My teen and I just returned from a wonderful mother-daughter cruise to the Bahamas out of Miami on Norwegian Cruise Lines.
We spent one afternoon and night in downtown Miami at the CitizenM World Center, and then boarded the NCL Getaway for four days and nights with stops at Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.
Note: if you’re interested in the travel details, skip down to “Trip Highlights” below.
We had an incredible time! The trip was even more special because it was our first vacation since Z’s diagnosis of celiac disease in May 2025.
Traveling with celiac disease is not easy. It took several months of healing and adjusting before she even wanted to try leaving home for a trip – and I don’t blame her. Celiac is no joke.
The most important part of celiac travel is doing a lot of research in advance so you know where to find gluten-free food and snacks in the area. It’s also critical to pack lots of GF snacks for those times when you may not be able to find safe food or snacks.
We were fortunate to find restaurants near our hotel with good gluten-free options – as well as a CVS where Z could stock up on her favorite GF snacks for the room. Our favorite celiac-friendly place in Miami was a little cafe called Stephanie’s Crepes that was a dedicated gluten-free establishment and so good! It was our first time having crepes since her diagnosis and we went a little nuts.
Then, once we got on board the NCL Getaway, there were loads of gluten-free food items available at the buffet, as well as several GF meals available at the fine dining restaurants each day. However, there was one thing I wish we had known ahead of time.
It turns out that on all NCL cruises, you can request a custom GF meal 24 hours in advance for breakfast, lunch or dinner – but you can’t just walk into one of the restaurants and expect them to have what you want. You must make that reservation 24 hours ahead.
Once we learned this tip, we had no further issues and Z was happy with every subsequent meal. But for the first two days, no one had told us this important tidbit so we were riding the struggle bus and Z was starting to panic a little.
For example, the GF meals on the dining room menus often included meat, vegetables and potatoes but rarely included things like GF bread or pasta. To get the latter, you had to make the request 24 hours in advance. And Z is a girl who has a selective palate and REALLY likes to have her familiar “safe” foods at most meals… so you can imagine our relief when we found out that yes, this would be possible on the cruise. Phew!
You might be wondering if I had called NCL in advance to ask about gluten-free options on the cruise, and of course I had. The person I spoke with told me that there would be “plenty of GF options available at all the restaurants” – and that was true. But I still wish I had known about the ability to reserve custom GF meals that exactly meet Z’s preferences! That was terrific info and that’s why I’m sharing it now; I would love to see NCL make this more widely known as it would greatly help many other folks with celiac disease, especially kids and parents.
Trip Details
Celiac considerations aside, this 4-day Bahamas cruise and our day in Miami were the perfect getaway for a mother and teen duo like us. Miami is a glamorous and exciting city with great food, ocean views and amazing culture. We really liked the CitizenM hotel, which is Marriott’s brand for young, hip travelers featuring a rooftop pool, cool lounges and lots of modern and pop-style art.
We were also delighted to find that downtown Miami is home to dozens of free-range chickens and roosters, much as our beloved islands of Kauai and Maui are. This was such a fun surprise and Z had fun making friends with many roosters, hens and baby chicks!
We didn’t have time on this trip to head over to Miami Beach; both Z and I agreed we would have liked one more day in Miami to explore, walk along Ocean Drive and check out the gorgeous beaches. Next time for sure.
As much as we loved Miami, we were thrilled to get onboard on our embarkation day. The Norwegian facility at the port in Miami is gorgeous, and boarding was smooth and fast. This was Z’s third cruise with Norwegian and my fourth. Although we hadn’t been on the NCL Getaway before, there were enough familiar aspects to make it feel like home.
Both Z and I adore cruises! We love being at sea, feeling the ship move gently on the waves and seeing those forever ocean views. We always splurge on a balcony cabin – it is 100% worth it.
This was our first cruise where Z was able to make use of the teen center, Entourage, which was a great way to meet other teens. She made some friends on day one and then spent the entire cruise having fun with them. There were actually some teary goodbyes on the day we disembarked!
We enjoyed both of our port stops in the Bahamas: Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. In Nassau, the weather was quite hot, so we just walked around a bit in town and then went back onto the ship where food and drinks are free. Next time, I would probably opt for a shore excursion to hopefully see more of Nassau.
In Great Stirrup Cay, we did a shore excursion where Z got to swim with both pigs and stingrays. That was a definite trip highlight and got two thumbs up from both of us. The Treasure Island staff were kind and friendly, the pigs were adorable and well cared for, and best of all, we got to hold tiny baby piglets!
I was tempted to book our next cruise while we were still on board, as that is known as the best time to get good deals on future trips, but I opted not to… only to promptly book once we were back at home and missing the ocean. Doh – I’ll remember that for next time!
Have you taken a cruise lately with NCL or another cruise line, and do you have any fabulous tips to share? I’d love to hear them in the comments below or over on Instagram or Facebook.
