Sooooo……We finally took our first REAL family vacation. YAY! We took a cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and stopped at the line's private island. I want to share 10 things we learned cruising with kids.
2. Unless you want to be hit with an astronomical bill or have very budget conscious children do not link your younger kids’ or swipe happy teens’ keycards to your account. Limit their cards to key assess only.
3. Sunscreen and floppy hats are your best friend
4. If there is something you want, just ask you will be surprised how accommodating they are. My son (3 ½ years old) literally eats the same thing just about every day so I requested specific items for him often.
5. Take advantage of the room service. It’s a small service fee (approx.. $4-$6) but the items are free.
7. Download movies beforehand. We stocked Baby J’s ipad with Netflix movies the day of. It was the BEST thing I could have done to prepare. You do not want to pay for streaming or Wi-Fi. ***Take phones or make sure your children with phones are not roaming or using their phones.*** It's nice to unplug from social media and the outside world.... You're on vacation remember.
8. Use the kids club. Try to get one date night or carve out a couple of hours for you and your spouse to connect unless you’re traveling with family and have built in childcare.
9. Whatever you do return the towels you rent. They are VERY pricey. I think $24 a pop... for 6 towels...you do the math. My husband collected and returned them personally. lol
10. BOOK your next trip with Next Cruise there on the ship they offer great discounts that you won’t see again. Preferably one without the kids.
Bonus
11. I know I said 10 but this was a big one and well 12 is a funny number…..Do not waste your money on a ridiculous amount of medicine and walk around like a mobile CVS. A lot of the blogs I read suggested this. Medicine is pricey on the ship within the shops but my son was under the weather the last day at sea when we took him to the clinic, they gave me a generic bottle of Benadryl for a $4 charge to my account no more expensive than purchasing it in the store. I also had motion sickness pills for days and low and behold there in the clinic was a bucket full on the table free for the taking. So of course, bring your essentials for your babies but don’t buy up the pharmacy.
12. For a large family bring a popup hamper….oh gosh I cannot tell you how helpful this tip was for me. Ayanna slept in my parents’ cabin but it was still 5 of us in one cabin and this was one of the top 5 bits of advice I read. We all hate the plastic bag of dirty clothes that overflows and just gets in the way. A mesh hamper tucked in the closet is perfect.
We cruised with Royal Caribbean. My sister, brother-in-law, niece, mother and father traveled with us. Number 10 is the one lesson I regret the most. I met with the NEXT CRUISE staff but got interrupted and never went back. When we booked recented for our cruise next year I realized how much I missed out on. On our cruise they were offering up to $600 onboard credit. If you don’t know that’s an AMAZING deal.
Jarrett and I are cruising to Cuba next year with friends and we can’t wait. One thing I will say is I wish there were more kid’s activities. Most were held in the Kids club but it was a nice balance.
A few more bits of advice…..
Our room was spacious. We had a spacious balcony room. With a king, pullout sofa and a Pullman bed (bunk that drops from ceiling). I was nervous with the balcony and having children but they were never out there alone and the railing is fairly high. It was nice to have. I think I’m spoiled now. Jarrett and I only have a window this next time around.
If you don’t want rocking book your room in the MIDDLE of the ship. I barely knew I was on the water. All in all the trip sparked a beast in me that must be fed. Since I was dragging kids this pass cruise we are headed back to the Bahamas and hopefully see all the things we missed like The Queens Staircase but our main destination is Cuba. Study up on your ports have a list for your tour guide so you don’t miss anything.
I’ll share more on our actual trip and what we did later this week. Happy Cruising!
Cheers,
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S
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