icem86

My boys age 5 and 8 would love a Mindcraft tie in.

I'm taking my K and 3rd grader out of school for 11 days for a drive to port and cruise I'm doing it during school because it is cheaper than at other times. We are a lower middle class, and can not afford too many vacations at other times of the year.

I would not do it when our oldest gets 6th grade and older. It will be too hard to miss that much school.

Oh boy ... you are either very naive or very ....

I used to own a grocery store (20 years ago), we had a somewhat similar situation. We used pack and carry everyone's groceries to their car, it became too expensive labor wise. So we switched to self carry out. It is obviously the standard now, but at the time we had some feedback from our customers. Some were fine with it because it did allow us to keep our prices down.

I actually like the change. I can see some people taking advantage of free room service. Those costs are then passed along to everyone.

When charging for room service, it keeps the base cost of the cruise down.

We cruised with our two kids last winter and have another one booked for 2016. We did the NCL kids cruise free promotion. And drove to the port instead of flying. It took an extra day to drive both ways, but money wise, it worked for us.

We are sailing next month, with a 5 and 8 year old in an inside on NCL Sun. Not sure how we will sleep either. Just hoping it will work out, I'm sure we will enjoy what ever happens. The two boys often times sleep in our bed at home, so we are used to sleeping close to each other.

I'm driving from Minnesota to Tampa Bay with wife, and two boys age 5 and 8. 24 hour drive, without stops. I have factored everything from extra hotel rooms, food, and gas if we drive compared to air, with extra money for taxi, parking at airport, and luggage fees. I figure it will cost me about $950 more to fly than drive.

Only thing I'm not counting is car wear and tear and extra time off from work. We decided to drive based on this amount of savings and also that I enjoy driving. Plus we can take as much luggage as we want in our minivan.

Is there a lot besides the $15 per day port parking, that is close enough to park and walk?

I have a AmEx card that gives me 6% at grocery stores, 3% at gas stations and 1% for everything else. I buy gift cards at the grocery store for other stores.

Use almost no cash and no checks, buy everything with Credit Cards and pay off the balance each month. I have a couple of other credit cards for other items that earn better rewards then my amex, like a citicard professional card for 3% back at restaurants.

I earn at least $1,000 in statement credits per year.

In 2007 we took our 3 month old son on a 7 day cruise. We only went because it was a celebration for my mother in-law's birthday and the in-laws paid for the whole family to come. We had fun and it was a good time but would have been more relaxing without a child that young. He slept well and was well behaved in the MDR. But we did almost nothing in the ports, just too much hassle transferring him and all his stuff on bus or taxi, etc..

We are doing two adults and 2 kids, age 5 and 8 on an inside on Norwegian Sun. Sq ft is suppose to be 172. I'm also wondering about bunks vs third bed, etc..

Got money back from cruise but not any expenses for hotel, meals and car rental to get back home, which added up to over $1,000. Glad I bought insurance for the cruise but I guess I should have started the policy one day earlier. Accident was at 10:30 p.m Saturday night, if it was a 1.5 hours later, I would have gotten expenses paid.

My damaged Car is still in MS, still waiting for parts to come in for repair. I was hoping car would be totaled, but no luck.

Yes, I tried to find other ways to get to New Orleans before the deadline. We were in a small Mississippi town, still about 5 hours away. No car rental places open on Sunday.

The bus going through town was not an option given the time it ran through. I even called an uncle who has a winter vacation home in Alabama. He was 4 hours away, so, it would have taken him 4 hours to get to our location and then another 5 hours to get to New Orleans. It might have worked, but his car would not hold him, us 4 and all of our stuff, especially with 2 kids still in car or booster chairs. Plus the weather was bad, so it was asking a lot for him to drive that much, early in the morning.

Plus my wife was stressed to the max.

Coverage was through TA, Travelex Insurance

It cost $704.00 to rent a car in Mississippi and leave it in Minnesota 1.5 days later. I got chared 45 cents per mile to have a one way rental. Tough to pay out.

On way home, I thought that maybe we should have bought a used car and then sold it once we got back home. That might have a better idea.

Yes, maybe I will upgrade my auto to inculde car rental, but this also seems like a once in a lifetime ordeal.

I have read my trip insurance policy over and over, but of course there is a lot of generalizing. It does say "traffic Accident en Route" is a reason that my cruise cost will be covered but.. I don't know if that means other costs will be covered. Under benefits it says Travel Accident is covered up to $10,000 but I don't know if means only during the cruise or "en Route" to cruise.

Thanks for all the concerns. We were all fine, my wife and two boys age 4 and 7 were with me. Our 7 year old actually did not even wake up. We had to wake him to make sure he was ok. It scaried us but not the boys.

Not too much damage to the care, but the air bags went off which made the car undriveable until the car computer is reset and air bags remployed.

We ended up leaving the car in Mississippi because the car insurance could not get an adjuster out there until 5-6 days later. And I do not have car rental on my car insurance.

I did call the trip insurance holder, but they just said to submit everything and they will review the claim after I file it. I had to wait 5 days to get the police report, so I just mailed everything in this week. I have not heard back yet.

I am just curious what they will cover and what they will not. Hard to wait.

Funny story. On day 2 of being stuck in a small town Mississippi hotel. Our 4 year old says "Are we still on our Cruise". He did not even know what he was missing. But my wife and I did. Especially when we got back to Minnesota and it was negative 10 degrees when we were suppose to me in Belize City that day.

Hello - we hit a deer with our car on the way to the Port, the night before our cruise, when we were 5 hours from the port and 13 hours from home. We had hotel, meal and car rental expenses to get back home.

What will our trip insurance pay for? Just the lost cruise or other expenses, like hotel, meals and car rental to get back home?

agree with the self serve laundry, and pizza.

I called Port Parking in New Orleans and asked that questions. They said they never fill up because they only let people with cruise tickets park there. Public without cruise ticket are not allowed to park there.

How long will it take to get from Brookhaven MS to Cruise Port in New Orleans. Given traffic on a late Sunday morning Dec 8, with a Saints game in town? Thanks in advance.