Under 2 on NCL?

[agridealer]

Anyone taken a cruise with the under 2 year crowd on NCL recently? We are going on the Jewel, and were wondering what to expect as far as crib or pack n play, etc.

 

Thanks!

[katondeck]

We were on the Sun on 01/15 with our 10 month old. The crib was one of the white metal ones that you get in most hotels. It was in good condition. I was happy that we got a crib set up with proper blankets and sheets for a crib. The staff was very nice to her. We stayed with the same wait staff for most of the week and they brought her kids meals and vanilla ice cream (hey, she was on vacation too, and she is not getting that stuff at home:)). No baby sitting services or anything, but since we only had to pay port charges the service we got was great.

 

I did leave an extra tip for people that helped her(stateroom and wait staff), I am bothered that the "suggested tipping" is only for over the age of three. I could not believe how good my DD roled with the punches on the cruise, but she still is more work than having just two people in a stateroom. Sorry - off my soap box now.

[JessLCH]

When we sailed on Dawn with my daughter we got a metal portacrib but they sometimes use pack n plays too. I always bring my own crib ad pack n play sheets and blankets. I have never gotten the proper sheets for a crib on a cruise. They have always just folded up a regular bedsheet.

 

NCL is an extremebly family firendly line. I would recommend it for little ones any time. We are sailing Dawn again in May. My daughter will be 3.5 and it will be her 4th cruise and my 6 month old son's first.

[HLP]

We brought our 9 month old on the Sun this Christmas.

They provided a portable crib. with matching sheets and blanket all very nice. However knowing NCL this could be

different from ship to ship. The crew and NCL is very kid friendly. Most of the crew have young children at home so they will fuss over your little one whenever they have the chance. Let me take the other side of the coin and say I

believe that you will have a better time on the cruise if you could leave your little one home with relatives. My wife wanted to do this but I couldnt bare to do it. She was right.

Dinner in the dinning rooms was always a stress situation.

She just couldn't sit threw a dinner. We never made any of the shows for the same reason. Could not do the casino.

Just wasnt a quiet moment to ourselfs. When she napped one of us always stayed in the room. Now, my son who is 4

just couldnt wait to go into the kids program so we never

had to worry about him. Now all this depends on the behavior of your child , you know your child best. But if he

or she is closer to the 2 range it maybe better. If 6 to12 mo

I think it would be more difficult. My daughter wasnt that

bad before the trip but she became worse while on the trip from always being held and fussed over by everyone. I know you probably made up your mind like me, but I just

wanted to prepare you for what might happen.

 

HLP

[agridealer]

Thanks for the tips. Just out of curiousity, does more cruising experience w/o kids make a difference as far as each of your opinions on whether to cruise with or without the youngsters?

[dosi]

We have always cruised with our little boy who is now almost 5 so I have no idea what it is like to cruise with just DH. However I can tell you that when my son was smaller we did a lot of tag team parenting. One would see a show one night and the other the next night. It wasn't exactly the same as going together, but we got to see the show. Also if I remember correctly we did have to get some partial meals wrapped up to go if Timmy got too restless. We always eat at the same time as we do at home though and while he was still napping I would strictly adhere to his regular schedule. That made things go a lot easier. :)

[agridealer]

Here's my take on how this will work - hopefully. Since we are sailing with my parents, as well as sister, BIL, and their under 2, we will have ample hands to take care of the kiddies. Plus, we've all traveled together, without the kids, on 9 cruises, so have a pretty good idea of what we like, etc. For example, shows? Won't miss 'em. Our priorities are sunning, sleeping, reading, and DRINKING. I think the kids will fit into our scheme just fine. Thanks for the tips!

[Kuffam]

We just got back from a 7 day cruise on the Pride of Aloha with my 4 yr. and 19 months. I'm sad to say I wished we waited. My 4 yr old was great and LOVED the Kids Program. My 19 mos. was a HANDFULL! POA provided a Pack-n-play (like the one have), sad to say my son figured out how to climb out of it. Plus there wasn't too much for him to do except run up and down the halls and ride the elevator. We did set him up with a bucket, cups, and water toys by the splash pool (which he couldn't go in). We did see some people with kids under 1 and they did better.

[HLP]

Kuffam,

 

I had pretty much the same experience you did. I think I

will wait until my daughter hits 3 so she can go into the kids program before we do any more cruising.

 

Agridealer,

 

I have only cruised with my family so I dont have any experience cruising without them. I should have learned my lesson after cruising with my son,but I didnt.

I think having other family members and friends cruising with you will make a world of difference. We had no one to help with her so we pretty much missed alot. You should be fine. Good luck

 

HLP

[katondeck]

We had a great time. I had cruised three times before, so I had a clue, but I had never cruised on NCL. I went to a couple of the shows, my little one loved the music, but the shows were not great, just okay, so the ones I missed were not a big deal.

 

She would nap in her stroller, so we could bring her whereever. She slept through the "Name that Tune" game. We could sit out on the deck with her sun shade up and a blanket wrapped around her stoller so she did not get any sun. We just stayed away from the band because of the noise.

 

She also sat through dinner like she was in a nice restaurant every day of her life. She ate things off our plates, the servers brought her ice cream and such - it was wonderful. If she had not liked it, I would have eaten at the buffet. Yes, she loved all the attention but her behavior has not changed since we have been home.

 

We had a great beach day in Roatan. After my experience I can not imagine going anywhere without her. I think she dealt with the flight delays and being stuck in the airport for hours better than any of the adults did.

 

It sounds like you have a great group of people going and you can "kid trade" to have some alone time. My ILs came with us. Next time I think I would bring one of my nieces with us.

 

There were several babies on our cruise most of them did very well. A couple were not happy half way through dinner, so one of the adults left with them. The dining room would pack up a meal or dessert you could have in your cabin or out on deck for that matter.

 

You are not home, you are not cooking or cleaning or doing any of the other things you need to do to keep home running. NCL was not my favorite cruise line but vacationing with my baby was a wonderful experience.

[JessLCH]

I think it really depends on your expectations. We knew we wouldn't have time alone when my husband and I cruised with my daughter when she was 18 months old on Dawn. We still had a great time on a family vacation. We have also taken cruises with her with extended family when they were able to help out a bit too which was nice. Still, cruising with kids is an entirely different experience than without. We expected that and had a great time. We aren't into cruise ship shows and enjoyed spending time on the balcony hanging out with each oher in the evenings while my daughter slept. During the day, we did kid friendly excursions.