NCL Getaway

[Familycruisercan]

Hi everyone, we are travelling in April on the Getaway and we were wondering if anyone has any tips for travelling with an infant and a toddler. What were your experiences with an infant in the pools? Are they allowed if they have a swim diaper? In the splash pad area maybe? What about excursions? Which ones were you able to do that went well with toddlers and an infant? Lastly, what were things that you packed that were or you wish you had packed?

 

Thank you so much. 

[kitkat343]

We sailed the getaway last January with a 4,8 and 12 year old.   Its generally a good idea to go to the buffet during breakfast on the first day to stock up on fruit, yogurt and cereal so you always have snacks in the room in case your kids get hungry at odd times.     It's also really helpful to bring cereal containers on tours - giving your kids the option of picking a cereal can often avert a meltdown when hey start to look overwhelmed.  

 

Make sure you keep a supply of milk containers in your room (they ran out of skim milk containers in the buffet a few days before the end of the cruise) and kids cereals in your room if that's what your kids like to eat (they ran out of that too)

 

Children in diapers are absolutely not allowed in the pools.  I was under the impression that NCL does not allow diapered children in the splash pad (Disney and some RC ships do) but periodically there are posts about this on  the NCL forum and some people post there claiming it is allowed.  NCL's website says kids in diapers are not allowed in pools, but does not mention splash pads.  They should clarify the splash pad diaper rules on their website.  

 

There were lots of diapered children in the splash pad last January, but if the filtration system can't handle that you'd be endangering the other children who are supposed to be there.  I'd recommend checking the signage or asking the NCL employees.  My youngest was 4, so I didn't research the issue.  

 

If you tell us where you are sailing, people will probably be able to recommend tours/activities  for you (and if you look at my signature line you'll see the tours I did with my kids on my cruises).  As a general rule, I recommend private tours (for just your family if you can afford them).  The ability to control your itinerary can be the difference between your kids enjoying tours and them melting down.  You can stop and get them snacks whenever they look like they are approaching their limit on a private tour.

 

However,  on NCL you need to carefully check the private tour operators refund policies because NCL has had issues with keeping its itinerary on some sailings.  You'd need to read the recent reviews on cruise critic to see if that's been happening lately on your ship/itinerary.   Last January, NCL was having trouble with itineraries in the DR (which appears to have been resolved) and on my cruise the day in the Dominican Republic and morning of Antigua were dropped to "help the environment".  That happened after final payment, and they continued to advertise the original itinerary and didn't let people cancel, even those who booked after the changes who weren't told of them.  Since NCL had been having trouble with the DR, I had to plan both GSK and Nassau since those are often backup ports for NCL when they drop the DR (the recent getaway reviews will show if there have been cancellations recently on your itinerary and if there are any replacement ports you should be prepared for).