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NCL with 7 and 5 yr. olds?


rccoble

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Has anyone cruised on NCL with kids in this age range. We have cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean in the past and the kids have enjoyed both (RCCL moreso than Carnival), but am thining about NCL because of the itenerary and the great price available.

 

Can anyone comment on kids' activities, food, etc?

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Has anyone cruised on NCL with kids in this age range. We have cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean in the past and the kids have enjoyed both (RCCL moreso than Carnival), but am thining about NCL because of the itenerary and the great price available.

 

Can anyone comment on kids' activities, food, etc?

 

We began cruising with NCL 2 years ago this month. Our daughter was seven. We have now been on 3 NCL cruises and are taking another this December. Can you tell we enjoy it? Highly addictive, especially because our little girl just LOVES the Kids Club. I can't compare, because we love NCL so much (Freestyle is our style), but I can't imagine a better group of Leaders anywhere. We took our first cruise thinking that, if DD didn't like the Club that was fine, she could hang out with us on sea days (port days we're always out together). I must admit, I was also feeling guilty about leaving her with "babysitters" for 8 hours a day (3 sessions). Well, after the first day we were all hooked. DD begs to go to Club and hates to leave. She's always wanting to stay for late night sessions but, her old parent's can't keep up with the pace so, 10:00 is way late enough for us. The activities and games they plan are so diverse that it keeps all the children (from what I could see) happily occupied day after day. My favourite activity (yes, I joined in on this one, I couldn't resist) was exploring the theatre. The children actually get to go into the lighting booth and try their hand. They get to go backstage and see where the actors get dressed and made-up. The even get to be "cruise director" and film a spot that airs on the in-room tvs. They also get to go to some of the musical productions in the evening. My DH and I were always catching sight of the Clubber's taking their seats up in the balcony. There are pirate parades around the ship, crafts, group games, quiet time, movies, etc. etc.

 

I'm not sure what you're after in the food department? Some NCL ships have separate Kid's buffets full of the usual favourites (chips, dogs, burgers, fries) but if DD was eating before going to club - which she usually did as she preferred that to the "dining" experience - we would take her to the regular buffet to choose pasta or roast, salad etc. She then took her tray back to the Kid's Buffet area to join whatever other children were eating there. As you're a cruise veteran I'm sure you know how much food choice is out there.

 

So, from my viewpoint, on NCL - it's all good!

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We've cruised with 3 and 6 year old kids on Disney, Princess, and NCL. NCL was great-- they had a wide variety of foods for our picky vegetarian daughter (slightly better than Princess, IMHO), a fabulous kids club, and a lot to do. As with most lines, the staff simply fawned on our kids everywhere they went.

 

One thing to be aware of is whether the kids will be in separate groups in the kids club. We went with Princess this year so our two could be together in the same age group (a requirement for them). I think NCL does 2-5 and 7-10 together, but you should check with them to be sure. Most ships are very strict about the age groups, but some cruisers have reported that an older kid can join the younger in some kids clubs. I would not count on it, though.

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