First time cruising

[JjC81]

We are going on our very first cruise in aug 2020. We wanted to go without kids but no one would watch them. 🙂

 

so we are doing norwegian jewel to alaska north bound then land tour. Kids will be 4 & 7. 

 

I'm so nervous! We are in process of booking and have no clue what to expect. Not sure how cruises work, and not sure what kids need beyond kids camp 🙂 do we book TA or NCL? There is $200 difference. 

 

we have perk of kids sail free or are discounted. Seems they have upgrade to specialty dining for guests 1 and 2- no clue what this means. 🙂

 

my kids have tons of food allergies. 

 

I'm told things are included. Beyond excursions at ports- what will we need to pay for? What are must knows of cruising with kids? And please let's hope youngest potty trains. It's been over a year of thinking he was there and then not! He turns 4 in nov, so will be almost 5 🙂 also- any must do/see with kids this age re excursions? 

 

please help 🙂

Edited October 15, 2019 by JjC81

[RSLeesburg]

On 10/15/2019 at 4:59 AM, JjC81 said:

We are going on our very first cruise in aug 2020. We wanted to go without kids but no one would watch them. 🙂

 

so we are doing norwegian jewel to alaska north bound then land tour. Kids will be 4 & 7. 

 

I'm so nervous! We are in process of booking and have no clue what to expect. Not sure how cruises work, and not sure what kids need beyond kids camp 🙂 do we book TA or NCL? There is $200 difference. 

 

we have perk of kids sail free or are discounted. Seems they have upgrade to specialty dining for guests 1 and 2- no clue what this means. 🙂

 

my kids have tons of food allergies. 

 

I'm told things are included. Beyond excursions at ports- what will we need to pay for? What are must knows of cruising with kids? And please let's hope youngest potty trains. It's been over a year of thinking he was there and then not! He turns 4 in nov, so will be almost 5 🙂 also- any must do/see with kids this age re excursions? 

 

please help 🙂

1.  To TA or not.   In general, we always book direct with the cruise line; however, for Alaska, if you can save money using a TA, then I would recommend it.  Alaska is all about the excursions, which can be very costly - so, where you can save money, do it.  

 

2.  Specialty Dining.  Despite the numerous free dining options, almost all ships have restaurants that cost more (specialty restaurants).  This perk would give two people free meals at one or more of these.  This is great if you want to feed kids and drop them at camp, while parents enjoy a nice meal together, or you can bring kids and pay extra for them - some lines allow kids under a certain age to eat for free in specialty restaurants, or offer a reduced fee for kids.  I am not sure how NCL handles it.  

 

3.  All cruise lines have special needs departments.  You should contact them immediately with food allergies, so they can alert the dining staff on the ship.  And to be extra careful, you should meet with the dining manager at Main Dining Room to talk about their food allergies.  The ships can accommodate most allergies, but you really need to inform everyone along the way - do not assume that they will know just because you called ahead.  

 

4.  What is included/not included.  You will get the basics in your cruise fare - food at some dining areas, coffee, water, kids club, and entertainment on ship. You will pay extra for specialty dining, soda/booze, some activities, and excursions.  In your cruise fare, there will also be port fees/taxes and gratuities.  In terms of excursions, we sailed in Alaska in 2018 with a land tour - on RCI, but I think you could get a good idea about things to do/see.  Our son was 8 when we sailed.  The link to this review is in my signature below.  

 

[cb at sea]

Don't forget about the gratuities....they will be added to your account  per person , per night...NCL calls them "service fees".  Figure in the $14.00 per person per night (might be a bit  more or less..not sure what NCL's fee is now)

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I'd personally go on a Caribbean cruise on a newer NCL ship (Breakaway/Getaway).... Warmer and more kid friendly activities on the newer ships.

 

Food on NCL was rather bad (yes, I know it's subjective, but we are not very picky), and the smoke smell on both NCL Jade and Getaway was very bad and permeated through several decks.

[kitkat343]

NCL allows unpotty trained children in the kids club (or at least they did recently.)  You get a beeper, and are required to come and change diapers yourselves.  You cannot leave a child who isn't potty trained behind on  a port day and go off ship since someone always has to be there to change the child if necessary.

 

Our 3.5 year old loved the NCL kids club.

 

Alaska is a great cruise to do with children, with lots of nature to explore and animal attractions.  But do note that a cruise tour in Alaska is logistically a little harder on kids - there is a long bus or train ride to Denali, and at Denali you spend hours riding a  modified school bus over unpaved roads (which made me sick since I was pregnant with my first while we did Alaska).  You choose how long you want to ride through Denali, but all of it involved bus rides.

 

Do bear in mind that all excursions in Alaska will be very expensive.

 

The helicopter to dogsled is very pricey, but a once in a lifetime excursion, but some kids are scared by it.  There is no discount for children, but if you book directly through TEMSCO its a little cheaper than booking through the cruise line.  If you choose to visit a dog sled camp, please make sure you do it in Skagway, not Juneau since the weather is a bit more stable in Skagway. Also, please try to book your helicopter tour in the morning, since helicopter tours are often cancelled due to inclement weather. If your helicopter is scheduled for the morning, you will have a better chance of it being rescheduled for the afternoon, instead of the tour being cancelled outright. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be able to participate in this amazing activity due to the unpredictable Alaskan weather. 

 

The Bering Sea tour was amazing, but the minimum age is 5.  Book directly through their site to save money off the NCL excursion price (we were on Princess and everyone just walked to this tour, so there was no advantage to booking through the cruise line)  http://alaskacrabtour.com/FAQ.aspx

 

The Mt. Roberts Traimway leads you to nice hiking trails and the kids would love the tram.

 

NCL's free food was the worst of all the lines we've sailed (Carnival, HAL, Princess and Cunard) and the only line in which the food in the main dining room was unacceptable (if you try enough stuff at the buffet eventually you will find something good, particularly the meat carving stations).  The specialty restaurants were quite good.  There is no discount for children at specialty restaurants anymore (they used to be half price) so it is really expensive to take kids there if you order food for the kids off the main menu.  However, It's free for kids  to order off the kids menu at specialty dining.

.  

Edited October 17, 2019 by kitkat343

[flyingandcruising]

Our son has a peanut allergy and NCL was great with allergies. Be sure to fill out this form https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/case-submission/ad-cust-cases-us and inform them of the allergies.

 

Once you get on board, speak with the restaurant manager.