this post already.

OP, I hope you enjoy your cruise!

Because of this thread, I checked the excursions I was planning on booking later for our Alaskan cruise. One went up by $30pp so I decided to check out the company that is doing that tour. I ended up booking directly with them and I'm now SAVING right under $75pp. So that $150 difference is going to benefit that company because I plan on tipping them well.

The other excursion we were contemplating has gone up $10pp and I checked their website and it looks like I have to book through the cruise line so now I'm going to back up and start looking for independent tour operations. It's not like either myself nor my husband had our heart set on doing this particular tour (unlike the tour mentioned above) and the extra $20 won't kill us, but I'm going to re-strategize. I may find something even better!

Hubby and I are on the Jewel out of Seattle this May. We are excited to see Alaska. Thank you so much for your review. I'm looking forward to more.

I've been wondering that same question about having 4 people in an aft penthouse (obviously more room than an inside cabin) because we have 2 little ones, ages 2 and 4, that would be able to sleep in a twin sized bed together without a problem. But now that I read about the lifeboat situation, that makes perfect sense. That never even crossed my mind.

Thanks for the great info on these boards.

If the MDR menus change throughout of the week, couldn't you just order off that menu to be delivered by the butler to your room, if you don't want to go to the MDR? Just wondering because we have a suite for the first time this coming May. I was looking forward to eating at Cagney's or Moderno's for breakfast and lunch but I do like a little variety. I wouldn't mind going to the MDR for lunch but it might be fun to have it brought to the room.

Thank you SOOOO much for posting this!! You sound like our kind of people, low maintenance, get-it-yourself kind of people.

My husband and I booked a suite for our 10 year anniversary to Alaska this coming May. It will be our first time in a suite and I have been searching for anything and everything about the perks of a suite. I read about having a concierge and a butler and I thought to myself "what am I possibly going to ask them to do". I had read about the butlers unpacking your suitcases for you and that kinda creeped me out. And then I was worried about asking for all sorts of things and sounding like a little diva princess. Your post has put me at ease a little bit about asking for the things I want. And you've made me excited about the coffee machine in the room!

Thank you again. I'm so glad you had a great experience. I hope we have one similar to yours.

First time posting here but I wanted to weigh in. I booked a cruise several months ago to go to Alaska this coming summer. I locked in the price. Once I saw the beverage package, on board credit, and dining offer on the website, I called my cruise consultant to see if we qualified for them (which I knew we did, we have a suite). If we wanted those "perks", we would have had to cancel our current reservation and rebook for $1,500 MORE for the exact same room. So those perks aren't free and the cruise line will get their money. Hope that helps.