Hair Braiding Question

[Mharring33]

My DD is interested in getting her hair braided when we do the Western in April. I have a couple question, hopefully someone can answer them for me.

1. Average cost(her hair is below her shoulders)
2. How long does it take to get it done?
3. Is it better to do it on the ship on at a port(i'm assuming the prices will vary)
4. How long do they last?
5. How do we wash her hair?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[captaincrash]

Only thing I can say is be careful to settle on the exact cost before work is started... we had friends on our last DCL sailing who let a woman start braiding BEFORE they settled on a price and it was something like $3 per braid and the total was near $100! I suspect that may be high but I really don't know. Hope this helps a little.

 

[poconoboatniks]

1. Average cost(her hair is below her shoulders)

My dd's hair is half down her back and it cost somewhere around $60 -$70 on CC without a tip. She had corn rows on top and braids in the back of her head.

2. How long does it take to get it done?

For a full head, a little over an hour.

3. Is it better to do it on the ship on at a port(i'm assuming the prices will vary)

I would not do it anywhere other than the ship or CC. I have read other posts about having to be careful because of lice and price differences.

4. How long do they last?

If you wrap her head every night and she doesn't play with them, they should last 3 - 4 weeks.

5. How do we wash her hair?

You can wash her hair carefully, but you can't use conditioner. Or is it the other way around. I can't remember. DD got itchy and she had some dandruff so we ended up taking them out. Be prepared to spend more time taking them out than than the time it took to put them in. I use a lot of conditioner to take them out. There will be a lot of hair that falls out when you take the braids out. A friend told me not to be alarmed at the amount of hair dd lost, but I didn't believe her until a took dd's braids. Remember to buy some sort of sunscreen for her scalp or bring a hat or scarf. I buy the Banana Boat spray for hair. It use to come in a blue bottle. I haven't bought any yet for our upcoming trip.

Which western are you on in April? We're on the April 8 Western.

Pocono

 

[Michelle2]

Our DD had it done on the ship on the last at sea day. She had the crown or headband braids done. Where they just braid it back to a certain point, and then the rest is left loose. KWIM??
The cost for this was $25 not including the tip.
The lady said it would take 20 minutes, and that is about what it took. I am sure that if her hair was completely braided it would have taken longer.

And I totally agree about getting it done on the ship rather than in the ports for the exact same reasons that the above poster said. I heard horror stories about lice and about the price differences. On the ship, you do not have to deal with that. It was a great experience for us!

We took them out after about a week and a half, only because DD was back in school and did not want to be seen in the same braids for too long. It was just enough time to let everyone see them, but not too long where it started getting too frizzy.

I cannot remember how we washed her hair...With all the sunscreen, and sand and water from the beaches, we definitely had to though! We just used shampoo and was really careful around the braids.
All in all, we were not really planning to get braids done, but every girl seemed to have it done by the end of the cruise. It ended up being a highlight to our DD cruise. One word of warning though. If you save it to be done near the end of the cruise (we did so it would stay nice after the cruise too), be prepared to be harrassed in the ports of call. Every woman in port approached us and asked us if we wanted our hair braided. The table next to us, said that many were very forceful, so that may be a good enough reason to have it done at the beginning of the cruise instead of at the end. Just something to think about.....For us, we will probably still get it done at the end....

 

[moet7]

anyone have pictures of their daughters with with braids?
Thanks!

 

[goscudder]

Do you have to make an appointment to have your DD's hair braided? When and where do you make it?

 

[yazee1]

I think we have a picture of dd in her braids. If you want to, try the link in my sig line.

 

[JC Butterfly]

No one here has mentioned the pain factor.

THEY hurt!!!

Generally the hair on the top of head and sides of head are done in what are called "corn rows" and these are $2-$3 each. Then the rest of the hair is done in braids usually $1.50-$2.50 each.

The cornrows must be pulled very tight in order to last and your scalp is sensitive. The women who do the hair tend to work very fast and I've seen many children (and grown women) reduced to tears in the process.

It is also a very tight feeling on your head when sleeping, so be prepared for that to be more uncomfortable. For those reasons alone, I wouldn't expect your daughter to put up with it more than a week or so.

Also, you have talked about hair length but not about it's thickness. Fine hair seems to have a hard time holding the cornrows or braids in properly. And thick hair will require more work overall.

If you have this done on CC or on the ship, the prices are set. You can negotiate how many or how large you want each braid but that's all.

If you take the time to do it at one of your ports of call, you are working with an individual (cash only) and they are free to negotiate whatever terms they like. You might be able to get them to agree to 25 braids for $25, it does happen. But that's if you don't mind haggling a bit and/or moving on to the next woman (and believe me, there will be MANY to choose from).

If you wanted to bring your own set of combs, then you wouldn't have to concern yourself with the lice situation.

 

[lmok]

My DD's had hair braided in Nassau. I wish we would have waited until CC or had it done on the ship. They were very rough in Naussau. The lady running the place was not nice at all. The girls on the other hand that did the braiding were very nice. They are not regulated for any health issues so no tellings what they could really do. This time we are doing it on the ship on a Day At Sea.

 

[yazee1]

DD and I had our hair braided on board. It was a very pleasant experience. DD had just turned four at the time. Her appointment was right before mine so I could be there for hers, but dh could get her while I had mine done. Someone suggested I give dd a bowl of ice cream from Scoops to eat while she had her braiding done. Obviously, an 11 year old wouldn't need this but it worked great for a 4 year old. The braiders were nice and must have been careful because there were no complaints or tears. There were girls waiting for their appointments flipping through the photo albums or just watching. The atmosphere was cheerful.

DD really wanted braids but I had misgivings since she considered hair combing at home torture. To prepare her, I explained that the lady would tug and pull a lot to make sure she had no tangles and her braids were tight. I also was concerned about dd's somewhat fine hair holding braids, but they stayed in longer than we needed them to, and when it was time to take them out, we doused her head with conditioner (DISboard suggestion) to prepare for the unravelling. (I wish I'd known that little trick the first time I had mine done.)

Definitely more expensive on board but worth it for my peace of mind.

 

[LisaSp]

We just got off the Eastern Magic. My DD (almost 7) had a half-head done on the ship on Thursday. You can (and should) specify the # of braids that you want--they charge $2/braid. We did eight braids because my DD is sensitive to pain (brushing/combing her hair is a nightmare) and I knew she would not be able to tolerate too many. The woman who did it was nice, but DD was still crying throughout the process (but she DID want it done, so she was determined to sit through it).

We washed and conditioned it, just careful around the braids.

I agree with the others about doing it on the ship--I would suggest that the first time you see them doing it on deck 9, make an appointment for the day and time that is convenient for you. On Castaway Cay, they don't take appts and I didn't want to waste time waiting there to have it done, hence we did it the morning of the last sea day.

 

[yazee1]

Slightly OT. What we girls (even little ones) won't do in the name of fashion and beauty. I know my daughter was not too comfy getting those braids and later sleeping on them, but they were so "beautiful" to her. She never complained. "Beauty" is a pain sometimes. Think about a bikini wax. Makes me want to cry.

 

[jblb1020]

We where on The magic Feb 4-11 and my daughter was 2 years 11 months. She got her hair braided at CC. She had about 15 braids done just to the back of her head, and it took about a half hour. It was the last day of our cruise and I am really happy we waited. She did not complain about having the braids or that they hurt. The cost was about $2.00 per braid. She kept them in for about a week after we got home and they still looked good when we took them out. I washed her hair with a kids shampoo and conditioner which worked fine. One of my daughter's friends had her hair braided on one of the islands and they where already coming out two days later and had them redone at CC.

 

[LisaSp]

This was taken at that final farewell thingy--she was already in PJs but we got some cute pix! Anyway, she had 8 braids in that half-head style.

 

[msaseifert]

My DD is interested in getting her hair braided when we do the Western in April. I have a couple question, hopefully someone can answer them for me.

1. Average cost(her hair is below her shoulders)
2. How long does it take to get it done?
3. Is it better to do it on the ship on at a port(i'm assuming the prices will vary)
4. How long do they last?
5. How do we wash her hair?

Any help is appreciated.

We were on the Feb 4 Magic Eastern Sailing. We had my DD6 hair done right by the arcade on the ship Sunday, we had a "headband" put in and it was a total of 8 braids - $16 total plus tip - I think that is very reasonable! It took maybe 20 minutes. The best part is that they are still in her hair - over a month later. She loves it and I do too, it keeps her hair out of her eyes. You can wash with regular shampoo but don't use conditioner on it! Have fun

 

[yazee1]

This was taken at that final farewell thingy--she was already in PJs but we got some cute pix! Anyway, she had 8 braids in that half-head style.

That is an excellent photo. She looks adorable.