Sparkygirl

We are booked on the NCL Dawn in February, I haven't been able to find any 2014-2015 freestyle dailies on the board that are readable. I can find the 2013-2014 freestyle dailies from the Dawn on the same itinerary out of Tampa which we sailed on last. Are the activities pretty similar to give us a general idea of what will be going on each day?

We have never encountered a VAT tax issue, we make our purchases expecting a 25% tax on all items we buy. The rates are often less than that but for our budgeting purposes we want to be over the amount. Each port often has a representative regarding the VAT program for their country. We stop in and get the necessary paperwork or website for us to submit our information. VAT Tax refund paperwork can not be turned in while you are in that country. It has to be post marked from an area outside the VAT region.

A previous poster stated NCL will give you the form if your purchases are over a certain amount, we don't buy that much onboard which is why we get the VAT paperwork in the ports, almost all purchases except food and drink have a VAT exemption for a tourist for personal use.

I've been on the Dawn without kids and had a great time. It's a wonderful ship and I will booking a Boston to Bermuda again shortly! I just recently did the Gem with three kids, 14/13/6 and although not sister ships, they are very comparable. The older kids were GONE as soon as we got settled. They were signed up for the teen club and I swear.. I barely saw them again. ( Well, port days, but I suspect it was only because they had no other choice!) They met up for breakfast with the club and were busy until late evening, seeing them only for a quick change of clothes or occasionally bumping into them at karaoke. ( God Forbid Mom sees us singing with our friends!! )

 

I have to admit, with them being younger teens I was worried about safety, about behavior, and even about peer pressure to do stupid things. I laid ground rules prior to even steeping foot on board, and they respected them.

Rules such as:

Do not bring friends into our cabin(s) without us there

Do NOT go into anybody else's cabin

Be respectful to all fellow passengers and all crew

When I say you need to meet me somewhere, be sure to be there

Give me a general idea of where you are going (pool, teen club, buffet, etc)

 

We also had sticky notes to leave messages in the cabin back and forth. (They were also helpful communicating with our room steward)

 

I was happily surprised by how they handled all the freedom on the ship. No incidents, plenty of great memories!

 

The 6yo was in and out of the kids club and he enjoyed his time there, too, although he mostly just wanted to be with us... in the arcade. :o

 

I think a smaller ship is easier to keep an eye on the older kids than a mega ship. Way less people and it was pretty easy to run into them.

 

Oh, just be aware that the 19 yo will not be allowed in the teen club, as it is 13-18. Don't worry. There will be plenty of things for him to do, with or without the younger siblings. Also, he may drink on board with your signed permission. Even if you do not give him permission, he may befriend others who are drinking and they might help him if they are so inclined. You may want to discuss your policy on that prior to sailing.

 

I'm sure it will be a phenomenal family vacation! Happy cruising!

This was our exact same experience and the Dawn was our first kids sailing. The teen club is on deck 13 the Garden Cafe, sprinkles ice cream and pool on Deck 12, Sports Deck and the one single hot tub up on the top of the ship in the front was where we would find the teens when not in the club. It is a smaller compact ship that provided plenty of happening to pass each other without being on an active search. We sailed with my step kids mom, stepdad, my husband and I, between the four of us we spotted and took note of where the kids were without being overly formal unless we saw something that was against the ground rules.

NCL Transfers from New Orleans told us they can not guarantee that you will make any flights prior to 1230pm upon your return. It also depends on what is going on in New Orleans, when are you sailing? The airport to the port is 30 minutes or so.

We took my 3 year old to the Cirque show on Breakaway, we went the first night as we had the unlimited dinning plan. She loved the show! We asked for the booth seats so that she was seated between the grown ups in our party. It was a blast for us, her and the crew members serving our dinner. Our server remembered our daughter when he saw us the next morning in Garden Cafe. My daughter isn't a picky eater and loved the meal that was served.

This is who is listed in the Freestyle Daily from 12/7 Dawn cruise.

 

http://www.twiceasniceentertainment.com/bio.html

Do you have an electronic copy of the dailies from this cruise?

Contact the access desk, they will send you a three page form to fill out under the breathing section it lists concentrators. They do ask the make and model of the one you will be bringing onboard on the form.

No it cannot if your talking about the Daily Service Charge. It can be used to tip the Butler and Concierge if your in a suite.

To use OBC to tip Butler, Concierge or Room Steward or other crew member you feel deserving you need their full name as listed on the crew members shipboard account, then go to guest services and ask for a fund transfer form its like a check voucher, it transfers the funds from your account to the crew member. It's a carbon copy handwritten form so that you keep a copy and give a copy to the crew member you are tipping.

Take advantage of the suite breakfast and lunch perk on NCL. Don't brave the buffet unless you absolutely have to! The staff in Cagney's (or Moderno) will go over the top for the little ones

 

Try and get the 3-yr old into the Splash Academy.

 

Those two bedroom suites are fantastic - we've actually utilized them 6 times now with our son.

To add to the above poster, don't be afraid to leave dinner at a specialty restaurant with a misbehaving little one and call your butler asking for the reminder of yours and little ones meal be delivered to your cabin.

Our butler saw me returning to the cabin with only one child while my husband and two other children stayed to finish dinner. She convinced me that if I hadn't finished my meal and paid the specialty service charge for it I deserved my full meal experience and that she would bring it to me. She then went to my husband and older kids to determine which meat I had departed the table and brought back everything plus some extras for me.

I hope you and your family have a safe and enjoyable cruise!!

Thank you! We absolutely love NCL, I recently called every other cruise line because extended family wanted to go on a cruise and no one else can compare to the level of attention to detail and accommodations that NCL makes for my daughter. It is truly an enjoyable vacation where mom and dad can let their guards down just a little and trust that someone else is being extra vigilant.

I downloaded my docs for the first leg of an upcoming B2B and had Teal colored tags. Couldn't get the tags to print our the correct size, however the color name, in this case Teal, was printed on the top and bottom of the tag, so even if your colorblind, you'll know what color the tag is.:)

 

As it turns out, I'm in a suite, so a couple of days later, real live Teal tags showed up in the mail, with tags for everyone in our party.;)

Thank you! This answered my question, we just booked a suite and the edocs have the link to print our luggage tags wasn't sure if I should or wait to see if they come in the mail.

I'm not trying to undermine the efforts made here - but I do not really understand the importance of the information.

 

Does service or the overall cruise experience vary based on who holds these positions? How would one cruise be different with a different Executive Staff?

 

I can understand if you had a crap Concierge or something, but I don't really see the need to know the rest.

 

Can someone shed some light on this?

I consider this list with the names as a cheat sheet for me. My young daughter has a life threatening allergy and within the first 30-60 minutes of boarding I am meeting pretty much everyone on these lists with the exception of the Cruise Director and Captain. Having their names ahead of time written down lets me feel more comfortable during out meeting that I can quickly confirm their names and add their handy phone numbers to my list for later reference. It saves the how do you spell your name or the here's my card which I then desperately try to keep from getting lost in the hustle of just boarding, meeting everyone and trying to get lunch.

The car seat The county provides for my three year old foster child is a graco. It does appear to convert To a booster. The county provided the two year old with an evenflo (again, not sure the model), but it looks like a giant bucket seat. I checked the sides, and both say approved for motor vehicles, but I did not see the faa or airplane approval. The width of the evenflo is 22 inches, the graco width is 20. I will need a new car seat soon regardless, as the evenflo expires. The county will provide us with another seat, but the seats will be secondhand.

Evenflo states all seats with an internal harness are FAA approved. Without seeing both seats the manufactures are implying that what you currently have will work for the airplane for both children. If you are getting a new "used" seat often part of a county loaner seat program ask for a graco combination seat like the nautilus or Argos for the 2 year old. Then you should be 100% good to go and those seats last for tall or stocky children. My 40 lbs 40inch 4 year old fits wonderfully and will remain harnessed until around age 7.

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The car seat The county provides for my three year old foster child is a graco. It does appear to convert To a booster. The county provided the two year old with an evenflo (again, not sure the model), but it looks like a giant bucket seat. I checked the sides, and both say approved for motor vehicles, but I did not see the faa or airplane approval. The width of the evenflo is 22 inches, the graco width is 20. I will need a new car seat soon regardless, as the evenflo expires. The county will provide us with another seat, but the seats will be secondhand.

Stab in the dark, graco nautilus is the older 3 in one that converts to a booster and has a 5pt harness. It is 20 inches wide and is FAA approved, the sticker is on the bottom of the seat, to see if you have to uninstall the seat and flip it over and look at the bottom. Also, look for the serial make and model sticker on the back or bottom of the seat. Take a picture for your records.

I'll research evenflo after work and get back to you.

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I am a car seat technician if you'd like take a picture of the seats and I'll help you figure this out. I'm assuming the 3 year old is in a harness. Or email me at daadme at gmail dot com

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You will be escorted to the suite check in after security and then escorted to the suite waiting area. Sometimes you need to be a little firm with the people after security to ensure you get escorted to check in. Mention clearly that you are VIP/Suite guests and they will take care of you.

Thank you! On the sky the suite check in was in a separate area and I know that we will require a supervisor upon check in. Due to my daughter's severe allergy she is removed from our reservation the morning of check in. Yes, every time we cruise we go to check-in, hand over our edocs listing all passengers and they say our daughter is not listed as a passenger. It helps me to know ahead of time what to say to the representative checking us in and who they need to reach and where that person most likely is located.

It's subjective - my kids preferred NCL'S clubs over DCL's clubs.

My four year old will have 4 cruises on NCL. I called Disney to see if we could cruise them, they are unable to accommodate her allergy in their free roam play area so we are sticking with NCL. What about NCL did your kids not like? We also sailed Breakaway and didn't like it as much as we have our trips on the Sky or Dawn, maybe it was the ship.

We planned our first cruise with foster children, toddlers, 2 and 3 years old. Currently, neither car seat we own Meets FAA approval, so we need recommendations. Our two year old is average night, but a little stocky. He currently weighs 32 lbs. Our three year old stands 42 inches, but only weighs 33 lbs.

 

I did plan on purchasing CARES for the 2 year old, but apparently my three year old is too tall (guidelines say under 40 inches). Looking for reasonably cost CRS options.

What car seat's do you have, there are only a few that are not FAA approved.

Check out this updated FAA information, many will tell you a child over 40 lbs can not be restrained in a safety seat, this is incorrect. http://thecarseatlady.com/before-you-fly-know-your-rights/

What's the use of routine? Being able to cope with changes to routine is a very useful attribute. Here's your chance to help them practice.

 

When I was 10, I had a 7 week holiday in a cottage in north Denmark. Towards the end of the trip, we were suddenly given (at a couple of days notice) the chance of a week in Copenhagen. We took the week, and "routine" wasn't considered - it did me no harm.

I would love to spend 7 weeks in Denmark! We were there for a week and try and make our europe flight connections through Copenhagen so that we can see the city.

I think it really depends on the vacation to determine the right length. Ideally I like 2 week vacations when there is an opportunity to see a variety of things, different ports of call or at the two week mark really making that transition from tourist to seeing a place through more of a resident's view point.

My boys use this. Hopefully you can follow the link. We took it on our last cruise and they used it along with their snorkeling gear at Sapphire beach in St Thomas. Worked perfectly and they really liked having it. They can both swim but it helped them snorkel. Hope this helps.

 

 

Aeris Snorkel Vest with Zippered Pocket - 3 Sizes (Blue - Small/Kids)

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008YOCA4S/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_tMPOub19EA6A3

 

 

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I'm debating if my 4 year old should use the vest listed above, I have the small/kids one or her puddle jumper or her regular life jacket. We've used both the puddle jumper when she was 3 and her life jacket when she was 2.

There's a small group of ruins at Cozumel. A 15 minute taxi ride from the ship. If, of course, your ship docks at Cozumel - "Western Caribbean" isn't very specific - what ports are you visiting?

Sorry, We are visiting Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

Is the suite check-in a separate room, or just a different counter and then taken to the suite waiting area?

We are sailing with my 98 year old grandmother, she can walk short distances and we have a lightweight transport chair in which we push her. There are 6 of us traveling including my mom and dad, my husband and I and our 3 year old daughter. She only weighs 100 lbs that we are able to assist her. We are sailing on the NCL Dawn out of New Orleans to the western caribbean, does anyone know if there is a Mayan Ruin site that would be a good for us to go visit?

I've been to Altun Ha in Belize which is flat, level and open the challenge is Belize is a tender port so we may not be able to get off the ship. Chacchoben looked promising in Costa Maya but the description states those with walking difficulties will not be allowed to participate.

I do not think they bumped up pricing with this promo, it is filling cabins of folks who would not add them before to try out and possibly purchase them in the future. We just booked a suite sailing in 40 days because of the promo and an amazing deal for 6 in the SJ family suite on the Dawn.

Yes, call your PCC or TA and they will do it for you. Are you sailing at the same time? I bought two future cruise rewards for myself and my step kids mom. The PCC did a three way call with us, booked my reservation using one of the future cruise rewards then transferred the other and booked the kids mom's cabin. It was a very smooth and simple process.