Back from Getaway with small kids. Review and ask me anything.

[MrsWhite831]

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.

[MrsWhite831]

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

[rochelle_s]

Thanks for the great review and especially from the perspective of travelling with children. There seems to have been a quite a few posts lately with concerns and I think you will set more than a few minds at ease.

 

 

Rochelle

[MrsWhite831]

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.

[LrgPizza]

...... 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”.......

I've thought about that when looking at the schedules! You are the first person I've seen mention it, though. It seems it would make sense to have the club open 15 minutes earlier or the shows start 15 minutes later.

[thefamilytravelagent]

Thank you so much for writing about the perspective of sailing with young kids. We're thinking of doing a NCL cruise next year and I did have a few questions though I'm not sure if you know the answers as your kids are a bit younger than mine will be (6, 8 & 10). But I'll try anyway. :)

 

1. Did you happen to notice in the kids club if the kids from all of the age groups were able to play together or if they are strictly segregated. My oldest will be just barely 10 but she is developmentally delayed and is very close to her sister who will be 8. I'm worried that she will just flat out refuse to go if they can't be together at least some of the time.

 

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!

[YellowDog]

Following for sure! We will be sailing with our 3 yr old twins in Oct. all info appreciated.

 

 

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[Optiwoman]

Just got home from our cruise on the breakaway. Been on almost 30 cruises, mostly rccl, but this was our first ncl. Not impressed. First of all, our mistake, we booked on spring break. Omg. Whoever turns their teens loose and thinks they are going to be well behaved needs their head examined. Lol. My husband even ended up in a selfie!!

 

Our room was great. It was accessible, very roomy, in the very back of the ship. Lots of rocking and vibrations but nice.The room and balcony was about 500 sq ft. There was not one staff member who walked past without speaking. Very friendly.

 

Here is the negative. The menus in the main dining room was practically the same everyday. I loved the freestyle dining but the food was just average. The buffet had some variety and was nicely presented . It is very obvious that they want you to go to one of the pay a fee venues tho. Maybe that's the way the industry is headed. I hope not. We have always enjoyed wonderful menu choices but they just didn't have it here. They have close to 30 places to eat but most of them are not free.

 

They have bowling, for a fee. They charge for pizza delivery. They have an adult only place to layout and hot tub but there were kids in it and no pool.One pool and everyone is there. Very crowded.

 

My biggest disappointment was the buffet. They sing to you " washy washy happy happy" stressing the importance of washing your hands. That part is good. But not one time did I see anyone using any solution to wash off a table,a salt and pepper shaker,or anything else. They either used the guests napkin, or a damp to dry rag that they used all day and I never saw them rinse it out. They also used that rag on the seats and then the table.

 

This may sound petty to some but my husband got the norovirus once and cleanliness is important.

 

Also the I concierge thing was a fee and didn't work half the time.

 

The ship was nice with a lot of little places to sit. ( not around the pool tho.)

 

Going back to rccl

[Optiwoman]

Also entertainment. Not so good. The cirque dinner thing was beautiful and all the talent on the ship must have been in it. But guess what?!? A fee. Food was good tho.the comedian was simple enough to be funny, but the other shows we walked out on. A lot of people liked it tho so that's just a matter of taste.

[OCMS Fan]

1. Did you happen to notice in the kids club if the kids from all of the age groups were able to play together or if they are strictly segregated. My oldest will be just barely 10 but she is developmentally delayed and is very close to her sister who will be 8. I'm worried that she will just flat out refuse to go if they can't be together at least some of the time.

 

 

From every report I have heard (and I have heard MANY), there are absolutely ZERO exceptions to the age rules under any circumstances what-so-ever.

[LrgPizza]

.......

I guess I'm not quite sure why you are posting your own mini review of the Breakaway right in the middle of someone's Getaway review.

[Greenesailor]

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.

 

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!

[Medtech2]

Thank you so much for writing about the perspective of sailing with young kids. We're thinking of doing a NCL cruise next year and I did have a few questions though I'm not sure if you know the answers as your kids are a bit younger than mine will be (6, 8 & 10). But I'll try anyway. :)

 

1. Did you happen to notice in the kids club if the kids from all of the age groups were able to play together or if they are strictly segregated. My oldest will be just barely 10 but she is developmentally delayed and is very close to her sister who will be 8. I'm worried that she will just flat out refuse to go if they can't be together at least some of the time.

 

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!

Do you think if you tried contacting the "Access" desk prior about your daughter they would be able to devise some sort of exception and allow them to be together? They are supposed to be able to help with all sorts of situations so that all cruisers' needs are met. To me this would be one of them.

[thefamilytravelagent]

Do you think if you tried contacting the "Access" desk prior about your daughter they would be able to devise some sort of exception and allow them to be together? They are supposed to be able to help with all sorts of situations so that all cruisers' needs are met. To me this would be one of them.

 

I think I might do that because if there aren't activities where they are all together, I know exactly what will happen and that would be them refusing to go to the kids club (which means no spa/adult dinner/adult pool time for my husband and I). Especially since she will already be in there alone with kids up to 12 years old when she will be more on the developmental age of an 8 year old. She is also extremely small for her age (as in, smaller than her average sized 7 year old sister) because she was only 1 lb when she was born. I would probably be just as uncomfortable with her alone with a bunch of older kids as she would be.

 

OCMS fan:

I completely understand the reason for the rules and I normally would never expect special treatment or ask them to break the rules. If they say no, then that is fine and it's a no. We will either wait until spring of 2016 to save up to go back on Disney or we'd go on NCL and just not have any time apart (which is fine). We'd have to weigh the options. I just wondered if ALL of the activities were seperate or if there were times where all of the 3-12yr old kids were all together.

Edited April 27, 2014 by thefamilytravelagent

[cadien]

From every report I have heard (and I have heard MANY), there are absolutely ZERO exceptions to the age rules under any circumstances what-so-ever.

 

I have seen exceptions posted here where children were allowed to move down a level -- to a younger group -- due to developmental disabilities.

[meatball_nyc]

Thank you for your review, MrsWhite. Enjoyed reading it.

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[rocky55]

Thank you so much for writing about the perspective of sailing with young kids. We're thinking of doing a NCL cruise next year and I did have a few questions though I'm not sure if you know the answers as your kids are a bit younger than mine will be (6, 8 & 10). But I'll try anyway. :)

 

1. Did you happen to notice in the kids club if the kids from all of the age groups were able to play together or if they are strictly segregated. My oldest will be just barely 10 but she is developmentally delayed and is very close to her sister who will be 8. I'm worried that she will just flat out refuse to go if they can't be together at least some of the time.

 

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!

 

 

Hi. I travelled with my 2 kids on the Breakaway. My son is autistic and developmentally delayed. They will make exceptions for special needs children. I did not have my son go into the camp because he is to severe, but I wanted a bracelet for him for his info and muster station on his wrist, and they said they could call there supervisor. I do want to tell you that I did email the access desk prior to the cruise. I did get a number to call at the port to help us check in and priority boarding. I also got a private life boat drill. Also, at ports and disembarking the last day, we got priority disembarkation.

 

 

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[thefamilytravelagent]

Hi. I travelled with my 2 kids on the Breakaway. My son is autistic and developmentally delayed. They will make exceptions for special needs children. I did not have my son go into the camp because he is to severe, but I wanted a bracelet for him for his info and muster station on his wrist, and they said they could call there supervisor. I do want to tell you that I did email the access desk prior to the cruise. I did get a number to call at the port to help us check in and priority boarding. I also got a private life boat drill. Also, at ports and disembarking the last day, we got priority disembarkation.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Thank you so much for the info. That was really helpful. I'm glad to hear they were able to accommodate your family. Hopefully they'd be able to do the same for us. :)

[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

I guess I'm not quite sure why you are posting your own mini review of the Breakaway right in the middle of someone's Getaway review.

 

 

:)

 

 

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[Mrbluray]

I was on the Getaway as well...

 

do you know what happened with the US coast guard helicoptor? Looks like someone was medevaced out. I think it happened on Day 5 of the cruise or so in the evening.

 

Overall my fiancee and I had fun. We played in the Perfect Couple game and were the only couple to lose.... the other two couples tied for first place. But it was fun. :)

[figgifumi]

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!

[thefamilytravelagent]

I have seen exceptions posted here where children were allowed to move down a level -- to a younger group -- due to developmental disabilities.

 

That's what I was thinking. Thanks for the info.

 

Sorry to hijack this thread! :o

[SissasMomE]

I guess I'm not quite sure why you are posting your own mini review of the Breakaway right in the middle of someone's Getaway review.

 

Exactly. Despite what people say who haven't sailed, they are 2 very different ships. The reviews alone prove that.

[MrsWhite831]

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

[MrsWhite831]

 

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.