2 year olds: Princess, Celebrity or NCL?

[poppan]

We would like to go on a cruise through the Panama Canal this Thanksgiving. The three ships that seem to be going around that time are:

 

Princess

Celebrity

NCL

 

We've cruised before, but not with the kids. Prices seem roughly equal.

 

Which ship would you go on? What kinds of questions should I be asking/what do I need to consider? I heard that Princess and Celebrity toddler programs do not take children under 3, that NCL supposedly takes 2 year olds in their program, and that Celebrity has in-cabin babysitting for $8/hr. My kids will be exactly 2 and a half when we go.

[amistad]

Princess does allow you to take your child to the play area during certain times, but you have to stay in the kids club with them while they play. I'm sure others will answer you, but I really liked how relaxed NCL is and with the freestyle dining it was really convienent to eat when we wanted. I think NCL is more relaxed to take small children, my second choice with the kiddos would be Princess, and even though I love X when it is just us adults, I would put them third, they are more formal.

[Kerry's Girls]

I prefer Princess over all others, even for kids, but since yours are under 3, I would absolutely go with NCL to take advantage of the kids program.

 

Have a great time!

 

- Mia

[poppan]

Thanks for the replies! So maybe NCL. To those of you who have BTDT -- does the NCL program really take the under 3's without the parents being there? And what hours would the childcare center be open... are they ever open at night or is it daytime only?

 

Also... did your kids like it?

[lamolesky]

definitely NCL, we waited for our 2 year olds birthday to depart on one of our cruises. He walked in and never turned around to say goodbye. My older son loves their kids club too. I have lots of schedules and kids club info on my site. We would recommend NCL for anyone with little ones! Have fun!

[ceilidh1]

I've not sailed NCL or Celebrity, but my two year old has done 2 Princess cruises and we are about to do two more next month. The kids club welcomes kids under three, but as someone else mentioned, you must stay with them. This was fine for us, as we (I) do not leave my daughter with babysitters, etc!!!! There were other toddlers and parents at the kids club for her to play with and she loved all of the activities.

[CanadianTwosome]

I can't imagine doing 'traditional' cruising with our daughter. The freedom that NCL gives for dining and disembarking is just so nice when you're having a nice, relaxing family holiday. With no set dining times, if you come back from a port day and you've had a lot of sun and somebody needs a nap, there's no reason they can't have one. The Kid's Crew is open from early in the morning until 10:30, with a per-hour fee service from 10:30 - 1am, and they'll give you a phone so that they can reach you. They definitely take 2 year olds, and all the kids I've ever seen in the 2-5 group are always having a blast. :)

[ceilidh1]

I can't imagine doing 'traditional' cruising with our daughter. The freedom that NCL gives for dining and disembarking is just so nice when you're having a nice, relaxing family holiday. With no set dining times, if you come back from a port day and you've had a lot of sun and somebody needs a nap, there's no reason they can't have one. The Kid's Crew is open from early in the morning until 10:30, with a per-hour fee service from 10:30 - 1am, and they'll give you a phone so that they can reach you. They definitely take 2 year olds, and all the kids I've ever seen in the 2-5 group are always having a blast. :)

 

Princess does have the option of "anytime dining" as well. I would not like to be stuck with set meal times even if I wasn't travelling with a child. What do you mean by "freedom for disembarking?" I am considering NCL for the next cruise and would love to hear more????

[poppan]

Thanks again for all the input. So... can I give some additional info and see what you recommend?

 

Re: NCL -- it sounds really great to have the kids group open until 10:30pm, and even later for a small fee (not sure my kids could stay up so late though!). I love that your kiddos liked it so much, I think mine would too (they loooved the last kids group they went to on our "family camp" vacation).

 

BUT -- I have to admit, I'm a bit afraid of NCL. I've only been on Princess, and we love Princess for the food quality and relative flexibility re: dining. My parents are coming with us, and good food/service is very important to them. My mom says NCL "nickel and dime you to death" -- although she hasn't actually gone on NCL ever. I've also heard the rooms are smaller, I don't like the decor from what I've seen on their website, and I'm afraid that the food won't be good and/or that there would be lines. Given these additional considerations -- in your opinion does the superior childcare situation outweigh the rest? And/or am I wrong about the rest? It sounds heavenly to have a place to drop off my kids at (I have twins, it is a lot of work at this age still!), but I want to spend time with them also and I don't think it will be that big of a deal to have them with us all day. It's more the nighttime -- would be very nice to eat dinner in peace by ourselves and go to the bar and listen to music afterwards. Any and all thoughts welcome, and sorry for my rambling on!

[Morguenna]

We sailed on NCL's Pride of America around Hawaii last Christmas with my parents, my B-i-L, DH and our two kids: DD was 5.8 years old and DS was 11 months at the time. My parents-in-law were supposed to be with us on this trip but my F-i-L got ill and was advised not to go :(

 

The NCL's Kids Crew was ok. DD didn't rave over it but she enjoyed it. She tells me she likes the "X boat" more (We've sailed twice previously with Celebrity with DD). I guess the reason why is because she was placed in the 2-5 year group when she was more than ready to be in the next age group. We didn't use their facilities with DS who was just barely walking at the time.

 

Did I like NCL? No and we probably won't do another cruise with them again. First of all, there wasn't enough high chairs to go around. When we got to the dining room, they've run out of highchairs and we typically have to wait 10-15 min (if not more in some instances) to get one. Difficult when we have an active boy who will sit still long enough to eat and then want to be off again. The 'free-style' cruising wasn't much of an advantage to us in that sense. Having a set dinner time at a pre-determined table with a familiar waiter who knows what to expect with our DS (and have tidbits ready to munch on when we got there) would have been better. We had this with Celebrity when we were travelling with DD (ages 3 and 4 during those cruises).

 

We were sad that my parents-in-law couldn't make the trip but if they did, oh my, the complaints would have been plenty! They are veteran cruisers having been on everything from Crystal to Princess (it was my parents first cruise). Like your parents, they have never been on NCL and thought that NCL was a 'cheaper' cruise line but agreed to this trip because it was with the whole family and us 'kids' couldn't take time off of work/school. The food wasn't great and the specialty restaurants which you pay a fee for wasn't anything to rave about either. Believe me, it wasn't worth the extra money with the exception of the steak house. The french bistro was told ahead of time it was my birthday on New Year's eve and they forgot to bring the cake until my b-i-l reminded them! Service was poor, attitude of staff was arrogant and obnoxious. At the regular main dining room, service was slow, our waitress kept on 'oopsing' our orders (with my DS fussing at the table because he was hungry and they got his kids meal wrong), my fish was over done, dry and rubbery and her response was, "well, it's supposed to be medium/well, do you want it raw?".

 

So, if your parents places a value on the service and the quality of the food, then don't go with NCL. You're sure to be disapponted. Princess would be a better choice with your kids. We've only sailed with Celebrity before the ill-fated NCL cruise and really enjoyed it. Our NCL trip wasn't worth it.

 

We're sailing with RC next week to try out their programs with the kids. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable.

 

Hope this helps.

[poppan]

Morguenna -- thank you so much, that was very helpful and in retrospect, I should have included my "other considerations" in my OP. What you said confirms my fears about NCL, and again, although I would very much like to eat an early buffet or room service dinner with the kids and then drop them off at the kids group while I go and enjoy a leisurely meal, it would kind of ruin it all if my leisurely dinner wasn't very good and my parents were griping about the food and service.

 

I'm actually back to Celebrity again... because of the in-cabin babysitting option. Maybe X is the closest thing to what we're looking for, despite the fact that the ship overall is not as flexible with the meal times and other things. You said you cruised with them twice with your then 3- and 4- year olds -- can you tell me more about how it went? I'm prepared to take them everywhere with me all day, just want a babysitter at night once every few nights (it's a 14-day cruise) and I'm sure my parents would take turns with us too. I don't think my kids need special kid areas to play in during the day, but seeing as it's a long cruise, that might be a nice-to-have.

 

I wouldn't mind going with Princess again either, at least I know what to expect, but they expressly said they do not offer babysitting and I already know we are too young for their kids groups. Plus it would be nice to try a different cruiseline.

[Kerry's Girls]

Since Celebrity offers babysitting, I think you're absolutely right. I grew up on the traditional/formal cruises, so I much prefer those as well (though we're doing NCL for our next trip - but the price was amazing and I figure that in Europe, the ports are the focus, not the cruise).

 

I loved all my week long cruises with my twins before they were 3 - we just spent 24/7 together, but two weeks would be a bit much for all of us. Having the babysitting option on Celebrity will solve that, and keep the grownups happy. Any my twins and I have always done the set seating on Princess - the routine works for us and we really enjoy having the same servers each night, which is also a benefit when cruising with little ones. The places are set up with high chairs or boosters and the table is set when you arrive (no knives or glasses - I bring my own plastic cups) and they can have the kids favorite starter out quickly.

 

Have a great time - sounds like a wonderful trip.

 

Best,

Mia

[Morguenna]

Your parents sounds like my in-laws ;)

 

I've cruised with Celebrity 3 times:

 

2002 Millenium - Southern Caribbean for our honeymoon :D

2006 Constellation - San Juan to NYC for a family reunion

2006 Galaxy - Western Med.

 

On the Constellation, DD just turned 3 years and she had a blast. With all the relatives (parent's in-law's sibs and spouses) doting on her and beach days, she had a lot of fun. She's very much a 'little lady' and would sit through a 90 minute formal dinner without complaint so I never made use of babysitting. She also loved the evening shows, the music in the cova cafe and dancing. Sometimes it was hard convincing her it's bedtime. But that's her personality. She took to cruising very easily and she loved our Med cruise, skipping along the streets of Pompeii (got beautiful photos of her there and on Capri). As for fixed dinner times, there's always the buffet which is open until 8:30 pm and we did that a few times when she had a late nap and slept through dinner hour. And we made use of room service.

 

We're trying a different tact with our DS (now 18 months). He doesn't sit still for very long, being an active boy. So we're going to try private babysitting for the first time on our RC trip up to Alaska next week so that DH and I can try one or two of the specialty restaurants and have a quiet dinner. We are a little apprehensive about it but the comments and advice on this board have been helpful and encouraging.

 

I'm sure you'll like Celebrity. We have been happy with our vacations with them. Depending on the ship, they have a pretty good kids club which you can play with your kids there during sea days. But we have noticed that between 2002 and 2006, things have been scaled back (like midnight buffets etc). M-i-L still likes Princess over Celebrity but then again, she hasn't been on Princess for over 8 years so I'm sure the same 'down sizing' have occured in all cruise lines in that time.

[poppan]

I have one of each: a little lady who can sit through a long dinner, and an active DS who can sit still for maybe 15 minutes if I'm lucky. Given the more formal dining room if we go with X -- do you think it would be OK if one of us stayed outside with him until the main course is served, then departed with him again soon after? That is often what we have to do when we try to eat out. I don't think we would try to bring them to the dining room every night, but I have the cutest little tuxedo for him (he was the ringbearer for my sister's wedding recently) so I would like to bring him once or twice. I guess I can always just see how it goes -- see who else is there and what the overall atmosphere is and how he does.

 

Have fun on RC! I wanted to try them but their Panama Canal cruise didn't work for us -- can't remember why now but I think it had something to do with the flights not being nonstop and me not being brave enough to make a connecting flight.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Thanks again for all the input. So... can I give some additional info and see what you recommend?

 

Re: NCL -- it sounds really great to have the kids group open until 10:30pm, and even later for a small fee (not sure my kids could stay up so late though!). I love that your kiddos liked it so much, I think mine would too (they loooved the last kids group they went to on our "family camp" vacation).

 

BUT -- I have to admit, I'm a bit afraid of NCL. I've only been on Princess, and we love Princess for the food quality and relative flexibility re: dining. My parents are coming with us, and good food/service is very important to them. My mom says NCL "nickel and dime you to death" -- although she hasn't actually gone on NCL ever. I've also heard the rooms are smaller, I don't like the decor from what I've seen on their website, and I'm afraid that the food won't be good and/or that there would be lines. Given these additional considerations -- in your opinion does the superior childcare situation outweigh the rest? And/or am I wrong about the rest? It sounds heavenly to have a place to drop off my kids at (I have twins, it is a lot of work at this age still!), but I want to spend time with them also and I don't think it will be that big of a deal to have them with us all day. It's more the nighttime -- would be very nice to eat dinner in peace by ourselves and go to the bar and listen to music afterwards. Any and all thoughts welcome, and sorry for my rambling on!

 

First off, I haven't sailed NCL with kids, but yes, they take 2-year-olds in their kid's club. The hours aren't straight through from 9 AM to 10:30 PM, though. I'm pretty sure that it's something like 9-noon and 2-5. Then 7 to 10:30, with charges for later hours. I think they will buzz you if diapers need to be changed, if that's an issue.

 

Secondly, we recently took our first NCL cruise, a TA, due to an incredibly great deal. I was quite worried, since NCL has a poor reputation. We actually had a great time and I liked many things about the Jewel. Our mini-suite was fine, nice bathroom, a little cramped in the closet area. The decor is not nearly so garish as is shown on the website--I'm not sure why they make it look so bright. The room was slightly smaller than other mini suites I've had, but the bathroom was bigger.

 

We had no problem at all with service and as to 'nickle-and-diming' it was no worse than any other ship. We thought the food was quite good except the desserts were mediocre. The buffet has typical buffet type foods, but is very spacious and easy to navigate, especially compared to Princess and Carnival. It even has a kid's area with a kid's buffet and seating area. (Of course, they don't have to sit or eat there). Adult seating right around the buffet was hard to find, but we discovered that a short walk to Mama's kitchen? (unsure of name) always had plenty of seating.

 

We didn't find many lines. We ate in one of the MDR every night. A couple of times when there was a small line at one, we just went to the other and got right in. Loved the anytime dining; with your twins this would be great as you could feed them, drop them off at the kid's club, then eat when you were ready. We didn't use the specialty restaurants, but heard they were good to great.

 

The shows were some of the best I've seen on a ship--and we always found good seats--the theater is awesome. We were altogether pleasantly surprised by our NCL cruise and will sail with them again in a heartbeat. That said, we're not incredibly picky, demanding or critical cruisers and have never been on a cruise we didn't like. Also, choose one of their newer ships; more than one person we met on board were critical of the older ships.

 

Good luck and have fun! To me, it would be worth it try NCL just because they do take two's in their club. (So does Carnival) and, I think Disney, but that's a very pricey option.

[Morguenna]

I have one of each: a little lady who can sit through a long dinner, and an active DS who can sit still for maybe 15 minutes if I'm lucky. Given the more formal dining room if we go with X -- do you think it would be OK if one of us stayed outside with him until the main course is served, then departed with him again soon after? That is often what we have to do when we try to eat out. I don't think we would try to bring them to the dining room every night, but I have the cutest little tuxedo for him (he was the ringbearer for my sister's wedding recently) so I would like to bring him once or twice. I guess I can always just see how it goes -- see who else is there and what the overall atmosphere is and how he does.

 

Have fun on RC! I wanted to try them but their Panama Canal cruise didn't work for us -- can't remember why now but I think it had something to do with the flights not being nonstop and me not being brave enough to make a connecting flight.

 

If I remember correctly, there are tables near the exits of the main dining room on both floors. You're a party of 6, I believe, so you'll likely get your own table. You won't get a view of the grand staircase or see the string quartet/pianist but that's the least of your concerns. On NCL, we ordered, took DS for a walk and came back when the food was on the table. We did this several times over the course of the meal. I don't think the little walks will be a problem. Play it by ear, if he fusses and you think he'll disturb neighbouring tables, then take him to the buffet or request that your meal be delivered to your stateroom while the rest of the family finishes their dinner. Your DS is a year older than my boy so hopefully you can reason with him to behave.:D

 

I'll post here later to let you know how the babysitting went and how dinners went with us on RC. :rolleyes:

[calikak]

We were avid Princess cruisers until we tried NCL, now we like them both. Some comparisons, and these are purely subjective, others may not agree:

 

-I would say food quality was similar--dining room food on NCL was similar to dining room food on Princess, and specialty restaurant food on NCL was similar or slightly better than specialty food on Princess (I'm particularly thinking of the steak houses, but NCL also has way more variety of specialty dining, so it's a bit apples and oranges). People talk about the food in the main dining room on NCL being not that good so that they'll force you to eat at the specialty (pay) restaurants. I would agree that the speciality restaurants, on both lines, are generally better than the main dining room, but I don't think the main dining room food on either line is bad. I will say, I think the food on all the cruise lines I've been on has slid downhill in the past few years, Princess included.

-Drink prices on NCL were pretty high ($10 for a cosmo seems a lot to me), and they are serious about enforcing their zero tolerance policy about bringing your own booze. Princess allows you to bring your own wine onboard; NCL does not. So, if you drink, factor that into your budget.

-Yes, NCL allows 2-year-olds in the kids' club and Princess doesn't. That's a big draw. But, remember that your child may decide they don't like the kids' club. Ours did that on Carnival--he was fine the first day, and then after that, he didn't want to go back. So, don't get your heart set on your kid spending a lot of time in the kids' club--hope that it happens, but know that it might not work out. Note that neither line has in-cabin babysitting, but Celebrity does (subject to crew availability). We're doing Celebrity for our next big cruise, in April, and I'm hoping that'll work out well for us!

-I would say the vibe on NCL was slightly hipper than Princess; Princess was a bit more refined. Not trying to make a value judgment there, I like both lines. If you're looking for nightlife, you will find substantially more of it on NCL (White Hot Party; Quest). If not (who wants to go out dancing late at night when your 2-year-old is going to be up at 6AM?) then Princess will give you more than enough to do in the evenings and will have a more relaxed atmosphere.

-Big stage shows were much much better on NCL, with the exception of Norwegian Sky, which was slightly worse than Princess. Intimate music venues were better on Princess.

-Cabin size: I haven't been in a balcony cabin on any of the newer NCL ships, only Sun and Sky, but those balcony cabins were smaller than the ones on most of the Princess fleet (Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess are the exception--I think they're the same size as on NCL Sun and Sky). You know how on Princess they have those nice walk-in closets by the bathrooms, where you could put a pack'n'play so your kid can go to sleep while you're in the main part of the cabin? Norwegian doesn't have that; instead, the closet space is along the entry hallway. So you'd have to put the pack'n'play next to the balcony door, in front of the little love seat. Or, if your kid is in a bed already, then you're using the fold-out bed, which almost completely blocks access to the balcony, you'd almost have to climb over the bed to get out there.

 

I hope this helps!

[poppan]

Thanks for the new replies and experiences. It sounds like we should really give NCL a try at some point and see for ourselves! For this Panama Canal one because it's so long (2 weeks) and also because of the babysitting option, we've decided to go with Celebrity. I do want to try NCL at some point, but thinking we'll do it on a shorter cruise -- just not brave enough to try it on a 2-week voyage, despite the many recommendations here. :o Also, I don't know if anyone else is like this, but for me, my opinion often depends on how much I paid... I expect less when I pay less, and I expect more when I pay more, KWIM? If I found a great deal on NCL going to Mexico or the Caribbean I think I would probably enjoy it quite a bit, but rightly or wrongly, it doesn't feel right to pay nearly as much for NCL as for Celebrity (which is how this cruise is pricing out). Anyway, we are booked in an FV cabin on Celebrity for Thanksgiving, with the early dining option... wish us luck!

[poppan]

P.S. thanks for the detailed reviews on food, drink prices, room configuration, etc... that was very helpful! DH loves his beer and wine and consumes a vast amount of it onboard, it is quite the tab at the end so definitely a consideration for us. On Princess I think one of the things he enjoys the most is the good pricing on the wine and beer, and on this upcoming Celebrity sailing I think he is looking forward to what is reputed to be a more extensive and "better" wine list.

 

And we don't usually watch the big theater shows, we like to see the smaller music acts at the bar, so that is good to know too.

 

I'm hoping this "Family Veranda" room works out well for us. The Celebrity balcony rooms were smaller than the mini-suites on Princess, so we weren't sure what to get instead. In the end we opted to go with the FV (which has a gigantic balcony -- room is 271 sq ft and balcony is an additional 242 sq ft) -- the other option we weighed was two connecting balcony rooms which would have given us a total of 340 sq ft in interior room, two proper beds and two bathrooms. DH thought the FV would have more usable space/room to play in in case we have to spend a lot of time in the room with our kiddos. Our kids are too big for the pack n play now, I guess they'll be on the sofabed. Hopefully that is better than having to fit two pack n plays into the room :eek:

[Nebr.cruiser]

Good luck--you'll have a wonderful time on Celebrity, and the baby-sitting is a plus. We've only cruised with them once (without kids), but enjoyed it. The family balcony room sounds great.