MrsWhite831

Was the transportation in St. Thomas a cab or one of he open air buses? Did you feel comfortable with your little ones? I assume the ship-sponsored excursion to Coral World/Coki Beach takes a large bus, so maybe it'd be worth just paying the extra money for the peace of mind.

When we got off the boat there was a ton of regular taxis- we took one of those, it's $9pp. Our driver gave us a business card and said we could call him to come back anytime and he'd be there within 20 mins. On the way back there seemed to be a majority of open air buses at Coki beach and I thought it would save money.... nope $9 a person. I was leery of getting on with the kids but the sides are pretty high and 3 different drivers convinced us that it's safe as long as the kids sit in the middle. The kids loved it and nothing beat the warm breeze.

Thanks for your review! We are getting on the Getaway with our 4yo son on Saturday so it's just in time for us :)

 

Question on your excursions - how did you handle the transportation with the small children, especially your cab ride? Did you bring a car seat?

 

Did your kids go on any of the water slides?

 

Do you remember what exactly was on the kids menu in the MDR? I haven't been able to find a copy yet.

We did not bring carseats.. (ducks from judgements on board). 99% of our travel was via van/bus and we were told seats were not needed.

In the splash pad there are 2 water slides, one about a foot long and one about 3 feet long. I went on 3 of the big slides... they were "intense" lol. I cant imagine my kids going on them. However the purple slide I went on, I never went under water, even at the end, if that helps.

The kids menu was always the same; cheese or pepperoni pizza, mac and cheese, chicken tenders and fries, pb&j, grilled cheese... I may be missing something but my kids were always fine with those choices.

We planned on taking the 5:15 back and as the 4:30 was leaving there was still plenty of blue NCL towels along the beach chairs but some dark gray clouds rolled in... the wind picked up so we quick got ready and hopped on the 4:30

Just off the getaway Saturday. We were given a tiny cell phone that looked like a pager. We were called when our daughter had an accident and when one of our sons was falling asleep, hahah. Make sure you don't lose it! I signed something saying it was $150 to replace and it is NOT water proof so I had to always keep a close eye on it at the pool.

Blue lagoon pics

My kids were too small for the encounters but you could watch people doing them, Right behind my son was the swim and in the right hand corner of the pic was the encounters.

Photo of beach/lagoon entry

Did you take any pictures of the Blue Lagoon that you could post? We have this booked for next month.

 

I am a little concerned with the time that you get. I believe the excursion says something like "4 hours" and it has been reported that it takes about an hour to get there? There have also been reports that the boat that takes you over there also stops along the way to pick up people at Paradise. Can you tell me, did the boat actually pick you up right there at the ship in port and did you stop along the way to get more passengers (therefore taking up a lot of valuable time)? How long did it take to get to Blue Lagoon? How long were you actually ON the island before you had to leave? Did you find that the last boat trip back was at 4pm? Or did they stay longer since you were on a ship excursion? What time did you leave the island and did they come around and tell you when you needed to pack up and go?

 

My daughter (who just turned 6 this month) loved the Nick Jr nights and themed parties. She did the tee shirt coloring too (but they didn't have the tote bag on the Jewel). I have to say you are the first person that said the pajama party breakfast was "yummy". Everyone has always reported that it is the worse thing ever and not worth the money. What all did they serve? We may have to try it out this time. How much did it cost?

 

Thanks in advance. :)

Uploading some pics right now. The boat ride was about 30 mins. It goes right from the cruise dock to the lagoon. We met at 12:50. Got to the lagoon around 1:30, then you can take the 4:30 or 5:15 ferry home. They make loud announcements on the island about the time and which ships may board. The ride is actually really pretty- we got to see lots of celebrity homes, there's music and the water is beautiful. We did have 1 stop on the way back to drop off hotel customers.

The pajama jam WAS great lol. They had waffles, pancakes, french toast, omlette type sandwiches on english muffins, hot dogs in crescents, fruit skewers and a huge baked good assortments- things you didn't find on the buffet; donuts with colored icing and sprinkles, giant cupcakes, danishes. For the $20 the kids got breakfast, the dance party, a nick cup, bubbles and a little sparkly pom pom thing.

We are doing the UNDP but I want to go to tropical a when the dancers are there. Do you remember which nights they danced?

Thanks!

We went on the last sea day at 6pm. The time they will be there is in the freestyle I know it was more than one day. Get there early for a table near the floor.

Don't forget it's the "nicer" dining room. We got a little added entertainment of watching people turned away for not following a dress code... noted several times in the freestyle. One woman's husband was not allowed in and the woman was screaming in her waiters face and demanded they comp her wine since she "had to leave". insane.

 

2. Did you feel like there was a lack of organized activities for families, specifically in the evening? It seems like when I look through the dailies others have posted, that after dinner there really isn't anything for kids or families to do (and we'll be eating around the same time as you). Our only other cruise was on Disney and there was a really amazing show every night that the whole family could go to together which was really nice. I haven't seen anything like that but maybe I'm missing it.

 

3. Did you feel out of place with kids? By that, I mean, did you notice eye rolls from people if your kids were being...well...kids. Or did you feel like everything was geared towards adults only? From the sound of some peoples comments on this board, I'm afraid that people will dread when they see us walking around, or that we'll be one of 2 families onboard. haha

 

Thanks in advance!

2. You're right there is kind of a lack of nighttime activities for kids. A few nights they have a movie on a big outdoor screen, that was nice. The shows (like legally blonde and the illusionarium) were too long for 2, 3year olds in my opinion and I didn't want to bother others with their squirming.

3. My twins were overtired by mid afternoon so there was quite a few tantrums. I am that mom that always feels like people stare or judge- lol. We always just tried to remove them from the situation as to not bother others. The truth of it is... they're kids, they're excited, they won't be perfect. Little things like wanting to push the elevator buttons, wanting to go down the stairs on their bums, being silly in the hallways- I'd say 99% of the people were very kind to us- remarking that "they have grandkids so it's ok" or that the kids were cute etc... We only ran into 1 grump who opened his door to yell out the hallway that kids running is too loud in the hallway, even though we hadn't even walked by his room and it was one small girl who had run past a few feet ahead. Some people just want something to belly ache about.

Welcome home! I have a couple of weird mom questions as we too are taking our 3yo.

In splash academy :

I know they do not assist in the bathroom: Do they consider directions to the bathroom assistance? What about hand washing? Sometimes our little one needs a reminder to stop playing and go, help finding the restroom, and a reminder to wash her hands well (hope she can reach the soap and stuff)

 

Also, do they keep them in the daycare area or take them all over the ship? If taking out do they let you know?

We will only leave her for an hr or two a few times, I just worry if they take her around how do they keep up with them all (crazy mom fear=lost or falling overboard)

 

Thanks for any help!

I asked the same exact question. My DD gets her undies stuck all the time and they said no problem helping her pull them up or helping with hand washing. She had an accident day 1, we were paged, changed her and then I always heard them remind her to use the restroom- we had no more accidents.

They did go on 2 "parades"... never outside. They parade through the atrium and through the garden cafe. They also have the kids put on a circus and they escort them to the theater. These things are noted in the freestyle/report for splash academy. for the 1st parade my DS (3) was refusing to hold hands with an adult so they had him stay back from the parade for safety, I think that was a sign of EXCELLENT judgement and made me feel safe the rest of the cruise

Also- I have seen a lot of posts about the smoke smell from the Casino and we didn't seem to notice it at all. We walked through the casino plenty of times to get to Bliss nightclub for kids activities. The only time the smoke stunk was outside of Sunset bar which was full of people smoking.

Ports- St Maarten-We booked with Bernards tours and had a pretty bad experience. In an email he told me the kids would be free but then tried to charge me at the port. Even after I showed the email, he said it was his mistake and he was sorry but we had to pay. After a few minutes of back and forth he let our twins go free and we still had to pay for the 5 yr old. We were supposed to meet at 8:30, depart at 9. We left the little port area at 9:15 and weren’t on the road til almost 9:30. To be fair- I just didn’t like this type of tour- you just sort of got dropped off somewhere and were told to be back to the van in an hour. If I went back I would definitely go only to Orient Beach, it was gorgeous. We heard food was outrageous- like $22 for a burger but we didn’t see it ourselves. Maho beach is a mob scene. It’s basically a bar at an airport backyard and then a beach (ok, it was a serious cliff) so loaded with umbrellas we couldn’t walk. There was no way the kids could go in the rough rocky water and actually our kids were a little afraid of the planes. (not anyone’s fault but just for those with small kids, a warning).

St Thomas- We found coral world to be absolutely wonderful. Cabs were $9pp. It was $60 for a family day pass. It’s a small park but has a lot of nice exhibits/feedings. We spent about 3 hours there including lunch which was VERY reasonable for a tourist place. $2 bottles of water and $3 slices of pizza. Everyone there was so friendly and seemed to really love the place and to love children. We walked over to Coki beach which was small and clean. I had read some negative reviews about Coki but we felt totally safe and vendors were very non aggressive. I will say though- parts of the beach reeked like weed. Our kids never noticed but DH and I laughed about it.

Nassau- we booked the blue lagoon beach day and loved it. Blue Lagoon cannot book NCL customers directly so we went through the ship. The price isn’t all that bad considering you get transportation, lunch and a beach day. You CAN see some of the dolphins from the beach/walkway so if your kids are too little to do an encounter, they can still catch a peek. The lagoon is small with warm calm water and our kids had a wonderful day. We walked around Nassau a little bit afterwards and I remembered it’s not a port that I love.

Kids stuff- The staff at the kids club work their BUMS off. Our kids were all “turtles” (ages 3-5). They really looked forward to going to splash academy. Everyone was always cheerful and our kids adored them. We were given a little cell phone/pager thingy b/c we had 2 small children. Twice we were called to pick up out of the dozen times they went, once for an accident and once b/c of crying. The place was always organized and had fun decorations and music. The 1st few nights were themes the kids loved- fairytales, pirates etc… then the themes kind of tapered off and that made my kids not as interested to go. The hours can be a little bit of a problem- like it opened at 7 and lots of entertainment started at 7 with “no latecomers allowed”. But as parents ya take that you can get, right? We were more than thankful for the hours available.

Nickelodeon- Really fun activities, our kids favorite part of the cruise. The nick splash pad was great for little ones. Go to the Nick craft days- our kids got to color their own T shirt and their own tote bag FOR FREE! The storytime and dance party were really fun with lots of great photo ops. The pajama jam breakfast was a great time with a big yummy buffet

Family of 5 from NY; DH (31), myself (30), DS (5) and twins DS(3) and DD (3)

Embarkation- I couldn’t believe how quick and smooth it was. For a ship this size, we practically walked on. Actually *the* quickest we ever have out of our 4 cruises. We got to the pier via SAS transport at 12:15, we were on the ship by 12:30- explored a little, had lunch and rooms were ready by 1:30.

Room- we had connecting “family insides” which meant we were just down the hall from the kids club. We were VERY fwd and could definitely feel movement but not enough to bother any of us. We actually had a different room steward than our kids in the connecting room, which I thought was funny. Ours did a great job- room was kept tidy. The kids had Kris and he was fantastic. Our 3 kids brought a lot of stuffed animals and he always set them up in funny poses/places at turn down- it was truly a highlight for them. I was seriously humiliated that our daughter wet the bed one night and he was so kind and helpful to us about it- really going above and beyond. He would always stop what he was doing and hi-five the kids in the hall, saying hi to them by name and always had a big smile.

Food- This was the first time we skipped specialty dining. All of our meals in taste and savor were delicious. Some highlights; short ribs, garlic shrimp, molten chocolate cake and a nighty Caesar b/c it was that good. The 1st sea night the wait seemed a little long but besides that service was at a “casual” pace. It’s vacation, we don’t mind the long meals. We didn’t see our servers very often, they seemed very busy- maybe too many tables each? Only a problem when we needed a drink or something like ketchup for the kids. They provide the kids with nickelodeon coloring mats which our kids loved. The kids menu had quite a few choices and for our picky kids it was a lifesaver! We dine early 5:46/6:00 and had a window seat every night. If the kids got antsy we let them go watch the water. Our boys loved the Tropicana room. The burn the floor dancers were just amazing in there. We all enjoyed some after dinner dancing. There was some couples on this ship that had some serious skill! The buffet was delicious for breakfast with tons of choices. We ate all of our lunches in there. The Hawaiian teriyaki burger was my favorite. I think our family must have had 50 soft serve ice cream cones. Some of the friendliest staff we met were in the buffet! When you’re trying to carry food for 3 kids and someone offers to help or get your coffee or bring you a muffin- it’s a lifesaver. My only complaint about the food was that on port days it was super super limited in the late afternoon (like maybe 10% of the buffet was open) when we go on the ship and wanted a little snack it was strange slim pickings. If you want Teppanyaki reserve in advance! We live right near a place similar to it so figured we wouldn’t want to go but once we smelled it, we wanted it and it was booked for the whole cruise.

Entertainment- The comedy show was ok, funny enough to be entertaining. One of the best parts of our trip was the margarita tasting in sunset bar. 6 margaritas- games, trivia, history lesson, lots of laughs for $15 pp.

Great review, thanks- I'm with you... if these people are miserable on vacation can you even imagine what they must be like at home?!?! lol :p

What was the registration/sign up like for the kids club? Do you go "sign" them up the 1st night? Is there anything I can do ahead of time... I have 3 and hate to hold up a line or make them sit while I fill out form after form.

Great review- thank you.

We're booked for Bernard's Tours too so I was a little sad to read about the iguana farm, it may seem silly to some but our kids were *really* looking forward to that part. We sail 4/19 so here's to hoping they have it back up and running by then.

Our son was 15 months on his first cruise. I'm that mom that was blushing and sweating if my infant cried on a plane- so I get being nervous. Yes, there are highchairs. There is also kids seating/section at some (maybe all?) of the buffets. We had to park his stroller outside of the restaurants. We brought along a portable dvd player (like another poster) mentioned. If he started getting a little squirmy we busted it out- quietly. The staff would come crouch next to him and do little dances to the Mickey music or pat him on the head; we always felt very warmly welcomed as parents. If we got coffee or tea as dessert, they had no problem bringing us a little warmed milk so he could have his "dessert" bottle if it was a late meal. This cruise we'll have our 3 kids. We plan on eating as a family every night WITH the understanding that if someone is loud or misbehaving, one parent will take them outside or back to the room for a nap. I wouldn't bring them to a place like Cagneys or Le Bistro which I see as more "upscale" until they were old enough to order from the menu or appreciate the food- our kids are typical picky "chicken nugget kids" though.

Very much appreciated :)

I was just checking my account and on the March 1 sailing of the Getaway the Pajama Jam is scheduled at 9am on the 3rd day of our trip which is a sea day. This would make more sense than on a port day. You can book it ahead of time.

I'm part of a fb group and someone has a relative working on the ship. She said the pajama jam WILL be on a sea day there was just a conflict that 1st sailing. Sorry for the b!tching ;) I was trying to weigh cancelling an expensive excursion or trying to think of an excuse for my kids to cancel the breakfast- ohhhh mom worries.

I do not think that is correct. They also have this on the Epic, and it was offered several times over the course of the week.

Sadly, it's correct. I just confirmed it with an NCL rep on their website. She said the breakfast will only be offered once a week but the date & time are subject to change.

*I just posted this on fb also, so I apologize if you are on the NCL board and saw it*

It seems the Getaway only offers the Nickelodeon Pajama Breakfast 1 time- according to a set of dailies I just saw from last week. My kids are dying to go. It starts at 8am... the same day/time we get off the ship at St Maarten AND we have an excursion leaving at 9. Is this the same on all the sailings? It seems like awful planning for those of us with young kids.

Wow .. now that is a huge price difference!

I understand mark up, I really do... but when it's over $50 more, times 5 people, it just kinda sucks.

I was going to post on the ports board but I need NCL specific info. We tried to book the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter for our family. Just got an email back that b/c we are NCL guests they can not accept out reservation due to NCL contracts. Ok, no big deal... BUT it's $98 from their company, $149 through NCL. I understand it's always more but $50 per person?!?! Has anyone done it? What was included- any beach time? The description is vague and we're in Nassau 12-7 (which I thought was odd) so it's not like we'd have all day to be lounging around anyways.

We were seated in some of the "cheap" seats and the view was still fantastic -- a very intimate experience.

I'd go so far as to say there is no bad seat in the house.

Would you say it was kid friendly? (DH and I always have an agreement that if one of our kids acted up or was being loud, 1 of us would just take them outside of the restaurant- we would never want to disturb the show)

I asked the "live chat" on the NCL website and she says there will be Easter activities on board 4/20 when we're on the getaway but she didn't know specific details. Anyone been on board for Easter before? We have 3 small kids (5,3,3) and just wanted to see what we can expect for them. If they're doing something in the main dining room, we won't do specialty dining that night.

Thanks everyone :)

Sailing on the getaway 4/19- my husband, I and our 3 kids; 5,3 and 3. I can't decide if I'm happy with our choice of fam oceanview or if we would be better off in 2 connecting rooms. It's frustrating because few to no pictures are out there of the room set up for 5. (I've seen the generic floor plan and searched this forum) Our twins still occasionally nap- so I didn't know if we'd be better off having the 2 separate rooms or if the curtain will do. I have also heard complaints about storage in the family rooms- so I wondered if the 2 bathrooms and extra storage might push me toward the 2 connecting rooms.

Any insight (especially those who have traveled with young kids) would be awesome.