Best ship for families with small childern

[hlb76]

Hi all.. as I have yet to sail NCL I don't know much about the differnt ships. We are looking at a family cruise next year. We will have all age groups with us down to toddlers. My understanding is kids club is not available to kids under 3. Please correct me if I'm wrong. So we are looking for a ship that has some kid friendly places. I've read a few reviews about ships with a kid pool/splash area. That would be great for our littles. I'd like to avoid the Mega ships as we will have lots of newbie cruisers and I think it might be too much to sail those ships first off not to mention it sets a bar pretty high..lol. thanks in advance for any help. I'm hoping for a Black Friday sail and maybe we can get a reservation going if the deals are right.

[BirdTravels]

Hi, while you want to shy away from the big ships, NCL's newest ship, the Escape, does provide facilities for kids of all ages, including a guppies nursery for toddlers 3 months to 3 years http://www.escape.ncl.com/the_Ship/family-areas. Other ships have guppies areas which are just play areas, supervised by parents, and not cruise staff like on the Escape.

 

 

 

We just got off the Escape, and I don't think it would be too daunting for newbie cruisers. Lots of activities, things to do, places to see.

 

 

 

Give it some consideration. The nursery is a nice feature if you just want to step out to dinner for a few hours, or have some pool time or spa time.

 

Splash area on the Escape

Edited November 23, 2015 by BirdTravels

[SuperMommy]

You should try the Sun or Star. We sailed on both with three kids ranging in age from 2-9 and just got off the Getaway this morning with five kids ranging in age from3-10. The getaway, while beautiful has HUNDREDS of kids in their fantastic youth program while the other ships, depending on time of year, will have much more manageable numbers of kids. The Star has a few more water slides and a better kids pool area if your kids are 3+. If your kids are younger the Sun's small pool and slide will be fine. All ships offer programming for parent and child under three. On the Sun its's usually held in a meeting room w/ 1 or 2 activities led each day and toys there throughout the day for you to drop in and play. On the Star, there is a dedicated playroom for this age group, but it is again, parent and child play. We also just sailed on the Sky and that ship would work too, but the kid pool area is not as themed as the other two. The youth programming is fantastic and my kids love participating. It is really the highlight of their vacation. We have sailed on 4 ships in 3 years and I think the Sun or Star are the best for families and newer cruisers.