trtllovr

Has anyone been there lately? It's right across from the capital building in OSJ and it looks intriguing. I'm curious about its safety (not swimming-wise) for kids. After doing a search there's no mention of it on here unless it's under a different name.

Here's the link:

http://sanjuanpuertorico.com/playa-pena-old-san-juan-beach/#14/18.4679/-66.1061

My mom took the Zumba classes on the breakaway a few weeks ago and had nothing but good things to say about it. He actually gave you a good workout and it was a full hour, and he was loads of fun. There was no additional charge for them.

I just got back from the Navigator on Jan 3rd...

 

on day 2... 1st day at sea... on the itinerary was Latin fitness on deck at 9:30am.

I got there about 15 minutes before the class started... I went up to the young lady that was scheduled to teach it... I was all decked out in my Zumba gear...Ipod in hand...

 

I approached her and asked her if she was a Zumba Instructor... she said very quickly "No, are you?" I said "Yes would you like em to teach the class for you?

She replied " yes, I have bad knees, (pointing to her knee braces on both knees) but the last 2 days at sea and I'll tell my cruise director about it". I saw her altor on that week several times and she assured me I weas teaching it. and Lo and behold... I did it was awesome... for those that want to do it... just find the activites director early on in your cruise and approach them, bring your ZIN license as they will want to make sure you are ZIN... just because you wear Zumba leggings doesn't mean anything to them....

That's awesome you had luck with that! I pre-scheduled to teach on the NCL Epic and RCCL Independence 4 years ago. They put my classes in the newsletter so I had great turnouts on the independence (needed proof of license, group x cert and international liability insurance). But since then, both NCL and RCCL won't agree to letting me do it. NCL has gotten a lot of their staff licensed to teach now. I'll have to try your method on my next cruise in a week!

I was on the sailing as well, I ended up getting it on day five. Have always been good about using hand sanitizer and washing hands. I have a toddler and luckily she didn't get it. We only saw our table waitress the first night, the second night they said she was sick... I had wondered if I got it from her since she handles my plates/food. No way of avoiding that if that's the case!

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

Papitos beach club. You don't need to pay for the AI and their $35 price includes snorkeling. They're located in the punta sur marine reserve so the snorkeling should be pretty good due to the protected water. Heading there next week, will report back.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

We went to these stops last year with our two year old...

Nassau we couldn't get off the ship until after 1 so we put her down early (11-ish) and then went to blue lagoon.

St. Thomas she just slept on us in the cab ride home from the beach, only slept for 10 minutes or so and fell asleep early at dinner in her stroller.

St. Maarten we rented a car, hit up Maho beach first to see the small to medium sized planes first before the crowds came, then drove the scenic route over to the other side of the island. She slept during that trip and we did le Gallion beach (aka baby beach) for the rest of the day which was perfect for her.

My suggestion is to not limit your exposure to the islands just because of nap time. They will sleep where you are and get back to regular routine one you're back home. Have fun!

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

We brought both and mostly used the stroller. I bought a stroller specifically for traveling, it's a lightweight umbrella stroller that reclines pretty far back. It was perfect for naps and at night we brought it to the restaurant. She was so exhausted from the day she would fall asleep in it and we could enjoy our dinner and even roll her around the ship for the evening so we weren't stuck in the room.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

Here's the chart bird nutty is referring to

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

It was free. Instructor was licensed to teach. It was good, not great, but we moved!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

So I know from a few excursions that we have taken sponsored by NCL (which are VERY few), that everyone meets at a certain time somewhere and leaves for the excursion together.

 

Why is it that you didn't get to the island until around 2:30ish? What time did they actually meet and actually leave the port? Did they take you by bus to the ferry at Paradise? Did you have to wait in line for the ferry?

 

I'm just wondering why so long when most have stated that it's about a 45 min to a hour total to get there, but you didn't arrive until about 2 1/2 hrs after arriving in port. That kinda worries me since there's not much time in this port before they close for the last ferry. :(

The ship didn't get into port until after 12 and I think the excursion meeting time was 12:50. We had a 10 minute or more walk down the pier to meet the ferry, boarding the ferry took another 5-10 minutes. The ferry ride itself was around 45 minutes including a stop on paradise island for 5 minutes or so to pick up hotel guests. Honestly I remember getting there and looking at my watch and saying, ok we have about an hour and a half to enjoy. Maybe my timing isn't exact but after all was said and done we didn't get too much time on the island.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

It looks like you will be going soon. Can you please report back and let us know about the times (since you will be there from 12-7pm). That's the same time we will be there and wondering if this will be worth it if the ferry heads back at 4pm?

Just got back from our trip and stopped last Friday in Nassau. Even though our day was rainy we still decided to go to check it out. The boat ride took around 45 minutes but on the way over they pointed out the celebrities houses and islands so it was interesting. We didn't get to the island around 2:15/2:30. Our excursion included lunch but since we ate on the ship we really weren't hungry but shoveled the food in anyway. Huge burgers, a side of BBQ chicken, salad, an Apple, French fries and a cookie. That's an enormous amount of food. The boat left at 4 so we didn't have that much time but we loved the time we did have there. Barely anyone was there because of the weather so we were able to walk around, observe the dolphins and my toddler spent the entire time in the water.

I went just to decide if I want to go back again some day, especially if I have more time. I definitely want to go back, beautiful spot and definitely nicer than anywhere else I have gone to in the past in nassau.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

And yet another reason to avoid NCL at all costs. If they care so little for the health and safety of the kids on board (yes, ecoli from an "accident" can seriously sicken or even kill a small child), then I can't imagine giving them my cruising dollars. They should be ashamed.

And I never saw anyone patrolling the pools enforcing the no diaper rule on RCLs independence of the seas last year. Even though they had a baby pool I saw plenty of diapered kids in the h20 zone.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

And yet another reason to avoid NCL at all costs. If they care so little for the health and safety of the kids on board (yes, ecoli from an "accident" can seriously sicken or even kill a small child), then I can't imagine giving them my cruising dollars. They should be ashamed.

It might not be all the ships with NCL though. They very much enforced the no-diaper rule on the dawn a few years ago, never even let the kids legs touch the water.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

trtlvr,

I know the app is free. But if I understand what you're saying, you were able to 'activate' it by yourself & never saw a $7.95 charge. Not even on your shipboard acct?

Yes, I never got a $7.95 charge. Not on my shipboard account or anything. I never brought it up with NCL because I figured they would see it as a fluke and charge me. My DH's was also free.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

I'm just off the getaway and found it very useful! After a bit of struggle setting it up on airplane mode allowing wifi I "purchased" it for $0.00, not sure if it was a fluke or not but yes, it said it was free. I was able to use the messaging once when DH had the phone on him and we were continuously messaging each other. Each time I got a message it would ding even if the phone was not in use. I really liked the option to look up what was going on around the ship at that very second, very useful instead of carrying around the daily. I probably didn't use it for all it offered but it was one more reason to love the versatility of my iPhone on the cruise.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

I just got off the getaway (ncl) and they had a fantastic kiddie pool area. They don't allow kids with diapers in it but sadly they don't patrol it. It was number 7 on the rules board and I doubt anyone even saw it. Thankfully there weren't any accidents to close the pool but at least half the kids were very obviously diapered.

I must say I hate to be the kid who isn't allowed in because the kids were having a blast.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Just off getaway and we docked in Nassau on Friday with 5 other ships in port too.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Just off the getaway and we did not have to pay a penny to use the app. It might have been a fluke but when it asked us to purchase it the price came up as $0.00. The messaging service worked great but didn't always alarm us every time someone messaged, but when it did it would "ding". I loved having the freestyle daily at my fingertips without having to carry around the paper. We did have a couple issues setting it up but the Internet cafe fixed the issue right away. Just my two cents!

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

Stroller wise we bought the graco IPO for our cruise because it's an umbrella style stroller so it doesn't fold up flat but all 4 sides fold up making it smaller, and it also has a great recline for nap time allowing us to walk around the ship after bed time pushing the baby while she slept. I had a hard time finding an affordable umbrella stroller that had a good recline. Good luck!

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

Oops sent too early...

This year we're going to le gallion beach in st. Martin, also called baby beach because of it's calm water. We'll probably just catch a taxi there and back. The butterfly farm is right there if the kids would be interested in that.

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

We did labadee last year with our 1.5 year old and we were able to rent a cabana with our group, the baby slept in the cabana, it came with some water floaties and had sand around it for the baby to play in, I would totally recommend it!

Sent from my iPad using Forums m

I'm bumping this up, hopefully more people will respond.

Are you doing this via the ships excursion or on your own?

We're in port from 12-7 so we're limited on time there since the last shuttle goes back at 4(?) so we're going to take the ships excursion. We're going with a 2.5 year old so the calm water in the lagoon will be awesome for her to play in and she will love to see dolphins.

I'm not sure about snorkeling or lunch, hopefully someone will know!

Blue lagoon can be done without a ships excursion...

http://www.bahamasbluelagoon.com

Thanks for bringing this back up! We're cruising with our 2.5 year old in a few weeks and the saferider vest would be perfect but DD is not old enough for it yet. It looks like it will be a great investment in the future though. I would love to find something just as safe for her but more travel-able than a bulky car seat.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Are you traveling with anyone else? We went with my parents, they had a balcony across from our inside room. We brought our video monitor and it worked across the hall in their room so we were able to watch the baby sleep while being in a different room but not far away. Some people might not agree with it but it worked great for keeping nap and night time schedules. The baby slept great in an inside too.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app