We chose this cruise because wanted to take our 7 month-old baby on a cruise, and my wife expressed interest in visiting the Bahamas, one of the few places she hadn't traveled with her parents. We were interested in having babysitting services available, which limited our choices of cruise line. We had never cruised with NCL, but they came in cheaper than RCL and Disney and offered a Family Mini Suite on a week that was convenient for us.

We were nervous about traveling alone with our child. Most cruise reviews I had read regarding traveling with infants involved other family members helping out with the baby's care. We instantly had that fear alleviated when we met the ladies who work in the Guppies Nursery. They fell instantly in love with our daughter and they were always so kind to us. Although, as far as using their services... it didn't work the way we'd hoped. The first attempt, our baby fell immediately to crying and they called us away from our After Midnight show right after we sat down. The nursery didn't even charge us for this attempt, it went so poorly! The second time we got about 40 minutes of an hour and 50 minute time slot! Some progress, but it was late in the cruise and we didn't try again. We did, however, show up for several of the activities in the playroom and got a chance to interact with other couples traveling with small children.

Although this was not my favorite cruise of all time (more on this later), I would definitely cruise NCL with a child who was Splash Academy age. We overheard many kids who were so excited over the theme nights, or who talked animatedly about their adventures the day before. Read more