travelhound

Breakaway has different family rooms than other NCL ships. Usually "family" means it's near the kids club, but on BA, that OV family room is awesome and huge - with a bathtub. I haven't stayed in it, but considered getting it over a balcony. It was actually more expensive than a balcony room. We've put a pnp in an inside room (albeit squishy), so I'm sure it would fit.

Tggrtoes said many of the same things I was going to say. We have taken our three year old dd on three cruises so far and I've noticed that she just likes to do what we are doing. Of course she loves the beach, but I think the water is too cold in CA for a good beach day in Sept.

The biggest hurdle will be how to get to the destinations if you're not on a tour. Car/cab/car seat, etc.

San Fran: I agree with Pier 39 and the seals. Also you can get to the cable car there and make on run on it. Not sure where the ships dock there, but I would think there are tours to get you from the ship to the pier.

Catalina: Semi-sub or glass bottom boat tour. We did a glass bottom boat there and saw a shark swimming in the kelp bed. The town is nice to walk around too or take one of tours that goes around the island. There are no cars, just golf carts, so it's easy to walk around.

SB: We were not there with a kid but went to the mission. It was nice and there was a lot of green space. Maybe too boring and the zoo would be better, but we enjoyed the mission.

LA: I'm assuming you're at the Long Beach pier. The Pike is like the pier in SF and Aquarium of the Pacific isn't too far away either. You could go to the beaches of Orange County (Huntington, Newport, etc) but that would be a bit of a jaunt without a tour. There is also the Queen Mary that is docked. I think that may even be fun for kids, since it's an older version of what they are sailing on now.

Whatever you do, have fun!

It depends on how old the kids are. Actually I think it's worse for older kids because they understand more of what's going on and it's not G-rated.

In June we brought our three year old, who usually loves going to music and dancing shows and I figured she wouldn't get any of the suggestions anyway. She was dancing to the pre-show music, but once the show started, she got bored. I have to agree with her. We saw it (not our three year old) in the theater and it was better. It was a bit slow moving on the BA for some reason. After about 1/2 hr, my dd turned to me and said, "Can we go shopping?" My dh stayed and we left.

For a free show on a cruise ship it's not bad, but I wouldn't pay for it (and you don't have to). The theater is small though and you do need advanced reservation. If you're not in the theater about 10 minutes before show time, they begin letting in the wait line. There is a huge section reserved for the Haven, so seats go fast.

My advice, it's free, you've got it booked, go to it. If you hate it - leave.

We spent all day at Horseshoe Bay and noticed that as the sun moves later in the afternoon, it hits the sand just right to make it look much more pink than it appears in the morning. It is pinker than Caribbean sand, but certainly not candy pink. The texture of the sand is awesome though and really good for making sand castles. :)

I've been on both ship and I'd choose the Breakaway too. Splendor was one of my least favorite cruises (although no cruise is really awful). I'm sure you'd have fun on either, but we were just on the Breakaway in June with our three year old and I can tell you it is fun and easy. You don't even need a cab to get to Horseshoe Bay beach. There is a pink express bus at the end of the pier. Couldn't be easier. Clean, nice, beautiful, great ship, freestyle dining is a plus.

As far as cost goes, if you can swing the extra money, do it. However, keep checking the prices right up until you go. There may be another "kids sail free" promo and you can switch to that or the price may just go down. We booked ours almost a year in advance. The price went down so far that within the final month I was able to upgrade from an inside cabin to a balcony at no extra cost. If it's before final payment you can just get a refund in price. In fact, we're booked on a Caribbean next year that I rebooked during kids sail free and saved almost $500. So, don't book if the extra $1500 won't work for you, but if you'd like to be pleasantly surprised on a lower price, it could happen. Worst case, you pay what you thought you'd pay.

We were on the Breakaway in June and they offered it, however we didn't do it. I had read some reviews of people saying it was really sugary, gross food and a lot of character interaction. If he's not into Dora, I'm not sure it's worth it. Also, I think it's expensive for what it is - parents have to pay too. If my kid was super excited to see the characters I would have considered it, but we have Nick Universe five miles from our house and our dd has seen all of the Nick characters there. Once on board, I was really glad we didn't do it because it was at 9 am on a day we didn't have to be up and ready for anything. I'm sure you'll find some people that loved it, but I think as many have said they wish they hadn't done it.

We were on the Pearl in March and Breakaway in June and chicken fingers are available on the kids menu in the dining rooms and 24hrs a day with room service. Not sure if there were chicken fingers at the buffet - maybe in the kids section. I never looked for them there. Pizza is free in the dining rooms on the kids menu and is like a small personal pizza. In the buffet it's slices. If you order the room service pizza, it's HUGE and $5. You actually can get it delivered anywhere on the ship, not just in your room. Some people think it's horrible, but I thought it was really good - really cheesy.

Also, if you are in the Haven, you should be able to get anything you want, any time. :) I don't think you'll have any problems.

Thank you for sharing your video! I loved to see the children dressed up for dinner. It looks like you had a great time.

We were on the Breakaway in June and although they have a "baby" pool, diapers are not technically allowed. That said, it was almost all diapers in there and even one naked baby! I felt like I was letting my three year old swim in a toilet.

Can you order from Amazon? We had one similar to this on our cruise when our dd was 22 months.

http://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Kirby-Inflatable-Tub/dp/B001MTELJY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407103550&sr=8-2&keywords=blow+up+baby+bathtub

In March she had just turned three and we were staying for a week in FL in a Marriott that I knew only had showers and then on the ship for a week. I figured she'd just have to make it work because she would not have fit in that little tub again and I didn't want to haul it there either. I held her in the shower in the Marriott the first day and used the bucket from the sand toys to rinse her off. She cried the whole time. :( But, the next day she was excited to try it again and was so proud of herself for doing it. By the time we were on the ship she wanted to stay in there longer than I did. On most ships the showers are adjustable in height. I got it just at her height and she loved it. I would be a great place to give it a try and see how she does. If it's a disaster, you'll have the tub.

My dd turned three in March and has been on the Pearl and Breakaway since then. Each time she went to SA once and liked it. She wanted to stay with us and/or we were busy in the port or dining room. It's true they are closed for lunch (12-2) and dinner (5-7) but if you were willing to feed the kids during the 5-7 closure and they went to SA after that, you could go to a specialty restaurant without them. SA is open until for free 10:30 every night with fee hours until 1:00. We didn't want to eat "twice" so we always had our dd with us in the dining room or specialty restaurant.

As far as the potty training goes, they do need to be fully trained as the staff cannot assist them in the bathroom. However, on the Pearl in March I heard the people in front of us say that their son was trained but needed help with pulling his pants up. They gave them a phone and said they would call if he needed to go and required help. The first time I left her there in March, I wasn't sure she would tell someone she just met that she had to go potty, so I went back and asked them to ask her if she had to go. She did and it was fine. So, let them know that they should periodically ask him if he needs to go. Also, you're not going until Feb, so he will be completely different by then (that's a long time in "kid time") and may be able to do it all on his own.

Our dd is three and has been on three NCL cruises so far and we have two more booked with her. It's true that they cannot go in the pool unless they are potty trained. (Not that you won't see the "baby" pool filled with almost all diapered kids, but that's another conversation.) If going in the pool is really important to you, pick RCCL. Her first cruise was at 22 months and then she wasn't trained and we just went in the ocean at the beaches. There were only two sea days and we just avoided the pool area on those days. Her next cruise she was potty trained and we didn't have that restraint.

The big upside for us on NCL is the dining. There are so many options and they are all open seating. Specialty restaurants usually need reservations, but we just started doing those with her on our last trip in June. I know other lines have anytime dining, but we've found that NCL does it the best.

The kids club is 3+ AND potty trained. She started going a couple times on our last two cruises and liked it, but really preferred staying with us. We've never used a babysitter on board because NCL doesn't offer that. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have done it anyway. They do have something called "The Under 2 Zoo" which is child and parent play times. We did that a couple of times when she was 22 months and it was fun. They usually have one or two activities each day such as painting, music activities, etc. There is also a play area with toys for them that you can go in any time - you just have to be with them.

So, it depends on what you want out of the cruise. At 15 months, your daily routine probably won't be that different - it will just be in a smaller room with someone cooking your meals and cleaning your room while you're off playing at the beach. All in all, not a bad deal. :)

The sailaway party is at Spice H20, which is aft upper deck. That was a great place to see everything. I'm sure they do this on every sailing, but port side had the NYFD water canon boat and the NYPD did a helicopter fly over all around the ship. It was a very fun sailaway!

I second the over the door shoe organizers. Since we started traveling with our dd I have brought them and it keeps her shoes and hair pieces organized.

Also, I always bring command stick hooks to put on the wall for semi wet clothes or beach bags. A swimsuit coverup or Tshirt is never going to dry on the bathroom hooks with the door closed and there are usually only a couple of hooks. It helps for drying and keep things off of the floor.

Remember there is usually only one plug-in, so if they all have "devices" you should give them a strip plug.

As pps have said, Friday night around 10:30, port side if you're not on deck.

However, there is a music soundtrack with the fireworks. It goes with a 80s dance party on the back deck, Spice H20. The party begins before the fireworks and goes on afterwards.

They don't really have a splash pad with recirculating water (like some Disney and RCCL) but it's a little wading pool with two slides. My 3 yr old dd loved it, even more than the big pool. On the first day it was a little rough and it made it like a wave pool so the kids could sit or lay down and be pushed in a circle. Because it was rough they didn't have the deeper kid pool open the first day, but they did later. I'm not sure if they'll do this on Getaway or not, but the main pool was designated "adults only" and the deeper pool by the wading pool was for the kids. It was nice for me to be in that pool with her because I could touch the bottom - no treading water the whole time. There is a sign that says no swim diapers in any pool, but there were a lot of them in there. I put a puddle jumper on her when we went in the deeper pool.

We didn't really go to too many evening parties because we always went to the dining room and it usually conflicted. I did notice they had a family deck party one night that was around 8 or 8:30. I'm sure that was fun. The fireworks are late, about 10:30-10:45 and it was an 80s music party. My dh went to bed, but my dd and I went to it. I was really fun. If your kids can stay up that late and they like music, they'd probably like it. We had a problem keeping a schedule with naps because she'd fall asleep after the beach and sleep until six or seven and then not want to go to bed at night. The firework night I had to walk her up at 7:00 to get ready for dinner. Maybe you can control the twins sleep better on vacation, but we were all over the place.

The kids club didn't give us a pager but they asked for the place they thought we would be. We were on the Pearl in March and I did see someone get a "go phone" because even though the boy was trained, they said he couldn't get his clothes off and on alone. They need to be able to go to the bathroom completely independently or they call you to help them. I'm sure that's a liability thing.

In case you didn't notice the hours for the kid's club, they close for lunch from 12-2 and dinner from 5-7, so if you make any reservations for dinner alone, keep that in mind.

Let me know if you have any other questions. We've had been on 28 cruises together before our dd and now three with her. It's a different experience, but really memorable.

You are right. The locks are exactly at their level and really easy to flip. DD thought it was hilarious. I put the finger pinch thing up high when she wasn't looking so she never really figured out why the door wouldn't close all of the way.

We haven't been on Getaway but we were on the Breakaway, which is virtually the same ship so I'm sure Splash Academy is very similar. Our dd was three on our trip in June and she went to the club once. She like it and it seemed that there was a lot for the kids to do. They have a lot of scheduled activities like pirate night, fairytale night, Nick Jr characters etc. In the evenings we always went to the dining room for dinner and by the time that was over she didn't really want to go to the club. Do you have any specific questions?

No Nap Nattie,

If you read my post from June 12th you'll see that I bought an add-a-lock specifically for this cruise, but since the door opened out instead of in, it didn't work. On doors between cabins I would think you could use it from whatever side opens in. I tried it on our doors at home and it worked fine. When we got to the NY hotel, the shape of the "prongs" on the door were triangular and it didn't fit, so I guess it would depend on the door itself. I'm still bringing it with us when we travel, along with some sort of backup. On our cruise in March we had the problem of our dd going in the bathroom and flipping the lock. So on our June cruise I brought the plastic stoppers that slide onto the edge of the door to avoid finger pinches. It also stops the door from closing all of the way. It worked perfectly. It's hard to stay one step ahead of a crafty, determined kid. :)

I'm not an expert on the kids club since my three year old has only spent two days there and they were on seas day. But, seeing that no one answered your question, I'll give it a try.

The kids club is open every day until 10:30 pm with no extra charge. From 10:30 pm - 1:00 am they have group "sitting" for $6/hr.

On sea days they close from 12-2 and 5-7 so you can take the kids to dinner. On port days they are open all of the time and I think you have to pay $6 if they are there during a meal day (they must bring food to the club for them or take them to eat) and there are no check ins or out during the meals time while in port.

Hopefully that helps a little bit.

How horrible! I would have been freaked out too. It seems that if anything can be made hazardous, kids will find a way. I'm glad that the next two ships we're booked on are ships we've been on previously and I know the door open in. I'm hoping I can use the add-a-lock. And those doors are harder to open.

Who puts a stainless slide in any playground anymore? Even plastic ones can get too hot if they're not covered. Didn't the Danish designers ever visit Bermuda before putting this in? We were just there a few weeks ago, before this was opened, and we went to the playground that is near the gate for Snorkel Beach. It has swings, some slide, a climbing castle. The picture for this one doesn't even look that fun.

I would bring it. We have never used it on the ship, but if you're flying, it's invaluable in the airport. I would think it would be handy zoo but you may not want it in any other ports. It's also a nice place to put a backpack or other goodies, even if your ds is walking part of the time. We brought a Maclaren Volo and it easily fit under the bed. As pp said, they get tired out after all of that "vacationing" and you don't want to carry a four year old.

We cruised in March over my dh's birthday, which was our second day. While he was getting coffee that morning, my dd and I decorated the room and door. In the room I hung pop up lantern balls from the ceiling (they're flat and then pop out to be round) as well as a "Happy Birthday" banner on the wall at the end of the bed. For the door I couldn't find a good sign, but found a great large "Happy Birthday" gift bag. I just cut out one side and that was our door sign. We left it up all week and it was really easy for our three year old dd to find our room after that.

Whatever you bring, just remember tape and any string if you need to hang anything from the ceiling. Happy Birthday!

Very good point. I hadn't thought of that. I will think of something "kid proof" - as if there is any such thing.