aimathy

The banner just went from available to sold out. :( Ya snooze, ya lose! I guess I shouldn't have waited for answers and just called! Oh well, better luck next time. Thanks for the help everyone!!

Thanks! Any other advice from those that just did this would still be appreciated!

And to clear the confusion....I meant that they could see I was already booked for that same cruise (before, meaning previously). I would be cancelling and rebooking for the same exact week.

Thanks!

I don't mind losing our early seating if it means saving that much money. We didn't have anything else booked yet, like specialty restaurants etc.

sharonlacey - Thank you. I was a little confused with your answer. What did you mean they were at the same time?

clarea - Thanks! It's good to know that you can cancel and rebook, but do you know if it's definite that we can keep the same rooms? Or just chance??

I just checked out the promotion (3rd and 4th person free) and our room on the Adventure in Europe this summer is now well over $1000 cheaper. :( I don't want to lose the room we have, but I'm wondering if it's worth it to get the better rate. If I do call and cancel, and rebook, is that considered a "new" booking? Or will it not because we had previously had reservations for that ship for that week before? (I hope that question makes sense!)

Thanks in advance for your help!

I don't think you can ever really be too strict on a cruise boat. It's a vacation, it's nice to let the kids have freedom, but honestly it really is a floating city. I am not a parent that worries that danger lurks around every corner, but I do realize that it is so, so easy for something to happen on a cruise ship when you let your guard down.

Our 17 year old daughter doesn't really love the teen clubs, so she is with us most of the time. If she does go off alone, we know where she's going and when she will be back and we trust HER implicitly. But we always know where the other one will be, so she's never just roaming alone or out late all alone. Thankfully her personality is laid back and she is fine with this, so it's not a battle!

Our 13 year old son craves freedom, but still doesn't get it. :) He thankfully loves the pre-teen/teen clubs and is very happy to go there for the activities. He is allowed to leave on his own at that age, but we have him come right to where we will be at a certain time and he has to check in. If he's late, then he has to spend the rest of the day with us. He is never late! Haha. Sea days are the toughest because you have all day to fill (on port days we're barely on the ship). We like to give him some freedom (like playing basketball with a group of friends, but not during teen club time) but we check up on him without him knowing. It gives my husband and I a little mission to go on and cold drink in hand, we make sure he is where he says he will be!

Our 5 year old daughter loves the kids clubs and is happy to spend hours there. The only time we let her go out alone is to go to the bar or clubbing. (I'm kidding!!!! :D) She is either at the kids club, or with us.

I think part of the problem is that everyone (parents and kids) lets their guard down a little bit on vacation. Add to that the untrue notion of the boat being a closed in, safe-from-the-outside-world place and it can be a problem. Let the kids know that they are never, ever to go with anyone to the rooms (theirs or yours) and to stick with the plan you have.

Have fun!! We love cruising!

We have tipped them on a few of our cruises because the staff those trips were incredibly involved, friendly and overall awesome. But on the whole, I don't think you need to tip them. They do get paid far more than the wait staff and I think it should only be if you truly felt that they went above and beyond.

I know RCCL's Freedom of the Seas has a little splash area for diapered children. Disney's Magic also had a small area for little ones.

They will not allow it. That being said, just be aware that if THEY decide to combine ages, you will get no choice in the matter either! I am a fan of the age grouping. I don't want my 5 year old with 12 year olds in the club and likewise, my 13 year old would not have fun in a group for 9 year olds etc. We just sailed with NCL during a very slow week for children (there were only 40 on the entire boat) and they combined the ages every day, all day. I was really unhappy with that because it totally changed the experience for my 5 year old and she also wound up learning a few unsavory things the little time she was in there! :rolleyes: So, be prepared for either...but most likely, you will be there at a busy time and they won't make exceptions to the rules for age.

aquahound - I think that was well said.

newmexiconita- It's probably just easier to read my review because I included some photos as well. And I don't really mean for this to just be a rant against NCL. There will always be good and bad on any cruise line!

We have sailed NCL, Royal Caribbean, Disney, Carnival and Celebrity. We often have inside rooms just for the sake of saving money and we're hardly ever in the room. This particular cruise it was just me and my youngest daughter (5). My older two children and husband were home, poor things! :) Our room on NCL was not great. The short version is that we had stained sheets 3 or more nights, broken off hooks in the room, dirt crusting the tables in the room, broken wood and trim, chipped shower base, hairs in corners of shower and sink from previous cruisers, stained toilet seat etc. I included some pictures in my review. Did it make the cruise unbearable? No. Did I scream and yell? No. But it did make me realize that they do not put much care into the lowly inside cabin rooms, and many of the other cruise lines we have sailed had far nicer rooms for the same category. Many people will say "we've had nothing but great rooms"....and I believe that's probably true....but either they're higher levels or I just had bad luck and got a cruddy room. Either way, that was my experience with that room on our week away...and it didn't impress me!

I'm sure the kids clubs are usually great too. I also put more about this in my longer review. But the week we sailed, there were only 40 kids TOTAL on board. There were only 7 kids in my daughter's age group and that was included her and her younger cousin. We can't help that. Neither can NCL. But we expected to have just as good an experience with the kids club, regardless of the number of kids, and we didn't. They often told us with a sigh that there were no kids their age in the kids club, but wouldn't tonight be more fun to come back? (As in, please don't leave them here now.) This happened on both sea days during the day. If they did stay, we learned after the first day that they had the 3 and 5 year old play with the 11 and 12 year olds, and I'm not crazy about that. She learned a few new words that day. :( I know they can't control the number of kids...but as a teacher, I know that you can do great things with 30 kids and you can do great things with 1 kid. You need to be flexible. My daughter and niece love arts and crafts, are good listeners, love games and puzzles etc. It wouldn't have taken much more than a smile and some quiet activities to keep them happy, but instead they just tried to turn them away as often as possible. (Also, on Carnival and RCCL, I couldn't keep my daughter out of the kids clubs. She LOVES them. So she was definitely enthusiastic about them in general.)

Again, I hope my week was a fluke. But sadly it was OUR vacation week and there were things we didn't love.

What I do love about CC is that people can share information to get an idea of what to expect. What "ruins" one person's vacation (which can often be silly, haha) will not bother another person. I hope the OP has a great time on the Dawn!!

I mentioned this briefly in my other post, but I just wanted to reiterate that you need to just read what people loved or hated and then compare it to what your needs will most likely be.

For example, My Time Dining is touted as a restaurant-like experience where you can just walk in when you're in the mood. I thought that sounded great compared to being set at a certain time and not having flexibility with your evening. But here's the catch....we had two little ones with us (3 and 5). Routine in most families would dictate that most little children eat dinner after 5:30 and before 7:30. No matter what time we showed up during that two hour span, we waited over an hour or an hour and a half....with hungry 3 and 5 year olds! Not fun for anyone. :) Now yes, if you're a couple or have older kids, you can leisure stroll around with your free drink coupon and it isn't the end of the world. But every single night we had to wait for that long. Nobody really mentions that alot, because for most people it doesn't affect them much. If you're a family with children, this can make or break most nights for you. Then, by the time we waited we usually missed the early show AND most of the late show, so that wasn't even fun for us adults. So, if you know what is important to you and with whom you're cruising, it helps in your decision.

Another example would be the staterooms. We were in a lowly two person inside cabin...the lowest of the low. :) My parents graciously paid for our trip, so I can't complain much....but the cabin was not nice compared to the other cruise lines we've sailed. (And we are usually in inside cabins just to save money for excursions!) Now if you're in a suite, or a higher up cabin...the rooms looks AMAZING. Of course I'd have no complaints! I saw those rooms from the hallway!! :D But our rinky dink inside room? We had dirty sheets at least twice, dirty caked on the counter tops, broken wood, scraped shower base etc, etc. So for us, it wasn't a plus for NCL.

If you don't sail with children...you won't care what they say about the kids clubs. If you DO sail with kids...what they say can make or break your trip!! I will say though that we sailed during a week that had only 40 kids TOTAL. So it was very different than a sailing with 600 kids....for better and worse. Again, your week will differ from others and some of the good will happen for you and some of the bad will happen for you. Just sort out what is important.

I guess I'm just pointing out that you can't just look at a percentage rating for happiness or read a rant or rave about one specific thing. Read lots of reviews and think about how it will affect you and your traveling partners. Overall, it was still a decent ship and we have very happy memories of our cruise...but what did go wrong made us realize that there are other cruise lines we prefer.

I will have to respectfully disagree here. We just sailed the Dawn in January, and didn't love it. I think if you look up my posts, you will see my review. Many people will post "MY experience was great. Some people complain about anything!" or "Some people are just complainers. You will love it!". Well, promising someone will love it, just because YOU did, is about as silly as the complainers that nit-pick and hyper-criticize. The bottom line is that every person will experience the same boat and the same cruise differently. Hopefully, it will be for the better, but if it's not, is it fair to brand them as a complainer for no reason? Perhaps your experience was good, and theirs was bad, but the beauty of these forums is for everyone to get an idea of overall opinions.

That being said, I poured over the Dawn reviews for months before our cruise. We wanted to sail out of a different port and hit different stops along the way, so we went with the Dawn. I knew there were mixed opinions, but as I said before, everyone will see things different. Are the people who complain that there weren't enough mushrooms in their meal and it RUINED everything, silly? Yes. :) I knew to take things with a grain of salt and not let it sway me. However, after having sailed the Dawn, I can say that some of what I read was true, and that is why there is a mixed opinon about it.

I think my review is very, very fair (it's posted as a post on the Norwegian board, not on the actual review part) and balanced. There were definitely good parts to the cruise. We loved the ports and together time. The kids pool was awesome. The food in the MDR was on par if not a smidge better than Royal Caribbean (and way better than Carnival).

However, there were things about the cruise that would make me not pick NCL again. We waited over an hour every single night for the dining room (some nights more than an hour and a half!). Our room wasn't that clean and it was in disrepair (a lowly inside cabin). Their customer service was awful after they ruined our load of clothing in their laundry service. The week we were there, the kids club leaders were very unenthusiastic and didn't make an effort to have the kids stay because there were so few kids on board.

Reading our review will go into more detail and hopefully show you that this isn't all unwarranted complaining. These were things that actually happened, and affected our view of the trip, and our decision to not sail with them again in the future.

Should you believe ALL the bad reviews? No. Should you believe all the rave reviews? No. You should think about your situation and what is important to you as a family for your cruise, and then make your best decision. I read plenty of bad reviews, and still decided to side with the positive ones and book the trip.

Either way, it was a cruise, it was lovely and we enjoyed ourselves overall. If you're already booked, just have a fair idea of what to expect and you will be fine. Have fun!

I'm happy to hear that you are pleased with the end result and you'll be in the Mediterranean soon. Reading this string of posts was like reading a novella! I couldn't wait to find out what happened! :)

I had a problem with NCL on my first and last cruise with them, and even though mine was tiny in comparison to your issue, the way they seem to handle problems is very "too bad, so sad". Their customer service is awful and I won't be sailing with them again. Reading your post was a big reminder of how powerless the little guy can be when faced with big problems. They should realize how many "little guys" they're losing by handling problems so poorly.

I hope you enjoy your cruise!!! :)

Thanks everyone! We will be on the cruise from July 20 - Aug 3, in the Mediterranean. So overall, it should be quite hot in most locations (Rome, Genoa, Florence, Malaga, Lisbon, Nice and Gibraltar). I appreciate the advice. I think I'll definitely get backpacks for my two older ones (DD- 18 and DS - 14)...I'm sure they will use them in the future as well. I'm still on the fence for my husband and myself...but the advice is helping! Thank you!

Thanks for all the advice, so far, everyone! I appreciate it and love the traveling light tips. :) I guess now I just have to decide if we should do suitcases or hiking backpacks. Hmmm.....

Thanks again!

Thank you SO much for all of your replies. They were really, really helpful! I guess now I'm still just deciding between suitcases or hiking backpacks for us. Hmm....

Thanks! Your advice is definitely helpful so far! I should add that we also have two cabins on the Adventure and the cruise is a 14 night cruise. Gulp. We will have to do laundry on the ship as well, but I think packing versatile items will be key. It seems to be a daunting task right now!

There will be five of us (two 40-somethings, 18, 14 and 6) sailing the Adventure next summer in the Mediterranean. I'm not sure what to do about luggage for us. We will be spending close to a week in Paris the week before the cruise (we will have access to a washer and dryer) and then going to England to board the Adventure. There will be a lot of airport shuffling, an overnight trip to Disneyland Paris, the high speed train, taxis etc involved in our journey. I'm imagining that 5 suitcases and 5 personal bags etc will be clumsy and awkward to manage. I thought about possibly doing hiking backpacks for each of us, so we can all carry our own things, but have our hands free. Does anyone have any suggestions for the best way to plan this? I don't want to go over the 50 lb limit for our luggage and I need to have a good way to travel without too much craziness. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance for your help!

There will be five of us (two 40-somethings, 18, 14 and 6) sailing the Adventure next summer in the Mediterranean. I'm not sure what to do about luggage for us. We will be spending close to a week in Paris the week before the cruise (we will have access to a washer and dryer) and then going to England to board the Adventure. There will be a lot of airport shuffling, an overnight trip to Disneyland Paris, the high speed train, taxis etc involved in our journey. I'm imagining that 5 suitcases and 5 personal bags etc will be clumsy and awkward to manage. I thought about possibly doing hiking backpacks for each of us, so we can all carry our own things, but have our hands free. Does anyone have any suggestions for the best way to plan this? I don't want to go over the 50 lb limit for our luggage and I need to have a good way to travel without too much craziness. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance for your help! (PS I'll post this on the family board as well.)

KCinBama- I'm so glad that you got them and were able to post them! I'm sure it will help some people to do their planning. Thanks again! :)

Thank you!!

campolady- I could kiss you! That information is exactly what I was looking for and so, so appreciated! My 6 year old is a girl, but she is adventurous and well-mannered, so I know she'd like just about anything....however, your mentioning July and the heat and the steps at Alhambra makes me realize that that could turn out to be a not-so-fun choice for us all. :) Thank you for the other suggestions as well. Now I have some more leads to research!

Thank you to the other posters as well. I appreciate the input. Splitting up may not be a bad idea, but I guess we'll see what we come up with for the day and give the older two a choice.

I appreciate the help! Any other suggestions are welcome too. Thanks!

We will be in Malaga for a day in July. Our kids will be 18, 14 and 6. I'm not very worried about the older two. They will do well doing anything and are well seasoned travelers. I'm mostly worried about my 6 year old.

I know many people go to Granada/Alhambra for the day, but I'm not sure how the 4 hours of driving will be. Has anyone done this trip with younger children before and can give advice?

Does anyone have recommendations for us? Will the town of Malaga itself have enough for the day? Are we completely missing out on something if we don't travel away for the day? We thought about even a tapas tour or something like that (we all like to eat!) but I didn't know if there were any that accepted children that young.

Thanks for any help you can provide! :)

Thanks for all the comments so far. To clarify a few things with NCL, I think one problem is that there was no way to make reservations at all for a group under 10 people. There were 7 of us, and we could not make advanced reservations for either of the main dining rooms. They only had the beeper system and it was a mess. We were not picky about where we sat at all. This wasn't a matter of being overly critical, it was just honestly a big old mess.

One possible thing we thought of, is that the cruise was skewed very, very heavily towards the older crowd. Maybe NCL banks on people paying more money to go to their specialty restaurants, which thins out the crowds in the MDR's? Maybe that crowd didn't want to pay extra, since the specialty restaurants were empty every single night. Other than that, we have no idea why it would have been this bad on this sailing.

We had a 3 and 5 year old with us and the waits were extreme. If we were alone as adults and could lounge and walk around easily, maybe it wouldn't have been *as* bad, but it really was awful. I'm sure it's not always like that, on every sailing, because if it were, nobody would ever sail NCL!! It bothered me that the hostesses said "it's like this every time on the first two nights" because there's no reason for that. If they know there's a problem, then fix it. And the fact that it wound up being our entire trip was just the icing on the cake. There were so many upset people and it was utter chaos by the restaurant entrances because of waiting people and people on line to get beepers.

I think that if we can make reservations on Royal Caribbean in the morning for a set time, that that may work out. Some of the days we don't even return to the boat until after 6 and most nights, it would be a huge rush to get there in time. We have a 5 year old with us this summer, and the late set seating would be too late overall. We'll see! Thanks for the input!

We were on the Dawn, out of Tampa. I read CC religiously and had not heard of crazy wait times on any of the NCL ships, but for some reason, our week was terrible. At first they said "oh it's only like this the first two nights" (which was already two nights more than we wanted to wait that long!) but it turned out to be the entire week. I think our shortest wait was 50 minutes and the other nights it was over an hour. Our longest wait was over an hour and a half!!