kitkat343

Is there a resort with a day pass that would be good for kids? Or is there a short boat tour to see turtles available?

I would hope that a medivac helicopter would at a minimum take a passenger to a hospital in the Dominican Republic. The distance to Puerto Rico, about 600 miles, looks like it is close to the outer limit of a medivac helicopter, but they could calculate that.

On my Panama Canal cruise, I got confused about the dates because Panama was listed twice (first for scenic cruising through the canal and then when it docks). I gave the wrong date to the next private tour provider. I was worried but they actually checked my ship's docking records and had already corrected the error before I contacted them. Thankfully, the good private tour operators should be on top of this, but it was good of you to notify people. That won't solve the backup of people all trying to embark at the same time, but hopefully the private tours won't have an issue.

For those who are not aware, if going on an independent excursion make sure to take a picture of the daily with the port agent phone number. If you are running late, call the port agent and keep them updated on your arrival time. If you miss the ship and your passport is in the safe, guest services will leave it with the port agent.

Thanks so much. Unfortunately, the ship is blank (Queen Mary) but I can see the other ship's time on that site.

The free food on RC was much stronger than the free food on NCL. We sailed to Alaska a very long time ago (I was pregnant with my oldest, who is 13 now) but back then people paid for the internet per minute. The local, land based cell coverage was amazing and worked whenever the ship was close to land. Check with the Alaska board to see if that is still the case since a lot may have changed in 13 years. Plus we weren't trying to play games or stream videos back then, but I remembered being very grateful I could check my internet and work on that cruise for free a lot of the time. Check with the RC board (we last sailed them a year ago) but you wanted early or late fixed seating, since there were lines for open dining (even oddly with a reservation). There will be lots of kids on any ship to Alaska over the summer, so your child should have a great time! For excursions, remember most of them are close in Alaska, so its easy to use private vendors and save money because excursions in Alaska are insanely expensive (everything - including labor has to be imported for the tour season. Most of the workers spend half the year in Hawaii and the other part in Alaska). Tours were cheaper through the private operators - TEMSCO runs the helicopters used on ship tours and are 10% cheaper if you book independently. And for others, I'd agree Princess does a great job in Alaska.

Ah, good point. The case I remembered the woman left the ship at the port of Roatan, and then they transported her to Florida. It think depending on how far they are from land is whether or not they use the helicopter since its safer to go to land (I was once on a ship that turned around and went back to port when someone fell down the stairs. I remember that distinctly because my mother kept complaining loudly about being late for the next port. I told her to please shut up or hold her complaining until we got back to the cabin because the cruise lines only burn more fuel to sail faster if they absolutely have to (in this case the passenger needed a head CT to rule out a brain bleed, which thankfully was negative). If they medivac someone out, I'm sure they'd let whatever family members who don't fit in the chopper leave at the next port. Problem if you don't have a passport though.

I think they are allowed to choose if they get off or stay. If you remember that awful incident a few years ago where the passenger swore when room service woke her up and the guy came back and attacked her, the first passenger who responded to her screams chose to leave the cruise with her because he didn't want her to be completely alone when she went to the hospital on land.

Does your suite give you access to a Haven restaurant? Honestly, the food in the specialty restaurants on NCL was barely worth the upcharge, and if you are in a suite with its own restaurant then I'd recommend just dropping the specialty dining because from what others have said they are happy with the haven restaurant (on our first NCL sailing the special restaurants were amazing, but on our last sailing all but one of the specialty restaurants had issues (ice cold food, ran out of sides). The beverage package you'd want if you drink enough for it to be worth the additional taxes and fees.

They are also one of the few lines that accept children into their drop off care at the age of 2, so when we wanted to go to Norway we had to sail Cunard (no grandparents willing to watch kids so it was Cunard or no vacation).

Honestly, given the heat waves the past few years in the Med plus the general lack of air conditioning I really have to wonder if the shoulder season will eventually become the tour season.

Cunard doesn't list the exact times in port, which makes planning independent tours a bit challenging. Is there an official government website where I can find our exact docking times? Thanks so much.

The cave itself with the ride is amazing. Cruise travelers need to be aware of the logistical difficulties of this activity. Please note that if you are an independent visitor you are required to check in 30 minutes prior to your tour (and your tour no longer begins with the ride through the cave, but a movie to watch). I had hoped to let my kids explore the grounds during the 30 minute checkin and then movie time, but a significant number of people scheduled for an earlier tour had either missed their tram or the earlier tram had been oversold (I have no idea whose fault it was that they didn't make their scheduled tram. They were blaming the company but I don't really know what happened). The tour operators kept counting us to make sure there were enough seats, and told me I had to stay in the waiting room with my kids. I figured if we left we'd get bumped, so we had to stay there. My kids hated the movie, and what I saw seemed like not how you'd want to spend a limited amount of time in Barbados, so that part was frustrating given how expensive this excursion is. The cave itself was amazing so if there's not much else you want to do in Barbados this is an excellent choice. The grounds looked beautiful (we had a snorkling tour afterwards so we didn't actually get a chance to visit them, but I don't think they've worked out the logistics of having people do things and then go to the ride yet - the people bumped were on their zip lining excursion and blamed them for being bumped).

You'd need to contact RC to get advance permission for this. It was more likely to be granted precovid. Best of luck to you.

On the first breakfast day, go to the buffet and get boxes of cereal, cartons of milk, yogurt and fruit to bring back to your room. If your kids get hungry, you will want to be able to feed them immediately and not have to track down food or call room service (the youngest I ever brought a kid on a cruise was 2, and that was on Cunard, a line with drop off care for 2 year olds and it is very tiring so whatever you can do to make it easier you should do). On excursions, when your kids get whiny or tired, you can pull out a few boxes of cereal and let them pick one, and they will perk right up. Or stop and get them a treat. If you let us know your itinerary, we can help you pick out child friendly excursions. The most important advice I normally give people is to take private tours of just your family with your children if you can afford to do so. If you control the itinerary, you are able to stop and get your kids a treat whenever they start getting overwhelmed and hopefully avert a meltdown. With this strategy, we were able to take our 3 year old on a Baltic cruise, and he loved St. Petersburg and we saw all the major museums and historical sites over two days. And a whole lot of people told us it was insane to take a child that small to St. Petersburg, but we knew our son and he actually was able to appreciate most of it (our younger two it would have been insane but given the fact that St. Petersburg is no longer accessible I am very grateful we did this when we could even though it was a very tiring experience). I was also on a helicopter to dogsled on the mountains tour in Alaska when I was pregnant with my first child. There was a woman on my helicopter who flew alone. I asked her if she'd been separated from her husband since I didn't see him at the top of the mountain (some tripadvisor reviews had noted that their family had been separated and I was trying to get information for my review) She explained they couldn't both afford to go and she had cancer but this was something she had wanted to experience her whole life so they'd agreed she would go alone. On a group tour, if your kid melts down it could ruin what is a very special experience for someone else. But please be careful on NCL with checking the private tour operators cancellation policies before you book (you should do this with any cruise line, but particularly with NCL.). On our last cruise, they cancelled one day's port and the morning of another to help the environment after final payment. They continued to advertise the original cruise for a month and wouldn't let anyone cancel, even those who booked directly with NCL after the cancellations were announced and weren't told. So please be careful when booking independent tours - generally you can get refunded if the ship doesn't dock in the Caribbean from the tour guides, but tickets to a waterpark might be nonrefundable. Also, check recent Getaway reviews to see if there have been any cancellation issues on your itinerary, and if so are there any ports they tend to substitute (not all itineraries/ships are affected by this but some are so its helpful to look at recent reviews to see if your ship has any itinerary issues). We were part of the mess in the DR last year (which hopefully has been resolved) and I needed to research both Nassau and GSK because those are sometimes substituted. In my case, we just had an extra sea day, but with kids you can't be unprepared.

Sorry - just read you own a business and need the internet. I'd have deleted this comment if I could, but CC doesn't let you do that. Verizon has a $10 a day upcharge for using your cell phone internationally. If it's only a 4 day cruise, you might want to consider waiting until you are at land to use the internet. Totally up to you - you might need to check your email each day, but for 4 days I might consider skipping internet (not on a longer cruise) My family was totally fine on Labadee without any extras (there are beach chairs easily available). Also, you should price it out but at least the alcohol package is expensive on RC and its possible you'd be better off just purchasing your drinks individually based on how much you expect to drink.

If someone booked a room above the theater and then complained about the noise from the two shows each night, I'd have no sympathy for them. But I certainly wouldn't have expected performances or rehearsals on a main stage at 1 am ( a night club possibly, but not a main stage). So sorry this happened to you.

Our cruise began on May 16th. If you are doing private excursions (highly recommended) give extra time to find operators. Our trip to the goat farm took a really long time to arrange since it isn't normally run there and they had to visit the goats at their winter farm, which they don't normally do. Please note that the road to Dalsnibba is a seasonal one, which can't open until after a large avalanche, usually mid may to early June. We missed it by just one day (we had a 2 year old, needed to sail Cunard for kids club and they only had one cruise all year that went to both Flam and Geiranger). We were there 2 days before it opened unfortunately but we were able to see all the other beautiful scenic points, plus a really nice lake my kids like skipping stones into. Aside from that, I don't think we missed much by being there early.

I would absolutely take the stroller to Labadee since it is a really long walk to the trams that go around the island. There is a splash pad that I hope diapered children can use since its on land and that's usually easier to design, but you should check (my kids were out of diapers so I don't know the rules). The trams on Labadee got backed up so just be prepared. You can take a collapsable stroller on a tram. I left the stroller where the pavement meets the beach in Labadee so I can't advise you on how easy it is to maneuver on the actual beach (my kid was 3 so she could easily walk short distances, but was too big to carry if she got hot and tired later). Also strollers are good for schlepping all the things you need for 3 kids. In Aruba, I went to Phillips animal gardens pre-covid and it was quite lovely. I don't know if it's still open or how it fared through the pandemic but worth researching.

Were you able to catch up with the cruise at its next stop or did you miss it altogether?

Go to the buffet on the first day and get yogurt, cereal and fruit to bring back to the room so you always have snacks. The MDR is usually easier to manage than the buffet, since they bring you the food and you don't have to carry everything and hunt for a table. You can bring sealed cereal boxes off the ship (I think RC cereal is loose though) but absolutely no fruit. If you are touring cities (as opposed to just visiting a beach) and if you can afford private excursions for just your family, please do those because the ability to control your itinerary may make the difference between enjoying your tour and being miserable. You can stop and feed your child if they ever seem overwhelmed or bored. Our 3 year old son got a lot of cake and ice cream in St. Petersburg, but we got to see all of the major sites, including an hour at the Hermitage so it was worth it.

I'm fairly certain there is no legal infringement with the endless sales in the US (plus all the other lines pull this nonsense too) but if the OP thinks its illegal in Europe they are welcome to file a complaint there. I'd be happy if all the cruise Iines stopped doing this, but since I don't expect any help from the US courts (have no idea if Europe can help) I just ignore all the sales.

On my cruise, the cancellation of the DR after final payment made our cruise go from 2 sea days in a row to 3 on the way back. There was a family with an 8 month old, who were the only one allowed to cancel because children under a year are not allowed on cruises with 3 sea days in a row. They were thankfully notified ahead of time, but if they'd been denied boarding it would have been awful since it totally wasn't their fault (the cruise only had 2 sea days at the time of their booking).

That's. a very good question about the shows and go karts. Our ship didn't have go karts and we didn't see any shows. If no one answers here, it would be good to start a separate post to ask that question. Also, on your first morning, go to the buffet and get yogurt, fruit and cereal boxes for your room. If your kids get hungry, it's good to have snacks on hand. And the cereal boxes are very helpful when you go on tours to have snacks on hand to avoid meltdowns (kids tend to cheer up when they get to choose cereal). please note that fruit is strictly forbidden to take off the ship, and I'm not sure about yogurt but you can take sealed cereal boxes off the ship. I haven't been there in many years since my cruise to the DR was part of the myriad of NCL DR cancellations last year (they appear to have hopefully resolved their issues in the DR), but we chose that cruise partly because Ocean World is really good for kids. Also, there is a monkey reserve about an hour away, and (I believe) a small monkey place in Taino Bay. Taino Bay is Carnival's port in Puerto Plata, close to where NCL usually docks. I haven't been able to determine if you can make advance reservations to play with the monkeys at Taino Bay but haven't thoroughly researched it since we chose a cruise that doesn't visit the DR next. I have never been to GSK, but on our other tenders the crew was very helpful about helping our children get onto the boat (they would pick up our children when they were 3 and carry them over for us. But it appears from the description above the GSK tender is much more significant than a normal tender). You might want to discuss this issue with he people actually running the tenders (send one parent to speak to the crew at least an hour after docking when everything has calmed down and there are no more people lined up to ask them how physically difficult it will be for your family to utilize the tender and if they can help you with the children and/or stroller). Thankfully you don't really need to plan GSK, so you can either go or have a nice quiet day on the ship depending on how difficult this will be. I've only been to Labadee, and on RC there are trams running across their private island, so someone might be able to give you further info on whether that is the case for GSK and if it would be manageable without a stroller - it could be a long walk to the trams if they exist. But it's possible that if you wait until everything calms down for the tenders, they may be able to accommodate a stroller. Good luck - it's a really wonderful way to travel with kids!

It depends. If you want to embark or disembark early then you might want to consider it because those times are generally preferred. It's easier on my family to embark late, and by then there are usually no lines. We also disembark late, which is not generally the preferred time and so we can easily walk off the ship. Also, what are your plans in port and did you want to get an early start to your day? For my family, if we have a whole day in port we generally find it better for our kids to start a tour no earlier than 9:30 am, If that's an hour after we dock, we can easily just walk off. On the other hand, our last NCL ship was late getting into Puerto Rico, which was an afternoon docking. Disembarkation was not organized well, and we arrived at the fort 5 minutes before closing and were denied entry. So a priority disembarkation might have made a difference in our entrance (we knew it would be close, but the afternoon docking left our options very limited, and we had anticipated that the kids would really like flying kites outside the fort so they had a good day anyway.). Ship tours also have priority disembarkation so if you are planning on taking those you would have less benefit from priority access. Since you are traveling with small children, please note that ordinarily I would strongly recommend private tours for just your family if you are touring cities or historic sites (as opposed to visiting beaches. If you are just going to beaches you are probably fine on a ship tour). We took our 2 year old on a Baltic cruise, and because we were able to control the itinerary (stopping and giving him breaks and ice cream/treats whenever he got overwhelmed we were actually able to see all of the major highlights of St. Petersburg.). But with NCL, you need to be especially careful about checking the cancellation policies for your private tours since there may be issues with NCL cancelling ports. Also, please check recent cruise critic reviews of your ship to see if there have been any recent substitutions of ports on similar itineraries on your ship. With small children, you'd need to research backup ports if those have been occurring on your itinerary. On my cruise, the DR was cancelled, and I'd also needed to research the backup ports of Nassau and GSK so we'd be organized in case we went there (we just had a sea day but those were the substitute ports on similar cruises). Not all itineraries are affected by this, so researching recent reviews of your ship will show if that itinerary is an issue for NCL.