Anyone have experience traveling with kids on NCL Pearl?

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Hi everyone,

We usually cruise DCL, but are looking into other lines for school vacation in 2010 as DCL's prices for this time are way too high. Looks like NCL has great pricing and the union discount is an added bonus! We are seriously considering the Pearl eastern caribbean but haven't found a whole lot of info or reviews on this ship from those who have traveled with kids. Anyone have firsthand experience with kids on the Pearl? We have 3 kids who will be 12, 8, 5 at time of sailing. Any input would be appreciated :) Thanks!

[Kathylovescruises]

We switched from DCL to NCL several year s ago. The last Pearl cruise was 2007 December. We have also had them on the jewel.

The kids program was fantastic, so much more personal than the 'pig piles" at Disney. The counselors knew all 3 of our children's names the first day. There was no tolerating of 'meanies" The facilites are clean , they had a pirate paragde, went to the circus and had a blast. They all liked it better than Disney, and we were happy there!

 

my kids were 5,7,7 the 1st time we went and 6,8,8 the second. We are taking the Pearl again this New Years and they are 7, 9 and 9- it will be fun to have them all in the same group! The after hours group sitting was also a great time for them.

 

You will be ppleased- we did 4 Disneys and have no qualms with NCL at all.:D

 

KAthy

[no port @ dfw]

We were on the Pearl last summer (Alaska) with our kids (15, 12 & 9) and everything was great. The did the kids program some of the time and "their own stuff" (bowling, swimming, wii) some of the time. With a 15 year old we allowed them to do things as long as they were all together. They would go to breakfast together when they got up, play shuffleboard, go to the arcade, etc. There was so much to do on the ship that I don't think they would ever have gotten bored. The kids program had plenty of activities going on and they all would check the daily newsletter to see what was scheduled so they could plan to attend the activities they thought they would enjoy. Each kids group (separated by age) had bowling parties/events at least twice during the cruise which the kids loved (and so did we as we did not have to pay for the games they bowled -- unlike when we bowled as a family). Because our schools let out early last year (late May) we caught an early June cruise and there were not many kids on the ship.

 

We are going on the Pearl again with the kids over Christmas this year - Eastern Caribbean - and even though there will be a lot more kids on board, our kids have been excited about the trip ever since we told them about it. We have never sailed Disney so we can't offer a comparison, but what we saw of the kid's program with NCL we can't think of anything they could have done better.

[tiggerfan616]

I'll let you know in January, we'll be sailing the Pearl with our son who will be 7. This is his 1st cruise and he's really looking forward to it

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

We switched from DCL to NCL several year s ago. The last Pearl cruise was 2007 December. We have also had them on the jewel.

The kids program was fantastic, so much more personal than the 'pig piles" at Disney. The counselors knew all 3 of our children's names the first day. There was no tolerating of 'meanies" The facilites are clean , they had a pirate paragde, went to the circus and had a blast. They all liked it better than Disney, and we were happy there!

 

my kids were 5,7,7 the 1st time we went and 6,8,8 the second. We are taking the Pearl again this New Years and they are 7, 9 and 9- it will be fun to have them all in the same group! The after hours group sitting was also a great time for them.

 

You will be ppleased- we did 4 Disneys and have no qualms with NCL at all.:D

 

KAthy

 

That is good to hear from a former DCL cruiser! I'm nervous about trying something new, but the replies here are making me feel better :)

 

We were on the Pearl last summer (Alaska) with our kids (15, 12 & 9) and everything was great. The did the kids program some of the time and "their own stuff" (bowling, swimming, wii) some of the time. With a 15 year old we allowed them to do things as long as they were all together. They would go to breakfast together when they got up, play shuffleboard, go to the arcade, etc. There was so much to do on the ship that I don't think they would ever have gotten bored. The kids program had plenty of activities going on and they all would check the daily newsletter to see what was scheduled so they could plan to attend the activities they thought they would enjoy. Each kids group (separated by age) had bowling parties/events at least twice during the cruise which the kids loved (and so did we as we did not have to pay for the games they bowled -- unlike when we bowled as a family). Because our schools let out early last year (late May) we caught an early June cruise and there were not many kids on the ship.

 

We are going on the Pearl again with the kids over Christmas this year - Eastern Caribbean - and even though there will be a lot more kids on board, our kids have been excited about the trip ever since we told them about it. We have never sailed Disney so we can't offer a comparison, but what we saw of the kid's program with NCL we can't think of anything they could have done better.

 

Oh, I am so glad to hear the kids clubs take the kids bowling - I know they will enjoy that! I am so happy to read everyone's positive experiences!

 

I'll let you know in January, we'll be sailing the Pearl with our son who will be 7. This is his 1st cruise and he's really looking forward to it

 

I would be interested to hear your experiences when you return! We also leave for our next cruise on 1/25/09 - enjoy yours!

 

 

Another quick question - I think I read somewhere that the kids clubs are closed while the ship is in port but group sitting is available - is this for all age groups? Does anyone know the charge for this? We have a tendancy to get off the ship early in ports and return in the afternoon to hang out by the pools, but sometimes one of the kids ends up wanting to go to the club when we get back on the ship...

[tiggerfan616]

Check out NCL's website under kids programs lots of info there, you might also want to check out the family cruising boards. I got a lot of info off there as well

 

What cruise line are you taking in Jan?

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Check out NCL's website under kids programs lots of info there, you might also want to check out the family cruising boards. I got a lot of info off there as well

 

What cruise line are you taking in Jan?

 

Thanks, I have been checking out the family boards as well...We are doing DCL in Jan. :)

[mush71]

I just got off the Pearl with my husband and 5 year old daughter. Our daughter loved the kids club. We actually had to deal with tamtrums when it was time to leave. She was constantly asking to go to the kids club even when they closed.

 

She had a prince and princess march through the ship. They had a pirate night. They took the kids to the shows. They also had a few parent/child events. The one we went to was a pizza making. It was a lot of fun.

[lucycancruise]

Hi. We sailed the Pearl last January when our children were 4 and 7. My 7 yr old had a great time in the kid's club. My 4 yr old was a little more reluctant to be in the clubs, mostly b/c there were lots & lots of young ones (2 & 3 yrs) in his camp. But once he was there he had a ton of fun. They held lots of theme parties in the camps & the club was big & clean w/ lots of counselors. I had nothing but good experiences w/ all the counselors on the Pearl.

The kids loved the pool w/ waterslide & hot tubs. Always great music on sea days by the pool & the kids loved dancing along. They loved playing bingo w/ us. The bowling looked like lots of fun, but our youngest wasn't old enough to play. They loved eating in the kids cafe in the Garden Cafe & it was convenient b/c we didn't have to keep running up to the big buffet for seconds, etc. We'd usually feed them there, then send them to camp & have a nice dinner by ourselves in one of the specialty restaurants :-).

Our children had a chance to play the Wii in the atrium, which was a blast for them. The arcade was fun too.

Last year the camps got crowded at drop off times...sometimes you waited 10-15 minutes to check your children in. The changes w/ the new Freestyle 2.0 will help that since the camps will run all day w/ no set start/stop times in between.

My children loved the theater night, when the camp counselors took them to the Stardust Theatre for a show.

Here's a link I found to the kid's crew brochures from the Gem, to give you an idea of the activities onboard (thanks to cruisebabies):

http://cruisebabies.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Kids_Club_6-9_yrs.176112126.pdf

 

http://cruisebabies.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Kids_Club_2-5yrs.176111930.pdf

 

http://cruisebabies.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Tweens_Club_10-12_yrs.176112208.pdf

 

I hope you have a fun time! The staff treated us very well on the Pearl. We're giving the Gem a try this year, sailing from NYC to Bahamas in December.

[ncl junkie]

Hi everyone,

We usually cruise DCL, but are looking into other lines for school vacation in 2010 as DCL's prices for this time are way too high. Looks like NCL has great pricing and the union discount is an added bonus! We are seriously considering the Pearl eastern caribbean but haven't found a whole lot of info or reviews on this ship from those who have traveled with kids. Anyone have firsthand experience with kids on the Pearl? We have 3 kids who will be 12, 8, 5 at time of sailing. Any input would be appreciated :) Thanks!

 

we sailed on the pearl this summer, our kids are the same age as yours, plus a 3 year old. we too usually cruise dcl, but our kids now prefer ncl. best kids club at sea!!

[NW Pacific]

Were on the Pearl, July to Alaska. Almost 8 year old granddaughter loved the Kids Club, 15 year old grandson was not impressed with the Teen Club, but he did meet others there and they ended up hanging out together.

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Thanks everyone - this is helping put my mind at ease - sounds like the kids will have fun!

[Kathylovescruises]

A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his/her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his/her life.'

That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today, who no longer understand that fact..

 

Tiggerfan616- THANK YOU for this beautiful message. Way too many people don't get it!

God Bless you!

 

KAthy

[tiggerfan616]

Thank you Kathy

[zimmerjulie]

Another post of praise for the Pearl Kids Crew.

My daughters, aged 6 and 12, each loved their time in Kids Crew. The activities were fun and engaging, not wild and out-of-control like in some cruises past. Even my older girl, who I thought was outgrowing them because of our previous experience on another line, was eager to go to the activities each night.

 

My little one wanted to see the magic show in the main show lounge one night, so I told her I would come pick her up to take her. When I arrived, she decided she'd rather stay at Kids Club--and she loves the magic shows.