mjkacmom

Let me tell you it is a crap shoot with NCL and this program. You ask them a question prior to booking and get answers, book and once on board it is a whole different story. When we complained the staff had a Who Cares attitude and that made things worse. We found out later some kids were grandfathered in as the ages had changed from the time we booked our trip and actually went on our cruise. We had no planned on adult time but made the best of our cruise. When we arrived home and contacted NCL our complaints were ignored until I posted on Facebook and only then did they ask on Facebook for us to contact them with our contact info. When they did contact us they quoted the program started at age 2 which was incorrect and the reason we were complaining about in thefirst place as our 2 year old had been refused entry to the childs program due to age. To add insult to injury the letter went on to say NCL was not responsible for any ads in brochures of Internet. So then I understood why on board the help had a WHO CARES attitude. So NCL, I guess takes your money and buyer beware!

Sorry you were surprised - NCL started the transition more than a year ahead of time. I don't think 2 year olds have been allowed in the club since at least January, and there were many, many months of heads-up on CC. I assume you booked your cruise well in advance.

My family was very excited to take the Atlantis beach day excursion. We have never been to the Atlantis and wanted to see it before we booked an expensive week there. First off the price is ridiculous. They brought us like cattle into the resort and to a beach that was just hideous. The water was 10 feet from us and the chairs were on a hill. You couldn't even sit on the chairs because you were on a slope. The water at this point was so rough due to the breaking rocks that it was dangerous to swim. My husband went in and was immediately knocked down. We left and went on the prowl to see what the resort was about. Beautiful fish in the tanks. Thats the nicest thing I can say. People were everywhere. If I had paid to stay there for one week and had to put up with the thousands of people that they bring in everyday I would be so angry. I will never go back to the Atlantis and was extremely disappointed by this excursion. I felt ripped off and will be writing them a letter.

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Are you going to complain that there were too many people there during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year? Or that the water was too rough? We did the water park during our cruise in the middle of November, and it was great. However, there is no way I'm booking an excursion like Atlantis or Disney during peak times.

We had a balcony, and with the couch open, and the bunk, it really was a sea of beds - picture a small tent with air mattresses. I've seen pictures posted here.

So I will rephrase. Did your kids ride on your laps, or did they sit unrestrained in the regular bus seats, or what? I'm wondering, because you have been quite critical of the OP for not bringing a car seat and potentially letting some driver they don't know drive them on unfamiliar roads with an unrestrained child. But it appears from your posts that you have done the same with your own children.

 

So if you could clarify, I would appreciate it, since my questions were perfectly clear. If you don't want to answer, that's fine too, of course.

People who use car seats in every situation DO feel comfortable taking full size buses without them. Actually, many people who do not feel comfortable using cabs without car seats in cities where it is legal to do so (NYC, Chicago) will instead take buses or subways, which are designed in such a way as to prevent injury in a crash without seat belts.

Personally, I have, a handful of times, put a younger child in a city cab without a car seat. Others might choose to take the bus instead.

It's for may sailings only.

http://www.ncl.com/excursions/search?Ntt=atlantis

 

It's low/off season. They are trying to fill the space.. good deal if your interested.

Wow, I just checked our November cruise, and it's $119 for adults, $79 for kids! We did atlantis with only 3 of our kids the last time through comfort suites, but I think this is actually cheaper. Decisions, decisions....

If you need shade, I encourage you to book clam shells soon after you board ($30). You will get a priority tender ticket, and have a shady spot. I've heard only some are ventilated, so look for them.

We've never done vests at the beach (live an hour away). We have a pool, so our kids learned to swim early on (mandatory year-round swim lessons, whether or not they wanted them), but I would say to keep your 3 year old right by your side.

What is the reccomendation for comfort suites vs the Ship excursion? Any thoughts of one over the other?

Comfort Suites can save money, provided you book well in advance, over a non-peak time, and have 4 people in the room. However, it looks like you are going over a holiday week. CS will probably be very expensive (or sold out), and I would assume Atlantis will not sell day passes. I think your best bet is the ship's excursion.

As for a PP, yes, a 6 year old will need a wristband. Therefore, someone in your party would need to book the excursion, hope they're selling day passes at Atlantis, or book through Majestic Tours.

Thank you for the pictures! The hotel looks really nice. But, wow, I thought drinks on the ship were expensive. :)

Lol - we're from the NYC area, and those prices seem pretty reasonable (a glass of wine is $12 here). The prices on the ship seem really inexpensive to us!

How about moving down an age group instead of up on NCL? My just turned 13 year old wants to be with his 11 year old brother and i am not thrilled with him hanging out with 17 year olds!

Not on NCL - I bet the parents of a 9 year old don't want a teen in that club.

As for kids under 3 in the water areas-- its a health hazzard for non potty trained kids to be swimming.

 

I under stand that most kids are potty trained before 3 but for the chosen few that are not-- the rest will pay for it. SOrry

It's called Splash Academy, but has nothing to do with the pools. The clubs don't take the kids swimming, and the pool rules have never changed - no diapered children in ANY pools on the ship, regardless of age.

I know I'd be upset if I had a 2 year old I planned on dropping off for a bit, but this change has been noted for about a year now, and they took a long time to implement it.

We will be in Nassau in May. We are going to the Sheraton for a day. I called their 800 number and you can just go and pay $ 25.00. Anyone else done this?

Yes, and liked it a bit better than the Hilton. You will need to take a cab or the jitney bus. Bigger beach and cooler pools, nicer views.

NCL is very strict about age groups (I'm pretty sure it's an insurance issue). I've heard they will move kids on their birthday, up to another group, but not before.

The OP started a thread about tweens but said one of her children was 13.

 

Of course kids have a certain amount of freedom on a cruise. My son choses at this age to be in the youth program or with me so it isn't an issue at this point. I think that the kids that are involved in the youth program are having the most fun there anyway- so the running around the ship unsupervised really hasn't been an issue for me.

Okay, I think you just made a mistake, including teens in what you think is appropriate for tweens. Now, I would definitely give my dd11 more freedom at this age than her younger brother, even when he's 11. I have found that girls tend to be more mature than boys, and felt comfortable giving dd9 and dd11 freedom at the hotel at our last dance comp (everyone there was a part of the competition - thousands). Ds9 - nope.

Having two teens, I know what most kids this age are capable of, and what kind of freedom they are used to. Again, there are limited organized activities in the teen club - it mostly facilitates getting the teens together. And honestly, none of my kids liked the tween clubs on any cruise - ds14 was 12 on our last cruise, and he lasted 10 minutes, and then found friends by the pool table or sports deck.

I've also been fortunate that, since I have 5 kids very close in age (5 kids in 6 years), they've almost always had a built in buddy to explore with.

I thought this thread was about pre-teens. This age is known for pushing the envelope. That's just how they are. Don't be so naive and think that some contract is going to do anything.

 

My son can sign himself in and out of the youth program but we have times and places to meet up and he isn't just running wild on the ship. It isn't that I'm afraid for him. That isn't the point. There are great activities offered to the kids and my son does know not to push all the buttons in the elevators or run in the halls but I can assure you there were unsupervised kids who were doing these things. I kept thinking on my last cruise- where are the parents? My son would tell me how "bad" some of the kids were in the youth program too. He refused to even talk to one kid he saw outside of the youth program because he was so obnoxious.

I believe I quoted a PP who stated that teens 13+ needed to be either with parents, or supervised in the kids club (and a lot of the time, in the teens club, you will find one staff member, and no teens - they just use it to get together). As a parent of two teens, who spend evenings going out to eat, at the movies, at the mall, skating, etc., without adult supervision, who have been going on overnight school sponsored trips with no chaporones in the hotel rooms, or in amusement parks, I found it strange that someone would feel that high school students needed constant adult supervision.

I have 9 and 11 year olds also, who don't have the same freedom as their teen siblings.

Personally while the kids should have a certain amount of freedom- if my son (age 11) isn't in the youth program, he has to be with me.

 

Kids 13 and older are risk takers and I wouldn't just let them run wild. They should be in a supervised program or with the adults.

 

I don't think you need that many rules and quite frankly rules are made to be broken. Both my sons are great kids but I know that when they are with other kids and there are no adults around they do things that they might not ordinarily do.

 

Parents need to be with them at night or they need to be in the youth program.

And then when you drop them off at college, ask for a spot on the floor to sleep!

Imagine, teens being somewhere without a parent watching them. Maybe I should feel guilty at letting ds14 explore Chicago by himself rather than sitting through his sisters' dance competion. So far, my teens have never been in any trouble, and are always home by curfew. I know they will make mistakes - that's how they learn. I just hope they are not big ones! And I hope they happen when they're still leaving under our roof. Only two more years before the first of many flies the coop.

Disney has gratuities which turn out to be around $12 a day per person. NCL's is $12 a day per person.

 

Disney has 10 ports of call in the Caribbean compared to NCL's 27. So your options are limited for new places to visit.

 

Disney has set dining and no specialty restaurants where NCL has freestyle and 9 specialty restaurants.

 

Disney has no casino where NCL has a casino.

 

Those are just a few comparisons I have on an excel sheet I maintain documenting all my cruise information.

 

I think you should ask what there is for the adults to do while the kids are at their respective "club"

To be fair, DCL has Palo, which really beats all of NCL's specialty restaurants. That said, my oldest were 9 and 11 when we did DCL, and hated the kids club. I didn't like the set dining time (rushing to get ready after getting back on the ship at ports), and found NCL's buffet to be better. DCL does beat NCL in some areas, but not nearly enough to justify the cost.

I've heard Sunday's are worse than Saturdays. Our first NCL cruise, we were at home by 9:30 am. Our second (on a Sunday), we cleared customs at 10:45 (and raced to get dd to her Confirmation by 11:30). It all depends.

On our first NCL cruise, we had to bring our lifejackets (and then put them on) to our lifeboat. For our second, no need for lifejackets, and we met in the Blue Lagoon. At the time, I was thankful, but now I'm thinking the old way might be better.

Thanks I will check it out. He's starting to talk more in the last couple of days. So will see. He'll be two in three weeks. Thanks again!

No problem - either they tell you he's on track, or you will get ST (which kids LOVE - my biggest problem was that ds has a twin sister, and she was NOT happy when the ST came to the house with her giant bag of toys, and she couldn't participate).

mjkacmom, We do live in NJ and I don't think they do that any more. People have told me stories like yours, that they got help, but my DD,6yrs, has a speech problem and no one in school would help us at first because her speech has to affect her learning. She got help because when she was in kindergarden, she could not read or say letter sounds. Any hoo, I don't think the state would help, but my dr. said she is giving him one more month. If he dosen't talk more then he is going for testing. He does say me-me(mommy) , da-da and bye. And he babbles all the time. So will see. As for PT I stink at it! My first DS wasn't PT till 4 1/2!!! So I need help with boys.

I am 110% sure they will evaluate your ds, and provide services, if necessary. It's actually a federal law under IDEA (I'm also certified in special education). Look up your county's health department, and ask for early intervention. By law, they have to evaluate your ds within 30 days. A team will come out to your home. Pediatricians are speech therapists worst nightmares, because they tend to wait until 3, when services aren't as good, and it's more of a struggle to overcome these issues.

As for PTing, I've found that it's actually easier before 3 than after (I trained my first 2 with the traditional underwear/pullup method when they were 3, and my other 3 kids at 2 1/2, and they were much faster).

Thanks for the advice! My DD got potty trained on our second cruise. She was almost 3 and I told her she couldn't go in the pool unless she went potty on the toilet and she did. She didn't have one accident that week , but when she got home it was a different story. But my DS who is 23 mos. doesn't even really talk yet so I hope he understands me since he can't say ' I have to go pee!' I will try in a couple of months when he starts talking more.

OT, but does your ds receive ST services? I see you are in NJ. When my youngest ds wasn't really taking at 18 months, I contacted EI through my health department, and within 30 days, had a team come out to evaluate him (free), and he got an hour of speech therapy at our home every week, until the age of 3 (when he aged out of EI, and didn't qualify for the 3 - 5 program).

Hey Guys, First of all how did you guys potty train your kids so early? I need help. My son is gonna be 29 mos. when we go on the Oasis. He's 23 mos now. Any Advice??

I PT'd most of my kids (I have 5) at 2 1/2. Nakey butt with potty in room, and if he's ready, he'll be 100% in a day or so. Then, pants without underwear, and then slowly transition to (loose) underwear. Pullups for naps and night time. Poop training tends to come later than pee training, so if he asks for a diaper to poop, put one on. Withholding leads to permanant bowel damage.

All of my kids used regular sizes toilets before the age of 3 - just have them lean forward.

I had 5 children in under 7 years, and I've left them all, starting as babies, with my mom. Sometimes all, sometimes the youngest, sometimes a couple, depending upon the circumstances. My mom lives by me, but also flies 800 miles to my sister's house at least once a year, to stay with her kids so she can have an adult vacation with her DH. My mom loves it, the kids love it, and we love it. When they were really little, it always surprised me at their reaction when we got back - it was like we left them and went out to dinner!

I agree. The OP misses the point that back in Europe, where tips are not customary, the "gratuity" is built into the base price of the item. It is going to be paid either way.

 

Of course, the drinks on a ship are way overpriced, especially considering the duty-free nature of the ingredients, but that is a separate issue.

And ship here realize that since people from other countries might not realize that most people throw a buck down on the bar after received their drinks, it's a good idea just to have it covered in the price of the drinks.

As for the drinks being overpriced, I live in the NYC city area, and was pleasantly suprised. You can't get a martini for under $10 here, and a glass of wine is about $8 in bars and restaurants. I found the coffee bar to be considerably cheaper than coffee bars here as well.

We were on the Jewel in Oct. and they only hAd the pot that heated hot water and had packets of Instant Coffee to use..I asked if they had a regular Mr. Coffee Pot like we had lAst year on the Gem but they never brought me one..

Same here - balcony on Jewel, and just a hot pot. :confused: