Rare MillbrookMom Posted October 26, 2006 #1 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Thinking of a Norwegian Cruise out of NY with our 2 boys (9 and 11) and are just wondering what NCL is like for families? It would be during the school year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlissa Posted October 26, 2006 #2 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I haven't utilized the kids program very much. First cruise, DD (~12.5 years old) went maybe once or twice. She preferred to stay with us. Last cruise, DD (~15.5 years old) went to the first night meet-greet and met some people. She preferred to hang out with her new friends, but not in the teen club. Upcoming cruise, DD will be ~17.5 and I doubt she will go to the teen club. Just wanted to suggest you search the NCL board http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107. If you don't find what you are looking for, then post your question there. You may get more responses on the NCL section. Also, if you had some specific questions, ask those. Specific questions tend to get more responses than general or vague questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrszuhwiggins Posted October 27, 2006 #3 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Hi Millbrook Mom - We cruised the NCL Dawn out of NY last year during the school year with our two children, then 7 and 9. They had an absolute blast. They LOVED the kids club, the shows were wonderful, the kids pool was always hopping, and the food was definitely to their liking. (They actually have a kids area in the "cafeteria area", with tables and chairs and a "salad bar" type of thing - all in kid size. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswims Posted October 28, 2006 #4 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Thinking of a Norwegian Cruise out of NY with our 2 boys (9 and 11) and are just wondering what NCL is like for families? It would be during the school year. We have taken our kids, now 12 and 8, on NCL for the past three years. We were on the Majesty 2 times and the Spirit once. Next summer, we will be on the Dawn. We cruise in the summer (because of school/work/activities) and there are lots of kids on board so our experience may be a bit diffent from cruising when school is in session. Our kids loved the ships, Kids Crew, activities, dining, and the shore excursions! They prefer cruising over Disney and other vacations. We have been on other cruise lines without (before) our kids. For now, wife and I love NCL freestyle dining. The newer NCL ships are built for this! The option of eating when we wanted and the dining room choice gave us family dining time and some times where the kids were fed early and off to Kids Crew and we could have a nice romantic dinner for 2! Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted October 28, 2006 #5 Share Posted October 28, 2006 My family( DH,myself, and 3 DD's) sailed the Dawn last December and are anxiously counting the days for our next cruise, this December on the Spirit. I will admit that we were a little afraid to try NCL, and had a travel agent who was so against it. I'm glad we decided to take the chance, because we had the best time, EVER. This ship was gorgeous, the kids pool area was fantastic, the staff loved the children, and the kids crew was topnotch. When booking our trip for this year, we told the same travel agent that we wanted NCL again, and she commented that she's hearing a lot of good things about NCL, and that maybe she should give them another try. We traveled 12/10 for 11 nights, and there were small numbers of children on board. They had cookies with the captain, which was a real treat for them, and just did what kids do best, have fun. Have a great trip. A cruise vacation with kids is a great way to show them different areas of the world, in a fun, safe environment. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswims Posted October 28, 2006 #6 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Hi Janice, I hope you have a great time on the Spirit. We enjoyed our cruise and loved the ship. We are doing the reverse of you and your family as we went on the Spirit this past August and now are going on the Dawn in August 2007. A few people that we met on the Roll Call that had been on the Dawn first, really liked the Spirit, and said that it is a smaller version (although about 75,000 tons is not small) of the Dawn. The Spirit does have a larger kid's pool area.....it was great back there for our family! Enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted October 29, 2006 #7 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Jim, You will love the Dawn. We thought she was beautiful. Curious, what itin. were you on when you sailed the Spirit? We are wondering what excursions to take with our kids. Any help is appreciated. Have a great trip. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswims Posted October 29, 2006 #8 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Jim, You will love the Dawn. We thought she was beautiful. Curious, what itin. were you on when you sailed the Spirit? We are wondering what excursions to take with our kids. Any help is appreciated. Have a great trip. Janice Hi Janice: We did the 8 day (Aug 19th) sailing. We went to St. Thomas, Tortola, and Bermuda (King's Wharf). We had 4 days at sea. The seas could not have been smoother!:) In St. Thomas we went to Magen's Bay. In Tortola, we took the ship's tour to the Virgin Gorda Bath's, this was excellent!!!!! We went to the Snorkel Park when we went to Bermuda. It is within walking distance and the kids had a ball. I did a review some time ago and it is posted in the member reviews if you want some more info on our take on the Spirit. We had originally re-booked on the Spirit but the cabin for 4 was really too small for us. The only adjoining cabins on the Spirit were balcony cabins. This meant that we had to pay full fare for us and the kids....too much for us. So, we booked an AB Suite on the Dawn. This was cheaper than the 2 balconies plus lot of other perks....2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms....yipee!!!!! It is a 7 day Bermuda/Bahamas itinerary. We like the Spirit ports better but this will be great too! I am happy to anser any questions you may have on the Spirit. Have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted October 30, 2006 #9 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Jim, We've been wondering if we needed to do a excursion through the ship in St. Thomas, or if we could go on our own. All we wanted was a beach day, so maybe we'll try Magen's Bay. I would sail on the Dawn, anywhere. We had such a good time on the ship that we really would not have needed to get off. Thanks again for your help. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmtre2 Posted October 30, 2006 #10 Share Posted October 30, 2006 katyjeka - if you have younger children, definitely do Coral World in St Thomas. You can get there on your own ($8 to 10/pp) and once you finish at the park (your admission wristbands are good for the whole day) walk the boardwalk out of the park to Coki Beach. Buy the kids some dog biscuits from the vendors there and the fish will find you.. Our DD just loved it and to tell you the truth we did too. The bathrooms are clean at Coral World with showers and changing rooms and they have lockers to stow your valuables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted October 30, 2006 #11 Share Posted October 30, 2006 That's a great suggestion. Was the beach nice? I've heard it is way to crowded to enjoy. Thanks, Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswims Posted October 31, 2006 #12 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Jim,We've been wondering if we needed to do a excursion through the ship in St. Thomas, or if we could go on our own. All we wanted was a beach day, so maybe we'll try Magen's Bay. I would sail on the Dawn, anywhere. We had such a good time on the ship that we really would not have needed to get off. Thanks again for your help. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Janice Hi Janice, We booked the Beach tour to Magen's Bay with NCL. If I had to do it over again, I would go on my own. There were so many people doing the tour and it took a long time to get all of us in to the Open Air Buses. Friends of ours got there on their own and made it to the beach 1 hour before we did. It was a great day for us once we got there!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzequ Posted January 4, 2007 #13 Share Posted January 4, 2007 NCL and kids is wonderful together. DD (12 last March), DH and I did the Dawn out of NYC last March. DD balked at the kids program as she had to be signed in/out; still found tons of things to do. The kids in the program when we saw them about the ship seemed to be having a blast -- so I thought she was crazy to pass it up, but it was her vacation, too, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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