Sparkygirl

We stayed in 12500 with my husband and I and our three kids. The youngest was in a pack n play which we put behind the curtain in the master bedroom as she was just a couple weeks over 3 at the time, 13 year old slept in the 2nd bedroom and the 11 year old had the pull out couch.

We loved this room and didn't miss the balcony with a 3 year old it scared me to have a balcony. Your on the same deck as the pool so we would just walk there when we wanted fresh air.

I totally agree you can have multiple adults in a family as I travel with my sister & her husband and also with my adult kids and have been in one suite.

 

But, Wow! from me. All four of your adults are really staying in the same cabin together? That is what one side of this thread is about.

The four adults booked in one suite and the three children in a connecting mini or balcony was one of several booking options we explored. We sail every other year as a blended family. NCL is wonderful for this as each parent books their own dinner reservations for various combinations from all 7 of us to a couple's date night while the kids are with the other parent.

We ultimately for this upcoming cruise decided on connecting balcony and mini suite as last time we were a deck apart and were constantly having to swing by the other parents cabin to pick up or drop off stuff the kids forgot.

Also, highly recommend having a passport for your little one. Incase something happens and you need to fly home or be medically evacuated from the ship not having a passport can delay access to care. A passport takes up to 2 months to get back and for a baby the picture must have both eyes open which can take a while to get an acceptable pictures.

Thank you all for your opinions and advice! I think we will take her to the kids club, see how she likes it, and tell the counselors that she doesn't understand English. And then try leaving for a moment.

Children of that age may play alone or side by side, they don't necessarily need "friends" to play with. Or then, as Travelhound mentioned, they can use hand gestures to communicate with others. I am sure it goes well :)

My brother and I speak only english and traveled to Denmark when we were little and went to legoland. We did not understand the other kids but had a great time and cooperative play as built and raced lego cars against each other. Kids are more resilient regarding language barriers than adults.

3kidsncats post was referring to the Jewel.

Thank you! On the app the ship names get dropped.

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As of our cruise on Jan 3, 2016:

 

Captain Paer Niklas Persson

 

Hotel Director Claus Pascher

 

Assistant Hotel Director Rohinton Mottahed (first couple of days)

newly taking over: Assistant Hotel Director Mario Markovic

 

F&B Director Mohammad Hasan

 

Cruise Director Sin Alvarez

 

Guest Service Manager KitKat Galope

 

Restaurant Manager Noel Chaves

 

Beverage Manager Joe Borges

 

Group Services Co-ordinator Jenmark Opon

I'm on my iPad, which ship is the above list for?

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If you are booked through a TA, your TA needs to call NCL and make arrangements for boarding together. With a party of 12 the group service coordinator might be a good place to start. I also learned that the port agents are the POC for issues related to the port. We were met and escorted by the port agent through the luggage pick up and customs due to my daughters allergy. With prior arrangements cards can be moved from one pier to the other by the shore side supervisor. My daughter is removed from our reservation the night before sailing and her sail card is not available to the desk agent. The supervisor is the one who has access to her card and is able to reinstate her to the reservation.

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This can not and should not happen, there was a poster on social media that said the same thing that there are private babysitters after much go round it was on a chartered cruise where the charter group arranged in cabin sitting services through folks they brought onboard for their group only. I don't think many crew members would risk their jobs for the cash offered to babysit.

We are good friends with a hotel director and would meet to chat and hang out in the common areas of the ship often near guest services so that she could be responsible to needs as they arose. She would also stop by while we had breakfast and then circulate around the dinning room.

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When were you on the getaway that they had balloons in the welcome aboard show? I've never seen balloons used in any of the shows nor has it ever been mentioned when we meet with ship staff regarding my daughter's allergy to latex.

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Im thinking the cruise should require life jackets in and around their pools for children.

I disagree requiring a life jacket for children is not the answer. My four year old is a competitive swimmer and swims 300-600 yards during a practice session. There are many factors that contribute to a drowning and mitigation of all the factors is a challenge with no single solution.

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Hi All,

 

So we are in a big group (18 people) for a wedding on Breakaway RT NYC 3/6/16-3/13/16.

 

 

 

Is there an easy way to make sure we all get off the ship roughly at the same time to get into a rented private bus? I dont think the driver wants to sit there at the pier for a couple of hours waiting for all of us to eventually get off the ship.

 

 

 

Whats the easiest less stressful way to get off the ship?

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

Is the wedding arranged through NCL? If so ask the group service coordinator for your requested time and they should be able to get you sufficient luggage tags.

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No that one has not posted either....I keep watching and waiting and hoping that someone will post them soon. I need to feed my obsession for over planning:eek:;)

Me too!!!!

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My TA just double checked to make sure it was noted on the booking, and it is on there. She also contacted the access desk to make sure they were aware. I don't see anything on their website for that form, and my TA said there was not a specific form for dietary needs. Just want to make sure it is done right.

There is an access desk form and it does include special dietary needs, it is item 2 on page 2. I've included screen captures of the form. The form is how the ship knows about the dietary need and how the restaurant manager etc are alerted. If you are leaving on Sunday I highly recommend calling the access desk yourself and asking for the form to be sent to you. Due to the short time frame they may not be able to bring onboard the ship items specific for your son versus standard gluten free items they have on board.

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Breakaway did parade it went around garden cafe not main atrium as on other ships. It wasn't advertised just mentioned to parents at drop off.

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Check with you TA and see if she filled out the access desk form, a notation on the booking isn't sufficient. The form includes an area for additional comments about the specific needs. There is no guarantee they will be able to get specific items but if there are certain foods he will eat you can write it in.

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Does anyone happen to have the Entourage teen schedule for the Getaway sailing the W Caribbean route? On the Dawn Entourage Teens had a farewell dinner on the last night. We are booking a blended family trip and don't want to conflict our final joint dinner with this event for the teens in the family.

Up to four adults can have kids club sign out privileges and they don't care the relationship, just ask that you identify the relationship. When we sailed with my parents both grandparents had sign out privileges, when we sailed on a joint blended family cruise we also added my stepchildren's mom and her husband as aunt and uncle.

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The Dawn when on the same itinerary did stay on central time the entire cruise which had a small hiccup with Cozumel as of 2/2015 being on eastern standard time.

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Sonja Sommeregger is on the Gem

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There are two slides in the splash area as well as the characters. Was the entire area closed? Could they be removing the characters and palm tree slide?

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Do you know how to install the keyfit without the base? That is the best option when traveling. Are you driving or flying? We book off hours flights (evening or night) and the flights and usually not full that as long as we have the car seat with us (not checked) we are given a seat for free.

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We also talked with our cabin steward regarding which trash can we would put the diapers in scented bags into so they knew that one trash can needed to be emptied with morning service and evening turn down.

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Can anyone share the pricing for illusion atrium on getaway. We are a party of 7 sailing together and would like to be by the stage.

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I would call Customs and ask, my only concern is that you've mentioned an error on the birth certificate that needs to be fixed before getting a passport, if it is not an accurate valid birth certificate that matches the reservation someone may question it.

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Thank you all so much for your kind words and ideas! You really have no idea how much it is appreciated. My son is a brilliant, sweet kid and he is SO excited about his first "big" vacation.

 

My husband and I have sailed in an aft facing balcony, and while I loved it, a balcony with my monkey child seems like a terrifying idea. He tries to climb out of ferris wheels, lol! I'm not too worried about meals as he LOVES going out to eat and we can avoid the buffet during peak times, no problem! ZandZ made an interesting point about HIPAA, which makes me want to do a little digging. Lord knows I am tired of explaining to nasty strangers that while my 8 year old is the size of a 12 year old, he functions like a 4 year old :P

My daughter has special needs (not autism), what ship are you sailing? I would highly recommend looking at the Dawn family suites or forward owners suite without balcony. The pricing is equivalent to a balcony on the newer ships. The pool area at the back is perfect, not crowded and great for kids. The ship isn't overwhelming and is easy to navigate. Also, by booking a suite lunch on embarkation day is in cagney's away from the crowds. With a suite meals in the room are an option by the butler. I had to leave dinner one night because of my little one. The butler saw me and a crying child going back to the room, she went to the restaurant and asked my husband what course from moderno I left the restaurant and brought me a plate of the food I missed out on. The owners suite 12500 had a second bedroom in it and my daughter loved sitting on the floor in our room watching as we sailed from the floor to ceiling windows. The bathroom was also mesmerizing with "twinkle" star lights in the ceiling.

We board first with my daughter through the crew gangway dockside as she can't be near the balloons on the guest gangway. We then stay in our room during the muster drill and attend the make up the next day. The access desk can be an great resource. Also, ask on the family cruise and disabled cruise board for additional suggestions.

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