carohs

Yikes, yikes and more yikes! I have to say I'm really dismayed by the contrast in experiences between the two weeks. It seems again that NCL is great as long as everything goes as expected, but when it doesn't they just have such a poor response and inadequate resolutions.

Love these! Especially the one with the tongue sticking out. I hope you don't mind if I download it and use it to texts raspberries at people (ahem, DH) when they say something annoying. Thanks for doing another live; it's always a pleasure to follow along.

Spoiler alert: bag made it to the ship.

From what I remember I bought their so called messenger plan so I could communicate with my mother in law through the app. Immediately thereafter I started getting texts notifications and found I was able to freely communicate with other android users but not DH who has an iPhone. I had an S22 then and used the messenger app. I can't recall if pics went thru, but I don't think so tho. This was about two years ago on the Jewel, haven't tested again since.

It's really not. We rented from National and from the port to the car was all within a mile or two. Since we aimed to be off the ship shortly after docking, we found plenty of taxis readily available. Because the POA has the same schedule every week, there's also lots of Uber drivers too at that time. There's two ports that have an overnight. In Maui you can chance parking at the mall that has signs that say no overnight parking but many reports say they weren't ticketed. Or do a one day rental or park at a nearby ish hotel for $25. In Kauai we found plenty of street parking available. It's extra steps, but there isn't really any extra prep other than simply booking your reservation online. We did National because of being able to sign up for their club where you can skip the counter and go straight to the car. Other agencies have similar programs I think. Most days from getting off the ship to being on the road only took 30 minutes, even in Maui where it's a 10-15 min walk just to get to where you can catch an Uber. We're a young ish family so the extra steps was worth the time upfront to be able to detour, eat when we were hungry, stop or not stop at a rest area for bio breaks (without the tour crowds and lines to go with it), pull off the side of the road if we saw a fruit stand or to take a picture, leave a site quickly or spend more time there. We weren't rushed and did/saw exactly how much we wanted that day. When an excursion can cost from $100 - $200 per person, easily, times 4, the car rental starts to seem more appealing too.

As a family of 4, it was worth the hassle of renting a car and saving the cost of booking excursions. I also hate being on someone else's timeline, as it goes with groups of people. If it was just two of us, an excursion may make more sense, you just have to look at the description to make sure it includes transportation to and from the ship. The amount of time it took us to get into to the rental counter and on the road was barely more than the amount of time it usually takes to get to a group meeting point wait for everyone to arrive, check in, walk to bus, load up, etc. YMMV. For us, it didn't seem like a hassle but there is something to be said for having a tour bus right there as you get off the ship with a guide. Choices are great 👍

I booked a car at every port. We did road to Hana and a beach day in Maui. We saw VNP on the big island, them on Kona day drove to a coffee farm and the painted church. In Kauai we did book excursions, but directly with the operators. We used the rental so we didn't have to worry about Uber and took the chance to see Waimea canyon too.

We booked this fall for a 5N on the Magic too! Hope y'all have a wonderful cruise.

I'm soo not a planner either but I found I had a lot of fun just looking at the options and picking my favorite excursion at each island. The anticipation of going is half of what's great about a vacation. There's live trip reports if you look up POA on here too. Something I did is look through the NCL excursions and then price it out on Viator too. We used the GuideAlong app along with the rental car, but having a digital or live guide is recommended for sure.

We did it last October and had a great time. Weather was great, not too hot or cold. We did it as economically as we could, with an inside room and car rentals. I really don't know how much more or less we would have spent on land but we hit all the major stops and felt like we made the most out of the 7 days. The ship was okay and the food was mostly slightly less than okay but all edible. Service was standard, nothing really exceeded. It was so nice to only unpack once and not have to make a decision on which island to visit. We never missed the balcony since we spent so little time in the room. When we were in the ship we made the most out of the drink package and found ways to rest and relax. Much needed after being out and about all day. It was a really good balance. I don't know that I would say oh yeah it's so great everyone should do it, but we walked away happy with zero regrets. For us, it was for sure the right decision. We travel with kids, and an added bonus they got to spend time in the kids club rather than hang with mom and dad 100% of the time being dragged around sight seeing. They got to recharge their way and never complained while we were exploring. They still sometimes will say, "remember when?"

I like these options! I'm considering the airtag wrist bands for the kids. Some advertise as water proof, even. Are the medallions themselves water proof? Asking because inevitably the kids will forget to take off the wristbands before going swimming.

I encourage mine to order off the reg menu, app as entree or share with mom. It's never been a problem in the MDR, but I'd hesitate to pay for an extra specialty dining for them.

I'm of two thoughts. 1 - because of inflation, etc prices generally will go up so book as far out as possible, especially if you're specific on cabin choice. 2- FAS air promo is baked into the price, and the reason price drops close to sail date is they no longer include BOGO air with FAS. If you're not using NCL air, may be better to wait. Full disclosure, this is purely a hypothesis I have not tested nor gathered data on.

I disagree this is all OPs fault. How many times have I read on cruisecritic someone complain about their booking only to be advised over and over they should have used a TA. While I'm slightly OCD about knowing things like why one cabin is $20 more expensive than another (or whatever the price difference may be), it's not unreasonable for someone to rely on the expertise of a TA in guiding toward cabin selection. The thing is, life lesson to be learned, even field experts are human too and can lack knowledge or make mistakes. I heart cruisecritic for this, since a discussion like this allows for dissemination of information about things one may not have known to ask about.

Hi 👋 following along. I appreciate the kid updates too, since we cruise with our 10 and 8yo.

We tried different wines from FAS every evening but weren't able to find one we enjoyed enough to order another glass. Maybe 1 or 2 that were good enough to enjoy with dinner. We had fun going through the list but mostly stuck to cocktails since we have plenty of good wine at home. That being said, a lot of the wines by the glass were only a few dollars extra. We would rather pay the cost difference per glass than FAS+.

I would look at the cost of booking a same category cabin today for 3 people and compare to the fare you paid. Idk if cancelling the 4th would result in a refare or not, but you would at least have a price to compare to. Often the 3rd and 4th passengers pay a reduced rate. You'll get port fees back either way but if you only paid $99 or whatever for the 4th person then it wouldn't be worth cancelling and messing with the booking info imo.

I just want to point out there's a vast distinction between never letting your child out of your sight (btw, you sleep don't you? I have stories of things my children have pulled in the middle of the night, too), and letting the child roam freely around the ship. There is most likely some middle ground most parents allow depending on the maturity and age of the child. And I agree, I too have seen plenty of kids who could have benefitted from more parenting (currently present or not) on the ship. The fact is, statistically, children are safer among complete strangers than among family and friends. Quote me a hundred horrible things that could happen to any child and I could probably quote you a hundred more where that same scenario was perpetrated by someone that child knew. Look, if I only parented by absolutely avoiding every risk to my child, that child would have to live in some kind of bubble. Even something as simple as introducing a child to a PB&J for the first time would never happen. Why? Because there's a thousand stories out there of deaths from peanut allergies. We as parents pick and choose what risks to avoid and which we knowingly face anyway. You drive your kids? Yeah, let's not talk about the thousands of stories of horrible things that can happen on the road, either. My 8yo is rarely separated from us on the ship, outside of kids club. And even more rare if they are they alone without their elder sibling. But I'm not gonna be over here pretending I'm some kind of perfect parent with perfectly behaved children and situations have never happened whether in my control or not that have led to my 8yo being separated from us. But I can say with absolute certainty that if/when we are separated, anywhere/anytime not just on a ship, the expectation has been clearly set and procedures clearly laid out for reconnecting with a parent. Not only in theory, but followed in practice too. Which is why I feel maybe more comfortable than others allowing the kids to return back to the stateroom on their own while we finish dinner, or leave the theater to use the restroom, or go get a cup of soft-serve while we stand in line for Guys.

You're right, of course. But as the current parent of an 8yo, I can tell you that my child is out of my site 10 hours a day most days of the week between school, afterschool care, visiting friends and other activities. To presume that there are only upstanding people in the world at large is foolish too. As a parent we can only mitigate the risk so much, and trust in stranger danger and similar educational tools for the rest. So while yes, my heart skips a beat letting my 8 yo out of my sight (even dropping off at school when I think about it), I have to also slowly allow my children to gain small bits of independence. They are certainly not given free reign of the ship. I am in no way advising anyone to let their 8 yo out of their site. My earlier comment was given from experience dealing with my children who believe themselves older than they really are. In theory, I would know where they are 100% of the time. However, practice hasn't always worked out that way. It sounds bad, I know, but up to this point, thankfully, we have always been able to reconnect and it's never taken more than a minute or two. Tools we use are making sure they know where we're headed (in case we get "lost" on the way there), and making sure they know where the cabin is and how to open the door with their card. We also make sure they know their room # and how to call guest services or the stateroom if they need extra assistance, and then pointing out the phones available for them to use. We also show them the deck plans aka maps of every floor, which are usually found near the elevators, and will show them a video tour of the ship we'll be on before sailing. They also know which way is aft, forward, port and starboard. It helps too, to point out the bathrooms closest to us whenever we go somewhere so they can get there and back on their own if nature calls. OP, I apologize for my earlier snarkiness. I'm realizing how utterly unhelpful "there's only so many places" really is.

I think it's a little of both. On the Jewel, we asked about capacity and they told us it was limited to 8 kids per staff. The room wasn't very large either and it seemed quite full when it was at capacity. Previous experiences for us has primarily been on DCL. On DCL, they actually limit how many kids can be booked on the sailing based on their kids club capacity. This based on anecdotal evidence of rooms being available (or not) when changing the ages of the kids sailing. The only time we sailed CCL with the kids was to Alaska the 1st week of September .There were only a dozen kids on the ship then so I never had to worry about capacity then. Frankly, I was surprised at how NCL handles the kids club and was disappointed too, especially with the restrictions on time. Not that we would have left them there all day, but having to sign in exactly at opening or not having a change to go in at all for that session was a bummer. We def won't sail Spring Break on their ships again but the kids had fun. Even standing in line, they were having fun socializing with the kids around them. Have you sailed other cruise lines during peak times?

I hadn't heard of a virtual queue before! Wow. So this can be very good or very bad. On spring break two years ago, they had way more kids than they had capacity for on the Jewel. Now Alaska tends to be less interesting to kids, so you may not have quite as many on board in the first place. For our sailing, we had to line up 30-45 minutes ahead of time to get a spot in the kids club and then wait as kids were checking in for our turn. The whole process probably took an hour out of the day. Given that, a virtual queue and YTD would have made that process so much more convenient. OTOH, given the capacity restrictions, a virtual queue means setting alarms and making sure not to miss it the first minute or risk not getting a spot at all for that session. Yikes. Kids club on NCL have set times, and close for meals. Usually they're open from 9-12, 2-4, and 7-11. After 11 you can pay per hour. It's not too difficult to plan for meals around this time (2 hour window for lunch and 3 hour for dinner), and NCL has not only YTD but also the buffet open. We have been know to dine in one and get dessert in the other, or even dine at the MDR and come back for dessert at a later time. Say you do eat at 5:30, and you're pinged at exactly 7pm... you have until 7:15 to get your kids there. You don't have a receipt to sign, and you can take your dessert to-go if absolutely necessary. There's no reason you can't make it to kid's club 1hr 45 min after you sit down and chances are you won't get pinged at exactly 7pm. Or depending on your kids' age let them check themselves in while you enjoy a leisurely dinner. Please come back and let us know how it works out for you!

Even if you don't want to spend a lot of time sitting down at a restaurant, at least plan to stop for local snacks or pastries to go. When else are you going to get another opportunity to experience local cuisine? You have to remember that the sights are just a part of the experience.

Camp ocean they can't sign themselves in or out and shouldn't have need of a device there. Are they concerned the kids might randomly walk away and get lost? At 8yo the children should be able to find their cabin on the ship. For 1st time cruisers it can be a learning curve, but surely if they can find their classroom in school, they can find their stateroom. The parents can make a plan like meet back in the lobby or in the room if you get lost. Speaking from experience, I have explained to my children multiple times about staying together and needing to know where they are at all times, and yet I have managed to lose them plenty of times. The good thing is, there's only so many places a child is likely to wander off to and they have never stayed lost for long. And if you ask them, they were never lost. It was me who lost them, not them who didn't know exactly where they were. Oh, sorry the question. No, there's no good apps or ways of "keeping track." Gots to rely on old fashioned trust and communication. Really though, once you're on board the ship isn't as big as it seems. You can almost immediately rule out dining rooms, bars, casino, restaurants, and stateroom only floors, which is like 80% of the ship. Oh man, I'm not very reassuring, am I? Well, my kids get lost (sorry, again they're not the ones lost) because I let them go places on their own not ever because they randomly walked away from me. I have a 10yo and an 8yo. If the parents don't allow their kids to explore on their own there's very little chance they need to be concerned about being separated. There may be thousands of people onboard but it's not so crowded that you'll ever lose sight of one another. We do, otoh, make sure to hold our kid's hands as we leave the theater, for example.

I looked at the "upgrade" cost from a regular cabin to a spa cabin and chose to upgrade. It was less than booking a spa pass separately per person. This was on the Radiance, which doesn't have the thalassotherapy pool; but we loved the location, and found the spa worth it for the upgrade price. If you are a frequent user anyway, it'd be worth it for the proximity alone. Also, because they're spa cabins you're likely to have less kids running around the hallways.

I barely got caught up on this one, and I'm already behind on your next adventure! Your loss and grief was felt from the beginning. There were definitely moments on the cruise that served as a reminder of your dad and the memories you shared together. I hope that the experience was cathartic overall, and that you walked away glad that your mom encouraged you to sail and grateful for the experience. Many hugs. For sure too, you also had moments of joy and relaxation. The ship was beautiful to see and experience through your eyes and humor. Thank you again for another live.