NCL Gem Kids Crew - OUTSTANDING!

We are back from our NCL Gem sailing to Bermuda and I wanted to update about our experiences with their kids crew. I did my usual WARNING to the counselors about my youngest. We've had some "issues" in the past with other kids clubs (AHEM! Carnival Rubber Shark Abuse) And I have been known to be a little, let's just say, um, critical of other kids clubs because, let's face it - we ALL want the BEST care for our kids. I have to say WITHOUT A DOUBT that the Kids Crew Counselors on Gem ARE THE BEST, MOST PATIENT, AWESOME and PHEW STRESS FREE Kids club experience that we have EVER had!

I started by asking for the phone for my 7 year old (which they usually don't do) because I told them that they WILL want to be in contact with me when they want to be rescued from my HIGHLY ENERGETIC 7 year old. They reluctantly gave me a phone for the first night. I said "PLEASE feel free to CALL me, you are going to WANT to call me!" I have been down this path before. Well, color me surprised when I showed up at 10pm for the first pick up and the AMAZING "GYPSY" said "We WILL be taking your phone away! You do NOT need one. Yes, your daughter is energetic. But, she is not mean. She is doing GREAT! And we can handle her!"

GOD BLESS THEM!!!! A kids club that understands my spunky little kid!!!! I knew this was going to be a WONDERFUL cruise. I wasn't going to be glued to a phone waiting for the next "rubber shark abuse" phone call, terrified of hearing the phone ring. EVERY pick up was pleasant. EVERY comment and interaction from the counselors was a JOY! This was not what we were used to. This is our 11th cruise with the kids. We are no strangers to kids clubs.

So I have to say to GYPSY, JASMINE, FLIP FLOP, CUPID and ALL of the GEM KIDS CREW - THANK YOU for making this such a wonderful experience for my kids. They never wanted to leave. They went to a pirate parade, attended a PJ Party, played survivor, had a Kids Crew Dinner and partied on the pool deck during the "Family Deck Party".

And GYPSY, my 7 year old wants to challenge you to a cartwheel contest, you better start practicing ; - ) I'll bring the chocolate covered strawberries so you can keep your energy up!

CrusinMAMA Cruises WITHOUT the kids

This is the first CrusinMAMA cruise not as a MAMA {GASP!} A friend wanted to jump on a last minute cruise and asked if I would go with her, and being the end of the school year, the kids would have to stay home with dad {DOUBLE GASP!!!}

How would they survive without me? What would I do without them? I have been cruising over a decade with those little buggers. Almost my entire cruising life has revolved around kids clubs and pirate parades -- how would I adjust? You mean there is adult only places onboard a ship? No way! Who knew?

So I lay clothes out for 7 days for 2 kids (and one very patient hubby), kiss them all goodbye and set off for my 3 hour drive to Baltimore to start my new adventure as a solo (sort of) cruiser.

The first thing I notice when you drive alone, you can sing to yourself (off key of course) very loudly and no one yells at you from the back seat.

My home for the next 6 days would be Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas -- calling on one port -- King's Wharf, Bermuda.

My sea days were spent reading one book after another - completely uninterrupted in the Adult Only Solarium - except for the occasional "JOIN US FOR BINGO BONANZA IN 15 MINUTES!" over the PA speaker.

The nights were spent dining with adults in the Adult Dining venue - Chops Grille. As the mom of a child who can barely maintain her attention at Mickey D's, dining at Chops Grille has been something I have only read about. I swear, I heard angels sing. The fillet mignon, parmesan crusted potatoes and chocolate mud pie for dessert! Heaven on Earth!

We arrive in Bermuda. Since this is a "make no plans, let's see where the wind takes me" trip. I have no real plans for Bermuda. I grab a bus ticket ($12 per person/1 day CASH ONLY) to head to Horseshoe Bay. (Do not attempt the scooter unless you are a skilled rider or have a death wish - the roads in Bermuda fit two vehicles, barely, side by side, put two buses, driving on the wrong side of the road, a couple of pedestrians in for good measure, a cliff and your scooter into the mix -- which one do you think has the right of way? Um, yeah, not you. Stick to the buses.)

I know there were some recent news stories about the wait times with the bus/ferry system and I have to say that I experienced NONE OF THAT. It took maybe, at most, 15 minutes to get a ticket in hand. When I got my ticket I walked right up to the next waiting bus and said "Going to Horseshoe Bay?" and with that I was on the bus. Within 25 minutes I was dropped off at one of the most amazing places ever (there is a little bit of a walk downhill)

Horseshoe Bay Beach has changing facilities, restrooms and a snack bar (CASH ONLY for snacks).
To the right of Horseshoe Bay is a great little beach for kids nicknamed "Baby Beach" . The waves are blocked by giant rocks and the pools are shallow.


I decided to explorer the more private beaches off to the left of Horseshoe, the more I walked, another new beautiful beach emerged.

I have been to many places on many different cruises. And I have to say, the entire time I kept saying to myself (the hazards of being solo) WOW -- WHOA, look at that, AMAZING!

At every turn there was just another more breathtaking view. I just can't put into words how truly beautiful Bermuda is. I kept thinking, "The kids are really missing this" and wishing I could share it with them. My husband is a see one island, you've seen them all kind of guy. But I knew that my kids would have been ooohing and ahhing at every turn.

It was a wonderful cruise, but it's just not the same for me without the kids. I love to see the world through their eyes. So I'll have to take them to Bermuda and see what they think. It's a good excuse to go back...for the children. ;)

Cruising with ADHD, never a dull moment.

Sailing on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas right at the start of the new school year, we knew that this sailing wouldn't have many kids onboard. Usually, Adventure Ocean would separate the kids into 3-5, 6-9 and 9-11 -- on this sailing, they combined the 6 - 11 year olds into one group.

Well at first we celebrated. Our girls would be together! Yeayyyy! And then we thought, UH OH, our girls would be together.

Our youngest, has had a somewhat colorful experience on cruise ships. It all began when this adorable little 8 month old, out of the blue, got sick, practically stopped breathing and needed to be medically evacuated off a Disney cruise ship. That was 6 years ago. Now she is a energetic, vibrant and shall we say bouncy -- yeah, bouncy is a good word, 6 year old.

So we warned Adventure Ocean about her. Yes I use the word WARNED. I said that she WILL BE hyper. Not she may be, she WILL BE. So we drop her off for her first night at Adventure Ocean and BLESS THEM -- they did their best. There were a couple of mishaps. She climbed the rope on the outside of the slide and almost broke her leg. Another little boy slammed her fingers into a sliding drawer, if we wanted to go to the ship's medical center she would be treated for free (she was fine).

Because they combined the age groups - it was tough for my youngest to understand the more complex rules of the games set up for the older kids. So she asked to move to the 3-5 year old group -- she kept asking to go to the "baby room".

So if we had any problems, it was trying to keep our child to pick ONE group. If she saw her sister, she wanted to run to her in THAT room. Then when the game was too complex, she wanted to go back to the "baby room".

Other than that, the kids had a FABULOUS time! My oldest said that she didn't miss the "big ship". I thought she would miss the bells and whistles of the Freedom Class. I asked her if she thought she needed the H20 zone to have a good time -- she said - No, she was having just as much fun. So that was a nice surprise.

There was a counselor onboard - nicknamed - "Evan Almighty" -- I have to give a "HUGE THANK YOU" to him! One day he asked where my youngest was. I said that she was spending the day with me -- I told him that I thought Adventure Ocean needed a break -- he replied "I have a great time with her! I have no problems at all. Please make sure you bring her back tonight! We'll have fun"

He probably has no idea how much of an impact a simple remark like that made on me. To a mom who is so used to hearing from everyone how much of a problem her youngest child is, it was so nice to her that a counselor wanted to spend time with her child.

So THANK YOU to "Evan Almighty". For this mom, your compassion made all of the difference!

Saint John New Brunswick - Fundy Coast to Fundy Shore Tour

Before the cruise, I looked for the best way to see Saint John/St. Martin, New Brunswick, Canada and the Sea Caves. I had read about the ship excursion buses arriving later than the private tours. And in St.Martin, if you arrive even a few minutes later, with the tide schedule, you could entirely miss the chance to go into the sea caves. So, we booked a shore excursion called "Fundy Coast to the Fundy Shore" with Freedom Tours.

http://freedomtours.com/content/151140

We were scheduled to dock and be off the ship by 9:30am....but the ship wasn't cleared until 10:30. God bless their souls, our Freedom Tours tour guides were there waiting for us with a smile on their face. {Note: For parents of children 5 and under, if you are unable to bring a car seat, Freedom Tours will provide one for you. Just have them note it on your reservation. The cars were 8 passenger mini vans}

The terminal at Saint John is brand new so we were the first guests to arrive at the terminal. Each lady was handed a rose. Each gentleman a pin. And each child a Canadian flag. Volunteers in Saint John started this tradition 10 years ago and do it for every passenger that disembarks in Saint John.

Since we were late, the guides took us straight to St. Martin (an hour away) on a scenic coastal highway. Let me tell you - this area is GORGEOUS! The Sea Caves....

So we arrive at the St. Martin Sea Caves and our guide Peter (a fabulous gentleman) tells us that we will only have a few minutes until the tide rises too high to safely get across to the caves. We put on our water shoes {don't forget those} and make the trek across the rocky beach. If you have ANY problems with mobility, this is not the tour for you. The rocks are very difficult to walk on, they slide under your feet. Very different from walking on sand. Right next to the caves was a SMALL stream of water, about an inch deep, but VERY cold. Peter said that the Bay is always a steady 30-32 degrees. We had to walk across this cold water (about 10 feet wide) to get to the caves. Once over there, we had about 5 minutes to get our pictures and get back across.

One member of our group, decided to try to make it into the 2 sea cave (there are 3). The guides were telling him to come back. This person decided to ignore the guides just to get a shot of the 2nd cave because, come on, it's just an inch or 2 of water. Within minutes, the guides were yelling "We hope you can swim!" - the water had risen a lot in just a few minutes {see below, just 10 minutes later} But we all made it back safely from the caves. And we were able to get some great pictures.

Peter also told my girls some local lore - if you find a rock with another rock layer the whole way through and it created a complete circle through the rock, then you will have luck with the boys (god help me). And if it has 2 layers, then 2 boys will be fighting over you. I think my kids carted back 50lbs of rock in their pockets, I kid you not. Every time we stopped, Peter would secretly throw one or two rocks out of the mini van. Smart guy!

So one thing not to miss is a bowl of the "World Famous Seafood Chowder" at The Caves Restaurant. {I think it started at $7.99/cup} but my oldest declared it - the WORLD'S BEST.

By the time our chowder arrived, so did the Carnival buses, TWO of them. They walked off the bus, and went right into the restaurant for their bowl of chowder. They missed the opportunity to go into the sea caves because they arrived so late. I was VERY happy that we had booked the private tour.

On our way back to Saint John...We stopped at a lighthouse "Visitor Center" - those stairs were SCARY. Peter took both kids up because there was no way I was able to do it.

And stopped to check out the covered bridges.

And since we had the kids, Bill and Peter decided to veer off from the other group and take us to a Mini Horse Farm (a B&B) in St. Martin. My youngest was so tickled by the chicken at this farm - the chicken's name was "Chicken Little". And every time my daughter talked to the chicken it would say "Booooooock" almost to answer her.

This is reversing falls, not much to see, but still pretty interesting. The water runs backwards certain times each day.

And I can say that we don't have these signs in Pennsylvania....MOOSE CROSSING! And yes, our guides were trying to spot some moose for us, what a sight that would have been...

At the end of our tour, Peter and Bill took us to the Marketplace for some shopping. And then it was back to the ship. I have to say, our tour in Saint John/St.Martin and the wonderful people we met on this excursion was the highlight of our cruise. I can't recommend this tour company enough. For a family, they are the perfect option.

No Rubber Shark Abuse Allowed on Carnival Triumph

So I guess after my review on Cruise Critic, the "rubber shark" story has become infamous. So I figured I would retell it here.....

My daughters and I went on a girls only trip celebrating the end of the school year. We decided to do Carnival Triumph out of New York City - a nice little drive, no need for airfare.

This would be our 3rd Carnival Cruise. So we are no strangers to Camp Carnival. Formal Night - the kids beg to go to the "Camp Formal Dinner" I go to the camp and explain at each drop off that my girls will want to sit together because when the Little Sis sees the Big Sis, she is going to want to eat with her. "NO PROBLEM" was the answer from each counselor. And it wasn't a problem on the other CARNIVAL ships. So I follow the kids groups to the Lido deck, see that my kids find each other and hug each other, I turn to go to meet some people for dinner. I guess after I walked away, the counselors came and told my youngest to go sit with her own group. She cried. They said she couldn't sit with my oldest. So she was upset. But she calmed down.

By 8pm, I was waiting in the dining room lobby with friends to attend Late Seating dinner when my Camp Carnival phone rang. They said that my daughter was "Hitting other children with a toy" - Mortified, I excuse myself and go running to Camp Carnival. I see her playing kitchen with another little girl -- no problem. I tell them who I am and ask "She is hitting the kids with toys????" The response - "ohhh noo noo noo, she took this rubber shark and hit that metal pole. She did it a few times, we told her not to, she did it again, so we called you"

A rubber shark? Seriously?

They couldn't handle a 5 year old with a rubber shark? The counselor said "Well she doesn't have to leave but you have to talk to her" Well since I was now very late for dinner, I just took her with me and we headed back to the cabin, where we ate ham and cheese sandwiches. So if your kids are preschoolers, be sure you talk to them about the dangers of abusing the rubber shark on Triumph. ;)

Passion Island - Cozumel, Mexico

If you are looking for your own little piece of paradise that also has great amenities for the kids, then book the cruise excursion called "Passion Island".

This private beach adventure is for cruise ship passengers only. I was told that the island holds 600 people but there were less than 150 on the day we were there.

Check with your cruise line for details. Through Royal Caribbean, the guests take a catamaran from the port (if weather allows it). So there is no age minimum for this excursion. However, Carnival guests are taken to the island on the thrilling Twister power boat. The Twister does have an age minimum. So check your cruise line for possible restrictions.

At the Cozumel port, we met up with our guide "Mr. Leo" who informs us that the seas are too choppy to take the Catamaran to Passion Island (as originally planned) - we would take a bus, then a short boat ride over to the island.

Passion Island is PURE paradise. It is deserted. It is for cruise ship guests only. It is OPEN DOMESTIC BAR and buffet included. The buffet has BBQ chicken, blackened mahi mahi, the best guacamole ever, tortilla chips, salad, rolls, fresh fruit and rice. For the kids, I couldn't have picked a better place. They had a water trampoline, but since the water was too rough, they brought out a couple of men to install a regular trampoline on the sand (no charge).



They have mini ATVs for the kids - FREE. The operator just "works for tips". They also have a playground and mini maze for the kids.

For the adults - they have some shopping there. Domestic bar. Covered restaurant. Hammocks everywhere. They had tables under the palm trees so you can eat on the beach. They have chairs in full sun. Chairs in shade. The merchants stayed in the shopping area so no one was walking around selling anything (except one guy with a box of Cuban cigars). We also saw some sea kayaks on the beach.

Restrooms and changing facilities are available. They were very clean (always important when you bring the kids)

So if you want to see what paradise truly feels like, book an excursion to Passion Island.

Belize - ATV Jungle Adventure - Adults and Kids (ages 12 and up)

BELIZE ATV JUNGLE ADVENTURE

Reserved online through http://www.cave-tubing.com/

Length of tour - One hour bus ride each way. One hour on the ATV's. Plan to be gone from the port for approx 4-5 hours.

For $55 per person, (cash/tip extra), we rode in an air conditioned bus from the port at Belize City to the jungle trails.

We arrived at their "hut". We were advised to wear old clothes because we WOULD get muddy. They sold t-shirts for $10 each if anyone wanted to cover up their clothes. They also gave us plastic bags to tie over our shoes.

The guides took our cameras and went ahead on each trail to video and to take still pictures of every leg of the trail. NO EXTRA CHARGE. By the time I left, I had a video of our experience on my own camera. And I had pictures, including Before/After mud shots.

This was the MOST fun we had ever had on an excusion. They also run Cave Tubing trips. But recently started to do the ATV jungle tours. The age minimum is 12 to drive your own ATV. If you don't know how to drive one or you are unsure about your own skills, the guides will drive for you. One person in our group elected to do that.

The ride was 5 miles through the Belize rain forest and it lasted one hour on the ATVs.

They sold soda for $1/bottle and Belize Beer for $3. They also had Tamales for $2, ice cream, doritos and cheetos.

There was SOOOO MUCH MUD! We started off clean and ended up VERY MUDDY - but smiling from ear to ear. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat. If I go back when it's warmer, I want to try the cave tubing excursion that they have. The minimum age for their cave tubing is 5 years old.