sboston06

We used inflatable bed rail from the Shrunks on our cruise and it was awesome. Our 3-year old (at the time) was very safe and comfy on the couch bed. It took up no space and we only needed to bring one with us. 

On the NCL gem there is no significant railing. Just enough to keep the mattress in place. My 7 year old slept up there on our recent cruise and I didn’t love it but she ended up doing fine. I wedged a small pillow in there to help prevent her from rolling out. 

Thanks all! We have mostly sailed on NCL’s smaller ships which also don’t have big-deal entertainment or fancy perks. I think our bar is set pretty low to be honest! We are definitely booking this cruise for the ports more than the ship but also want to be comfortable. 
 

The primary reason we chose the Aurea suite (which is definitely still available) is the pullout sofa bed for our daughter. She prefers that over the ceiling bed. I have no idea how much the upgrade just for that package is but we need the suite so it’s just kind of a nice side effect. 
 

@bluecontrolman thank you for the mini review. Did the Venice dock leave you in the Marghera area or bring you over to the island? I find that part a bit confusing. We’ll be spending extra time in Venice pre- and post-cruise so trying to find the best hotel location to navigate from the airport and cruise terminal with heavy luggage!
 

@FionaMG thanks for clarifying the dry dock! That is reassuring. 
 

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Armonia's dry dock is currently planned for November, after she finishes her European season and before heading to South America for the winter.

@perakcruiser I’m super interested to hear how your trip is in May! Please come back to share!! Unfortunately sailing out of Bari won’t work due to flight timing as we’re coming in from the US on Sunday afternoon and it’s in Bari on Sunday. Venice is ideal since we want extra time there and it’s there on the Monday. 
 

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

We booked this cruise (because of Zakynthos) in May. Third time on Armonia, great ship, especially for kids. Certainly this is a pure family cruise, don´t think about taking it as a couple with no kids😄 You book it to bring maximum happiness to your 8 year old. 

 

I think it is a great route with excellent ports. Check if it is better to start from Bari or Venice, for us Bari was cheaper, but that is different from cruise to cruise. And before you think too much about Aurea suites, check if they are available on your date. Often sold out. 

I’ve searched these forums and can’t find a ton of info but we found a fantastic sailing out of Venice in August for our family of 3. We typically sail NCL but the timeline we require is not working with what they have available so it seems like this ship and sailing will be perfect. I love that they have a Lego club for the kiddos and the smaller ship seems to offer a lot. Thinking of booking a suite with the Aurea package which I’m trying to understand. 
 

Our family includes an 8 year old girl and it seems like lots of families take this cruise? It has stops in Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Zakynthos and Bari. We’ve been to Europe many times but hoping this will be an easy way to see several great destinations!

Thanks all! We are pivoting to looking at other cruise lines who are sailing on the following day so we’ll have more of a time buffer. We have been to Alaska in 2015 so looking to try something new, though I agree Alaska is gorgeous! Appreciate the input!

1 hour ago, rdmurray said:

Did you just go to Bermuda?  How was the tht Gem?We did end up going last year.  My daughter was so bummed when the club would be closed.  

 

Thanks!

Haha yes we did. Last year she ended up getting the flu the day before we were due to leave so we had to cancel. We finally got to go this year. I just realized this post is a year old, oops! Hopefully someone will find it useful. Mine was bummed when it was closed too. Would’ve been nice to enjoy the shows on port days!

Thank you Joanne! That is my concern too. With the Greece cruise, we’d arrive at 10:40am and embarkation time from the port is 5pm. I know we’d have to be onboard 2 hours ahead of time as well. The Hawaii airport is much closer to the cruise terminal than it is in Athens but still seems crazy to fly out on such a tight timeline. I’m not sure if others usually fly close to embarkation or if we’re overly cautious. Traveling with a kid is pretty stressful even u see the best circumstances so trying to give ourselves the best chance of success. 

Hello all, especially @rdmurray, kids club on the Gem was great. There were over 700 kids on our sailing so most days they filled up early. Kids do have to be potty trained. My daughter seemed to have fun and there was plenty to do. It was well organized and the staff was friendly. Only complaint is that they were closed on port days which meant we couldn’t enjoy the shows while docked in Bermuda for 3 nights. I understand the reasoning but wish there was a protocol for this. 

Hello!

we are recently off a 7 day Bermuda cruise and still riding the high of cruising! We have a week in August with limited wiggle room due to other obligations but are trying to decide between the following two cruises: 

7 day Hawaii on Pride of America or 

7 day Greek Isles and Turkey on the Getaway. 
 

we’re flying from the east coast US so if we do the Hawaii cruise we’d be arriving in Honolulu the afternoon of cruise departure after a 12 hour nonstop flight. That’s the downside to that option. Due to scheduling we can’t fly in sooner. If we arrive at the airport at 1:40pm and embarkation is 7pm, is that cutting it too close? 
 

for the Greece option, the flights are crazy expensive. The timeline of the cruise is ideal as it embarks out on the Sunday. Again we’d be arriving in Athens that morning. 
 

We are usually super careful with timing flights and fly in a day ahead. Again, it’s not an option to do so this time. Has anyone been on these two and can advise on whether timeline is too close. We are a family with two in their 40’s plus an 8 year old girl. 
 

thank you! 

56 minutes ago, rdmurray said:

I'd love to hear how it goes in April SBoston. Especially for 4 year olds.  I went last year and kids club started at 5. 

 

So if you see anything about or 3-5s can you let me know?

 

 

Yes I will try to remember!

I haven’t seen anything officially but according to google, it was closed last year from January to June for several reasons. I am not worried about it at this point as most restrictions seem to have eased. I can update this after my April cruise!

This is from our cruise on the bliss March 2020. Might have totally changed since then but not sure if anyone has newer photos. I also can’t remember if this was the whole menu or just the draft beers 

24 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

i forgot to plug Fun Golf. It is at the Dockyard and it really is fun for chidren and adults. 

Thank you….will definitely check this out!!

7 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

I'll answer this with the preface that I'm fairly against the whole captive animal show thing. 

 

The $18 viewing thing is sort of misleading-- I think this is the $18 admission to the Museum of Bermuda in which the Dolphin experience sits. There are a number of area from the Museum you can see into the dolphin pens including a kids playground that is just off to the side of them. If your ship is docked at Heritage Wharf, and it's large enough, you can also see right into the dolphin pens from it. 

 

The Museum is very worthwhile and you should definitely spend some time there. It's a great thing to do the morning of departure if your ship is leaving early afternoon-- you are always walking distance back to the gangway. 

 

If its worth $65 for ten minutes to get into the water is totally up to you. Personally the complimentary swim at Horseshoe Bay is more my speed. 

Thank you! Our ship docks at 12:30 the first day so my thought was to do the museum and dockyard that first day. We then have two full days and leave very early the following day. I don’t know much how I feel about the captivity thing. I have heard good things about this location but still on the fence. 

Hello,

we’ll be in Bermuda in April and I’m trying to decide which dolphin experience to schedule. They have an $18 option which just allows entry and viewing from the sidelines. Any interaction with the dolphins increases the cost by a lot. My daughter is 6 and I think she’d think it’s fun but not sure if it’s worth $65 for 10min with the dolphins. Has anyone done these interactions either just viewing or in the water and can comment?

We have two reservations made for our upcoming cruise in the specialty restaurants…Moderno and Teppanyaki. I think our free at sea promo gives the two adults a free meal there but our child would be a La carte? Do they have a separate kids menu or is it one menu for everyone? 
 

she is so excited to wear her “fancy” dresses on the cruise! She’ll likely be better dressed than most adults haha 😉

6 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Living a short car ride from Boston, there is something to be said for leaving the house at 8 and being on the ship by 11 and arriving home before noon on the other end.

 

Yes absolutely. We are 15min from Boston on a good day (Friday mornings typically have minimal traffic) so we could be on the ship within an hour. 

Thanks all! We decided on the Pearl simply because it was out of Boston and on a limited school vacation timetable, it was just easier. I think we’ll plan to see the Prima or Viva in the future, maybe when she goes to Italy! By the our girl will be older and maybe able to enjoy the slides and racecars. Appreciate the input and the reviews 🙂

Can someone who has sailed recently on the Pearl confirm the kids club is open? I had been reading through reviews and heard it was closed but the post was from last spring so might have just been pandemic related. My daughter is 6 so kids club is a huge priority!

Thanks 🙂

Thanks to all for your input. I wish the Boston cruise embarked on a Saturday but am working on getting the extra day off from work and hoping that will work for us. We’ve sailed on the Jade and Star so I think the smaller size of the Pearl will be good for us too. Someone mentioned in one forum that the kids club was closed on the Pearl but hard to tell if they was a Covid thing. I’m hoping that is not an issue for us. 

Good morning,

we are a family of 3 thinking of sailing on a Bermuda cruise over April school vacation. Child is 6, adults are late 30’s/early 40’s. Our last cruise was pre-Covid on the Bliss out of nyc. I’m trying to decide between the April 14 out of Boston or the April 16 out of NYC is a better option. It’s the exact same itinerary. Price is within a few hundred (the train from Boston to NY would add a few hours). The big difference is the ship: Pearl vs Prima. There aren’t a ton of reviews on the Prima as it’s so new but I was hoping it’d be nicer for our daughter especially with 3 sea days. Getting to/from NY is not a problem as there’s always fun things to do  there. Any insight from experienced cruisers who have seen these ships?

I also remember the nyc terminal being really hectic with long lines. Not sure if Boston’s is much better though!

40 minutes ago, mamashamiller said:

What cruise are you going on and are you coming from south Boston?

We are going to the Bahamas 3/1 sailing out of Manhattan. No we are from Boston suburbs 🙂

Thank you everyone! She doesn’t nap anymore unfortunately but maybe we’ll go to the park first to get some energy out before heading to the pier! We are only bronze level so we’ll be boarding with the masses. This is definitely the largest ship we’ve been on so it helps to know a bit what to expect!

Hello!

My family is traveling out of Manhattan next month on the Bliss. We have a 3.5 year old child and have selected a pier arrival time of 10:30-11:00. Assuming the ship arrives at the pier at the time it should, is this a good plan? We're hoping if we arrive early, we will be able to get on sooner and get our daughter settled and explore a bit. But I obviously want to minimize standing in line and having her get restless.

My husband and I haven't cruised in several years and never out of NYC but it's a whole different ballgame when you're traveling with kids!

Thank you!

Thanks for all the replies. We ended up booking the 1pm NE regional. It was about $75 more for all of us but worth the flexibility. And we can change to earlier if we happen to make it by the 10am train. I hadn’t realized the large ships take so long to unload passengers but it makes sense.