Go away from Getaway if you have small kids.

[janpo]

Do you know if motley has kids? Maybe you shouldn't criticize if you don't know.

 

Raise your kids how you want them to be raised and hopefully you raise them to be outstanding kids and then be outstanding adults.

 

Don't worry about other parents kids unless they are in harms way and don't tell someone else how to raise their kids unless they ask for your opinion. People on here and everywhere want to tell you how to raise your kids but actually don't want to handle the responsibility of raising children themselves.

 

 

He has no kids, per his posts many many times.

 

Again, reading comprehension. Show me where I've told anyone anywhere how to raise their kids. You can't because I havent.

Edited September 6, 2015 by janpo

[RuthlessBoss]

I think three is a little young to be fully entertained on one of the mass market cruise lines; the one exception might be Disney if your little one is aware of the Disney universe. I think a few years would make a big difference for your daughter to be able to at least enjoy the vacation.

 

I have heard the complaint regarding the pool area being way too small on the -Away ships. I wasn't aware of the smoking area being next to the kid's splash area. That is obviously a huge mistake. I know that the smoking areas "move" on NCL depending on the maintenance being done. I hope the mistake was only for a brief period, but if not, I would definitely raise your concerns about this, and the slippery deck, to NCL in a letter or email.

 

On Getaway, the smoking area is not in the kids splash area. I used it a lot. It's across a wide walkway from the adult pool, it's a glass enclosure. There are 2 hot tubs that older kids are allowed in, but again it's across a wide walkway.

[xcell]

I do agree that the kids pool area had a bunch of "adults" (I mean adults without kids), hanging around with their drinks...

 

If the adults area are only for adult - they should have ask the adults without kids to leave...

[HuneyMoonCruzers]

I appreciate this post as I will be traveling with a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. Thankfully it looks like my 4 year old is tall enough for the slides (45.5 inches).

 

I am also really worried about the slides not being in working order though! COme onnnn. I also heard the zip line was broken? WTH!?

 

 

Good news is we brought 3 grandparents along, so we get some alone time! :cool:

[RuthlessBoss]

I appreciate this post as I will be traveling with a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. Thankfully it looks like my 4 year old is tall enough for the slides (45.5 inches).

 

I am also really worried about the slides not being in working order though! COme onnnn. I also heard the zip line was broken? WTH!?

 

 

Good news is we brought 3 grandparents along, so we get some alone time! :cool:

 

All the things to do and you are "worried" about a slide:rolleyes:

[Donna_In_India]

All the things to do and you are "worried" about a slide:rolleyes:

 

Your answer isn't helpful at all. You obviously are not traveling with a 1 1/2 year old!! How many things are there for a 1 1/2 year old to do? Please fill me in. Some people LIKE to vacation as a family without dumping their kids for hours on end in a kids club. My own daughter could spend an entire cruise happily in the pool/splash areas. It's a BIG deal when they're closed and/or not working properly. The slides HuneyMoon is referring to are the slides in the kids' splash area. There are only 2 slides in the area for the small kids. We were on Getaway the week of August 1st and 1 slide was closed. No one even looked at it in a week. Can't believe it's taking over a month to fix it!

[Donna_In_India]

This was our second cruise with NCL.

 

Family washrooms are great - always clean.

 

Food options in the Garden Cafe at all hrs were always good. Staff were great as well.

 

Room staff were great as well.

 

There is very limited onboard shopping for little kid's necessities so be forewarned. That's pretty standard all on lines with the exception of Disney.

 

Our daughter is a perfectly healthy 3 yr old - 32" tall and 33 lbs. Hasn't seen a diaper in a yr. She can swim on her own (we always stand watch though) and is fairly accomplished on the trampoline but height, weight and age restrictions prohibited her from using any of the onboard amenities for kids.

No trampoline

No rock climbing

No water slides

No Spider Web

No Ropes course

etc.

My daughter has finally been tall enough for the ropes course, water slides, and rock climbing wall. She's been on some many cruises where she couldn't do anything but swim, and she was okay with that.

 

The pool area onboard is woefully small. (~ 16 x 32 with a big 6 ft wall separating the deeper portion from the shallower section) and there were about 30+ folks (kids and parents) using it at any given moment. It was a common complaint from others as well. Our daughter has just started to swim on her own and go underwater but the pool was essentially useless to us with all the bigger kids and the horseplay going on with limited staff supervision. By the way - for non swimming kids under 3' 6", the shallow end is deep - they won't be able to stand up in it and there are no swimming pool life jackets available so forget about smaller kids using that pool without adults right beside them. There is some shade during the day but the pool closes at 8:00 pm which was annoying - some quieter moments with my daughter would have been nice. It's a saltwater pool way by the way. This pool was always so crowded you could barely turn around. The salt water was horrible. And you're lucky to have found shade!

 

The toddlers aqua play area has an 8-10 inch deep fresh water pool (not saltwater) and a wet play pad area but the 2 kids slides there are broken and roped off. The surfaces have delaminated and the torn out sections would seriously injure kids. All that's really left is the play pad area with 5 or 6 water jets. It's also a terribly slippery surface that the kids were regularly slipping on and falling down on. Towards the end of the cruise it wasn't particularly busy there for obvious reasons. Have never seen decks so bad as on the Getaway. A lawsuit waiting to happen!

 

What really ticked me off about the kids pool area was the adults escaping the noise from the bar area who sat around the surrounding wall bench with their drinks and made it difficult for little kids to climb over to get to the pool. NCL did a very poor job of monitoring the adults with their drinks along with kids in diapers! We just got off the Oasis and they did a great job enforcing the rules. The kids' splash area was great and the FRESH water pool was nice. (Those were the few positives of the Oasis for us.)

 

And who thought putting one of the only 2 smoking areas on the ship right beside the kids aqua play area was a good use of space when the aft end of the same deck was dead quiet and devoid of little kids? Smoking area was away from the kids' area.

 

Onboard events (eg pyjama jam with Dora and friends) were ok for thrilling the little kids but kind of amateurish, poorly organized and really nothing more than photo sales opportunities. When we went there were some good dance parties (no photo opps) and a character breakfast. There were separate meet and greets for photo opps. In any case, Nickelodeon and NCL are ending their partnership in the next few months.

 

We missed a couple of the early Dora events due the time change we were unaware of. It was our own fault I suppose but little kids go to bed early and the staff don't advise you of the time change until late the day before and only if you pick up your mail outside the room.

 

Shore excursion options are pretty limited for 3 yr olds as well, especially if the ship diverts as ours did this past week. This is true. If you don't have any particular plans, the best thing to do is head to a beach or a day resort with beach and pool.

 

You can visit dolphins in Nassau without restrictions. Bring a change of clothes for the return and be extremely careful boarding the tour boat to get you there. They nearly killed a young boy as he fell between the dock and the boat. He wasn't playing around - The boarding bridge just moved and he slipped off. With no bumpers between the boat and the dock it was moving a lot. We all rushed to push the boat away from the dock but I'm not sure it did much and it was just sheer luck he didn't have his neck or head crushed as they lifted him out.

 

For the other ports our cruise was diverted to stop at Jamaica and Cozumel instead of St Thomas and Tortola and our subsequent options for NCL shore excursions shrank from a limited few to near zero at the new destinations. (I think it was zero at Jamaica actually)

 

The fresh water pool and meal area at Playa Mia (Cozumel) is great for little kids. The beach - not so much. The entry slope isn't gradual and the kids can't wade in or stand in the water. Accumulated seaweed and the steep slope even precluded much opportunity for sand castle building. The free boats are well worn and tired as well. I grew up on the water, spent my youth as a lifeguard and can swim for miles in the ocean but I wouldn't touch their boats again with a 3 yr old in tow. We were just in Cozumel on Thursday. They are having a sea weed issue this year. It's not normally like that. Paradise Beach is a great option - beach is nice and pool is great!

 

There was a club for the toddlers and in retrospect we should have used it more but when we went to register her they just weren't great on details or schedules. The kids that did participate seemed to enjoy it according to their parents. The club may have been fun for her even if she went for just an hour.

 

All in all the cruise ship itself is fine for older kids and adults but we will wait until our daughter is significantly older, taller and heavier before we try another cruise on this ship. There are just too many dead times for the little kids. We won't be risking another late August cruise either due to threat of diversions from tropical storms.

We lucked out with Erika - but we were already doing a Western itinerary. You may want to check out Disney. There are plenty of dance parties and activities for young children.

[HabsFan23]

I appreciate this post as I will be traveling with a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. Thankfully it looks like my 4 year old is tall enough for the slides (45.5 inches).

 

I am also really worried about the slides not being in working order though! COme onnnn. I also heard the zip line was broken? WTH!?

 

 

Good news is we brought 3 grandparents along, so we get some alone time! :cool:

 

Is there a height minimum for the "normal" slides (not the dead drop ones)? From the videos on the NCL site I thought the smaller ones (my 3yo is on the small side and barely 40 inches) could ride with a grownup?

[RuthlessBoss]

Your answer isn't helpful at all. You obviously are not traveling with a 1 1/2 year old!! How many things are there for a 1 1/2 year old to do? Please fill me in. Some people LIKE to vacation as a family without dumping their kids for hours on end in a kids club. My own daughter could spend an entire cruise happily in the pool/splash areas. It's a BIG deal when they're closed and/or not working properly. The slides HuneyMoon is referring to are the slides in the kids' splash area. There are only 2 slides in the area for the small kids. We were on Getaway the week of August 1st and 1 slide was closed. No one even looked at it in a week. Can't believe it's taking over a month to fix it!

 

Missing one tiny slide will make or break a kid's fun? What would you do at home all day? Go to the other thread and there is a picture of this area. Those kids don't look bored. When I was there, the main attraction was kids stepping into the squirting water coming from the wall and hearing happy squeals.