laura215 Posted November 30, 2005 #1 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Should we take NCL or Disney with a 2.5 year old? Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted November 30, 2005 #2 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Should we take NCL or Disney with a 2.5 year old? Any advice? People who have tried both may have a different opinion, but here are my 2 cents: We cruised with our 2 year old on the NCL Jewel and she had a blast. The kid's program was excellent and we plan to take NCL again. If you book NCL make sure it is a newer ship because the kids facilities/programs on their older ships (Dream, Crown, Wind and Majesty) are not as good. We will likely try Disney once our daughter is 5+ years old and can get more into the spirit/knows all the Disney characters. But for a 2.5 year old it would be a huge waste of money to pay the Disney prices, when your child will have at least as much fun on NCL. The only advantage of Disney I can think of is that they have a pediatrician on board if you need one. Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mruhaak Posted December 1, 2005 #3 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Hi- I haven't cruised NCL. But we are sailing on Disney with our 2.5 year old this January. You may want to price some cruises and compare. We do not have to pay for our 2.5 year old on Disney as he is under 3. We only have to pay port fees for him. So that made it affordable for us. On some lines you do have to pay for a 2.5 year old - Carnival being one. I do not know if you have to pay on NCL as they weren't one that we were considering. Another benefit to Disney is the bathrooms have bathtubs, which is convenient for a toddler too. Our son is a very picky eater and Disney has his kind of food (mac & cheese, chicken fingers) readily available through room service. Also Disney has a nursery - Flounder's reef where under 3 kids who are not potty trained can go for paid baby sitting. This was part of the deciding factor for us as we knew our child wouldn't make it through the dinners. So that's how we decided. They are more expensive in general, but since we didn't have to pay for him we felt we could afford it. Just my 2 cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirl Posted December 1, 2005 #4 Share Posted December 1, 2005 We were on DCL when our boys were 7 and 1. Rooms were large with privacy curtain, mini-size bathtub, and 2 separate toilet/sinks. Food and portions were good but they took their time bringing each course out. First the child's meal, then our first appetizer, then the child's dessert and then our second appetizer, finally our entree. By now more than half the kid's were gone from the dinning room. I guess they all got dropped off to the kid's club. Dinning room rotations are a bit over-rated. I found only the Animator's Palate was different because they had pictures and video's of disney charactors on the wall. All the others were about the same as other cruise lines. Our 1 year old stayed with us the entire cruise because I was not ready to let him go just yet! But I heard from a table mate that there was not too much to do in Flouder's Reef(3 and under) for their 2 yr old. We had a peak inside because they have these port holes. It is more of a nursery with mostly cribs and some baby toys. Not alot of space for a toddler to run around. In the kid's club they have some sharks, whale, and sea creatures(4 or 5) to the side on soft padded mats where adult can accompany their young ones. That took 15 minutes and then what? If you child is over 3. I would definitely recommend DCL because our 7 year old love the kid's program. Mostly disney-themed activities, very unique. My son got to learn how to be a pirate with Captian Hook making an appearance. At graduation, all the kids were given(free) Disney university T-shirts and Mickey graduation hats(with ears) and marched on stage in the theater with Mickey for all the parents to see! If you like Disney Characters. Go for it, you can have autographs and picture moments with Mickey in as many outfits you can imagine. Line ups are not that long because they are always there in lobby and pool deck. The main advantage DCL have is that every family has young children. My 1 year old gets very impatient when food is not served on time. I could barely hear him fuss because all the other children were louder! We are trying the Dawn-Ncl in January. Hoping this cruise would be a little more relaxing. Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 1, 2005 #5 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Good points, Melanie! We had to pay the 3rd person rate on NCL - I think it is for childred over 2 years old. We had a bathtub on the Jewel since we were in a mini suite. I don't think regular balcony cabins and lower categories have a bathtub and it is very nice to have one. Are all cabins (inside etc.?)on Disney coming with bathtubs? Our daughter is a picky eater too and NCL had a kid's cafe and also the main restaurants had a kid's menu with the foods you mention but I don't think these were available through room service. The baby sitting on NCL is free for children older than 2 (there is a fee after 10 PM) They give you a cell phone and call you if your child needs a diaper change, but if you change your child right before going to dinner you are not likely to be called. I actually liked that they could call me in case our DD was crying or tired. Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura215 Posted December 1, 2005 Author #6 Share Posted December 1, 2005 You all gave me a lot to consider for our trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayhawk Posted December 2, 2005 #7 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Rada - When you say the kids programs on the older ships are not as good, what do you mean? We're considering the Dream in Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mruhaak Posted December 2, 2005 #8 Share Posted December 2, 2005 We were on DCL when our boys were 7 and 1. Rooms were large with privacy curtain, mini-size bathtub, and 2 separate toilet/sinks. Food and portions were good but they took their time bringing each course out. First the child's meal, then our first appetizer, then the child's dessert and then our second appetizer, finally our entree. By now more than half the kid's were gone from the dinning room. I guess they all got dropped off to the kid's club. Dinning room rotations are a bit over-rated. I found only the Animator's Palate was different because they had pictures and video's of disney charactors on the wall. All the others were about the same as other cruise lines. Our 1 year old stayed with us the entire cruise because I was not ready to let him go just yet! But I heard from a table mate that there was not too much to do in Flouder's Reef(3 and under) for their 2 yr old. We had a peak inside because they have these port holes. It is more of a nursery with mostly cribs and some baby toys. Not alot of space for a toddler to run around. In the kid's club they have some sharks, whale, and sea creatures(4 or 5) to the side on soft padded mats where adult can accompany their young ones. That took 15 minutes and then what? If you child is over 3. I would definitely recommend DCL because our 7 year old love the kid's program. Mostly disney-themed activities, very unique. My son got to learn how to be a pirate with Captian Hook making an appearance. At graduation, all the kids were given(free) Disney university T-shirts and Mickey graduation hats(with ears) and marched on stage in the theater with Mickey for all the parents to see! If you like Disney Characters. Go for it, you can have autographs and picture moments with Mickey in as many outfits you can imagine. Line ups are not that long because they are always there in lobby and pool deck. The main advantage DCL have is that every family has young children. My 1 year old gets very impatient when food is not served on time. I could barely hear him fuss because all the other children were louder! We are trying the Dawn-Ncl in January. Hoping this cruise would be a little more relaxing. Sara Sara, I was a little worried about my child being bored in Flounders, but I have been communicating with others who have taken disney cruises and some have said their kids were well entertained by the counselors. Plus if there are any other kids his age I think he'll be fine, he loves to play with other kids. We'll see! One thing about dining on cruise ships. This will be our 3rd cruise, my other 2 were RCCL and Carnival. In my experience the meals always take a long time. Our meals on RCCL's Voyager last January seemed to take forever. This actually got on my nerves toward the end of the cruise! We are just assuming it will be too long for our toddler. We are planning on putting him in Flounders during our meal and feeding him earlier. If he won't stay in Flounders we are going to take turns eating in the dining room as we are traveling with a couple other relatives. I am interested in possibly pursuing an NCL cruise in the future too though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mruhaak Posted December 2, 2005 #9 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Good points, Melanie! We had to pay the 3rd person rate on NCL - I think it is for childred over 2 years old. We had a bathtub on the Jewel since we were in a mini suite. I don't think regular balcony cabins and lower categories have a bathtub and it is very nice to have one. Are all cabins (inside etc.?)on Disney coming with bathtubs? Our daughter is a picky eater too and NCL had a kid's cafe and also the main restaurants had a kid's menu with the foods you mention but I don't think these were available through room service. The baby sitting on NCL is free for children older than 2 (there is a fee after 10 PM) They give you a cell phone and call you if your child needs a diaper change, but if you change your child right before going to dinner you are not likely to be called. I actually liked that they could call me in case our DD was crying or tired. Rada Thanks Rada! I THINK all categories have bathtubs. It could be that the cheapest inside category (12) may not. But most do. I like the free baby sitting deal on NCL for 2 year olds that arn't potty trained. I'll have to remember that! We never would really leave our son in Flounders for very long anyway. Mostly I was thinking it would be convenient for during meals which would be too long for him to sit through. The whole reason we are taking this trip with him is to be with him. We figured if we were going to do a family trip we might as well go all the way and go Disney. It will be interesting to see how they compare to RCCL and Carnival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 2, 2005 #10 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Rada - When you say the kids programs on the older ships are not as good, what do you mean? We're considering the Dream in Feb. Our 3 NCL cruises have been on newer ships, so I am not talking from a personal experience - just stating what I have read on the CC boards. Search for a thread entitled "NCL for Families" posted by CurtS on the Norwegian Cruise Lines forum. You will have to go a few pages back to read it since the last post was on November 18th 2005. Hope this helps, Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 2, 2005 #11 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I just wanted to share what worked for our dining on the Jewel on evenings when we did not leave our DD in the kid's club. We used a portable DVD player so that solved the issue of the length of dining. Our daughter got her meal (from the kid's menu) at the same time as we got our appetizers and she 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 with the sound off, so we didn't worry that we are bothering anyone) and we could even enjoy desserts. We wish we had tried using a DVD earlier during the cruise 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. We also noticed that our DD did not eat well in the cafe (buffet-type dining area) because she was too busy watching the people come and go all the time, so the main reestaurants were a better choice for us. Happy Cruising! Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mruhaak Posted December 2, 2005 #12 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I've heard this suggestion before. We are going to bring my husbands laptop which plays DVD's. I am especially hoping this will work on the planes. Not sure if it would keep him through a whole meal or not. He's just an active little boy. Like you said when there are a lot of distractions it is hard to keep him focused. He doesn't generally eat well in these type situations. Although last night we took him to a pizza buffet and he ate really well. You never know with a 2 year old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirl Posted December 2, 2005 #13 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Rada, My husband is planning on bringing his laptop to play DVD's for the kids also. We even got some inexpensive headsets from the dollar store just in case our 2 year old decides to destroy them. We are going on the Dawn and plan want to try some of the specialty restaurants. Would it be inappropriate to take out the laptop? Does this look a little tacky? How did other fellow diners react to seeing this? We plan to dine early and hope the children will watch DVD movies until the kid's club open at 7pm. Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 2, 2005 #14 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Rada, My husband is planning on bringing his laptop to play DVD's for the kids also. We even got some inexpensive headsets from the dollar store just in case our 2 year old decides to destroy them. We are going on the Dawn and plan want to try some of the specialty restaurants. Would it be inappropriate to take out the laptop? Does this look a little tacky? How did other fellow diners react to seeing this? We plan to dine early and hope the children will watch DVD movies until the kid's club open at 7pm. Sara Make sure you "practice" using the headphones with your child in advance. We had headphones but our DD would remove them withing 5 minutes. We got only smiles and thumbs up from fellow diners seeing the DVD player - they were happy as long as they did not have to listen to screaming kids. As soon as you get to the main restaurants your child will get a kids menu with crayons, but that activity usually doesn't entertain the kids too long. Thinking about it - I don't think the specialy restaurants have kids' menues but I may be wrong... We dined twice in Le Bistro and once in Mamas (italian). We took our daughter to Mamas but did not think it was appropriate to take her to Le Bistro, so we made reservation for 7:30 PM after feeding her and dropping her off at the kid's club. I did not see any young children in Le Bistro, so be prepared to get nasty looks if you take your kids there. Given that you will have to pay cover charge for the kids too, it may be wiser to leave them in the kid's club. Keep in mind that there is a kid's club dinner one of the evenings and the kid's club takes them early that evening, so this is a good evening to reserve a specialty restaurant. You will receive a weekly schedule of the children's activities when you register your kids in the kid's club on the first day, so this will help you plan your own dining. Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayhawk Posted December 3, 2005 #15 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Rada - I feel like I'm hijacking Laura's thread, but have another question for you. The CurtS post and your post when you first came back have been so helpful to me! Sounds like your daughter was on the young side of 2 as well, so I'm sure you can answer this - kids not potty trained questions. Our youngest is obviously not potty trained. Other than a "poop", they don't call you if they just wet, right? She's at the age where we only change her 3-4 times a day unless there's something really noticable. Cause just being wet could happen right after we drop her off. Second, did you say they won't do babysitting if they're not potty trained? Meaning if my husband and I wanted to do a 4 hour excursion on one of the port days, could we leave both kids there? Or will they say no if younger is not potty trained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura215 Posted December 3, 2005 Author #16 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Dont worry about taking over the thread this is all helpful to me in planning our trip. Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 5, 2005 #17 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Rada - I feel like I'm hijacking Laura's thread, but have another question for you. The CurtS post and your post when you first came back have been so helpful to me! Sounds like your daughter was on the young side of 2 as well, so I'm sure you can answer this - kids not potty trained questions. Our youngest is obviously not potty trained. Other than a "poop", they don't call you if they just wet, right? She's at the age where we only change her 3-4 times a day unless there's something really noticable. Cause just being wet could happen right after we drop her off. Second, did you say they won't do babysitting if they're not potty trained? Meaning if my husband and I wanted to do a 4 hour excursion on one of the port days, could we leave both kids there? Or will they say no if younger is not potty trained? We got 3 calls total and in one of the cases she was barely wet, so we were wondering how they even noticed. Another of the calls was because she looked more tired than usual so they were just informing us and I was very glad they did. So I would not say they call you all the time, but it depends on the youth counselor and their "sniffing" ability....Plus it depends on what you ask them to do - I had asked them to call me for the smallest thing, if she cries or if they see anything unusual. If you tell them not to call you when she is just wet they will likely respect that. According to the policy they can take a potty trained child only if you are on the ship so that they can call you when she needs a change. So you may have to take her along for the excursions. That's what we did and our DD ended up sleeping through most of them but still learned a few things along the way. And when she lost her patience on the longest excursions we took out our trusty DVD player and kept her happy that way...It was not perfect but it worked out fine after all. Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mruhaak Posted December 5, 2005 #18 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Make sure you "practice" using the headphones with your child in advance. We had headphones but our DD would remove them withing 5 minutes. We got only smiles and thumbs up from fellow diners seeing the DVD player - they were happy as long as they did not have to listen to screaming kids. As soon as you get to the main restaurants your child will get a kids menu with crayons, but that activity usually doesn't entertain the kids too long. Thinking about it - I don't think the specialy restaurants have kids' menues but I may be wrong... Rada My son is an expert at headphones as he loves to listen to Mommy's ipod, and thinks it's a big deal. The crayons never work very long for him at all. We always just end up picking them up off the floor multiple times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rada_CMH Posted December 5, 2005 #19 Share Posted December 5, 2005 My son is an expert at headphones as he loves to listen to Mommy's ipod, and thinks it's a big deal. Great - you are all set then... :) Have a fantastic cruise in January and please share your Disney experience once you get back! Happy cruising, Rada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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