Cruising into the New Year.....

Confession, It wasn't until my honeymoon in 2011 that I went on my first cruise. It wasn't something we did growing up and I was just a little hesitant about spending an entire week on a boat in the middle of the ocean. But I'm so glad my husband talked me into it!! We just finished our second cruise with kids the beginning of December 2023 on the Norwegian Viva. If you haven’t cruised with kiddos before it can be a very fun and low stress/low planning trip! In the past we have cruised Royal Carribean and Celebrity but this was our first time on NCL and we absolutely loved it! Everyone on the ship was incredibly nice and 100% catered to our kiddos.

Travel:

Our cruise was out of the port in Miami. We flew on Delta to Miami and the cruise port is only a 15 min drive from the airport. This trip we stayed with my in-laws but in the past we generally fly down the night before and stay somewhere nearby. If you fly down the day of your cruise departure you always risk having flight issues or delays and the cruise ship is most definitely not going to wait on you! Both downtown Miami and Miami Beach or south beach are all close to the port and there are lots of hotel options. Also, if you are traveling with younger kids who still need a car seat or booster (and you aren't bringing your own) I would recommend contacting a car service (the one we used is linked here). They will pick you up at the airport, hotel or cruise port and bring a carseat with you . This is a much easier option than renting a car or bringing your own car seats for just the couple days you will need them!

Stay:

When booking a room on the cruise ship we generally go with one with a balcony. I think this makes the room seem so much more open as they are generally pretty small. It is also so fun for kids to walk on the balcony the minute they wake up and check out the ocean, or port if we are docked. My kiddos loved the evening time too and looking at the dark ocean, stars and moon. Our balcony even had a table and chairs so we could have had a meal out there if we wanted! (Room service is included on some cruise ships which can be a fun way to do breakfast!)

We splurged this trip on a suite. We basically had two separate bedrooms with two bathrooms and a small living space. It was absolutely perfect for our family and could easily work for a family larger as the couch makes a bed as well! It was great that the boys could nap while my husband and I could come and go, watch tv, hang out on the balcony, etc. We took a travel pack and play (the Lotus travel crib) that is smaller in size than your average pack and play. It fit perfectly in our separate bedroom beside the bed. Most ships have some version of a suite. On a previous Royal Carribean cruise our room was a one bedroom with the living space divided by a heavyweight curtain. Our kids slept on the pullout couch on the other side of the curtain. It definitely worked though it was a bit more challenging to come and go or talk/watch tv when they were napping or sleeping at night. A typical non-suite room on a cruise ship is like a hotel room. Of note, most rooms don't have a bathtub, so this is something to think about if you have small kiddos (especially if they’ve never showered before).

Food:

This is one of the best things about cruising with kids. You will most definitely find something to eat for even the pickiest of eaters! Most ships have some sort of buffet style restaurant that is open for all meals. On this particular ship you could order off the kids menu at most any restaurant so my boys were very excited to have PB&J for most of their meals. There are also plenty of sit down restaurants with a variety of types of food. Our ship was very attentive in regards to allergies asking us every meal if anyone in the group had any food allergies. (On our last cruise on Royal Carribean they even had a designated gluten free restaurant.) Generally I found that the meal service was pretty quick in most of the restaurants on board the ship. It’s rare that we were at any meal (even our nicer ones) for longer than an hour. This is so nice when you have kids especially if eating out at restaurants is a newer concept!

Fun:

This cruise ship had a variety of things to do on board for kids of all ages. We had several pools and a splash pad which the kids loved. There was a mini golf course and gaming area where you could play shuffleboard, ping pong, etc. They also had a go-kart track and even my littlest 2 year old was able to try it out! If you have older kids there was a pretty awesome VR gaming area too and several large dry slides and a water slide.

Many cruises also have a designated kids club with either activities for the kids or a childcare service. This cruise in particular had childcare for ages 3 and up called Splash Academy. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take advantage of this as my youngest wasn’t quite 3. We spoke with other parents on board whose kids participated in this and there was great feedback! They had games, crafts and other planned activities. If you have a kid younger than 3 there was a guppies program that happened a couple times a day for an hour at a time. They have activities and toys but the adults must stay and supervise. On other ships there are drop off programs (setup much like day cares) allowing kids as young as 6 months to participate. This can be a great option for parents to have a chance to relax a bit too!!

Excursions:

Excursions can be a great way to see and explore new places! Our ship in particular had 4 different stops this trip. You can book excursions several months in advance so I scoped it out prior to our trip. Traveling with two kids under 5 I found there were very few options. Many excursions had an age limit, 5 and up. When looking at excursions, I also consider timing. My kids most likely weren't going to make it through a full day of something and they probably aren’t going to be on their best behavior if timing interfered with nap. We ended up booking only one excursion to a nature park/beach in Cozumel. However, on all of our other stops we had fun exploring the town around the port. Some were smaller than others but we found something to do at each one and the kids enjoyed it!

Just a few notes:

Other nice things that the cruise can offer for those that travel with kids is providing things like diapers and wipes if notified in advance. You can also do laundry on ship too if you are attempting to pack light and run out of clean things to wear! It is expensive but nice to have the option because it seems that no matter how much I plan to wear something several times the kids find some way to stain it!

I hope you find this information useful! Please reach out with questions or comments!