subwife81

Since you will be at sea and visiting the Azores, I would suggest you look for simple history and/or biographies of Portuguese explorers - Magellan, Vasco da Gama, etc.

 

Or something about the different kinds of sailing ships early explorers used. So many days at sea do make a person appreciate the amenities of a large, stable cruise ship! :D

I hadn't even thought of going the explorer route, and yet it's obvious. That's a great idea!

Have a feeling the mom IS the "teacher"...sounds like home schooled!

I'll take the complement. She's not home schooled. I just refuse to pull her out of school for two weeks and across the Atlantic ocean without her learning about where we are going. ;)

Do you have a collapsible umbrella stroller? That would be easier (and could be folded down easily when on the Tube). Of course, if your excursions have you climbing a lot of stairs or hiking off the beaten path, the carrier may be more practical.

That's an idea, we do have an umbrella stroller. It's hard because he is just at the cusp of not needing anything- but I don't want to not take a carrier/stroller and then be stuck carrying him everywhere.

Thanks! :)

Good morning!

We are traveling transatlantic with my 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son. Cruising is not new to us, but going into Ports of Call with a 3 year old boy (emphasis on the "boy") will be.

We are stopping over in Ponta Delgada, Cork (Ireland), Portland (GB), Le Harve (France) and ending in Southampton (GB) with 2 days in London.

I wondered if we should take our Kelty hiking backpack to carry him in at the ports of call and London. My husband disagrees, thinking it's too bulky for the Tube (which I think he's right.)

So how the heck can we carry him around for a protracted period of time? He can walk up to a mile by himself (albeit as fast as his 3 year old legs will take him.) but I'm thinking we need some kind of carrier.

Any ideas?

Hi everyone!

I am looking for lesson plan ideas for our family's transatlantic cruise in mid April sailing from NYC-London with stops on Ponta Delgada (Azores), Corh (Ireland), France (Paris), and London. My daughter is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade.

It is a solid 7 days before we reach the Azores, and I'd love to give her about 30 minutes of work a day. I've already thought about her tracking the weather and giving us a weather report in the morning, as well at the lat/long.

Are there any good worksheets for the Atlantic ocean/any of the ports we are visiting that you have found?

TIA! :)

My daughter is in 3rd grade and my son is 3. We have taken her out of school for a couple of cruises in the past, and in April she will be out of school for a week when we take a transatlantic cruise from New York- London.

For my daughter, I build lesson plans around where we are going and what we are seeing. She has a "travel journal" that she is responsible for writing in every day, and she has geography lessons. On this upcoming cruise, we are adding weather as well- she will be responsible for a weather report each day. This may seem like a lot and "overkill" -but my thinking is, I want her soaking up everything she can about where we are (even in the middle of the ocean.) This way she can go back with school missed and still be wiser with experiences. We will continue to do this as our children get older, and I will not feel guilty about it. (We are in CT)

Hi everyone!

We're on the April 17 sailing of the Breakaway out of NYC and I was curious what time the ship usually departs and how long it takes to get out of the harbor? I'd love to schedule early dinner reservations but I don't want to miss the sail away portion.

TIA! :)

Hi everyone,

We are sailing on the Breakaway on the April 17 sailing. We have the SDP, and are traveling with my in-laws, husband, and two kids (1 and 6) I was curious if people specifically with younger children thought Cirque Dreams was worth it- were the kids entertained? How was the food?

I hate to take away from a night of speciality dining if my kids aren't really going to care one way or the other.

For reference, my husband and I aren't big "show" people on cruises. We "might" go to one a cruise- of course this might have to do with crusing with our children.:D

TIA for opinions!

I hate to break everyone's hearts but NCL isn't the only cruise line to do this. Disney's prices went up at least 8% (someone can correct me, I think it was significantly more, I seem to remember it was higher than inflation) and they raised prices on the nursery, speciality dining, and their alcohol packages... which is exactly why my family decided to try NCL. It just shows the demand for cruising is going up, and with it, all cruise lines feel they can charge more for the same product.

I've cruised on Princess, RCL, and Disney. This will be my first cruise with NCL. Every cruise line does things a little differently. For me personally, I'd love to find one cruise line and stick with it. I do dislike how they have changed the dining promotion. I feel like I've had to call NCL several times to get clarification on things. I can see where you are coming from. I'm not exactly where you are- I'm waiting to see how we like the boat, but it has been a bit frustrating dealing with them so far. Good luck!

I just wanted to add that I called NCL today to notify of my gluten intolerance- they couldn't have been nicer. She said someone would be in contact with me and that I would be instructed to go to the MDR upon boarding. I asked if I needed to have proof of my intolerance and the lady said, "Of course not! If you say you're gluten free, you're gluten free!" It was nice not being hassled, and if you google "gluten free" and "NCL" you will not find one negative review. Good luck, booking!

Hi everyone!

My family has booked a spring break cruise from NYC down to the Bahamas the week of April 17. This is Spring Break week for CT and NY and so of course, the ship is at 100% -in fact, when we booked, we had to book 2 rooms for my husband and two kids because there were no rooms available for 4 people (lifeboat capacity.)

I've been reading the threads and I'm curious if anyone has sailed when the ship has been at lifeboat capacity. Are there crowds everywhere or is it pretty dispersed?

Any hints or comments about what we might expect?

Thanks! :)

Thanks for posting the pictures, and everyone keep them coming! We are getting an obstructed view and it really isn't as bad as it sounds! It looks like the biggest plus will be the natural light.