Breakaway or Grandeur of the Seas with 2 year old?

[gymbomb]

My Mom and I are considering taking my son on a cruise for Spring Break next March. He will be newly 2 and has cruised once at 10 months. We would do either a 7 night on Breakaway to FL/Bahamas, or a 10 night Caribbean on Grandeur. Any thoughts from those who have been on either of these?

 

Breakaway: We generally like NCL, can drive to port easily, and could probably get a family oceanview room (decent size, dividing curtain, bathtub). The itinerary is boring, I have done it before on Gem, but we don't care that much. It is more about getting away. The lack of dress code is a plus for us. I would not have to take any days off work for this trip.

 

Grandeur: Royal is a less known product to us. We have only done a 3 night Bahamas many years ago and I don't remember specifics from the ship. We would get an inside room on this one and I do worry about that with DS. He sleeps really well at night, but does much better if he can't see me when he goes to sleep -- but so much can change so quickly at this age! We would do My Time Dining and would probably do the buffet for dinner at least half the time because we wouldn't want to dress for dinner every night. The big +s here would be 10 nights vs 7 and the option to put DS in the nursery for a couple of hours here and there. I would have to take 1 day off work which I'm not really supposed to do, but could probably manage without too much trouble. We would drive to the port for this one too, but it is a longer drive and would have to leave realy early in the morning to drive there on embarkation day.

[kassimer1]

i havent done breakaway but granduer doesnt have much for a toddler. there is no kids swim area. the nursery is a small part of the teen lounge they took away and made it a nusery. The bad about NCL is you can no longer bring food back from anywhere to your room. you have to get room service and pay the over 8 $ fee to get it. if your kids not feeling well you cant go up and get him food from the buffet. im not sure if they have a kids menu on the room service.

[Illyria]

The bad about NCL is you can no longer bring food back from anywhere to your room. you have to get room service and pay the over 8 $ fee to get it. if your kids not feeling well you cant go up and get him food from the buffet. im not sure if they have a kids menu on the room service.

That's completely wrong, that rule was in place for a few weeks and then NCL did away with it.

[gymbomb]

I think we have decided on Breakaway due to the combination of my work schedule and he ability to get a family oceanview room. I have since noticed that a balcony room is actually cheaper, but I really think the family oceanview will meet our needs better. The shorter drive to NY is also a plus.

 

 

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[kitkat343]

You may have already looked at this and ruled it out due to cost or inconvenient dates, but if you are local to NY and have a 2 year old, you should consider the Quantum/Anthem ships, which sail out of Bayonne, NJ. They will have a nursery. They do a lot of boring trips to the Bermuda/Bahamas, but there are sometimes interesting 10 day itineraries to the Caribbean, and we hope to eventually get there. The interesting itineraries can only be booked once your kids are a year old, since Royal Caribbean will not allow babies under the age of one year to sail on a cruise with three sea days in a row, which the interesting itineraries have on their way back to NJ. So it'll be a while for my family, but might work out for you if your dates are flexible.

Edited July 19, 2015 by kitkat343

[gymbomb]

You may have already looked at this and ruled it out due to cost or inconvenient dates, but if you are local to NY and have a 2 year old, you should consider the Quantum/Anthem ships, which sail out of Bayonne, NJ. They will have a nursery. They do a lot of boring trips to the Bermuda/Bahamas, but there are sometimes interesting 10 day itineraries to the Caribbean, and we hope to eventually get there. The interesting itineraries can only be booked once your kids are a year old, since Royal Caribbean will not allow babies under the age of one year to sail on a cruise with three sea days in a row, which the interesting itineraries have on their way back to NJ. So it'll be a while for my family, but might work out for you if your dates are flexible.

 

 

I did look at it and thought it would be fabulous, but ruled it out. My date range is very limited (I teach at a University and have to go during Spring Break) and we already have another cruise booked for June, so this is just a quick getaway with my Mom and son that we are trying to keep lower cost :)