New to Cruising-Many Questions!!

[pina]

We are first time cruisers and are going on the Dream Jan. 21st. We will be travelling with our two girls, eleven and six. We are not pop drinkers but were wondering if juice and milk are free? Can both girls stay in the same kids program? Where do people carry their money, etc. when you go on water excursions(like cave tubing). Does everyone feel safe finding their own excursions of the internet? Thanks for everyones input!!

[cruiser-dude]

We are not pop drinkers but were wondering if juice and milk are free?

Yes. Free in the restaurants, Pizzeria, Sports Grill, and then also room service. (Of course you will have gratuity with room service.) Not free at the bars, we found.

 

Can both girls stay in the same kids program?

The programs are age-grouped and you will find that your kids will have too much age difference to be placed in the same group. (Sometimes the older kid can go in with the younger group, but not with this much age difference of your children. But - - - ask anyhow. Maybe they can. The girls running the Kid's Crew are really awesome, and some nights they are taking the kids to the main shows and maybe could accomodate this a little.) We had kids ages 14 and 7 and they both thoroughly enjoyed their seperate programs on the Dream Thanksgiving cruise. While they could not see each other through the partitions, they were very close in proximity.

 

Where do people carry their money, etc. when you go on water excursions (like cave tubing)?

Suggestion: You can purchase small, waterproof containers that you can put in a pocket, etc. or on a lanyard. Although we did not purchase these, we saw them for sale at one of the gift shops. You can usually find these at a large sporting goods store, also. I had a fishing shirt that had a waterproof pocket. You can also find these "fishing shirts" at a sporting goods store for a great price if you go with the store brand. Many of the tour operators have places for you to put your stuff while the tour operates, also. Better to prepare, however, and not count on this - just in case.

 

Does everyone feel safe finding their own excursions of the internet?

Many do. Many times you can book with the same tour operator that the NCL shore excursion is set up with and have the same tour at a cheaper price. Some times you will find tours more to your liking with different operators. You'll need to research that a bit. If you will post questions about specific ports and interests, you will find that many folks will offer much useful information. Be sure to find out exactly when it was that they did their excursion and look for those with the most recent dates to find the most current information. Post back to them with more questions on those of interest to you and you will be very informed.

Remember that if you book on your own and have a problem with getting back to the ship, NCL is not obligated to wait for you. They will get you back if you book on one of their tours. One of our waiters told us that there are always one or two at each port that do not make it back in time, but he felt that most often those were the folks who got hammered in a local bar... So, best to keep your head about you. And, I imagine that most all of the tour operators know the ships, etc. and you would be okay with any of the normal, known operators.

We loved the dolphin excursion + Tabyana beach at Roatan, booked through NCL. The dolphins were at Anthony's Key resort and I bet you can contact them. We did the NCL Shark Ray Alley at Belize. It was great for our family.

[CRUZIN TOM]

Typically OJ and some other fruit juices are only available in the mornings. The best thing to do is to order extra juice in the morning with room service. This is what we did.Enjoy:)

[ute_fan]

Just a quick comment on shore excursions. Some of the shore excursion providers will only work through the cruise line on the days when the ships are in port -- for example, Anthony's Key on Roatan where the dolphin excursion takes place.

 

As first time cruisers, I'd judge whether you want to book a shore excursion independently by the circumstances of the individual tour. For example, in Belize, you have to tender on and off the ship. The tour to Lamanai, for example, takes pretty well the entire time you are in port. We were on the first tender off the ship (excursion was booked through NCL) and the next-to-last tender back to the ship, with about 15 minutes of time to look through the shopping area by the tender dock. To me, there's not enough time to make it worth saving $10 or so per person to book independently.

 

On Cozumel, before hurricane Wilma, I felt comfortable taking a taxi to Dzul Ha independently. We had lots of time in port, and I knew the excursion was only going to take about half of our port time. We took a taxi back to the pier area and had a couple of hours for shopping. If your excursion takes the majority of your port time, it may be easier and less stressful just to book through NCL for your first cruise.

[Zeno]

Some good advice from Ute fan about shore excursions!

I feel exactly the same way - if it is a tender port and an all day excursion - so much safer to book with the ship but at other ports you can save some money by doing it on your own. Basically - reseach the ports and get a feel for how "easy" or how tricky it is to arrange something on your own.

[kannruss]

I did the cave tubing excursion in Belize a year ago (best money spent on an excursion!!) and they had a cage that they locked up when we were out and we put our things in there. I also found I didn't get soaking wet so could have tucked a ziploc baggy somewhere up top ;)