kitkat343

I've not sailed Celebrity yet, but all the ships I sailed had an open house in the kids club on the first night. Go to the kids club open house with the child so the parent can stay with the child and help them get acclimated to the kids club. Request a phone in advance through the special needs department or during the open house because they are usually limited. Tell the kids club staff that you want them to call immediately if the child wants to leave (they may normally do this for children with disabilities - I don't know. I've seen them delay calling for neurotypical children because they try to distract them and keep them longer because some parents don't want to be disturbed. If they know you'll come right away and not be mad at them, they'll call you right away.) Also, for some kids with autism food is a huge issue. Depending on the child's level of sensitivity you might want to bring sealed food onboard for them so they always have snacks they can eat on the ship and during tours. I've also found that if you can afford them private tours for just my family are best with children, since you can control the itinerary and stay longer when they're happy and give them breaks when they need them (this is less important if you are just going to a beach and more important if you are visiting Europe and going to museums.

People on this forum have stated that the Prima was able to tender successfully in Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman provides tender ships, so NCL uses those to get the passengers off the Prima. I don't have personal experience but I believe tendering on the Prima is possible if outside tender ships are available.

The Geiranger bus that takes you around the highlights of the Geiranger lasts 3 hours, so depending on the length of your day in port you might be able to do both that and the boat cruise in Geiranger (when calculating the timing please check recent reviews of your ship, since some NCL ships have a lot of reviews noting difficulties with disembarkment that cut down on their time in port so please allocate a lot of time for both activities if you choose to do both). The sail in/sail out on your cruise ship to Geiranger is spectacular (we did this cruise on Cunard, and they took the kids out of the kids clubs to let them see the waterfalls on the sail out). Please also note that the road to the Skywalk in Geiranger is seasonal, and opens between mid-May and early June after the big annual avalanche. They will substitute a beautiful lake if you are too early for the skywalk.

On my sailing, some passengers received the email notifying them of the cancellation of a port. Others did not receive it. People tried to post the notice on the roll call, but some passengers called NCL and since NCL kept the dropped port on their website for the cruise, the NCL call reps incorrectly told them that the DR port had not been dropped. Your best bet to find out why NCL is stating this stop has been cancelled is by posting on your roll call - someone who received the cancellation email can cut and past the language and you can see what reason NCL is stating for the change. Now as Distinctive-Destinations has noted, NCL may claim that they are doing this for safety or the environment. The safety issue is a bit muddled, since there have been ports they have dropped in the past - like Costa Rica and claimed it was for safety, which was difficult to understand since they replaced it with Alcupulco. But ultimately irregardless of why they are claiming they dropped the port, their contract clearly states they have the right to make changes. There have been people posting that European laws may provide some consumer protection (I don't know anything about that) but in the US, you are stuck when this happens after final payment and your only option if they notify you before final payment is to cancel and rebook. The posts on this issue pop up periodically ( ). and someone posted on one of the previous forums after experiencing several cancellations that they only book NCL cruises at the last minute now, since they don't mind ports being dropped from last minute discount cruises. Depending on how significant itinerary is to you (on our cruise, there were some people who were just happy to be out of the cold in NY and didn't care at all about the dropped port) this might be something to consider.

The itinerary of that sailing looks great. I hope they continue to sail that in the future.

You can find the kosher sailings here: https://loyaltoyoualways.com/news/kosher-dining/

Hope you get somewhere good! It's really easy for RC to refund everyone for Labadee excursions, so I think it's fine for them to sell them just in case. I'm not really into beaches, so I'd be thrilled to have Labadee substituted (it was a very beautiful beach but I'd rather go somewhere else too).

The plantations I've visited in the Caribbean were different than the ones I visited in the US. In the Caribbean (at least at the plantations I've been to) they are still either working farms, in which case you watch the process of growing and harvesting crops or they highlight the history of the plantation, which includes looking at the buildings where the slaves lived. The highlight on the tours I visited in the Caribbean was not a beautiful colonial home like visiting a plantation in the American South, so I personally found the Caribbean plantation tours to be less concerning (you are still visiting a place where people suffered, died and probably are buried) but it felt less concerning in the sense that we weren't admiring the wealth of the people profiting from slavery. When I visited the plantations in America (like Monticello) you are admiring the beauty of a building built by the slaveowners. Among some circles in the US, it has become controversial to hold events/weddings at historic plantations in the south. It's possible there are Caribbean plantations that are primarily about the beauty of things built by the owners, but I wouldn't know since I travel with kids and plantations aren't our first choice of excursions so I've only been to a few which either highlighted how you grow and harvest crops or didn't leave behind beautiful historic buildings.

Totally understandable to be upset to lose Bergen. Olden was one of my 3 favorite ports, and it has both the Loen Skylift and Briskdal Glacier. Flam and Geiranger were also 2 of my other favorite stops so it's really up to you if you want to switch to Celebrity (our day in Bergen was what the port staff described as one of the worst weather days they'd ever seen, so we really couldn't get much of an appreciation of it so I can't really help with Olden vs Bergen. Everyone else really seems to love Bergen though)

Amber Cove has Monkeyland right in the port. Further away, there is a larger monkey land and also Ocean World. Bermuda has a nice zoo. If you like, you can arrange a private tour at feeding time to get closer to the animals. The public buses are completely safe in Bermuda, and the kids might also like the public ferry In Nassau, you can research if you want to choose Atlantis (very large, sometimes very crowded water park hotel complex). The Atlantis is cheaper if you purchase directly.

I don't know the OP's situation, but my children's four grandparents perspective is "I worked hard my whole life and now is my time to enjoy myself." They like visiting, but absolutely do not want the responsibility or work required to take care of a child for a week or two so the parents can get a break. We didn't take trips until our children were a minimum of 2 years old, and only cruise because the daycare is the only way we could survive travel with small children. The upside of cruising that we were able to take much more significant trips with our children than if we had gone to all inclusive resorts (my 3 year old loved St. Petersburg, and we were really grateful to have gotten there while we could, and for the daycare we brought our son to the second we returned to the ship).

I'm not familiar with the ports of the longer cruises that travel to the north since I took a 7 day cruise to the heritage fjords. But if you are looking to see the heritage fjords, Olden, Flam and Geiranger were my three favorite ports. Olden has both the Loen Skylift and Briskdal Glacier (if you have a longer port day you can visit both), Flam has the Flam railroad (just buy tickets independently in advance) and Geirenger has many lovely viewpoints and a spectacular sail in.

I usually purchase non-cruise line travel insurance. If something like this happened, I'm sure the cruise would be reimbursed, but what happens about the hotels? How much of an obligation does a passenger have to try to limit costs or can they just check into the four seasons and call it a vacation (I'm sure that's not going to be reimbursed but what level of hotel would at the last minute?) I would imagine your first call would be to your trip insurance hotline, but does anyone know how something like this is handled halfway around the world?

The NCL Haven has a very strong reputation. But please read the CC reviews on the Breakaway (or whichever ship you are considering booking) prior to booking because the NCL CC reviews raise concerns recently: https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-breakaway/reviews?LoginEnabled=true If you are sailing primarily for itinerary, please note the following issue that comes up with itineraries being changed after final payment for nonemergency reasons like helping the environment:

This is also the policy on Cunard. I can't remember if the kids clubs are closed when the ship is in port, but you cannot leave the children behind in the kids club and go on tour. Also, parents should note that NCL's kids club hours are currently set by each individual ship (there used to be consistent hours fleet wide): "Opening hours on Sea Days and Port Days while the ship is sailing are posted onboard the ship or via the Freestyle Daily."

In the Dominican Republic, the private tour operators were so used to NCL cancelling tours there that they led their introductory emails by touting their generous refund policies. It was the first time I'd ever seen private tour operators do that, and at the time I thought it was really weird. Then I read about the cancellations on these forums. Then NCL informed us after final payment. It's helpful to keep an eye on other sources because sometimes you get more information from them, and that might let you switch or cancel if you can find out before final payment.

Tivoli and the canal tour were my son's favorite parts of Copenhagen (but he was only 3 so it is. a little different)

Cruisetimetables lets you search by port and will show all the ships in roatan

So sorry about that! That is a really good point, plus you need to worry about what to do if people in the other group are late. We actually also do private tours for just our family because we have three kids (youngest is 5) and don't want to ruin anyone else's tour if our kids hit their limit.

Unless it is personally significant to you, I'd recommend skipping Mary's house (our tour guide described this as allegedly Mary's house). I'd also recommend skipping the rug factory, especially if you are short on time. Talk to the private guides about your port time and see if they can make it work. IF you are really nervous about time, you can book a private tour for just your family. Those tours you control the itinerary and can go back to the ship whenever you feel safe and don't need to wait for the group or tour guide to be ready to leave (I've done a lot of private t ours and whenever we say "thanks its been a great tour we'd like to go back to the ship now" they are happy to bring us back right away. Or you can post on your roll call looking for other people who are similarly concerned about time to agree on a short tour that ends at a specific time. Good luck!

We were on a private tour in Roatan, and our tour guide told us he used to work on a cruise ship. The ship stopped in Roatan, he went home and decided he no longer wanted to work for the cruise line. The government said the ship couldn't sail without him. Even though he was a citizen of Honduras, they wouldn't let the ship leave without everyone who sailed in. The cruise line had to send someone to his house and have him sign forms documenting that he quit his job, and then they were allowed to leave. He says he. is banned for life from employment on all Carnival brand cruises I have no idea if Honduras doesn't let passengers fly in, but it might be possible if NCL is saying they can't transport passengers there. Never mind - just saw the above poster who noted their brother in law flew into Roatan. And I would hope a ship would be held for an hour or two if it is possible, but it isn't always possible. There are a lot of reasons why the NCL captain might have been required to sail immediately, so that has to be the captain's call.

The whole debate over the phone call is ridiculous. Everyone on private excursions needs to return to the ship on time. You can't just call the ship and ask them to wait. It's fine to call the port agent and notify them of how far away you are, and they will relay that information to the captain and if you get lucky the ship will wait. If the ship needs to leave, it will leave. It's your responsibility to get back on time or else you can figure out how to get to the next port or get home. When my son was 3, we took a cruise to Guatemala. There are very few cruises that stop in Guatemala despite the fact that it was really beautiful because the port fees are very high. So there aren't a lot of private tour companies (at least not 10 years ago when I went). The private tour operator with the best reviews also had one review that stated the reviewer had been on a private tour with the HAL captain's wife and children. The private tour operator was running late, and kept telling the worried passengers "everything is fine I've never missed a ship". On the Ryndam, the captain announced to all the passengers that his wife and children were on a late tour, and they could wait a half hour for them but after that they'd need to leave. Thankfully they returned within the half hour and the wife and children were able to board. Normally I wouldn't have booked with them, but since there were very few options I booked a private tour for just my family because I knew on a private tour we could tell them "thanks we had a great tour. Our son wants to go take a nap - could you take up back now" and they would return us to the ship immediately. And thankfully we didn't have any trouble returning because we had the private tour and they took us back when we asked to go. On my first cruise, I was on a private group tour in Belize. We were going cave tubing, and then visiting the Belize zoo. The cruise tour operator had put us together with a. family with two children. We were on time for our tour, but the family was late. We waited 40 minutes in the port for them, and then the tour operator sent us to the cave tubing with a different private tour group. When we finished the cave tubing, the other family still wasn't there so we waited more in the parking lot. By the time the family arrived and we headed off to the zoo, we were running late. The tour operator kept assuring us that he was calling the Carnival tour guides to find out where they were because as long as we got back before the ship tours we would be fine. We arrived late (but before all the ship tours returned) and were able to reboard without a problem. But if the ship had left without us, that wouldn't have been Carnival's fault. It would have primarily been the fault of our private tour operator, and also the other family that started late and we still had some responsibility since we could have insisted on joining another group going straight back to the ship from the cave tubing instead of going to the zoo when it was starting to get late (I didn't realize how long it would take to go to the zoo, or else I wouldn't have cut it that close). But none of this was Carnival's fault and they didn't have to hold the ship for us (which I'm sure they didn't since there were still ship tours arriving after us). I do feel sorry for them and I hope ships wait when they can, but understand that the ship needs to leave whenever they need to leave and this is the risk we run when we choose private tours. Now that I am traveling with kids, we get private tours for just our family and haven't had any issues since we aren't depending on any other passengers in our group being on time and we can always ask to go back immediately if we start to run late.

While it is a fair point that people who sail primarily for itinerary are taking a risk on any cruise line because there can be weather or safety emergencies that can cancel ports, the fact remains that for many elderly travelers, travelers with disabilities or parents with small children, cruising is one of the few affordable ways they can still be able to travel. My family uses cruise ships simply as a hotel and restaurant, and as a result, we were able to take my son on a Baltic cruise when he was 3. He was able to see all the major museums of St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm on that trip, which isn't an experience we could have replicated through any other means of travel. The second we reboarded the ship we put our son in the kids club and rested because it was a really exhausting (but wonderful) trip. And if we hadn't done this when he was 3 (that was the first year Russia threatened the Ukraine) I have no idea if we could have ever experienced the beauty of St. Petersburg. On my Alaskan cruise, there was a woman who was flying alone on my helicopter to play with puppies on a glacier. I asked her if her husband had been put on a different helicopter, and she explained that she had cancer and they couldn't afford to both go but flying to a glacier was her lifelong dream. I asked her how the cruise was going, and she told me it was exhausting but she rested whenever she was back on the ship and on sea days. I know the advice is given to only travel to places by land if you really want to see them, but that isn't feasible for all travelers. Those travelers need to be aware that there's no guarantee of seeing every port (on other lines there could be mechanical problems with the ship, weather issues or problems with safety) which travelers should understand. But I don't think anyone should have to understand NCL making changes after final payment unless there was an emergency they couldn't have anticipated.

I don't know how helpful it is with norovirus, but whenever my family gets hit with the stomach bug zofran has been really helpful. We have an online pharmacy write us a prescription before cruises and take some medication with us since its been helpful for us in the past.

As long as you make the reservations ahead of time or shortly after boarding, you can eat anywhere. Passengers who were not aware of the need to make advance reservations have limited options because the venues eventually book up.