Back from NCL Jewel with 2 year old. Do you have questions?

[Rada_CMH]

We are just back from our cruise on the Norwegian Jewel to New England/Canada with our 2 year old daughter. The ship is beautiful and we had a great time. Our daughter was the youngest in the kid's club and loved it. They had 6 care givers and 17 kids (6 of which teenagers not needing much supervision). So the kids got a lot of personal attention (there were often just 2-3 kids at a time ) and the activities were well selected and age appropriate. We were mostly using the complimentary child care in the evenings (7-10 PM), but some parents were leaving their kids in the kid's club on port days (5$ per hour, available for potty-trained kids only). Our daughter couldn't wait for the kid's club to open in the evenings so that she could play on the jungle gym.

 

Some of the evenings they took all the kids to the evening show, but our daughter was too young to enjoy the show, so these were the only times we found the activities not to be age appropriate. It may be just the way our daughter is because a bit older kids (3 year olds) did well during showtime.

 

The first day of the cruise they had an open house, so we played with her and enjoyed the facility ourselves - excellent space, great design of the rooms, a variety of things to do and friendly staff - we loved it and strongly recommend NCL's children program!

 

Let me know if you have specific questions,

 

Rada

[2boysmommy]

Thanks for your post......I'll be on the Jewel on Nov 13th with my 3 1/2 year old. I was hoping to hear that the Jewel had a good kids program....and from what I've heard, we should have no problems at all. He's a very social boy...and goes to preschool. So leaving him there a couple of nights will be fun for him!

 

One thing....do they have a pool for the little ones? For some reason...I thought they did. But I can't find any info on it. Either way it doesn't matter. My son will be going to the ports with us.....the whole reason we're bringing him is so that he can see new places. Plus, we get to see things thru his eyes......I can't wait to go!

[Rada_CMH]

You will have fantastic time - I am sure your son will love the kid's club.

 

About the kid's pool - it is a bit difficult to see, but look for it and you will find it. It is on the same side as the big yellow slide for the adult pools and very close to it in the direction towards the back of the ship. The depth is 10 inches and there is a tiny slide in the shape of a whale. The great part about it is that it is enclosed by glass walls, so in a way it is an inside pool that you can use even if there is wind or it is cold outside. :) There is also a hot tub next to the kid's pool that most adults don't know about, so my husband loved "supervising" our daughter from there... :)

 

About taking kids to port with you - I agree it is the better option but sometimes it doesn't work as you plan....We were sure our daughter will love a whale watching tour that we specially took because of her...and she ended up sleeping through most of it...So remember to be flexible and have fun!

 

Rada

[2boysmommy]

You will have fantastic time - I am sure your son will love the kid's club.

 

About the kid's pool - it is a bit difficult to see, but look for it and you will find it. It is on the same side as the big yellow slide for the adult pools and very close to it in the direction towards the back of the ship. The depth is 10 inches and there is a tiny slide in the shape of a whale. The great part about it is that it is enclosed by glass walls, so in a way it is an inside pool that you can use even if there is wind or it is cold outside. :) There is also a hot tub next to the kid's pool that most adults don't know about, so my husband loved "supervising" our daughter from there... :)

 

About taking kids to port with you - I agree it is the better option but sometimes it doesn't work as you plan....We were sure our daughter will love a whale watching tour that we specially took because of her...and she ended up sleeping through most of it...So remember to be flexible and have fun!

 

Rada

We're not really planning on booking excursions........just going and hanging out at the local beaches is our thing. I'm not even sure we'll get off the boat in Jamaica....we may want to hang on the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm not sure if Jamaica is a great place to bring our little guy (we've been there before.......so we're not missing anything)

 

I did want to check out the stingrays in Grand Cayman- but not a snorkel/boat tour......I just want to walk out to where they are. So we'll see about that!

 

Thanks for the info about the kids pool...I'm hoping cause we're cruising the week before Thanksgiving that there aren't a ton of kids on board.........I know how crowded the kids activities can be.

[Rada_CMH]

I did want to check out the stingrays in Grand Cayman- but not a snorkel/boat tour......I just want to walk out to where they are. So we'll see about that!

 

Thanks for the info about the kids pool...I'm hoping cause we're cruising the week before Thanksgiving that there aren't a ton of kids on board.........I know how crowded the kids activities can be.

 

Yes, it will be different going south instead of north - there was no one in the kid's pool when we went because everyone thought it was too cold for a pool...

 

We've done the stingrays in Grand Cayman with Captain Marvins ( http://www.captainmarvins.com/) and loved it - it is priced much more reasonably than the ship tours, stop on one extra place and their office iss located just off the pier. That was before we had our daughter. I don't remember exactly, but I don't think you can do that without a boat, because Stingray city is pretty much a shallow area in the middle of the sea, so I don't know how you would walk there. There were poeple with kids on the boat and they just didn't get off on the snorkeling spots but just stepped out of the boat when we got to Stingray City. Hope this helps.

 

Have fun,

Rada

[agridealer]

does the kids pool still have the restriction for no children with diapers? We will be cruising on the Jewel over THanksgiving with our then 10 month old and our 18 month old nephew. THey both love the water and the 10" pool sounds like just their thing. I don't want to start any onboard controversies, though, as I know our DD will still be in diapers.

[ratherBcruizin']

Is your DD closer to 3 or just turned 2? I know there is a big difference between the two ages. My DD just turned 2 last month and I just told my DH I'd love to go on the Jewel. But we're unsure about cruising again until she gets older. We have some major seperation issues going on (I mean major!). Anyway, curious about the swim diaper thing like the above poster. Thanks

[agridealer]

what part of Indiana, B? We're from up north by South Bend. This is our first cruise with our 10 month old daughter, after 7 wife and I before. It'll be a whole different deal, I'm sure. Hoping the kiddie pool will be "swim diaper friendly". We bought some kind of special swimsuit (my wife says) that supposedly has a built in diaper so she's not all puffy in the butt!

[Rada_CMH]

does the kids pool still have the restriction for no children with diapers? We will be cruising on the Jewel over THanksgiving with our then 10 month old and our 18 month old nephew. THey both love the water and the 10" pool sounds like just their thing. I don't want to start any onboard controversies, though, as I know our DD will still be in diapers.

 

Unfortunately there is a sign on the slide in the kid's pool that kids with diapers are not allowed to use it.

 

Before we found the kid's pool my husband swam in the adult pools and there were large areas around the pools which had just 2-3 inches of water and our daughter was really happy just walking there and splashing around. You can hold your kid by the hand and let her splash - no one will mind since her diaper will not be in the water.

 

I will try to attach a picture of the kid's pool for you to see.

[Rada_CMH]

Is your DD closer to 3 or just turned 2? I know there is a big difference between the two ages. My DD just turned 2 last month and I just told my DH I'd love to go on the Jewel. But we're unsure about cruising again until she gets older. We have some major seperation issues going on (I mean major!). Anyway' date=' curious about the swim diaper thing like the above poster. Thanks[/quote']

 

Our daughter turned 2 exactly 10 days before we left for the cruise. We timed the cruise so that she was old enought to participate in the kid's club. This may explain her strange reaction to the shows - she just couldn't follow what was going on.

 

She goes to day care and is used to playing with many kids. We went through some separation issues maybe 3-4 months ago but they were not major - she would cry when we would leave her at day care in the morning, but would be fine playing 2 minutes after we were gone. She just seemed to like making us feel bad about leaving her.... ;)

Hang in there - it is just a phase until they realize it is more fun to play with kids their own age.

 

It is hard for me to give you any advice - it may be more difficult if your DD in not used to multiple care givers. If you decide to go make sure you spend plenty of time with her in the kid's club during the open house. This way she will be assured that you know where she is and know the people who will be with her. I though the time for the open house was not selected well - 1-3 pm for ship setting sails at 4 pm - too early during nap time in my oppinion, but again there was the emergency boat drill at 3:30 pm, so maybe they couldn't do it at a different time.

 

On the rest of the days you will just sign in and drop her off at the door, so I am not sure if you can play with her for a while before you leave her.

Once when we entered our daughter said she didn't want to stay at the kid's club, but the staff distracted her immeditely so she changed her mind very quickly and forgot we were even there.

 

For kids in diapers they give you a cell phone and call you when the kid needs a change. You can always ask them to call you in case your DD is crying or is unhappy. Hope this helps.

 

Rada

[Rada_CMH]

Now that I figured out how to attach photos here are a few more.

 

The last one was on "Blues clues" night in case you wonder about the blue face paint.

 

Enjoy,

 

Rada

[2boysmommy]

I just showed my son the pics of the kids club.....he wants to go RIGHT NOW!! (so does mommy.....lol)

 

Thanks for sharing the pics with us......my son is going to have a BLAST!!

BTW- that indoor kids pool.....is that open during the hours of the kids club or is it only opened during certain times? Thanks!

[Rada_CMH]

I just showed my son the pics of the kids club.....he wants to go RIGHT NOW!! (so does mommy.....lol)

 

Thanks for sharing the pics with us......my son is going to have a BLAST!!

BTW- that indoor kids pool.....is that open during the hours of the kids club or is it only opened during certain times? Thanks!

 

The kids pool is independent of the kids club. You can enter from a door facing the adult yellow slide - look for a glass door with a round silver knob on the top (adult's hight so kids can't let themselves in).

 

Have a great time!

[ratherBcruizin']

what part of Indiana, B? We're from up north by South Bend. This is our first cruise with our 10 month old daughter, after 7 wife and I before. It'll be a whole different deal, I'm sure. Hoping the kiddie pool will be "swim diaper friendly". We bought some kind of special swimsuit (my wife says) that supposedly has a built in diaper so she's not all puffy in the butt!

 

We're from east central Indiana. Closer to the Ohio line than to Indy. We took our DD on a cruise last fall at 13 months after many cruises with just us. It's definitely different. Our timing was off as our DD was teething. She had a ton coming in so she was a bit grumpy and didn't sleep well. Overall it wasn't a bust but it was a tough trip. However last month at 23 months we took her to Disney World and it was a blast. We said we wouldn't do cruising again until she was at least 4 but, oh, I want to go again so badly. DH is pretty dead set against saying there just isn't enough for her to do so I'll guess we'll see......Good luck with your trip, I'm sure your family will have a great time.

[ratherBcruizin']

Our daughter turned 2 exactly 10 days before we left for the cruise. We timed the cruise so that she was old enought to participate in the kid's club. This may explain her strange reaction to the shows - she just couldn't follow what was going on.

 

She goes to day care and is used to playing with many kids. We went through some separation issues maybe 3-4 months ago but they were not major - she would cry when we would leave her at day care in the morning, but would be fine playing 2 minutes after we were gone. She just seemed to like making us feel bad about leaving her.... ;)

Hang in there - it is just a phase until they realize it is more fun to play with kids their own age.

 

It is hard for me to give you any advice - it may be more difficult if your DD in not used to multiple care givers. If you decide to go make sure you spend plenty of time with her in the kid's club during the open house. This way she will be assured that you know where she is and know the people who will be with her. I though the time for the open house was not selected well - 1-3 pm for ship setting sails at 4 pm - too early during nap time in my oppinion, but again there was the emergency boat drill at 3:30 pm, so maybe they couldn't do it at a different time.

 

On the rest of the days you will just sign in and drop her off at the door, so I am not sure if you can play with her for a while before you leave her.

Once when we entered our daughter said she didn't want to stay at the kid's club, but the staff distracted her immeditely so she changed her mind very quickly and forgot we were even there.

 

For kids in diapers they give you a cell phone and call you when the kid needs a change. You can always ask them to call you in case your DD is crying or is unhappy. Hope this helps.

 

Rada

 

She isn't used to other caregivers except us, my parents and my MIL. I think she would be tempted to stay after looking at the pictures of the kids club. She's a rough-n-tumble kid and would love running around there. BUT I think she'd balk at being left with a stranger. I guess there is a chance she would surprise me but I wouldn't bet on it. Thanks for the info.

[agridealer]

Rada, what documents did you take with for your youngster? If I read correctly, all we need is the Birth Certificate.

How did you handle meals? Still trying to figure that our for us. Less than one month to go!

[Rada_CMH]

Rada, what documents did you take with for your youngster? If I read correctly, all we need is the Birth Certificate.

How did you handle meals? Still trying to figure that our for us. Less than one month to go!

 

We got her a passport since she is the only American citizen in the family - my husband and I are originally from Europe so she will need a passport anyways when we travel to see our families.

 

Most of the time we all ate at the Garden Cafe. On a couple of nights she had her dinner there and we dropped her off at kid's club before going to eat at the Bistro by ourselves. Much later in the cruise we found out that it worked best for us to eat at the main restaurants/Mama's instead of the cafe for 2 reasons:

1) our DD is very curious so she was not eating well in the cafe because she was too busy watching the people come and go all the time.

2) we decided to use a portable DVD player so that solved the issue of the length of dining in the main restaurants. They had a nice kid's menu and also simple items like chicken breast (always on the regular menu). She got her meal with our appetizers and was usually done sometime in the middle of our main course. Then we would start her Blue's clues episode (she likes it so much that she watches it without the sound, so we didn't worry that we are bothering anyone) and we could even enjoy a dessert.

We wish we had tried this earlier but we felt bad initially because at home we limit her TV exposure and also have a "no TV during meals" rule. At the end we decided to make an exception and that DVD player was a life saver. :)

We had also a magna doodle but this didn't work as well.

[agridealer]

Did you have a crib in your room or what was the sleeping arrangements? We will be needing a crib, and not sure what to expect or if it will be waiting for us when we get there. Thanks for all the great info Rada!

[Rada_CMH]

Did you have a crib in your room or what was the sleeping arrangements? We will be needing a crib, and not sure what to expect or if it will be waiting for us when we get there. Thanks for all the great info Rada!

 

They only have port-a-cribs (pack and plays) which work great for tiny kids, but our daughter is tall for her age (35.5 inches) so we knew in advance that we would have to find a different sleeping arrangement. We brought a bed rail with us but couldn't use it with the sofa she was sleeping on, so we ended up surrounding her with pillows and rolled-up blankets and she did great.

 

The NCL staff sets up everything for you every evening - you don't have to worry about any of the actual preparation - just tell them how you want it. :)

 

Here is a picture of her bed and a great towel monkey they made one of the evenings - the towel animals were different every night and always very cute. :)

 

Cheers,

Rada

[jakesmommy]

The kids club looks great, unfortunately our little one will be 21 months at the time of cruising. Is there ever a time during the cruise you can take your child into the kids club to play (when they are under 2)???

[agridealer]

Maybe you could say your little one is 2. Who would know? That way his daddy could have more "bar time".

[Rada_CMH]

The kids club looks great, unfortunately our little one will be 21 months at the time of cruising. Is there ever a time during the cruise you can take your child into the kids club to play (when they are under 2)???

 

You can certainly take your child there during the open house - during that time everyone is welcome - I had some fun myself going down the slides preteding to be testing their safety... ;).

But the open house is just on the first day of the cruise and the facility is locked outside of business hours.

 

It may not be very easy to do what agridealer suggests - they seemed to have information on the "eligible" kids in advance, because they told us how many kids are on board way before everyone had registered.

 

You can always talk to them and see how flexible they are. They may not be allowed to watch over your kid but may agree to let you use the facility if you are there with your child - it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Good luck,

Rada

[agridealer]

Rada - do you recall what type of cereals are available on board? Our daughter likes oatmeal and simple cereals like Cheerios and we were hoping that would be available for breakfast. Did your 2 YO take to the food well?

[Rada_CMH]

Rada - do you recall what type of cereals are available on board? Our daughter likes oatmeal and simple cereals like Cheerios and we were hoping that would be available for breakfast. Did your 2 YO take to the food well?

 

They had a variety of cereals - at least 6-7 types of dry cereals plus cooked oatmeal and cream of wheat. Cheerios and Fruit Loops were the ones my DD ate.

 

She loved the food even though she is a picky eater. There is so much variety that you will always find at least 3-4 things at the buffet that your kids will like. So I would NOT worry about the food at all!

We were concerned like you and had packed some dry snacks - raisins, goldfish crackers etc. - and we were sorry we did that since we just carried them all the way there and back home.

 

R.

[Kermitte]

 

If you decide to go make sure you spend plenty of time with her in the kid's club during the open house. This way she will be assured that you know where she is and know the people who will be with her. I though the time for the open house was not selected well - 1-3 pm for ship setting sails at 4 pm - too early during nap time in my oppinion, but again there was the emergency boat drill at 3:30 pm, so maybe they couldn't do it at a different time.

 

On the rest of the days you will just sign in and drop her off at the door, so I am not sure if you can play with her for a while before you leave her.

Once when we entered our daughter said she didn't want to stay at the kid's club, but the staff distracted her immeditely so she changed her mind very quickly and forgot we were even there.

 

Rada

 

Hi Rada,

I guess this is an old thread but you've covered a lot of the points I was going to ask about taking my (to-be) 2 years 5 months old on the Jewel in April so I thought I'd ask you a couple more follow-up questions if you're still reading (or if anyone else can chime in). First, thank you so much for posting the pictures of the Kids Club and the little pool. It really makes a difference to see exactly the set-up. Looks like a great space to play.

 

I think the idea of attending the open house is a great one because I'm a little uncertain about the drop-off arrangements on other days. Is there really no allowance for a parent to be there at the beginning of any drop-off for a short transition period? My little guy is 2 and although he goes to daycare without much fuss and is quite social, I can't imagine expecting him to just jump right in to a strange program with strange people.

 

A pp (not sure if it was you?) mentioned that there is often a line-up to drop off kids, some time pressure to make it happen quickly, and that the kids get whisked away prompty by Kids Club personnel. I can understand that NCL might not want a lot of parents present in the room for space limitations and even liability issues but some kids just need a little time to explore with a parent present before they're comfortable with strangers. I don't want to be accused of being a pushy or over-protective parent but is that too much to ask for a 2-year-old?

 

So, I can see that the orientation is a great idea but we're sailing at 4:00 PM and it seems that you're saying the only orientation is 1:00 to 3:00 PM, which as you point out is nap time for many children at the younger end of age 2-5. Is there no other opportunity for orientation or for parents to hang out with the kids? The together time seems important enough to me that I think I would be willing to skip or postpone the nap that day if that 1:00 to 3:00 time slot is the only opportunity to check out the program together.

 

On that note, once the program is in action, can you look in and see what/how the kids are doing or is it fully enclosed? Call me paranoid but I'm not sure I am comfortable leaving my little one where no one can see what's going on inside. (I presume that the staff is great and well-trained but I would never leave my young one in a program that was totally out-of-sight at home so I don't imagine I would at sea.)

 

Also, can parents hang out with their kids and use the equipment on port days or is the facility locked? I know we won't be doing a lot of formal shore excursions (some beaching) and it would be great to have access to such a great place to play together on port days.

 

I like the bed arrangement you showed. What size room did you have? I think we're booked in a small inside cabin. I have requested a crib and am not sure if it will be a small wooden crib or a pack n' play. Either way, I'm not sure how it will fit in the layout of our small room but supposedly it will. I imagine that one of us will have to bring a lot of books for reading during nap time in the cabin and early bedtimes. I'm not even sure if our toddler will fall asleep easily while we're in the same room. Someone mentioned divider curtains but I think that was on another line.

 

I think that's it for now. I was going to post another thread with these questions (plus others! first time cruising and I'm sure it shows) and then I found your post. I still might post something else but I'd be grateful for any advice you (or others) have specifically about 2-year-olds on the Jewel (Eastern Caribbean in April).

 

Kermitte

 

PS The little pool with whale slide looks lovely but I am assuming, if I am reading yours and the other posts correctly, that it is also off-limits for non-toilet trained kids?