Any recent Hair Braiding experiences / pictures withi some questions...

[disneyfool_1202]

Our Dream cruise is in May and I'm thinking about getting DD's hair braided - she used to have very long curly hair that I could just put up, or let it just dry natural. Not any more- I only do her hair 2-3x/week at home because it entails using a flat iron (yes we went from gorgeous Shirley Temple curls to Rosanna Danna Danna...). It's not managable without some sort of ironing- and she's only 5 which is why I do it so infrequently. Her hair is washed with conditioner ONLY (we use the WEN conditioner).

Anyway, I"m thinking that braids are our best option for a stress free cruise. So here are my questions:

Do they have appointments available the first afternoon / night of the cruise or do we have to wait until the first full day?

Our first full day we are on CC. Do they do the braiding on CC, and if so, where?

Does anyone know if they have braiding on the Dream? (I assume they do, but just want to be sure).

Approximately how long to do the cornrows- she's 5 and I"m thinking of doing the angle of her entire crown with the beads across the top like a headband.

Does it get charged to your KTTW card or do you pay cash? How do you pay the tip??

If anyone has some recent pics I'd love to see them. I did do a search on the forum and found the latest 'big' thread on this was from 2009, so I appologize if this has been recently been discussed and I couldn't find it!!

 

[momof2minnies]

You do have to make an appt., the whole ship does not take cash, it is all on the KTTW card.Whatever you do make sure you get it done on the ship NOT in Nassau. CC did have a station but not sure about appts there.

Linda

 

[AC7179]

We got my daughter's done at Walmart the day before the cruise for 10-12 dollars. We did the corn rows just across the top of her head like a headband, but did not have beads, so if that is important walmart probably is the place. We only had one snafu----and that was my 4 year old daughter answering someone who asked where, on the ship, she had gotten it done. She answered, "my mama just took me to wammart!"

 

[itutorfortravel]

I can answer a couple of your questions...

Yes, the do hair braiding on CC and that is where we always get ours done. My DD just gets a couple long braids (she has long hair) and in December it was $1.50 per braid. The woman said we could pay cash or use our KTTW card. I cannot remember how far down the braiding is, but it is past the She Sells Sea Shells store and near that little shop that sells the Bahamian items.

We also saw them doing braids on the ship many days of our cruise. Can't say if it was every day, but certainly multiple days.

I don't know how long corn rows take as we've never gotten those, but it took about 5 minutes for the woman to do 3 long braids on my DD, which was enough to keep the hair out of her eyes and look cute. We like to get it done near the end of the cruise so that DD can wear it back home for a few days to show her friends.

HTH!

 

[jenseib]

excellent. This is exactly what I was looking for. I am thinking of getting DD's done on CC as well. (and maybe mine) I think the headband look is so cute. Anyone know the exact location and if appointments are needed? Also, I assume you tip the braiding lady, correct? I'm thinking if we do this, we can skip BBB.

itutorfortravel, can you post some picutres?

 

[tchrrx]

How long do you leave the braids in for? Can you wash the rest of your hair? Doesn't it damage your hair to have this done? I would consider it for DD, but not if it will damage the hair.

 

[andersonfamily]

Our daughters still have the baby fine hair (even though they are 4 and 6). Can they braid hair like that? I'm a little scared it would fall out.

 

[Shelebeen]

My daughter has had it done three times, once on CC where she had the whole head done (took A LONG time) and hurt alot while it was being done. She had them in for about 4 weeks? Just washed and dried no worries. When you take them out, lots of hair does come out - it didn't seem to be an issue.

The second time we had it done was in cozumel at a shop... we just wanted the front done, she did a ton of braids and it cost over $40... and they were not very tight and did not stay in a very long time (lesson learned here).

The third time we did just the front section on the ship, again it hurt a lot while she was doing it.... they stayed in about 3 weeks or so before we took them out.

 

[HallsofVA]

No experience with the braiding, either on ship or on CC, but I did feel sorry with the hair braiders on CC when we stopped there at the end of the WBTA cruise. We walked by after visiting Spring a Leak, and they were there all alone with no customers. They were commenting on no one wanting any braiding, and I mentioned that we'd been on the ship for the past 2 weeks, (inc. 8 sea days) and probably everyone who wanted any braiding done had it done on the ship already!

I swear I think they packed up their station and headed home after that!

 

[disneyfool_1202]

excellent. This is exactly what I was looking for. I am thinking of getting DD's done on CC as well. (and maybe mine) I think the headband look is so cute. Anyone know the exact location and if appointments are needed?

Me too! I figured it was WAY easier to deal with DD's hair if it was braided AND mine!! I may look like a moron but I really don't care- this vacation is about relaxation- and fighting with a brush and blow dryer is just not what I want to do multiple times per day (morning, after pool / spa, before dinner to defrizz from humidity, etc...)

I would LOVE to see recent pictures if anyone has any!!

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Found a thread with some pictures:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2058222

 

[mommy_grrl]

How long do you leave the braids in for? Can you wash the rest of your hair? Doesn't it damage your hair to have this done? I would consider it for DD, but not if it will damage the hair.

THe braids should last for a few weeks. I MADE my daughter let me take them out after 8 weeks (!!!!!) but only because they looked ridiculous, since her hair had probably grown a 1/4" with the braids.

You can wash your entire head, including the braids - you just don't want to rub the braids - you pat the shampoo on their braids, and then gently rinse. If you really want the braids to last, they can wear a bandanna over the braids at bedtime, but I've never bothered with that.

You will get some breakage, but my daughter also gets some breakage from pony tail ties also. When you take them out, you will likely see a bit of hair fall out, but that is part of normal hair loss (look at your hairbrushes - it does come out on a regular basis) but due to the braids, it has no where to go.

I really think the degree that it hurts depends on the stylist. My daughter complained that it hurt this last time, but still fell asleep in the chair....

 

[drparoo]

My daughter has long wavy hair and she's had it braided twice on the boat, both times just on the scalp. She's "tender-headed" and she said that it hurt both times (ages 7 and 9). It was GREAT for me because it was always out of her eyes and easy to shampoo (just rinsed the head and shampooed the ends) but this past summer (age 11) she said "NO WAY." Both times she kept them in about 3 weeks. I cut the rubber bands, put a LOAD of conditioner on her head, and they just kind of came undone with a little gentle raking with my fingers. Yeah, it'll seem like a ton of hair is coming out, but it's only because weeks worth of normal daily hair loss is sitting there with nowhere to go.

 

[allonte]

THe braids should last for a few weeks. I MADE my daughter let me take them out after 8 weeks (!!!!!) but only because they looked ridiculous, since her hair had probably grown a 1/4" with the braids.

You can wash your entire head, including the braids - you just don't want to rub the braids - you pat the shampoo on their braids, and then gently rinse. If you really want the braids to last, they can wear a bandanna over the braids at bedtime, but I've never bothered with that.

You will get some breakage, but my daughter also gets some breakage from pony tail ties also. When you take them out, you will likely see a bit of hair fall out, but that is part of normal hair loss (look at your hairbrushes - it does come out on a regular basis) but due to the braids, it has no where to go.

I really think the degree that it hurts depends on the stylist. My daughter complained that it hurt this last time, but still fell asleep in the chair....

That is VERY true, lol. So don't freak out if it happens. The tightness depends on the braider and the type of hair. They'll have to grip slick, thin hair harder than thicker, curly hair.

If you are doing a lot of swimming and playing in the sand, I really don't suggest keeping the braids in for longer than 2 weeks. Sand, salt water, and chlorine are hard on the hair and scalp and its hard to properly shampoo with the braids in.

 

[itutorfortravel]

I allowed my DD to leave her braids in for about 10 days - 2 weeks. That was enough time to enjoy them and I felt like minimal damage would be done to her hair in that time. We did have to snip a very small amount of hair off at the ends where the rubber bands were, but nothing major. She got 3 long braids on one side in December and we left them in long enough for her to go back to school and show her friends for a few days. My DD has very fine hair and the braiding worked great for her.

 

[scootch]

Ours stayed in forever without any real head damage. It was so convenient just having to do a quick wash and go, my kids are planning on doing it as soon as we get on the ship. My oldest did it on the ship, my youngest did hers last time at Castaway Cay. It is a bit painful to get it done, but both girls loved it. Be sure to bring spray sunscreen as you need to protect their little heads from sunburn. Here is a pic(taken at Discovery Cove after getting off the cruise)

 

[sheryl921]

Does anyone know how much they charge for cornrows? Is it the same on the ship as CC?

 

[disneyfool_1202]

I think I remember hearing 1.50 - 2.00 per braid depending on how long you wanted them (crown vs. full head - corn row vs. plain braids).

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Can you get this done right after you get on board, or do you have to wait until later in the cruise? And where on the Dream do they do it? Do you need to make an appointment, or do you just show up?

 

[TamieH]

Another related question....Is hair wrapping available on the ship or on CC? On our first two cruises, both girls got one long strand of hair wrapped using a bunch of different colored threads and then beads on the bottom. Very cute. This wasn't available on the Magic last October, so the youngest just went with some crown braids. When we got to CC on the last day, we saw that they had the wrapping stations there (too late for that trip).

As a note for others that may be interested, I will likely have my daughter wait until later in the trip before she gets her braid/wrap done. I regretted it last time when I failed to remember that the night she got it done was one of the nights we were getting nice family pictures taken on the white background. It was fine, but not ideal for a formal portrait. I wouldn't have cared if it was one of the more casual picture sessions we did other nights, but I just didn't think that one through....

Thanks!