B4May

We just got off of Splendor and had a spa cabin. We where offered 20-25% off packages compared to the 10 to 15% off first day booking pacakge.

 

The aroma therapy room also broke our first two days out, so the Cload 9 spa employees gave us the Resort room for free twice. Plus our stateroom steward have us a $50 coupon to the spa after tipping him.

 

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That's good to know - thank you! Did you tip your steward at the beginning of the cruise, or halfway? I usually wait until the last day, but that's definitely an incentive to tip earlier!

I would love to know this as well! We're sailing in a spa balcony on the Dream in February.

Just got off a Princess 15 night cruise. Only 35 kids from infant to 17 onboard. - it was lovely and my two twelve year olds were fine hanging out with me.

Ahhhhh, a 15 night cruise sounds amazing! It would be so fantastic if our spring breaks lasted that long here.

We really enjoy HAL and Princess with our kids. Not nearly as many "gimmicks" onboard, but you don't get the spring break college crowd either. Disney is our favorite, but if you think Carnival is expensive I wouldn't recommend pricing out a DCL cruise. ;0

No kidding! We looked at a Disney Cruise for this year but I just couldn't stomach paying twice as much. [emoji38][emoji857]

Thanks, I will look into those other two.

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Unless it's a 3-4 nighter, you will NOT have lone college aged kids onboard....they simply can't afford it! And, there are age limits to cruising without "adults"....

"Spring break" runs from the end of March to May....it's not just a 1 week thing. You will find more FAMILIES than lone college kids. I wouldn't worry about it.

Well this last week-long spring break Norwegian cruise we just went on had upwards of 250 college kids, maybe more. 4 to an inside room and all the free drinks you can handle makes it pretty darn affordable.

Which lines have those age limit rules? I assume "adult" means over 18 so that likely wouldn't help.

I'm wondering if we just need to avoid the month of March altogether, since that's when most colleges are out.

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Have you found one cruise line better than others in terms of the amount of college kids on a spring break cruise? We have cruised both Carnival and Norwegian on spring break and by far, Norwegian had more spring breakers and rowdier crowds, because of the free UBP promotion. We'd like to continue cruising on spring break because of school schedules but it was annoying enough this last trip to make us consider other times and taking my older son out of school. Carnival wasn't as bad, but I'm finding it to be more expensive than Norwegian, at least during spring break next year. I'd love to hear if anyone has had a better experience with another line!

Thank you so much for such a wonderful review. We are going in 17 days to the Dawn with our 2 young daughters (almost 4 and almost 2). I have been super nervous about bringing them and have them jump over board or something. It seems to me, based on your review that, that is not the case, so that makes me feel so much better! We are going with another couple whose baby just turned 1. Sadly, we are aware that our youngest ones wont have a place to be supervised other than by ourselves. Quick question in regards of transportation to the port. Did you bring your own car seat? Did you just store it somewhere in the cabin? I've been looking for someone who can have car seats available so that we don't have to bring them but haven't have any luck on that yet :( Also, thank you for posting about the kids pool. So, I read that kids can't enter the pool even with "swimming diapers". Does that mean that my almost 2 year old couldn't enjoy the pool? Is there a bathroom near by the kiddie pool? My oldest is potty trained but sometimes she discovers too late that she needs to use the potty. Again, thank you so much for your review. I will be writing down places to go based on your review. Have a wonderful day!

I totally understand your fears! I felt the same before our first cruise, when my older son was 4. Rest assured that nearly all the public deck areas are glassed in so I feel like it would be incredibly hard for someone to fall overboard accidentally. A person would have to be really trying or doing something very stupid for that to happen.

Transportation is tricky with young kids. We were mostly in vans, trams, or buses in port so car seats wouldn't work anyway - you basically just have to hold the little ones on your lap. We did have to take a regular cab once, back from Chankanaab, so I just sat in the back with the kids and hoped for the best. Not ideal but I feel like with travel, sometimes you just have to make it work. :o

It is posted that no swim diapers are allowed, but it isn't enforced at all. (Not on Carnival either, BTW.) We definitely saw several other toddlers and even babies in and around the pools. We personally used reusable swim diapers for our youngest as I feel they are better at containing than disposables, and kept an eye on his "schedule" so-to-speak so there was minimal chance of an accident. The littlest ones were only in the few inches of water where the toddler slide is, playing on the wet deck (everything is wet in the kids pool area) and in the hot tub a little bit so I felt like it was pretty easy to keep an eye on things. There is a restroom in the kids pool area if you need to make a mad dash. :D No incidents that I know of from anyone on our whole trip. I'm pretty sure there was a lot more grossness from those college spring breakers than from any of the kids on our ship! :eek:

Enjoy your cruise, I know you'll have a great time!

Thanks for your review. We loved Costa Maya too. I'm so glad you had a good trip. I'm reminded to watch out for spring break dates. Yeesh.

Thanks again.

Yes, if you can avoid it, I would! We've found the rates are generally cheaper before or after anyway. :D

What site are you using to store pictures for posting?

I used the Cruise Critic app and it lets you upload 6 pictures per post. :)

Hello, great review. This answers most of my questions as about our kids, we are on the Dawn April 9th with our 2 boys (8 and 4). First time for them on a cruise.

 

Couple of questions:

1. Did your kids make friends at the Splash Academy?

2. In the kids pool, any issues with bigger kids "taking over" the pool area?

3. Any other tips for things to do on the ship/off the ship with the boys?

 

We are really looking forward to the trip. Thanks for the review.

You'll have a great time! I really think there's no better vacation with kids than a cruise.

They did make lots of friends! You tend to see the same people at drop offs and pick ups so it's easy to chat with the parents too. In fact, this last trip my older son really hit it off with another boy his same age and we ended up running into them at 3 out of 4 ports! They had a blast playing together and it was great for us parents as well.

We did not see big kids (12+) in the kids pool area at all. Like I said, I think it really only appeals to those around 10 and under and it's all enclosed (another great feature I forgot to mention - kids can't escape! The door handles are up high at the top of the glass door to get in and out of the kids pool area). I mostly saw big kids running around the ship, in the main pool, at the sports court, in the teen club, etc.

I think the only other thing I didn't mention is the arcade, directly across from kids club, but we mostly stayed out of there because that gets pricey quick!

The shuttle that will take you to Mahahual for $3 pp - can you use US dollars or must it be pesos? Was it safe enough on the shuttle that you would go alone?

Yes, US dollars and you buy tickets right there in the port shopping area - there is a stand at the far end after you walk through the entire mall. We felt totally safe, it was an open air tram with a thatched roof and they had tons of them. Each one was full of passengers before it took off and there was another right behind it to load up. They explain the three stops to you when you buy tickets. The shuttle is only one way, so you have to catch a cab back to the pier. That was $2 pp and the driver was super friendly. It's a beautiful place!

Love your review! We'll be on the Pearl NEXT spring break and I hadn't thought about all the college kids on spring break as well... that could get tricky. Good to know beforehand though. And now I'm extra extra glad I canceled my original booking of two oceanviews just down from o'sheehans and upgraded to the 2 bedroom suite. We will have the same itinerary though so I loved seeing what all you did at each port!

I was JUST looking at the Pearl for next spring break. :D Despite what I said about not going again on spring break, we have some more friends who'd like to join us next year and can only go during spring break. It's a lot to consider but if we do, I'll definitely get a balcony. I've avoided it in the past because it made me nervous with small kids, but on spring break with the free UBP, it would be worth it for the peace. Maybe we can start petitioning NCL to institute an age limit on the UBP? I'm sure not likely to happen...:')

Wait, one more pic to show the hilarious tiny loungers. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Ok, now I'm done! [emoji16]

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Around the ship -

Lastly, I'll finish up with some pics and our favorite places around the ship.

The kids loved the T Rex kids pool area. There were a few different slides, two for bigger kids and one for toddlers, and a main pool with rotating water jets. There was also a kids hot tub which was a welcome addition for the kids and parents as every other hot tub on the ship was filled to capacity with college kids. I would say this area overall was geared toward the 10 and under set. It wasn't ever crowded either so we spent a lot of time here.

What was a bit odd was that there are no adult sized chairs in this area. Just kid chairs and kid sized loungers. Guess they expected lots of kid sunbathers? [emoji23] Obviously wasn't designed by a parent.

We did really like the design of the tiered pool deck overlooking the main pool with the Bimini Bar at the top. A great use of space.

My favorite kind of hidden spot were the loungers on Deck 13 in the front of the ship. It was away from the action and a great place to read or just hang out in the evenings. There's also a hidden hot tub up there but I never did get in it.

We liked the additional shuffleboard courts on Deck 7, just outside the shops. Not nearly as busy as the ones up in the sports area.

Our kids also enjoyed the view from the helicopter pad on the aft part of the ship behind the basketball court. It was a nice open space to let them run around a bit also.

I think that covers the highlights. We had a wonderful time on the Dawn and I'm sure you will too!

Kids pool

Toddler slide

Kids hot tub

The bigger slides at kids pool

Tiered decks at the main pool

Shuffle board on Deck 7

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We just did this same itinerary and did excursions in Cozumel & Roatan. You definitely don't need one in Harvest Caye - it's just a short walk to the huge pool and beach. You don't need one in Costa Maya either - there's a shuttle that will take you to Mahahual for $3 pp for a gorgeous public beach or there is a nice pool, restaurants and shopping right there at the pier. I'd strongly recommend going into Mahahual though - it was our favorite stop of the whole trip!

In Roatan, I'd book something - there weren't any beaches within walking distance that I could see. It was a 5 minute walk to downtown for shopping if you want to do that.

Cozumel has TONS of choices so you could go either way there. I think you have to take a cab to any beach from the pier though - I didn't see any within walking distance.

Entertainment -

We caught the magic show with the kids, and Second City without them. The little ones really loved the magic show and it was impressive enough to hold the adults' attention as well. The magician and his assistant did a Q&A session in Bliss one afternoon later in the week that we attended as well. He taught a few simple magic tricks with rubber bands and the kids just ate it up.

Second City was hilarious. They did a great job with both pre-written sketch and improv. The 9pm "family friendly" show was packed too so get there early if you want to good seat. We really wanted to see their adult show later in the week but it started at 10pm and the complimentary part of kids club closed at 10:30. One more reason this cruise wasn't very accommodating to those traveling with kids....

We spent a little time in the casino, pretty standard. Lots of penny slots. There was a pretty good singer at Gatsby's several nights, mostly soft rock like James Taylor and the Eagles.

The pool area was crazy loud and full of raucous spring breakers so we never stayed there to hear the band.

We talked with another guest who had been on the Dawn before not during spring break and he felt like they had changed the schedule to cater to the college crowd. I didn't have anything to compare it to but I could see what he meant - booty shaking contests at the pool, late starts to several things...[emoji849]

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A couple more pics from Costa Maya

The aerialists at the pier

Hanging upside down, crazy people

The pool at the pier

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Ports - Costa Maya

This is the port I was most nervous about - I didn't find much info about it and being the last stop I was afraid to prebook anything in case the kids were too worn out.

Funny thing is, this turned out to be my favorite day of the whole trip! And that's saying a lot because each of our port days were awesome.

We headed off the ship and meandered through the shopping area until we found the $3 shuttle to take us into Mahahual. We watched some crazy aerialists climb a huge pole and fling themselves around on ropes, which was fun. I thought about staying at that pool right there at the pier because kids are always happy with a pool but I am SO glad we didn't.

We got on the shuttle and rode it to the last stop and planned to meander down the malecon until we found somewhere to stop. The beaches here are phenomenal! Clear water and virtually waveless, because of the natural barrier reef that protects the entire length of the malecon (boardwalk in Spanish). Shallow for ways out from shore so perfect for kids. Mahahual is much more real Mexico, not all touristy like Cozumel or Cancun, and I loved that about it.

We didn't make it very far before stumbling upon the Nacional Beach Club. We found some open padded loungers under a natural wood shade canopy right near the water. A nice stretch of uncrowded beach. The guys went up to the bar, with its awesome swinging barstools and ran into the owner, an American guy about our age. He was super nice and chatted with them a long while. He normally reserves his loungers for hotel guests but he said they weren't full so we were welcome to hang out. It was perfect! Bar service was fantastic, beer was cheap and I had the absolute best fresh margarita I've ever tasted!

The kids played in the ocean, we relaxed on the loungers or in the water hammocks. We walked a few steps up to the malecon and got the most glorious beachside massages for $15. It was the perfect day! I'm seriously so in love with this place that I want to move here.

I wished we had more time to stroll the malecon, shop, get dinner and just see more of the area. But we will certainly be back!

Nacional Beach Club & the fantastic massage ladies

The beautiful view from our loungers

Water hammocks

The bar right off the malecon

Loungers on the beach, we were there in the middle

The best margarita ever!!!!!

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Great suggestion about over 25 only being able to purchase the drink package. This part of our review shouldn't affect any others cruising as they won't be on spring break - but here is my group's take on it. First time cruisers, unfortunately, we could only do SB. I chose Norwegian trying to avoid most of the college crowd - but didn't think about the UBP luring them from Carnival to Norwegian. So, with that being said - there was throw up in the hallway that I witnessed, college kids who were wasted the entire 7 days (hey, I guess it is their vacation) but here's what I wish - I wish that when they were so drunk that they couldn't stand that the bars would actually cut them off until they got more sober. I realize they weren't driving, etc but the spilled drinks, the yelling all the time, etc kept me in my cabin most of the time on board. Luckily I had a balcony and so that was great, I spent hours and hours in peace there. I actually spent 10 minutes on the deck of the ship the entire time I was on the ship. I feel for those who had small kids who wanted to enjoy being out there for the pool, etc.

Oh no! I'm curious what deck you were on? We didn't have any on deck 12 but I was talking with another mom who was there with a big family group and her brother was on deck 5. She said it was a mess down there, all spring breakers, loud, etc.

I agree about the big pool - if I had older kids like preteen or high school, I would have been really mad as the college kids completely took over the pool and every hot tub there all day long. With younger kids, we had no trouble back in the kids pool area.

That being said, my hubs and I already decided we won't be cruising on spring break again. We're planning next year to just go during a short school break and take our older son out of school for an extra day or two.

I recognize you from our trip as I was admiring your little ones hair! Can't wait to read your review and chime in as well - hope you don't mind. :).

Ha, that hair of his is a spectacle wherever we go. :') I don't mind at all, I would love to hear your experience as well!

Bar tips -

Since we're on the topic of drinks, a few more bar tips we discovered...

We had a TON of college spring breakers on this cruise. Way more than on our last Carnival spring break cruise. Obviously because of NCLs promotion with the free UBP. The cranky old lady in me wishes NCL would limit that promo to those over 25. But for the most part they were well behaved and didn't affect us....except when it came to lines at the bar. :rolleyes:

The Bliss bar is open early most days and there was hardly anyone there during the day - just people playing bingo. Much easier to grab a drink there on the way to wherever we were going. Also, the younger crowd mostly avoided Gatsby's so we'd head there for drinks as well.

Lastly, you can get drinks at any of the specialty restaurant bars even if you aren't eating there. And some have specialty drinks only available there. We had plans to try and hit each one once, but we really liked the bartender Benny at Los Lobos so we mostly went there. And it's just down the stairs from the kids club - double bonus. Get the Luna Margarita, you won't regret it! ;)

We sailed on the Dawn the week March 4 - 12. We had the same problem off loading our luggage, parking and getting through the terminal. Getting off, our porter took the luggage to the car. That was a breeze. We also agree the ship looks great. We had UDP and Dinning. Food was very good. I found if you tip the bar staff a little extra you can get the top shelf stuff. Overall we had a great time.

We did self debarkation since we needed to get on the road home early so we schlepped our bags ourselves, but I agree - getting off was so much smoother than getting on! That part only took us about 20 minutes.

Good tip about the drinks! Though I wasn't really missing anything with the UBP - the pre-made drinks seemed weak but if you asked them to make anything else, we only experienced very strong pours. I had to ask for more coke in one rum and coke I ordered. :o

Ports - Harvest Caye

This port was so beautiful! Since it just opened late last fall, everything is shiny and new. We took our time and got off the ship around 10. The kids wanted to get in that huge awesome pool immediately and we had no trouble finding loungers right next to the zero entry side, which was perfect for our group with the little ones.

The four of us adults took turns exploring the rest of the island while the others watched the kids swim. It seemed like there was something for everyone - shopping, zip lining, restaurants and nature exhibits for those who don't want to swim, water sports, beach cabanas, a kids splash park, and maybe even more we didn't see....

The kids would not budge so we ordered lunch by the pool from the Landshark Grill. It was OK and fairly overpriced but we expected that. The UBP does not include this port but I knew that going in. We spent around $65 total for drinks and food, not too bad for the day. That included alcoholic drinks for the hubs and myself.

After lunch we finally got the kids to move to the beach and splash park. My only complaint about the entire island was the quality of the sand. I'd read this in another review before we got there and I thought it was just someone being sensitive but no, it really is so coarse that it hurts your feet after awhile. I did notice as we walked the length of the beach they must have brought in some sand from elsewhere because it's much finer towards the middle of the beach and coarse near the edges. So keep that in mind when choosing loungers! Or maybe plan to wear water shoes. It didn't seem to bother our kids one bit though.

Speaking of loungers, there were always plenty available especially if you keep walking down towards the cabanas. And plenty in the pool area also. Could be because we were on one of the smaller ships, but nothing here ever felt crowded to us.

Rain set in during the afternoon so we headed back earlier than we would have liked. I'd definitely visit this port again!

Zero entry at the pool

The beach

Splash park

The pier

Zipline over the beach

The lagoon for kayak, SUP, boat rentals

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We were on this sailing too! I also have an 8 year old so I'm sure they met each other in kids club. :) Glad you had a much better embarkation experience than us - the suite perks make a huge difference there!

I'm curious what time did you arrive at the Terminal? We're boarding the Dawn in two weeks, and are staying 2 blocks away. Just trying to plan what time we'll head down to check in.

 

Thanks for your review!:D

Happy to help! :D

Our assigned time was 10:30-11am and we got there around 11. If I had it to do over, I'd choose a later time. Would much rather get on the boat a little later than stand in a long line, especially with kids!