Family cruise tips

We are taking our first family cruise in Feb. We are going out of New Orleans to Mexico, Honduras and Belize on Norwegian Dawn. The last time we cruised was 11 years ago before kids.

Any tips or tricks of avid cruisers??

Re: Family cruise tips

Just went to those same islands back in May but without the kids. I am cruising with the kiddos in May 2017 to the same places. Definitely pack tons of sanitizer and baby wipes. Also sippy cups and/ or reusable water bottles so you can fill them with either juice or water for when you leave the ship.

The excursions we have booked:
Cozumel- Mr Sanchos Beach Club and purchased the all inclusive all you can eat and drink package. The water there is calm and it was pretty quiet when we went last cruise so we are going back next cruise.

Honduras-Beach right at the port. It's free unless you want the clam shade thing then it's $26usd. Spent most of our day there and went back to the ship for lunch. Plan on doing the same thing again.

Belize- Didn't leave the ship. It was nice since everyone was off the ship we went to the pools, jacuzzi, gym, etc. This time around we are getting off the ship just to go to the immediate port are. Our youngest will be less than 2 at the time we cruise again and they don't have any excursions to really accommodate him. I did hear Cave Tubing is a lot of fun.

Enjoy your cruise.

Re: Family cruise tips

Thanks

Family cruise tips

We cruise alot with our DD. Tips are really subjective as it really depends on the personality of your kids, but my generic ones are:

When you get on board - don't go to the buffet for lunch. It will be jam packed and crazy and it will be overload for most kids. Research different lunch venues on board and go there.

Pack some extra snacks with you to have in the room for when the kids get hungry. Room services is limited and sometimes takes a long time to get to your room.

Don't try to rush everything in every day - sometimes kids need a break in the middle of the day and that's ok. Enjoy your room and balcony if you have one to recharge.

Take a highlighter and highlight the activity sheet you get each night fore the next day. That way all the things you are interested in doing are highlighted and your not hunting through the list constantly.

We always found the over the door shoe holders good to keep in the bathroom for all the stuff and to keep the counters relatively clutter free.

If your ship is having one of those white hot parties (I think NCL does that) - buy some glow sticks at the dollar store before you go. It'll save alot of money lol.

If your kids are into the pools, I always found the best time to go was right after breakfast. Towards noon it gets packed.

If your kids are younger - in Cozumel we always went to Playa Mia. Great beach, pool, lunch and they have a huge kids water area with about 20 slides for the little ones (under 48 inches). We spent hours just letting DD just go up and down the slides.

Just have fun and enjoy yourselves. I think cruises are the best vacations ever!!

Family cruise tips

I didn't like Honduras at all. I would stay on the ship for that port, or like the previous poster said, stay at the beach by the port. We did an excursion to some beach that was a long bus ride away. The drive was very sad. All these poor and impoverished children on the streets while we are on a bus going from cruise ship to beach. It made me sad.

Re: Family cruise tips