The week before we left on the cruise, Sydney developed bilateral ear infection. Luckily we caught it early and she was started on antibiotics. She started to get better quickly. We had to give her the antibiotics though half the cruise but that was fine. It's better than happening while we are away.
The Saturday before we left Austin got sick. He had a cough and cold symptoms. It made me really nervous. What if he developed wheezing and shortness of breathe while we were gone? Because they are treating him for potential asthma I have all the medication he would need except for oxygen. Brian and I talked and decided to still go on the cruise and hope for the best. Luckily he started to get better as the week went by except he did develop an ear infection Thursday night while on the ship. He woke up from nap and told us his ear hurt. We looked and it was showing signs of preliminary draining. So we started the ear drops right away. Later that day the draining got worse and confirmed our diagnosis. He was better by morning, so it wasn't a big deal (thanks again to his ear tubes!).
We left Sunday morning around 2:45 am and drove to New York City. The drive went extremely well. Austin stayed awake for a while but finally did fall back to sleep for a little bit. Sydney slept most of the trip. We got into NYC around 11:30 am. We had to stop twice during the drive but we thought that was excellent. We packed up the car and went to check into "the big boat" as Austin called it. The ship was the Norwegian Jewel. Check in went smoothly as well and there was no wait to get on the ship. Once we were on board we went directly to our room. It was fabulous.
We booked a mini suite this time since we had the kids. It was definitely bigger and for the price it was worth it. Austin got to sleep on the pull out sofa bed. The room steward made his bed so there were pillows and blankets around it. This prevented him from falling out. It took Austin a little bit of getting use to it but then he liked it. Brian would lay in bed with him at first until he got comfortable. Then Austin would say "Daddy Out". It's great how much Austin can talk.
It was cold in New York so we did not take both kids out on deck when leaving port. We stayed in our room and watched from our balcony. Brian took some pictures of all of us with the New York sky line passed us by in the background. I think they turned out well. Austin liked it too because Brian let him push the camera button (the remote control).
NCL does a great job with featured children's programs. All cruise ships have something, but they also have something for babies too. They now have the splash program and kids under 3 are together with their parents (Splash Academy Guppies). That worked out great because Austin and Sydney were in the same program. They had two classes a day on sea days and one class a day on port days. We went to all of them except one. The teachers really loved Sydney. They liked Austin a lot too. The classes involved painting, coloring, music, dancing, and reading. We all had fun.
In Port Canaveral, Florida we took a shuttle bus to Coco Beach. We used our new compact double umbrella stroller and walked around. I loved my single umbrella stroller. We got the double one for this trip. I don't love it like my single one, but it works okay for an umbrella stroller. A shade cover for it cost just as much as the stroller so we decided not to get it. Brian made his own shade cover with an umbrella that worked just as well. The kids were so tired they took a nap in the stroller. Brian and I stopped for some ice cream while the kids napped. Then they woke up. We saved a few bites of ice cream for Austin so he was happy. We walked around some stores and then took the shuttle bus back to the port. During the ride the bus driver told us that NASA was launching a rocket this evening. Since our ship was so close the the NASA space station we would get to see it very well. Brian was so excited. He always wanted to see one. The timing was perfect and we got to see the rocket lift off into space.
The next day we were at NCL's private island - Great Stirrup Cay. We tried to reserve a shade cover but they were sold out. I was not very happy. We had to have a shade cover with the kids. So I went down to the desk and talked to the women. She said if we took the first tender and ran over to the place we could probably get one because there were 20 they don't sell ahead of time. So that was our new plan.
First thing in the morning, Sydney and I stood in line for tender tickets. We got tender ticket #2 (the second tender boat). We were hoping for boat #1 but that was what we got. We were all ready when they started calling the tenders. As soon as they called 2, we went down. We actually ended up on the first tender boat. Because we have been there before and know how the tenders work, I knew where we wanted to sit and that is where we did. As soon as we got off the tender boat, Brian had Austin on his shoulders and he started running to find these shade covers. I was behind with Sydney but still near them. The women from the desk saw me and told me right where to go. Needless to say, we were the first ones there (even beating the people that sell them - would you expect anything less from us as seasoned travelers?). I was so happy we got one.
We played at the beach all day. Sydney slept a lot so one of us was with her in the shade tent while the other was swimming with Austin. Austin did not like the water at first but he quickly liked it a lot. He also played in the sand in our shade tent. When Sydney was awake we took her out to swim too. It was a good day at the beach. Austin and Sydney fell asleep on the tender boat back to the ship. It was pretty cute.
In Nassau, we walked around the city. We have been there so many times (it was even Austin's 3rd time there!). We walked around the straw market and got shirts for the kids. Brian got some Coke to drink back on the ship and that was about it. We took our family picture there too. We got back on the ship early and went up to the pool. That worked out great because everyone else was on shore. Austin and Sydney got to play in the pool by themselves. We had fun. Austin really liked the pool. He went down the water slide at least 50 times. Sydney liked the water too.
On the sea days we had fun with baby classes. There was always stuff to do. We also got our family picture taken a lot. We bought 5 of the pictures that turned out the best. It is so nice to have the family pictures now. I think the last family picture we have is when Sydney was just born. She has changed a lot since then!
One interesting theme of the cruise was people commenting that Sydney looked like a doll. We heard that from about 8 different people over the week. They generally commented that she looked so cute, that she didn't look real. When we were walking around in the stroller with her, someone told us they had to watch her to see if she would blink to figure out if she was real or not. Sydney is just too cute!
Debarkation of the ship went extremely well too. We were in our car at 8:15 am! We walked off the ship with our luggage which we knew we wanted to do. Brian had the two big suitcases and I had the stroller with bags on the stroller. The kids did great. The drive home went well too. We were home at 4:30 pm. We had to stop an extra time because Sydney would not eat when we wanted her too. Now if something is going on she won't eat because she gets preoccupied watching everything around her. She wants to see what is going on.
We had an excellent family vacation. It was nice to spend quality time together with no internet or anything. The kids would wear us out at times. We were always happy when they went to sleep at night. Brian and I would have a snack on our balcony if the weather was nice. We cherished the time with them because they are growing so quickly. We did this same cruise last year and Austin has changed so much. It's crazy to think what they will be doing a year from now!
Click below to watch a video summary of our vacation:
On the sea days we had fun with baby classes. There was always stuff to do. We also got our family picture taken a lot. We bought 5 of the pictures that turned out the best. It is so nice to have the family pictures now. I think the last family picture we have is when Sydney was just born. She has changed a lot since then! 
One interesting theme of the cruise was people commenting that Sydney looked like a doll. We heard that from about 8 different people over the week. They generally commented that she looked so cute, that she didn't look real. When we were walking around in the stroller with her, someone told us they had to watch her to see if she would blink to figure out if she was real or not. Sydney is just too cute!
