First time cruise on NCL Jewel with two young kids

[mlcruiser2010]

My husband and I are planning our first cruise with our kids (3 and 1 years old). We are on a pretty tight budget and are thinking about booking an inside cabin. The website states that an inside cabin is around 140 sq.ft. Is this is enough space for the four of us with a crib in the cabin? Is an Ocean View cabin worth the extra money? Are there decks that are better/quieter than others? Should we even attempt to go on a cruise at this time?

 

Thanks for all your help.

[maureencruiser]

Hi, I don't have kids and I don't cruise with NCL, but, if you can afford it, upgrade to the bigger cabin. The cabins are small and you will appreciate the extra room to move around in. You might find that the price difference is not that big. Also, don't be afraid to rearrange the furniture in the cabin to suit your needs.. Maureen

[maureencruiser]

By the way, for my money, I would think the decks without the 1 and 3 year olds would be the quietest! But, look at the deck plans and see what would be over you, if the dining room,etc--that would be noisy. The lowest decks are the cheapest and they have less motion if you are worried about seasickness! Good luck..Maureen

[Essiesmom]

You would have to book a quad cabin, not sure if they can add a crib to a cabin for 3. And that would mean at least one upper bunk...can your 3y/o sleep up there? 140 sf is VERY small...Think of a bedroom that is 10x14, and subtract space for the bathroom and closets...EM

[Warm Breezes]

We had a quad cabin on the Jewel and the two beds were pushed together on one side with a rollaway bed next to them making it wall to wall bed. A bunk came down over the rollaway. I don't think that you would get a crib in there. It was very tight for us.

[TupeloHoney]

We were on the Jewel last year with our then 15 month old. We had a balcony cabin, and even that was rather tight with the pack n' play and just the three of us. Although we could fold that down and stick it under the bed when he wasn't sleeping. If you can spring for it, go for the bigger cabin, and even the balcony if you can afford it. I spent a lot of time out there reading while my son napped (using the monitor).

 

We found the Jewel quite kid friendly. I liked the kid section of the buffet area. He didn't eat the kid food, but I didn't worry about him running around and being a kid. Also, we were told he could go in the splash pool with a swim diaper. I think it's posted that they can't, but we asked several staff people associated with the kid area, and they all said it was fine. We actually didn't ask at first, because we read the sign and knew he couldn't go in. But we were chatting with the kids area people about what facilities he could use, and they said he could go in the splash pool with a swim diaper. He really enjoyed that. By the way, he could also use the play area serveral times a day as I recall, we just had to go in there with him. He liked that too.

 

I think any vacation with two small kids is going to be difficult. You know your family though. Do the kids travel well? Are they easily controlled? :) We enjoy cruising with our son. But we only have the one, and we also travel with family - grandma, grandpa, aunt, unlce and favorite 11 year old cousin who is great with him. They don't babysit for us, because our son just won't let them (we live 600 miles away from them so he doesn't know them that well). But they at least provide entertainment and help keep him busy.

 

I honestly don't know if I would choose a cruise if it was just the three of us going. I'd probably be more likely to look into an all inclusive, something along those lines. But that said, we have had positive experiences cruising with him, and we are looking forward to leaving on Friday for our next one!

[14ersco]

Our experience has been on the Dawn, not the Jewel, but we found the layout of the cabin more spacious with an ocean view cabin versus a balcony cabin. The bolted down furniture seemed to be placed in better locations in the ocean view cabin.

 

We moved the beds around ourselves so that the 2 twin beds were pushed together so that they were under the pull down bed. Then we moved the roll away so it was turned perpendicular to the twins and fitted between the ends of the twins and the table that is below the TV. With only 3 of us this left us a walk area next to the twins. Not sure if this would be enough space for a full size pack and play, but a travel bassinet should fit. Depending on your 1 y/o child you could also have them sleep with you against the wall. We used the pull down bed to spread out our luggage.

 

The ocean view cabin we had is a good value and not much more cost than an inside. These are category G, obstructed view on deck 8. You get the same size as the other ocean view cabins, but your view is blocked by a life boat. This cabin category is usually one of the cheapest in the ocean view category. Also on the Jewel these cabins are just down the hall from the Blue Lagoon, where you can something to eat/drink almost any hour of the day. Our DS usually wants to get a late night snack after kids club. This is a special cruise treat since at home we are not cooking him a burger and fries at 10 PM. :rolleyes: