Back from the Gem 6/9-6/16, family suite Bahamas with small kids Review

[Savaann]

First, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me with all of my questions leading up to our trip. Everything went smoothly with all of the information I got from all of you!! I'd like to share some tips that may help others plan their trip. Of course, it's all my opinion :)

 

We (husband 37, myself 36, daughter 3.5 and son 24 months) stayed in room #11024 which is a 2 bedroom family suite. We had all of the perks of the butler and consierge but not the Haven. It worked well for us! Being under deck 12 made things noisy especially at night time, but I wouldn't say any more noisy than a thunderstorm. Occasionally you hear something (like a deck chair being dragged across the floor) but it didn't bother us or wake up the kids. If you need quiet, this is not the room or floor for you (11 fwd).

 

It was great having access to Cagney's for breakfast in the morning. It was never crowded and the food was served quickly. Only today to disembark it was more crowded. The menu was the same each day for breakfast and lunch. They also would get you anything that you asked for that was being served in the buffet. If you have small kids, it's much easier to head up to Cagney's than fight the crowd at the buffet.

 

Nickelodeon At Sea - On the 1st day at sea, they had a Dora Dance party. It was cute and filled up quickly. There was no photo op at that event. An art and craft followed the dancing. It was spongebob handkerchiefs that you colored in with fabric markers. So if you have small kids and don't want them to ruin their clothes, put them in something you won't mind getting stained.

On Monday (Orlando) they offered the Pajama Jam. This was an additional cost of $15 per person (adults and kids paid the same rate). While my kids had fun, I didn't think this was all that great. When we arrived (early too!) most of the seats were taken. A lot of people had trouble finding a spot to sit down. If you have older kids that can balance a plate on their lap, it probably wouldn't be an issue. For me, having my little guy sit on a bar stool was like trying to hold onto a snake! The breakfast choices I thought were kind of odd. Frosted cupcakes, colored waffles, donuts, pigs in a blanket, whip cream and jellied fruit. They did have fresh fruit available but it wasn't a healthy breakfast. Some kids probably think that is the greatest thing, but I wasn't loving that. Plus my husband and I had to eat it too! If I had known , I would have brought up our own food. While you are eating, there is no entertainment. Then after a while the characters came out. Dora, Diego, Fairly odd Parents, The last Avenger and spongebob, patrick and Sandy. They did a dance routine and then everyone lined up to have their photos taken. The lines were long and moved slowly. My recommendation for Pajama Jam is that unless your children have a lot of patience and really want to see a character, it's something that can be skipped. The only cool part is that you get a cup, a bracelet, bubbles, a wand and each child gets an 8x10 of them with a charecter.

On Thursday (at sea) they had a photo op only with Dora/Diego and the fairly odd parents. Friday was with Spongebob. So if you skip the Pajama Jam, you can still see the characters and just pay for the photos ($20 each). At both events you can take pictures with your own camera also.

There were other arts and crafts and events for older children, but we did not attend those.

 

In Port Canaveral, we went to Seaworld. It takes an hour by bus transfer to get there. We arrived at 1:30 at the park. While we were there, the park closed at 7pm. By 6:30, we had basically done everything but the turtle trek. Until this year next time, the Penguin/Puffin exhibit is closed. They do allow you to bring in your own water and juice etc, just no straws, including those on juice boxes.

 

Great Stirrup Cay - We loved this island! We had priority tender tickets and I think it really made a difference. The 2nd tender was pretty close behind us. If you can manage to get #1,2 or 3 tender tickets, you should be ok if you want to get a good seat or clam shell. By the time the 2nd tender arrived, all the clams were gone. If you can't take the sun, you definitely need to try and get a clam shell ($30/day). They are right by the bar but far from the buffet. Our itinerary said that we would be on the island from 11-6, but we arrived 2 hours early. I'm not sure if that happens all the time or if we just got lucky! There are black flies on the island, so you should have bug spray with you. Especially near the food - tons and tons of flies. You couldn't keep them out of your dish! My recommendation is to bring an extra plate back with you to cover your meal in between bites if flies on your food is something that would bother you. There are tons of rocks in the water. I didn't have my water shoes and recommend that you bring yours! The water was walk in warm :)

 

Nassau - We went to Atantis and did the Aquadventure. This was the perfect excursion for anyone with small water loving kids! Kids and grown ups of all ages with love all of the water features Atlantis offers. There is a lot of walking to get to the pools, so bring your strollers! Food was expensive ($4 for a snapple or gatorade $8 for 8 chicken nuggets). Fountain drinks offered free refills, so that is the better value. You can bring in water and your own food. There were only 2 ships in port while we were there, so we didn't have any trouble getting lounge chairs. They provide you with towels, so it's one less thing you have to carry.

 

The Chocolate Buffet was on Thursday, from 930ish - 11:30pm. Also on Thursday they offered a laundry special - as much as you could fit into the laundry bag for $24.95. Also, the Tree Top Kids club is still taking children ages 2-3 into their program.

 

We had a great time! It's a great itinerary for children. My parents (in their 60's) were in a mini suite and they had a great time also. They skipped the Aquadventure, but cabbed it to Atantis on their own. The taxi's are $4 per person each way to anywhere you want to go.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I'm happy to help. I do have copies of the freestyle dailies and can look anything up for you. I don't know how to post pictures!!

[figgifumi]

We are doing the same trip on the Jewel in December! Great info- thank you!! Did you happen to notice with your little ones at Atlantis is you could go into the lazy river(s) with them? We will be taking our then 22 month old- and she LOVES water.... just wasn't sure what kind of things she could go on with us?

Thanks again!!

[Savaann]

We didn't do the lazy river at Atlantis. We couldn't get the kids out of their little pool! I am pretty sure that they are allowed to go on the lazy river with you. They do have life vests available for little ones at no charge to use at Atlantis. I am not sure if they are available all over the resort, but definitely by the Splashers pool.

 

You are going to have a great time!

[BSR]

First, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me with all of my questions leading up to our trip. Everything went smoothly with all of the information I got from all of you!! I'd like to share some tips that may help others plan their trip. Of course, it's all my opinion :)

 

We (husband 37, myself 36, daughter 3.5 and son 24 months) stayed in room #11024 which is a 2 bedroom family suite. We had all of the perks of the butler and consierge but not the Haven. It worked well for us! Being under deck 12 made things noisy especially at night time, but I wouldn't say any more noisy than a thunderstorm. Occasionally you hear something (like a deck chair being dragged across the floor) but it didn't bother us or wake up the kids. If you need quiet, this is not the room or floor for you (11 fwd).

 

It was great having access to Cagney's for breakfast in the morning. It was never crowded and the food was served quickly. Only today to disembark it was more crowded. The menu was the same each day for breakfast and lunch. They also would get you anything that you asked for that was being served in the buffet. If you have small kids, it's much easier to head up to Cagney's than fight the crowd at the buffet.

 

Nickelodeon At Sea - On the 1st day at sea, they had a Dora Dance party. It was cute and filled up quickly. There was no photo op at that event. An art and craft followed the dancing. It was spongebob handkerchiefs that you colored in with fabric markers. So if you have small kids and don't want them to ruin their clothes, put them in something you won't mind getting stained.

On Monday (Orlando) they offered the Pajama Jam. This was an additional cost of $15 per person (adults and kids paid the same rate). While my kids had fun, I didn't think this was all that great. When we arrived (early too!) most of the seats were taken. A lot of people had trouble finding a spot to sit down. If you have older kids that can balance a plate on their lap, it probably wouldn't be an issue. For me, having my little guy sit on a bar stool was like trying to hold onto a snake! The breakfast choices I thought were kind of odd. Frosted cupcakes, colored waffles, donuts, pigs in a blanket, whip cream and jellied fruit. They did have fresh fruit available but it wasn't a healthy breakfast. Some kids probably think that is the greatest thing, but I wasn't loving that. Plus my husband and I had to eat it too! If I had known , I would have brought up our own food. While you are eating, there is no entertainment. Then after a while the characters came out. Dora, Diego, Fairly odd Parents, The last Avenger and spongebob, patrick and Sandy. They did a dance routine and then everyone lined up to have their photos taken. The lines were long and moved slowly. My recommendation for Pajama Jam is that unless your children have a lot of patience and really want to see a character, it's something that can be skipped. The only cool part is that you get a cup, a bracelet, bubbles, a wand and each child gets an 8x10 of them with a charecter.

On Thursday (at sea) they had a photo op only with Dora/Diego and the fairly odd parents. Friday was with Spongebob. So if you skip the Pajama Jam, you can still see the characters and just pay for the photos ($20 each). At both events you can take pictures with your own camera also.

There were other arts and crafts and events for older children, but we did not attend those.

 

In Port Canaveral, we went to Seaworld. It takes an hour by bus transfer to get there. We arrived at 1:30 at the park. While we were there, the park closed at 7pm. By 6:30, we had basically done everything but the turtle trek. Until this year next time, the Penguin/Puffin exhibit is closed. They do allow you to bring in your own water and juice etc, just no straws, including those on juice boxes.

 

Great Stirrup Cay - We loved this island! We had priority tender tickets and I think it really made a difference. The 2nd tender was pretty close behind us. If you can manage to get #1,2 or 3 tender tickets, you should be ok if you want to get a good seat or clam shell. By the time the 2nd tender arrived, all the clams were gone. If you can't take the sun, you definitely need to try and get a clam shell ($30/day). They are right by the bar but far from the buffet. Our itinerary said that we would be on the island from 11-6, but we arrived 2 hours early. I'm not sure if that happens all the time or if we just got lucky! There are black flies on the island, so you should have bug spray with you. Especially near the food - tons and tons of flies. You couldn't keep them out of your dish! My recommendation is to bring an extra plate back with you to cover your meal in between bites if flies on your food is something that would bother you. There are tons of rocks in the water. I didn't have my water shoes and recommend that you bring yours! The water was walk in warm :)

 

Nassau - We went to Atantis and did the Aquadventure. This was the perfect excursion for anyone with small water loving kids! Kids and grown ups of all ages with love all of the water features Atlantis offers. There is a lot of walking to get to the pools, so bring your strollers! Food was expensive ($4 for a snapple or gatorade $8 for 8 chicken nuggets). Fountain drinks offered free refills, so that is the better value. You can bring in water and your own food. There were only 2 ships in port while we were there, so we didn't have any trouble getting lounge chairs. They provide you with towels, so it's one less thing you have to carry.

 

The Chocolate Buffet was on Thursday, from 930ish - 11:30pm. Also on Thursday they offered a laundry special - as much as you could fit into the laundry bag for $24.95. Also, the Tree Top Kids club is still taking children ages 2-3 into their program.

 

We had a great time! It's a great itinerary for children. My parents (in their 60's) were in a mini suite and they had a great time also. They skipped the Aquadventure, but cabbed it to Atantis on their own. The taxi's are $4 per person each way to anywhere you want to go.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I'm happy to help. I do have copies of the freestyle dailies and can look anything up for you. I don't know how to post pictures!!

 

Did you happen to see any of the shows onboard?

[Savaann]

We saw the World Beats show. We all enjoyed that show a lot. We attempted Donovan and Rebecca but the kids didn't like it and wouldn't sit/be quiet so we left.

[Savaann]

figgifumi ... I visited my cousin yesterday who recently came back from a stay at the Atlantis. She said you can take kids on the lazy river, which is about a 5 minute ride. You can not bring small kids on the Not So Lazy River. It's a much longer ride (25 minutes) and very rough water. Hope that helps you plan!

[mia10010]

Thanks for the review.

 

I have a quick question about the two main pools. Do you know how deep they are? I'm wondering if they start out less shallow around 4ft. and then get deeper, or are they just deep at 5 or 6 ft. all around? (I'm a nonswimmer and short so I like to be able to touch the bottom:o )

 

Thanks.

[francina]

Thanks, very informative. Especially the kids portion:D

[Savaann]

Mia- I actually don't know how deep the pools are. It was so crowded when I went in there, I was stuck on the deepest side. I am sure there are plenty of people here that can answer that question for you!