NCL dawn southern caribbean 9 day with small kids?

[rjm11]

We are booked on the NCL Dawn 9-day southern caribbean itinerary in March... the kids are 5 and 3- it's their second cruise (first was Alaska, also on NCL). Has anyone been on this ship? This itinerary?

 

I would love to see a copy of the Kids Crew schedule if you have it, or if you remember any of the details, that would be great....

 

what about the kids dinosaur pool? Is it appropriate for my two? The 5 year old swims, but her brother does not..... (though he is potty trained)....

[sunquest76]

We did this last January with our 13 month od DD. Love cruising. She was too young for the Kids Club, so can't help you there. The crew was GREAT with DD. The ports were some work, but still fun. The "worst" was Barbados where we planned a beach day, but it was too hot to spend more than a couple hours out of the air conditioning. Samana we went to Playa Rincon via car and boat (not worth it), Tortola we went to Virgin Gorda on our own (great), Antigua we booked a catamaran trip with snorkelling (great), and St Kitts we walked around and then took a taxi to a beach (ok). Just ask away, I might remember to help :)

[rjm11]

we were thinking of Cayo Levantado in Samana.... did you hear anything good/bad about that?

 

Was your child able to use the dinosaur pool? Is there a splash area to it?

[sunquest76]

I didn't hear anything about Cayo Levantado, but that would have been my second choice if Rincon had fallen thru (and what I wish we had done).

 

No pool. No splash area. I know people say the rules are not enforced, but we don't want to be the family that breaks them. We are on Carnival in February, and still no pool for DD. She will be old enough for the Kids Club, so that is how we plan to occupy her on sea days. In port we will do water stuff at beaches - just bringing her life jacket with us so she has a comfy one that fits.

[rjm11]

I brought my kids' life jackets to Alaska on the Pearl last year... for the whale watch trip we did. Amazing what a difference it is to have the jackets they are comfy in!

 

Did you try to take your DD to any shows? Was there anything that might hold a kid's attention? On the NCL Pearl to Alaska they enjoyed the juggling act, and my daughter (who was 4) liked the more "broadway" style shows with singing and dancing....

 

I'm planning for CL in Samana, the submarine in Barbados, and then I think just taxis to beaches in Tortola, Antigua, and St. Kitts... although I'm considering the train in St. Kitts because DS is a real train fanatic right now....

 

has anyone had experience with the submarine in Barbados or the train in St. Kitts?

[sunquest76]

We were usually too pooped to do shows. The ship is 2 hours ahead for us from Mountain Time. No help.

 

I was not impressed with the beach in St Kitts, but can't remember the name. We basically got in a taxi and asked to go to the beach. It was cheap, but not super nice for swimming or playing.

[wanderingfool]

we were thinking of Cayo Levantado in Samana.... did you hear anything good/bad about that?

We went to Cayo Levantado when our son was about nine months old. There is one huge drawback - once you get dropped off, you have to stay put for about six hours until the boats start to come back to get you (they don't go back and forth continuously, or didn't a few years ago). On the beach, there are some shady spots, but we took a small UV protection tent and it was great! I would also recommend a lifejacket for the kids- the surf was fairly rough in spots and the boat ride to the beach was on a very zippy speedboat (I figure it's best to better safe than sorry just in case it were to flip over. :eek:)

 

We also weren't able to use the dino pool but took a peek at it from the deck above and it looked pretty fun for the kids using it. :)