mdjohn5

Having cruised both before kids and with kids, in my experience, its a whole different game. You are not going to be able to do everything you did pre kids, so it's best to adjust your expectations. It is still fun, just different. It can be a little disappointing when you realize you cannot do everything you did without kids, but on the flip side you get to experience the cruise through their eyes instead of your own. Car seats are one of the topics that gets two passionate online crowds fighting. On one side you have the "its a vacation, I am not lugging car seats everywhere" people. On the other you have "the Laws of Physics work the same everywhere and I would never leave the house without one" people. Airlines usually let you check a car/booster seat for free so its definitely doable. We lugged car seats multiple times, but honestly we found we didn't use them as much as we expected. We did transfers in big busses to/from the airport and mostly stayed near the ship on port days. A lot of the stops like Turks, Amber Cove, Tiano Bay, etc have shopping and pools right where you dock. Nothing fancy but lets you stretch your legs and swim in a real pool....not one rocking around on the ocean. Of course the private islands do not have cars at all. To me it really depends on how active you plan to be in ports. You can find normal taxis with seatbelts in most places but it might take a few attempts. In most ports we were able to find plenty to do right off the ship and/or on the ship that we didn't feel like we needed to adventure out a lot with the kids in tow. I would recommend a stroller of some sort. Kids get tired and its nice to have the option to ride......plus a stroller can help you get into the "family line" at the TSA checkpoint at the airport. We bought a cheep umbrella stroller at a garage sale for $5 with the stated purpose that we would just throw it away if it ever became a burden or beat up.....that thing lasted forever. Bigger strollers are better for hauling all the gear you need, but they can be harder to navigate in crowds and they can take up a lot of space in a small cabin. You have to decide which is more important. My one tip would be to NOT be afraid of the main dining rooms. Be courteous to the people around you and be ready to get up and take a walk with the kiddo to settle them down if they get unruly, but it is a lot easier to have people bring you food while you entertain the kiddos than trying to juggle the buffet.

I will be on the Escape next month in a Haven room. First time on NCL and first cruise post pandemic. Looking forward to getting back onto the sea, My daughter (14) has developed a love for sushi and wants to make sure she get some when we are on the ship. What are the sushi options in/out of the Haven. I assume there are rules for raw fish that probably do not apply to other food items so I am interested in hearing any advice people have for making that happen. Is it an upgrade restaurant only type item or are there Haven options for making it happen? Thanks!

I see what you did there..... 🙂

As a general rule if we have extra time pre cruise we like to rent a car just to have the flexibility of restaurants, stores, etc. It just depends on how much time you have and if there is anything else you want to do pre cruise that a car makes it easier to get to. One tip that has worked well for us over the years when we rent a car pre cruise: The morning we board, I usually take all of the checked luggage over to the ship first and drop it off with the porters and then do the car drop at the rental facility. Sometimes I do this alone (if the hotel is close), sometimes we do it all together. Not having all the luggage with you when you hop onto the car rental shuttle back to the ship is easier and sometimes they have room for more people but not more luggage so you can sometimes sneak onto a quicker shuttle bus. As for post cruise, assuming just normal operations you should be able to do most of the day at Universal. You probably won't make the park open, but should have plenty of time. I have never rented a car at Canaveral post cruise so not sure on the shuttle bus situation. I would assume they do, but a quick phone call is probably your best option for confirmation.

Don't be afraid of the main dinning room. We found it much easier than the buffet with small children. At the buffet you are constantly running back and forth to make sure everyone has what they need. In the MDR you just want to be prepared to take the kiddo for a walk around the deck if they start acting up. Our youngest was about that age on his first cruise and the hard dinner rolls were a big hit with him. He only hade a few teeth and they were the perfect size to fit in his hand. He would naw on them for 30 mins.

Just to give you another option to think about, we have cruised out of FFL several times and used Budget Car Rental to rent a car at the airport. This gives you a little freedom to drive to a restaurant, grocery store, etc. the night before the cruise. The kids always forget something (its never me I swear!) ;so its nice to be able to get out to a store if you need to. I take the luggage over to the ship early and drop it off while the family hangs at the hotel. I then go back and pick up the family. Budget and a few other car rental agencies have locations right at the gate to the port where you can return the car and they have a shuttle that will drop you at the ship. If you have pre dropped the big luggage and just have your backpacks and a car seat I have found that it works pretty well. Have a great cruise!

I cannot help, but I am interested in the responses you get. I am coming from the other side of the question, I have been in RC Grand Suites several times and just booked my first NCL Haven cruise. FWIW we have found RC service to be frustratingly inconsistent. Sometimes it is over the top awesome, and then the next time it seems almost non existent. We found ourselves drifting more to HA just to get more consistent service, even though the RC ships have a lot more bells and whistles. My experience is pre covid so take it with a grain of salt but one issue that stood out on RC was that they had a ton of Diamond passengers. They tried to give the D+ people the suite perks (happy hour drinks, etc) and it always seemed like a clusterF. I think maybe they have addressed that with the newer ships and the diamond people having their own space but it left a bad taste with me. I am Haven Hopeful but time will tell 🙂

When our kids were that size we went to a garage sale and bought an umbrella stroller for $5-$10 with the full intention of just abandoning it if it ever got in the way.....that thing lasted forever.

If you can get a balcony room, its a nice place to sit while they fall asleep. Plus, if you bring dry erase markers, the plexi glass can be hours of entertainment for a toddler...