mjkacmom

On all the cruises I have been on I can't recall one that the spa was opened for use on embarkation day. The staff is pretty busy on this day giving tours, booking services, etc. Don't think you would get booted off the loungers, but there is so much noise and traffic in the spa on embarkation day I don't think it would be a very fun atmosphere for sailaway.

The Breakaway Spa was in full swing during sailaway! Our sailaway was very crowded due to a school break, and I slipped away from my family to sign up DH and I. I was very envious of all of the patrons on the heated loungers. They must have signed up before muster, and run right to the Spa. I was very jealous.

We were there on a holiday week, and never saw more than 5 or 6 in the pool at once - had it to myself many times! They only sell a finite number of passes - we lived it! We never even went in the deck pools. Get the pass!

Nakey butt is the quickest method.

Well most babies I have come into contact with have still been using bottles at a year old, including my own two and my three grandchildren - just because they were still using bottles at that age does not mean they were not being taught to cup feed as well. Bottles with teats give comfort to a baby. I personally would not trust any paediatrician who told me not to sterilise my babies' bottles - you sterilise to make sure old, sour milk is cleaned from the bottles and teats, either by boiling or by using sterilising liquid.

Maybe things aren't as sanitary in the UK than in the US, but as a mom of five, we are told, unless we happen to be visiting a 3rd world country, that soap and water is fine (and to get the babies off the bottles at one year of age, although extended breastfeeding past this point is encouraged). One year olds are toddlers, not babies.

I don't know why milk would still be left in a bottle after cleaning? :confused:

I think I do them a disservice by not protecting when I can. My kids will never roam around anywhere by themselves, not in this day and age. I'm a police officer so I live in a different world than most people and I'm more aware of crime than most people. If something were to happen to your kids on a cruise how would they contact you? How could you help them not knowing where they are? Are you aware of the criminals that are on cruise ships? I'm not bashing your parenting, just having a civil conversation. I respect your opinion, but everybody raises their kids differently, if I'm doing a disservice by protecting my kids then so be it.

No disrespect, but it is almost impossible to determine how you are going to parent your teens, when they are still very little - your teens are complete strangers to you, at this point. This day and age is statistically safer than when we were kids. I'm aware of crime - I live very close to major cities. The thing is, if my kids don't learn street smarts, how to trust their instincts to stay safe, they are dead out of the water when they leave home for good. Next year, my beautiful blonde 17 year old daughter will be walking alone on a college campus. She will probably encounter some seedy situations, and I hope to God she has learned enough to handle them on her own.

This is CRUISE critic not SCHOOL district critic or LIFE critic. No need to put up stats on anything else other than cruises.

I think her point is that cruises poise much less danger to children than everyday life. Bad things happen everywhere, but there really is no need to be more cautious on a cruise ship.

This is partly why I am glad that I at least gave the UBP a try. I was also worried that I would penny-pinch and not try drinks that I wanted to. I think next time, even without the UBP, I'll be more likely to try the drinks I want to since I enjoyed the variety of drinks that I got to try this time. Plus, it'll be even better because I'll be able to try the many cocktails above $8.50 without wasting my UBP purchase.

We came out ahead with the UBP. I know I wouldn't have drank nearly what I did with the UBP, because I'm cheap. Would I have had a glass of wine with lunch, a cocktail in the theater, a drink of the day at the pool without it? No way. I'm mostly a wine drinker, and loved the wine machines (usually $9.50 per pour). We also didn't visit the ice bar, or participate in any of the tastings we usually do, or bring wine onboard and pay corkage. We got more exercise (or at least DH did) not having a bottle of wine, or buckets of beer, in the cabin!

I did not find myself hungover, because the extra drinks were during the day, when, in the past, I'd just drink the free ones at the buffet.

I think you are fine in NJ. It's a quick bus trip from Secaucus to Port Authority, and even if you stay in NY, you will most likely take a cab to the port, too. Hotels tend to be less expensive in NJ. It really depends on your budget - LaGuardia isn't in Manhattan.

We also missed GSC last month, but it there was plenty to do (and eat) onboard. Breakaway seems to miss GSC often.

Seems like they miss it more often than not - we had booked a large cabana soon after they were built, and for only $249! Bummed we missed it.

Ah. Did not know that. Good to know.

Wrong post.

We were going to try to purchase passes on our November cruise on the Breakaway, but after reading how hard it is to purchase them (arriving very early at the port to be in the first group let onboard, and practically running to guest services), we decided to just to spa passes, and not start our vacation with stress!

My kids are young and one is in preschool and the other isn't old enough for school. You keep your kids safe by watching them while they're on cruise lines, home or wherever. When I said i will keep my kids safe I meant it. That's the job I signed up for. Even when they get 18 and married, I will still do everything in my power to keep them safe.

You signed on to keep them safe, but also to prepare them for the world. You only get about 18 years, and they go by very quickly. Our job as parents is not to raise children, but to raise adults. You do your children a disservice if you don't allow them more independence. Sending a timid, nervous, unprepared kid off to college is not doing him or her any favors.

I have three teens. My 15 and 17 year olds were fine on the ship without constant adult supervision. I was the mean mom, and made them come back to the cabin at 1 am - most other teens were still out. At home, they can go to the beach with friends, take the train into NYC, go out to eat, shop, movies, sporting events - dd17 even took the bus to Boston, alone, to visit her boyfriend (she has also flown alone many times). Next year, she will be away at college.

And the thought of any of my kids being 18 and married?! That would be one of my worst nightmares!

They are best when served fresh - on a buffet, they are sitting out for a while.

Do the math - a spa pass is $199.

If you are not in any hurry, leave your luggage out, and just pick a disembarking time. We took our luggage off once when we were in a hurry, and there was a huge delay. We find it might easier to let them deal with the luggage, and then grab a porter when we gather it up at the pier (saves a lot of time at customs - worth the tip).

It's recommended that baby bottles are sterilised until baby is 12 months old. Just take along a plastic tub that will fit a couple of bottles and use sterilising tablets with cold water.

Not here! When my oldest was about a month old, I asked the pediatrician when I could stop boiling the bottles. She laughed and said there is never a need to sterilize - babies need clean, not sterile. Think about it - babies put things in their mouths all of the time that aren't sterile. And babies over a year old should not be using bottles anyway.

It's a matter of their liability insurance. They won't make an exception. EM

I know on NCL, they absolutely won't make any exceptions - I assume it's a liability issue. And obviously, if a toddler isn't behaving at dinner, and annoying other guests, that child should be removed from the dining room (and this is coming from a mom of many).

I left my oldest when she was just one (grandparents live in town), and left the other four kids when they were babies, as well (five kids in six years - needed a break!). Since then, DH and I have gone away many times without them, and they've gone away without us, on school trips, vacations with friends, etc. (the oldest is 17, and will be away at college next year anyway). Heck, dd17 was away three weeks over the summer on vacations with friends and dd12 at least two weeks. I'm jealous!

It's healthy!

NCL Breakaway! Our favorite so far (and tons to do - my kids range in age from 10 - 17, and they loved it).

We love NCL, but they changed their kids club program, and now it's 3 and up. I do think they have an organzied play time for the under 3's, with the parents. None of the ships have any water play for the diapered set - however, half of my kids were potty trained by 2 1/2 (and all by 3).

I do find that freestyle dining works really, really well with kids of all ages.

The Ultimate Beverage Package is $49/day plus gratuity - so it is $56.35/day per person. All adults in the room must purchase it. If there are minors in the room, they must purchase the soda package. Bottled water is not included with the soda.

 

I just purchased the UBP on Breakaway and drank Grey Goose without issue. It's cocktails under $8.50, wine under $10 and bottled beer under $5.50 and draft beer under $5.95. I drank some drink of the days and some frozen drinks and they're covered as well, you just don't get the souvenir glass. I drank GG Orange with diet sierra mist and that was covered.

 

Hope that helps.

Yep, every cocktail I had with GG was covered (and I drank quite a lot of them!). I'm usually a wine drinker, but had so much fun trying new drinks (including every drink of the day).

So, he got to the ship too early and had to wait (you would think he learned from a previous cruise he took), his fridge leaked, he missed the lifejacket demonstration at the muster drill (it's only about 15 seconds, easy to miss), room service took an hour (that's how long I expect it to take...), people put towels on chairs (like every single cruise ship and resort), spoons too big at breakfast, not enough hot water (never experienced that on a cruise or at a hotel - oh wait, yes, I have)... The folks on the Titanic had it better!

FYI - LOOSE rhymes with MOOSE

LOSE rhymes with CRUISE

If I was doing Cable Beach I would do a hotel package. The public beach has no facilities and may not be the safest option.

To see some of the city walk to Junkanoo Beach, swimming is good here for young ones.On the way back you can walk to the Pirate Museum. Its a very nice safe and clean walk back to the ship.

Junkanoo is the public beach on Cable beach, and has facilities (and I believe it's safe - across the street from a police station). Cabbage beach has no facilities, and rough water.

You can't pre-book spa treatments. You really don't need to pre-book specialty restaurants, either. It's really easy to burn through $450 OBC!

Since it's the busiest travel week of the year, you might not be able to buy day passes anyway.