Noordam Question

[Boomer51]

We are heading off to Alaska on the Noordam this Sunday - 8/5. Do any of you know if the Noordam has hairdryers in their rooms? This will be our 30th wedding anniversary and we are taking both daughters, their husbands and a (yikes!) two-year old grandson. Also, any suggestions on traveling with a 2-year old! (Yes, we know we're crazy - but all the main babysitters are on the cruise!)

[fcorey]

We are heading off to Alaska on the Noordam this Sunday - 8/5. Do any of you know if the Noordam has hairdryers in their rooms? This will be our 30th wedding anniversary and we are taking both daughters, their husbands and a (yikes!) two-year old grandson. Also, any suggestions on traveling with a 2-year old! (Yes, we know we're crazy - but all the main babysitters are on the cruise!)

 

Boomer yes all rooms have a hairdryer. Have a great trip. We'll be following you on Oosterdam in 4 weeks :)

[jtl513]

Do any of you know if the Noordam has hairdryers in their rooms?

Boomer yes all rooms have a hairdryer.

Don't look for them in the bathroom - they're "tethered" into a desk side compartment ... an awkward place to use, IMO. At least that's where they are in the VA cabins.

[Sunshine91]

Don't look for them in the bathroom - they're "tethered" into a desk side compartment ... an awkward place to use, IMO. At least that's where they are in the VA cabins.

 

That "tethering" is new. :confused:

 

In Feb 06 & Jan 07 the very capable hair dryer in our VD cabin was stowed in the cupboard at the desk next to the balcony door, but I certainly had the choice to plug it in at either the outlet on top of the desk (which I did) or in the bathroom.

 

The dryer uses the european current w/2 round prongs instead of US current w/2 flat ones. I guess it's to prevent most pax from being tempted to take it home with them?

[Gsel]

I would have to say they are not the best hairdryers in the world and I have very short hair.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I like the new European hairdryers. They are much better than the old ones that we used to use on the other ships.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Boomer51

 

Have a great Alaskan cruise!!!

[barbels]

I thought the dryer was fine and wouldn't think about bringing mine for our next Noordam cruise in January. PS I liked having the dryer in the cabin. It meant I couls dry my hair while my husband showered.

[Boomer51]

Thank you for stopping to answer my hair dryer question! I'm a little stumped now - to bring or not? I think I will throw my own in just in case. Since every one of you avoided the question about traveling with a 2-year old, we will have to "wing it"! Actually, I've seen other threads about traveling with little ones. Thankfully his mom is on board and that's not me! (Although, we will all help.)

[hammybee]

A two year old tends to be obivious to everything, other than human attention. I would try to keep a 2 year old to his/ her regular routine as much as possible.

 

Expecting a 2 year old to sit through a 1.5-2 hour dinner in the dining room may be pushing it. Same goes for the evening show. Cruising/flying/living with a child this young, involves compromize and knowing, this too shall pass.

[MissWindyCity]

Boomer,

I just returned from the Oosterdam. I am a nut when it comes to having my hairdryer with me. My hair is very thick and it takes long to dry especially if the hairdryer isn't real powerful. I took my chances and didn't bring mine in an effort to conserve packing space. I opted for my flat iron and my mother brought her curling iron. Honestly, I had no trouble with the hairdryer in our room. It was just fine. We traveled with other family members...3 separate rooms. Everyone was happy with the hairdryer provided in our rooms. My opinion is...don't waste space packing your hairdryer. And...there aren't a lot of outlet options for using extra electric items anyways!

[byrdbrain55]

I traveled to Alaska last year with my 16-month old nephew. The staff and crew were great with him! He enjoyed giving everyone high fives and "knuckles". I don't know how much, if anything, he will remember but we all enjoyed watching him.

 

Dinners were difficult in the dining room but we made it through (we had early seating). Try the chilled fruit soups, they are fabulous. They also have a kids menu with mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc. Generally he fell asleep in his stroller and we were able to take him to the shows. We are not the type of people who allow him to yell, scream, talk, etc. during the shows even if he was awake. If he wasn't cooperative, we left. My sister and brother in law were able to go to some of the shows alone, since I watched him one night (he was sleeping) in the cabin and my parents watched him one other night.

 

Even though your grandson will be too young for the Club HAL organized activities, they do have books and blocks and such that he can play with in there (you will have to supervise him, since they don't take kids that young). They even offered to let us borrow a wagon to pull him around on deck. The nicest part of Club Hal was that it was inside, warm and he could run around without causing problems for other passengers.

 

Don't forget a hat and gloves since it can get cold near the glaciers in both College Fjords or Glacier Bay and even in Tracy Arm. We did independent tours because we weren't sure what he would tolerate. Mainly he liked to look at the water and the snow.

 

Hope this helps!

[mamaofami]

The hairdryers on the Noordam are fine unless you have very long and or very thick hair. I wouldn't take up valuable room in my suitcase to pack one.

 

At this moment, I am babysitting for my 20 month old grandson. (He's napping). I think it depends on the child. We also have a 22 month old grandson. One is hyperactive and a handful and the other is sweet and easy to amuse. With all his relatives aboard, I'm sure you'll all take turns and have fun with him. Don't forget to bring along his favorite toys.

Have a great cruise.

[Gsel]

I think the reason I didn't like the hair dryer was I do have short and thick hair and the hairdryer seemed to be "stuck" on hot and high. The steward brought two replacements and all of them were the same. I found a small travel hairdryer from TravelSmith that doesn't take up much room, well worth not burning my hair.

[barbels]

We were on the Noordam last january with our then 2 year old grandson and his parents. My daughter-in-law who is a wonderful mother brought many of his favorite toys as well as a few new ones. We had early seating dinner with him most nights. He had chicken soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every night. But he was wisked away most nights before the desserts appeared. He was quite happy playing with his little trucks for about an hour- after that one of us took him somewhere.

 

He was absolutely mesmerized by the bands on the ship. He was their biggest fan, planted himself infront of them and played his imaginary guitar along with them for their whole set. After dinner he liked to dance(mostly in an adult's arms) at the Ocean Bar. There were a few children his age on the ship and they played nicely together at the pool. Steven especially liked to pet and water the dolphin statue.

 

We were on a Carribbean cruise so there was plenty of beach time- I'm not sure what a two year old will find interesting on an Alaska cruise but he'll probably have a wonderful time.

 

Every once in a while Steven announces to his parents that grandma and grandpa are taking him on another cruise soon. I hope he's right.