StaceyCT

I guess it's just hard for some to believe that sometimes no matter who you speak to -things aren't always fixed.

 

Again, on a 7 day cruise I wasn't going to spend more time seeking out people to complain to. I shouldn't have to.

 

I agree, at some point, wasting precious vacation time at Guest Services isn't worth it.

I regret all the time I wasted at Guest Services on the Getaway last summer. NCL had assured me that our balcony cabin was across the hall from the entrance to the studio cabin area (where my mom was staying), as their deck plan indicates. There was no door there, as it turns out, which was a major pain the whole week. Since we couldn't switch cabins (full ship), I tried to get some type of OBC as compensation.

I wasted about 3 hours standing in line at Guest Services and talking to reps there who were not helpful, understanding, or apologetic, and who kept promising to contact me once they'd received feedback from their boss. They never contacted me, so back to Guest Services I trudged again and again.

I never got any OBC, but during part of the time I spent at Guest Services, for example, I missed taking my son to the pool to play on the slides with some friends he had met. I wasted those 3 hours instead of enjoying my vacation.

I finally got some future cruise credit after emailing a complaint to NCL when I got home. After I use up that credit, I don't plan to sail with NCL again.

OP, thank you for taking the time to post this warning. I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I hope NCL does the right thing and takes responsibility for the actions of the agents that they employ.

It's sad that getting flamed by the "Tsk tsk this is noone's fault but your own - read the T & C!!" brigade is so predictable on this board. Just a tiresome group of blowhards eager either to gloat about how smart they are or to try to convince themselves that lousy stuff will never happen to them because they're so on top of everything...

If you look at the graphs showing long-term price changes on a cruise website such as the one with "plum" in the name, you'll see that the suite prices tend to oscillate wildly - much more so than other cabin types.

There are also tons of low low prices right now for cruises 0-3 months in advance. I definitely wouldn't book a 2017 cruise anytime soon. NCL says they're going to quit discounting cruises after final payment is due, but that does not seem to be what's actually happening.

I suggest that you spend a little time looking at the map of the ship before you go so that you know the lay of the ship (better) at embarkation and don't spend the first day or two wandering around going "now where is that place again...?"

Maybe the Gem is smaller, but I wish I'd done that before my Getaway cruise. :)

Whenever I've called the NCL booking dept. for any reason, I've gotten a slew of daily PCC calls for days/weeks after. The first time was before I'd ever even booked or sailed with NCL - I just called to ask a question and didn't give my name or phone number. The calls started the next day; I assume they used caller ID.

In retrospect, I wish I'd realized this wouldn't be the only shoddy treatment I'd get as a (potential) customer and had chosen another cruise line instead.

So you got the Getaway for $350 pp? That's cheap. Don't seem to see that on the price tracking website to have ever had a price that cheap for the Getaway.

I recently saw the Priceline listing for Getaway insides around $350 - was amazed! Those cheap rates weren't on Priceline a few days later, and I didn't see them on the tracking website I've been using lately (as a side note, I like both cruises and plums).

Priceline has had some incredible NCL cruise prices lately.

I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar experience with NCL CS? Nice people, but need to get all their facts straight. :D

I've had several similar experiences calling NCL.

The most recent: in late August, I called NCL to book an inside on the Star (November 2015 sailing). When I stated that I was choosing the UBP as my promo, the agent replied "No, that promo isn't available for insides." I replied that it was, and he kept insisting that it wasn't. We went back and forth a few more times, with him becoming more insistent each time. It only ended when I began to read to him directly from NCL's website - he stopped me halfway through with a brusque "Okay I see it now."

I booked the cruise through PL instead and got a much better price in the bargain! And the PL agent knew that the UBP was a choice without me having to tell her.

Another example, this one from last spring: two different NCL agents told me that there was an entrance to the Getaway's studio cabin area near the midship port side balcony cabin that I wanted to book. It turned out there wasn't, and my family members ended up having to travel across the ship to visit each others' cabins instead of the walk across the hall that we'd been promised.

The future cruise credit that NCL finally offered as compensation for the Getaway screw-up is largely paying for my upcoming trip on the Star. I think I'll enjoy my Star inside cabin and UBP to the max and then avoid NCL altogether when booking future cruises.

I don't know how they fit in the clueless category since the deck plans were wrong. I wouldn't expect anyone to know every nook and cranny on any ship, much less the Getaway.

The clueless part was the Guest Services rep showing us the incorrect deck plan with the nonexistent door as the solution to our problem when we'd just told him "the problem is that the deck plan is incorrect. It shows a nonexistent door."

I have found that most NCL phone reps are incompetent...Bottom line: Independently verify everything NCL phone reps tell you.

Last April, two different NCL phone reps assured me that there's a door to the studio area directly across the hall from cabin 11158 on the NCL Getaway (the deck plan shows a doorway there too).

Based on this, I booked two cabins for my family: balcony cabin 11158 plus a studio room near the supposed door to the studio area. When we boarded the ship, that "door" turned out to be a wall, and our two "right across the hall from each other" cabins turned out to be...not so much.

At least the NCL phone reps don't have a monopoly on the clueless department. When we explained the problem at Getaway's Guest Services desk, the rep disappeared for a while. He returned with a printout of the incorrect deck plan on which he had highlighted the short trip between the cabins through the non-existent door, proudly exclaiming "I've found a solution!!"

If you log into NCL.com and then shop cruises' date=' your name is handed off to a pool of PCCs who call and tell you they're your new PCC. Happens to me weekly. I tell them I already have a PCC and that he'll call me if I need to know anything. I've learned to shop without logging in so I'm anonymous.[/quote']

 

I've never logged into the ncl site to shop for cruises, but I did call their booking department once to ask a question. They must have had caller ID, because the next day I started getting daily voice mails from some PCC who was super-excited to tell me about NCL's current promos. I never got around to calling him back to say stop it. After a few weeks, he just quit.

 

I did NOT appreciate getting cold calls when I'd never even given my phone number to Norwegian. To top it off, the booking department agent I spoke to that day gave me an incorrect answer. :mad:

Is not being able to sleep with the balcony door open a Getaway specific thing? We had a balcony on the Breakaway to Bermuda in April and we slept with the balcony door open every night. I don't remember seeing anything that said it wasn't allowed. Did I miss that rule?

I was on the Getaway in a balcony cabin in late June, and we slept with the balcony door open almost every night. The sound of the water was delightful - like ocean waves!

The only potential problem is that the air conditioning turns off when the balcony door is open, so you might get warm. I didn't generally find that enough of a negative to close the balcony door, however.

OP, try to get a cabin that has the bed next to the balcony. I believe these rooms have the "indentation" going into the room on the deck plan. My cabin, 11158, was one of these.

-Stacey

How can the customer service reps be in the dark about this?

Doesn't surprise me - two different NCL booking reps gave me incorrect deck plan information when I was booking my recent Getaway cruise. When we boarded and realized that the inaccurate information meant that our family's two cabins were much farther apart than we'd been told, we went straight to the Customer Services desk right there on the ship, and guess what - they gave us the same wrong info!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2234943&highlight=getaway

NCL Getaway Deck 11 Plan.pdf

Hi,

I recently posted the reply below to a different post asking about movies on the Getaway:

I was on the 6/27/15 sailing of the Getaway and happen to have my Freestyle Dailies handy. Here's a list of the movie names, days/times, and locations (along with any listed moving ratings and lengths):

Day 1 (Sat.) 8:15 PM, Spice H2O: The Amazing Spider Man 2 (PG13)

Day 2 (Sun.) 8:00 PM, Spice H2O: Paddington (PG, 95 min)

Day 3 (Mon.) 3:30 PM, Atrium: Despicable Me 2

Day 4 (Tues.) 1:45 PM, Atrium: The Imitation Game (PG13, 1 hr 54 min)

Day 4 (Tues.) 6:30 PM, Headliners: Dali & Disney Destino Film Showing

Day 5 (Weds.) 1:30 PM, Atrium: Get On Up (PG13, 2 hr 19 min)

Day 5 (Weds.) 8:30 PM, Spice H2O: Alexander the Terrible (PG, 1 hr 21 min)

Day 5 (Weds.) 10:00 PM, Spice H2O: The Theory of Everything (PG13)

Day 5 (Weds.) 10:30 PM, Atrium: Video Concert - Celine Dion

Day 6 (Thurs.) 3:00 PM, Atrium: Annie 2014 (PG, 1 hr 58 min)

Day 6 (Thurs.) 6:30 PM, Spice H2O: Pitch Perfect (PG13, 1 hr 52 min)

Day 7 (Fri.) 2:00 PM, Atrium: Edge of Tomorrow (PG13, 1 hr 53 min)

Day 7 (Fri.) 4:00 PM, Theater: Guardians of the Galaxy 3D (PG13)

Day 7 (Fri.) 11:15 PM, Atrium: Now You See Me (PG13, 1 hr 55 min)

I'm not sure what the "Dali & Disney Destino Film Showing" on Day 4 in Headliners (comedy club) is.

I didn't go to hardly any movies - caught part of Spider Man 2 at Spice H2O (which, as a previous poster noted, is open to all ages after 7 PM). It drew a good crowd, though it wasn't overcrowded (i.e., seats were available). I would've liked to have seen more movies, but there was too much else to do!

Looking through my Freestyle Dailies is making me miss my week on the Getaway - I hope you have a great time!

-Stacey

There was a sign over the automatic wine dispensers in the studio lounge stating that they're not part of the UBP (3 weeks ago) - sorry!

I was on the Getaway's June 27, 2015 sailing. I booked 2 cabins on deck 11: balcony cabin 11158 (for my young son and myself) and studio cabin 11517 (for my elderly mother).

I wanted the shortest possible distance to travel between the two cabins. Since I was aware that the studio cabin doors don't open directly to the main hallway, I called the NCL booking department to ask where the entrances to the studio area are. The NCL rep told me that deck 11 has 4 entrances to the studio area: 2 near the studio lounge (near port and starboard balcony cabins 11158 and 11764, respectively) and 2 at the aft end of the studio area (near port and starboard balcony cabins 11134 and 11734, respectively). See NCL's Getaway deck plan:

When I was ready to book, I called the NCL booking department again. The rep I booked with confirmed those 4 entrances to the studio area (and 4 similarly located entrances on deck 10). After careful deliberation, I booked cabins 11158 and 11517 based on that information.

Imagine our disappointment when we boarded the Getaway and found that the "door" to the studio area just outside cabin 11158 was actually a wall! That studio entrance simply does not exist!

Instead of quick and easy meet-ups right across the hall, my 79-year-old mother had to trek across the studio area to the starboard side to exit through the actual studio entrance (near cabin 11764), down the hall to the elevator area, across the ship to the port side, and back down the hall to my cabin (11158). Alternatively, I could haul my 8-year-old the same distance to Grammy's room.

This didn't ruin our cruise, and I'm sure that far worse calamities happen on cruise ships every day. But the thing that gets me is that NCL took no responsibility for their error (in their maps and representatives' training). We waited in line at Guest Services three times during the cruise to discuss this issue. Even the Guest Services employees were unaware of the deck plan error - one toted out the same incorrect map and triumphantly announced that he had solved our problem - we could simply use "the door to the studios" (a.k.a. "the wall") right outside our balcony cabin!

When it became clear that changing cabins was impossible (fully booked ship), we politely asked Guest Services for some type of onboard credit as compensation. They kept putting us off, promising that a higher-up would call us. After the third trip to Guest Services, a cheap bottle of red wine showed up in each of our cabins with a note saying "Enjoy!" We assumed that this was all we would get out of NCL and decided not to waste any more precious vacation time at the Guest Services desk.

I will also never waste any more precious vacation dollars on a Norwegian cruise.

To address the OP's question: there are no Studio Lounge facilities on deck 11. You take a short spiral staircase down to the lounge, which is on deck 10.

I was hoping someone on a recent cruise could give me a breakdown of the movies that they remember. Like what was shown in spice h20, the atrium and the main theater.

Hi,

I was on the 6/27/15 sailing of the Getaway and happen to have my Freestyle Dailies handy. Here's a list of the movie names, days/times, and locations (along with any listed moving ratings and lengths):

Day 1 (Sat.) 8:15 PM, Spice H2O: The Amazing Spider Man 2 (PG13)

Day 2 (Sun.) 8:00 PM, Spice H2O: Paddington (PG, 95 min)

Day 3 (Mon.) 3:30 PM, Atrium: Despicable Me 2

Day 4 (Tues.) 1:45 PM, Atrium: The Imitation Game (PG13, 1 hr 54 min)

Day 4 (Tues.) 6:30 PM, Headliners: Dali & Disney Destino Film Showing

Day 5 (Weds.) 1:30 PM, Atrium: Get On Up (PG13, 2 hr 19 min)

Day 5 (Weds.) 8:30 PM, Spice H2O: Alexander the Terrible (PG, 1 hr 21 min)

Day 5 (Weds.) 10:00 PM, Spice H2O: The Theory of Everything (PG13)

Day 5 (Weds.) 10:30 PM, Atrium: Video Concert - Celine Dion

Day 6 (Thurs.) 3:00 PM, Atrium: Annie 2014 (PG, 1 hr 58 min)

Day 6 (Thurs.) 6:30 PM, Spice H2O: Pitch Perfect (PG13, 1 hr 52 min)

Day 7 (Fri.) 2:00 PM, Atrium: Edge of Tomorrow (PG13, 1 hr 53 min)

Day 7 (Fri.) 4:00 PM, Theater: Guardians of the Galaxy 3D (PG13)

Day 7 (Fri.) 11:15 PM, Atrium: Now You See Me (PG13, 1 hr 55 min)

I'm not sure what the "Dali & Disney Destino Film Showing" on Day 4 in Headliners (comedy club) is.

I didn't go to hardly any movies - caught part of Spider Man 2 at Spice H2O (which, as a previous poster noted, is open to all ages after 7 PM). It drew a good crowd, though it wasn't overcrowded (i.e., seats were available). I would've liked to have seen more movies, but there was too much else to do!

Looking through my Freestyle Dailies is making me miss my week on the Getaway - I hope you have a great time!

-Stacey

Most people that pack a fan, do it for the noise.

A white noise machine is much smaller than a fan, so easier to pack.

Is there any way someone can get the actual list on here? Apparently they didn't give me any of the windows suite when I had my computer redone. I am without a way to read the list. Grrrrr

Here's a copy and paste (loses some nice formatting, but you'll get the idea anyway):

Sun hat

Make sure it covers the ears! In season, Old Navy sells great sun hats with a velcro-closure strap.

Sunglasses

If s/he’ll wear them…mine won’t.

Sweatsuit

The lounges and other public areas are usually very cool. On some evenings, the wind temperature on the deck can also be fairly chilly.

Light jacket

Pajamas

I would STRONGLY encourage you to pack a footed fleece sleeper even though you will be traveling in a warm climate. Even when we turned the air vent almost off (It’s too stuffy when it’s completely closed), Benjamin would wake up cold about 2 AM when wearing just his long pajamas. Better to take it and not need it...

Fleece footed sleeper

Socks (casual)

Socks (dinner)

Change of clothes

For the diaper bag…pack compactly into a ziploc bag to keep them together in the bag and to keep out moisture, dirt, sand.

Swimwear:

Swimwear

T-shirts/cover-ups for swimwear

Swim diapers

Take at least 2 per anticipated swim. Gallon-size Ziploc bags work well for packing these if you don’t need to pack the entire package.

Water shoes or sandals

Life jacket

The cruiseline supplies infant/toddler life jackets for use at the lifeboat drill, but you can’t take them off the ship. Taking your own offers extra peace of mind for ferry rides/water excursions.

Feeding (All ages):

Bottle brush w/ detergent OR Detergent Wipes

For washing bottles and/or sippy cups. No need to take a bottle drying rack. Just lay a fresh hand towel by the sink each time and let the items dry there.

Bottles/nipples/caps

Take enough so that you will only need to wash them once or twice a

day. Don’t want to spend your entire vacation doing dishes!

You might also consider taking along some disposable sippy cups (by The First Years, 4 for $2.00 at Target, Wal-Mart). They’re great for use on the island or at dinner—just use them and leave them behind. Recently, our Dollar Tree stores have begun carrying a similar disposable cup (6 for $1).However, you would still want to take along some real sippy cups so that you won’t have to pack so many of the disposables.

Sippy cups

Small collapsible cooler

For keeping milk/juice on ice in your cabin if you don’t have a refrigerator. The cabin steward will happily keep it filled with ice if you ask. The collapsible cooler seems to work better than just the ice bucket in the cabin. The one I use was $4.96 in the sporting goods section at Wal-Mart and folds up very compactly. It can also be used for carrying the child’s food and/or drinks for island excursions, just loop the shoulder strap over the handles on the stroller and off you go!

Feeding (Table food for toddlers):

Gerber Graduates Pasta Pick-ups or Lil Entrees Meals

These little meals are perfect for traveling. The Pasta Pickups can be served as a finger food and are packed in chicken broth, so you can just drain the broth for a mess-free meal on the go. The Lil Entrees require a spoon but offer better variety. Keep one in your diaper bag in case you don’t get back to the ship in time for a regular meal. They’re also a great option for a picky eater who won’t eat anything off the ship’s menus. I usually take one for each day scheduled ashore. I usually pack one meal in a Ziploc bag with a disposable bib (Bibsters by Pampers) and disposable spoon so that I have everything ready (and clean) when I need it.

Bibs (disposable)

Juice boxes

Take along a 10-pack of kids’ juice boxes for island excursions when the ship’s juice might spoil in the heat. If your child can’t drink from the box, just puncture the box’s straw hole with your index finger and pour into a sippy cup.

Take care when packing baby food, juices, or formula to prevent breakage. When packing these items, I first seal them in gallon-size Ziploc bags. Then, I pack them in the insulated diaper bags given to new moms at the hospital by the infant formula manufacturers. These not only give an added line of defense against spills, but they’re well padded for extra protection.

TableToppers

These disposable placemats have peel-off adhesive strips at the top and bottom to affix to the surface of a table, creating a clean surface for babies who feed themselves but can’t use a plate yet. Check out www.tabletopers.com to find a local or online merchant. Our local Dollar Tree stores have recently begun carrying a similar product.

Snacks

A few crackers or other favorite munchies for snacking on the islands. Make sure the snack is factory sealed in its original packaging. Some islands will confiscate any food items that are not factory sealed.

Child’s own fork/spoon

The ship only has adult-sized utensils. Take along a set of your child’s own utensils so that s/he doesn’t have to struggle at meal time. The First Years has new disposable toddler forks and spoons in packs of 12 for $3 or so. Very convenient!

Feeding (Formula and/or Baby food for infants):

Baby food:

Dinners

Fruits

Before we left home, I prepared "meal baggies" so that we could just grab one and run if we were in a hurry. Each breakfast meal bag was a quart-sized Ziploc bag containing a small plastic spoon, a small plastic (disposable) bowl, a packet of cereal (one-serving samples obtained from our pediatrician or can purchase a box of 6 at Wal-Mart), a 4-oz jar of fruit, and a disposable bib. The lunch/dinner meal bags had a bib, spoon, 6-oz dinner and 4-oz fruit. There were times when we were headed out the door when we knew that mealtime was approaching, so we just grabbed a bag instead of having to gather everything and make sure that we hadn't forgotten a spoon/bib/etc. Everything was thrown away after the meal, so there were no spoons or bowls to wash. I once took plastic bibs, but those didn't soak up the food so we had to be careful not to smear it everywhere. Bibsters by Pampers are ideal. The First Years also makes some great disposable infant spoons that are ideal for travel (12 for $2.99 at Target, Wal-Mart).

Whenever possible, we tried to feed him in our cabin so that we could enjoy our own meals in the dining room. Be sure to take some small toys to dinner so that he will have something with which to amuse himself.

Take care when packing baby food, juices, or formula to prevent breakage. When packing these items, I first sealed them in gallon-size Ziploc bags. Then, I packed them in the insulated diaper bags given to new moms at the hospital by the infant formula manufacturers. These not only give an added line of defense against spills, but they’re well padded for extra protection.

One cruiser has stated that Princess Cruises provides a limited selection of baby foods and juices if ordered directly from a cruise line representative (NOT the travel agent) before sailing. However, you might take along some food just in case they don’t deliver, as you cannot buy these things on most ships.

Infant cereal

Disposable bowls

Plastic spoons

Disposable bibs

4 oz Juice bottles

I took my own 4-oz jars of juice to carry onto the islands so that we didn’t have to worry about the ship’s juice spoiling in the heat ashore. Gerber’s 4 oz plastic bottles of juice work well for this. If you’re taking the bottles of juice rather than the boxes, don’t forget to take nipples / sport cup lids for them.

RTF Formula (8-oz)

Many cabins do not have refrigerators for keeping formula cold nor any good means for heating cold formula. The 8-oz ready-to-feed formula canisters don’t need refrigeration and therefore don’t need to be heated before serving. You can also take the unopened cans onto the islands without worrying that it will spoil. I wouldn’t suggest taking powdered formula, unless you want to pack water or buy it ($$$$) on board. Babies are usually very sensitive to changes in their formula and may not drink the formula if they don’t like the taste of the ship’s water.

Baby care:

Diapers and/or Pull-Ups

Take at least 10 per day. You’ll probably never use that many, but you don’t want to run out. The ship and most island stores don’t sell them. Don’t pack all of your diapers in one suitcase. If your luggage was lost, you can do without most things, but NOT diapers! Gallon-size Ziploc bags work great for packing diapers if you need to split a package.

Before leaving home, I made several “diaper baggies.” Like the meal baggies, this is just another step to simplify things by ensuring that you have everything you need for a diaper change outside of your cabin. A diaper baggy is a quart-size Ziploc bag holding one diaper (folded in half) and one disposable changing pad. When needed, simply remove the contents of the baggy (and the travel-size wipes), change the baby’s diaper, put the soiled diaper into the Ziploc & discard. This also keeps the diapers and changing pads from getting smashed out of shape in the diaper bag. I would suggest taking 2 baggies per day ashore.

Disp changing pads

Ziploc bags (quart size)

For disposing of stinky diapers.

Baby wipes

Take one box and several travel size packs. Pack the travel sizes in a separate suitcase from the large box of wipes in case some of your luggage is lost. Again, make sure you take plenty…you can’t count on being able to buy more.

Hand sanitizing gel

Travel-size bottle to keep in diaper bag. Great for diaper changes on the islands when washing your hands afterwards is not always an option.

Air freshener

To freshen the cabin after changing a stinky diaper. J I found trial sizes of Lysol at our local Wal-Mart.

Baby wash, baby lotion, diaper rash ointment

Trial sizes are ideal.

Baby sunscreen

If you can find them, the new baby sunscreen wipes work great!

Crib blanket

Carnival provides a Cosco port-a-crib with a 4" mattress. Our cabin stewardess provided a top sheet and a blanket for him, but these were adult-sized. If your baby is accustomed to sleeping with a blanket, you should probably pack a child-sized one. Benjamin liked to sleep with his head pressed against the corner of the crib and appeared to be a bit uncomfortable with his head pressed against the small, round bars on this crib. I folded his blanket and used it as a bumper pad after the first night.

Collapsible bed rail

(toddlers taller than 36”)

For a child taller than 36 inches, the cribs will probably be too small. A collapsible bed rail (we have the Safety 1st Portable Bed Rail) can be slipped under the mattress on the cabin’s sofa bed to ensure that your little one doesn’t roll off. The rail collapses small enough to be stored inside a large piece of luggage for transport.

Baby care (cont’d):

Pacifiers

With a clip-on pacifier retainer to keep baby from dropping it on the ground.

Special blankets or dolls

Those things that you dare not leave home without!

Toys and books

Remember to take a few small toys for dinnertime amusement.

Nursery monitor

If you have a balcony or friends/family in a cabin next door, consider taking a nursery monitor for naptime.

Nightlight and/or

Small flashlight

For checking on them during the night without turning on the brighter lights/lamps. I bought some small touch lights (2 for $1.00) at our local Dollar Tree that are perfect for this. Just remember not to put batteries in BEFORE you put them in the suitcase—trust me! J

Over-the-door shoe organizer

We had never needed one of these before, but I decided to take one for our recent cruise (our first with TWO children). It was such a wonderful way to organize everything. I hung it over the back of the bathroom door and filled the pockets with sippy cups, bottles, pacifiers, sunscreens, travel-size wipes packets, disposable cameras, camera battery chargers, the baby monitor (when not in use)…you get the picture. Mine was clear plastic, so it was great for keeping all of this stuff organized and easily accessible while not taking up valuable vanity or counter space. In my opinion, this is a MUST HAVE for traveling with small children and all of their extra gear!

On The Go:

Car safety device

(Car seat, Sit N Stroll, or Tote N Go)

A Sit N Stroll carseat/stroller combination is an excellent option. It is a 14-pound forward- or rear-facing car seat with stroller wheels/handle that collapse into the seat. It was pretty expensive (the best deal I found online was $169 with no shipping charges), but it was much better than lugging around both the large carseat and a stroller. A more economical option is the Tote N Go ($20 at Wal-Mart), a small padded backboard that converts a regular seat belt to a five-point harness. It would fit easily into a backpack or the basket on an umbrella stroller, but it can only be used forward-facing (therefore, for children 20+ pounds and 12 months or older).

Stroller

An umbrella stroller was ideal for the smaller spaces on the ship and on the island. Of course, if you choose to use a Sit N Stroll, an additional stroller will not be needed.

Disposable ponchos

Adult-size disposable plastic ponchos work great for keeping baby and stroller dry in the rain. Just slip the child’s head though the hood opening and drape the remainder of the poncho over the stroller, taking care to tuck the excess away from the wheels.

Birth certificate or passport

Babies don’t need a photo ID, although if the child’s last name is not the same as the parent or if traveling with only one parent, check to see if you will need additional documentation or authorizations!

Laundry items:

Laundry detergent

Those detergent samples you get in the mail from time to time pack perfectly for cruising, and you know how messy infants can be! If you don’t have samples, the tablet-type detergents are individually wrapped and travel well. Even if you pack extra clothes, you may find yourself needing to wash something. J

Dryer sheets

Shout wipes

I added many of your items to my packing list for my upcoming trip with our two year old DS. I'll be ordering the Tote N Go and portable bed rail - didn't know there were such things! Thanks a million!:)