Norwegian Dawn kid-friendly?

[haply]

Hello

 

We are thinking about booking the Dawn for Thanksgiving week out of New Orleans. We have two children, ages 4 & 8. How kid-friendly is Norwegian? We prefer smaller ships for younger children. The Norwegian cruise line does not seem to offer "extras" (such as the Barbie experience on Royal Caribbean). I could also not find any kid-friendly door/room decoration packages offered. The Norwegian drink packages seem pretty limited to me as well-soda package only (no bottled water, non-alcoholic smoothie package as offered on other lines). My kids are too small for the larger slides, water parks, etc, or large teen clubs offered on bigger ships. We did like the smaller kids pool/slides on the Dawn. Getting a little worried however about Norwegian not offering kid-friendly extras-maybe they are trying to discourage too many kids? Thank you, in advance.

[meglet]

It's not Disney, but there certainly will be hundreds of kids on your sailing. I would say kid friendly, but not kid centered.

[johnlatte]

Hello

 

We are thinking about booking the Dawn for Thanksgiving week out of New Orleans. We have two children, ages 4 & 8. How kid-friendly is Norwegian? We prefer smaller ships for younger children. The Norwegian cruise line does not seem to offer "extras" (such as the Barbie experience on Royal Caribbean). I could also not find any kid-friendly door/room decoration packages offered. The Norwegian drink packages seem pretty limited to me as well-soda package only (no bottled water, non-alcoholic smoothie package as offered on other lines). My kids are too small for the larger slides, water parks, etc, or large teen clubs offered on bigger ships. We did like the smaller kids pool/slides on the Dawn. Getting a little worried however about Norwegian not offering kid-friendly extras-maybe they are trying to discourage too many kids? Thank you, in advance.

 

My kids have sailed NCL since they were 7. They have had a blast on each and every cruise and have made lots of friends along the way. Like the OP said it isn't Disney but it is kid friendly for sure. We always made sure that the kid centric things were done at the ports where they could run around and experience new sites and new cultures, not necessarily on board the ships.

[cadien]

They have a Nickelodeon (Spongebob)-themed bedtime set : https://www.ncl.com/onboard-gifts/kids

 

Some NCL cruises offer character breakfasts.

 

The kids club is excellent. We went last month with our 4-year old. He loved it. Your children wouldn't be in the same group together, for what's that worth.

 

There was also a decent selection of kid-friendly excursions.

Edited May 18, 2015 by cadien

[fivesenuff]

We went on the 11day Christmas sailing on the Dawn with all six kids a few years back. Their ages were 11months to 16yo. They all had a blast. Even the baby was spoiled by everyone from the servers to the stewards to the photographers. Your kids should have a blast.

[mitsugirly]

We have been taking our youngest daughter since age 3 on NCL. She is now 7 and she loves everything on the ships.

 

The Dawn has a kiddie pool in the back that will be perfect for your children. Their kid program is fabulous and my daughter goes and never wants to leave. When we pick her up, she can't wait to get back and begs to go back. :D

 

They do have the Nick characters on certain ships. I'm not sure if the Dawn is one of them.

[DaisyGoldberg]

I don't recall seeing anything Nickelodeon-related on the Dawn in the public areas (maybe in the kid areas?)

 

I know they had activities for families like decorating cupcakes and stuff -- they were listed on the Dailies. They also did some kind of performance in one of the show rooms at some point, and once I saw the kids in costume parading around (part of the kids club activities)

 

I tend to take cruises when kids are in school, so sorry I can't be more helpful!

[Starflyr3]

We took our 3 and 6 year olds on the Jewel in March.

 

we did NCL excursions - beach breaks, mostly - which were all kid-friendly.

 

We got them the nick bed set, and they still use the night lights.

 

We didnt make it to the character meet and greets, but they had several

 

My 3 YO LOVED the kids club and pesters me daily to show her "our ship" and "our room" - and wants to know when we're going back (3/16).

 

My 6 yo is at the "meh" stage (for everything), but he had a good time, also.

 

They both loved the waterslide (small one) and the pool.

 

They loved serving themselves at the kids buffet.

 

They loved the shows that they went to, and the shows that they put on (princess parade, pirate parade, circus show).

 

Its not all kids all the time, but there was cupcake decorating, "slime time" at the pool, the character stuff, the kid shows, etc etc etc.

 

My kids had the soda package, which my 6 yo loved and my 3 yo ignored. We had no issue getting chocolate milk at meals, either. Didnt ask for juice as neither of them drink it. (we're a water family, mostly)

 

There is PLENTY for kids to do.

 

There were 1500 kids on our sailing (according to staff). It WAS during spring break, however :)

Edited May 18, 2015 by Starflyr3

[searoses]

I was enchanted with the kid sized buffet and tables....they will love it!....we did bermuda in July and there were tons of kids.....a very family oriented cruise....

[fivesenuff]

Nickelodeon is not on the Dawn but there were plenty of other activities.

[haply]

Thank you everyone or for your feedback! We went ahead and booked the Dawn. Love cruise critic and the great information!

[woolmarketteacher]

I just booked the dawn out of New Orleans the week of Thanksgiving. My son is 12 and is so excited. I think it will be very kid friendly.

[Mistizoom]

My son was 10 when we went on Norwegian Dawn and he loved it. The kids pool area is great esp. For younger kids but he liked it too. Good area for parents as well, very uncrowded and there is a hot tub back there. He loved the shows. Only negative for him was no slide on the main pool, but that was a minor issue.

[lolavix]

We took our 10.5, 8 and 6 year olds on the Dawn last August and they had a blast. The favorite part of the entire vacation for my six year old was the "T-Rex pool". It's perfect for young kids, with kid-sized slides.

 

As others have said, the Dawn does not have the Nickelodeon characters, but it does have a terrific kids club which my kids loved and couldn't wait to visit each day. I know it may differ from kid to kid, but mine did enjoy it.

 

My trip report in the link below has lots of photos of the trip, with a lot of information about what the kids did, if you want to take a look. I don't think you will be disappointed, though.

[mitsugirly]

Boston to Bermuda with kids (August 2014)--includes tons of photos!

 

I remember reading your review awhile ago and had commented about how I was going to come back and read it again prior to us heading to Bermuda. I'm so glad I caught this again and went back to read it. I'm getting super excited. :D