Lots of braiding questions

[bjkj]

Okay, I have a bunch of braiding questions. Thanks for any help.

1. Has anyone had their daughter's hair braided at Kids Sparkle salon at the Holiday Inn Family Suites (soon to be the Nick)? If so, how was the experience? How long did they last?

2. Has anyone had them done at Nassau? How was the experience? Were you comfortable with the person that did them? How did you choose?

3. What would be a reasonable amount to pay for a full head about shoulder blade level?

4. How much time should we allow?

 

[BowlingAriel]

Just back form 1/27 Wonder. My niece got her's done in Nassau - 8 braids and they were charged $75. WOW

My daughter did hers on CC and had the whole front up to her crown done and it was $52.

I take my own combs! Most people use the same one over and over.

If I remember the CC sign it was $1 per braid , add 50cents for cornrows and another 50 cents for long hair.

Hope that helps a little

 

[1princessesmom]

My 4 yo dd had hers done last week on the Magic. She has hair slighlty below her shoulders. THey did cornrows from her forehead to the middle of her head. It was 8 braids total (with colored beads) and they charge $2 per row...total of $16 + $2 dollar tip. I thought it was safer to do it on the ship than on one of the islands. THey disinfected the combs after each person on the ship and I did not see that at any of the ports. We had it done 6 days ago and I am ready to take them out, but my DD isn't so happy with that idea. I've washed her hair 4 times since she has had the braids and they still look fine.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

DDd got hers done in St. Maarten at Mullet Bay Beach a few years ago, 25 for the entire head!!! Had to bargain and it took a long time! hard to see in picture!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

How is the hair when you take it out? My daughter has gorgeous waist length blonde hair with barely a split end to be seen. Other than the fact it would prob cost a fortune, I would be freaked it would ruin her hair! Thoughts?

 

[wdwoldtimer]

My DD had it done on Nassau. The woman was very nice and it was an interesting experience listening to her chat with the other braiders while she worked. She was FAST and did an excellent job. The price was higher than on the ship..I think around $75 for an entire head of shoulder blade length hair...it took between 60 - 90 minutes if I remember correctly. The other girls in our party had it done on the ship and it was a little cheaper with the same workmanship.

LollyMom...when you take it out (a week or two later) the hair needs to be throughly washed, conditioned and brushed out. It will look very wavy for a day or two but that's really it. The ends get sort of folded in the process and looks worse than it actually is after you undo the braids. For waist length...yeah, you'll pay a lot for that.

 

[tkd lisa]

I voted the ship.

1. I had my DD's done at a salon at home before she left for camp, because I thought it would be easy for her to take care of (i.e. nothing for her to do!).
She said that it REALLY hurt there, and all the braids had come undone within 2 days (before she even left for camp). Unless your home salon does a lot of braids with your child's type of hair, I wouldn't go this route.

2. Never heard of the sparkle salon, so no opinion, other than the one above.

3. Nassau. A lot of people are concerned about cleanliness there. Even if you take your own comb, this person has handled many other heads before yours, and may not have done the hygene things they should have. Price varies widely there too. Even when they quote you a price, it's my understanding that they may put 20 braids in where another location may have done it in 10, so your overall price is not that much cheaper.

4. CC. I wouldn't take time away from the activities there. Hair braiding takes quite a while (probably at least an hour, even for just the crown headband style), and you'd have to get there and back, cutting out between 1 1/2 and 3 hours of your 8 hours max on the island.

5. Ship. These people have done LOTS and LOTS of hair probably just like your childs. They know how tight to make it so it stays in, but doesn't hurt too badly. DCL makes sure their standards are met for cleanliness. And if something does happen (like the braids fall out), you can deal with it at guest services. I have heard of one person this happened to, and the money was refunded. When I had my DD's done on the ship, it was the same price as now ($2 per cornrow), and the crown/headband style cost me $35 including tip. I don't think that's an unreasonable price. I think I paid $25 for the braiding at home that fell out in two days, and that was at a beauty school (the only place that would do it here).

 

[lisamacd]

My DD(12) was just saying that she would like to have her hair braided while we are on vacation. She usually just gets a hair wrap, and with the length of her hair that usually costs me close to $50 with tip. I think this time she only wants the top half of her head braided. Anyway, my question is this: do you make an appointment to have your hair braided on the boat or is it a walk up service? Where on the Magic do they do the braids?

Thanks!

 

[1princessesmom]

All hair braiding on the ship requires an appointment. We went on Tuesday and got an appointment for Wednesday. IT is on deck 9 by the goofy family pool. It took about 15 -20 minutes for my DD to get 8 braids.

 

[fortierv]

Our kids have had it done at CC and on the ship. My vote (note this comes from the perspective of a man who shaves his head) is to do it on the ship as close to the end of the cruise as possible. My reasons.

1. It's tough to keep sunscreen applied to their scalp after the braids are done. And believe me a burnt then pealing scalp with corn rows is a mess. Depending where you live this won't be as much of a concern at home.

2. If you have it done near the end of the cruise it gives them something to take home for their friends to see. I've heard others say they last longer but on my kids they were coming apart at 7-10 days tops.

 

[banderson]

How is the hair when you take it out? My daughter has gorgeous waist length blonde hair with barely a split end to be seen. Other than the fact it would prob cost a fortune, I would be freaked it would ruin her hair! Thoughts?

I think it depends a lot on your hair. I had it done about 9 years ago and it took me about a year to get my broken hair back to the length of the hair that didn't break. So, for me, it wasn't so much the split ends that I got from the braids, it was the hair that broke from all the stress. It took me a long time to do a decent ponytail because I had so much hair broken at ear level. That being said, I have fine hair so it breaks easy. I would think that someone with darker or coarser hair would have less damage.

I have boys so it's not an issue in our home, but if I did have a daughter with beautiful hair, I wouldn't do the braids.

Here's an alternative that my friends do on their daughters: they have a few braids done on one side. It's still cute and possible damage to the hair (and to your pocketbook) is limited.

 

[mamalle]

thanks for the advice. I too have a 4 year old that wants her hair braided. I dont think $16 is bad at all for 4 braids-beads. I paid $18 for two braids for dd in the keys and her hair is to her chin.

 

[MassDisLovers]

My 2 dd (now 15 and 12) have had their hair braided on cruises and vacations many, many times since they were very little. When they have had enough of the braids, or they are just too ragged to keep in any longer, we have a fail-proof trick for taking them out. Saturate their hair with conditioner, any brand will do, it can be a cheap brand like Suave, no need for the expensive kind, because you are going to use a real lot. When the conditioner has sat on their head for about 5 minutes, begin removing the elastics and beads. They will actually slide off because the conditioner is so slick. Once the elastics are all out, you can either comb the braids/cornrows out with a wide tooth comb, or separate them with your fingers. It is SO easy this way. Once they are all out, you can sort of massage the conditioner around the hair and then wash as usual. No crying as the braids come out!

 

[lisamacd]

Saturate their hair with conditioner, any brand will do, it can be a cheap brand like Suave, no need for the expensive kind, because you are going to use a real lot. When the conditioner has sat on their head for about 5 minutes, begin removing the elastics and beads.

Excellent advise. I definitely intend to follow it. I was hesitant to let my daughter get the braids because I was afraid of taking them out. Thanks!

 

[ThreeSmiths]

We had it done on the ship. Cost about $60.00 for the whole head, with cornrows on top. Some of the rubberbands on the ends broke within a day, so after about 4 days we just pulled them out.

Also, I used spray sunblock on DD's head, but oddly enough it took the glossy finish off of the beads! The big negative was that DD said it hurt really bad, and lasted about an hour. She was litterally holding back tears.

Definitely do it on the ship if for no other reason than hygiene!

 

[my3princesses]

My 3 daughters had their's done in Mexico last year at our resort and it cost (ready for this - $175). Two of them have very long hair 3/4 down their back and the oldest is 5'7". They had their heads completely done without cornrows. This also took all afternoon to do (luckly we were not doing too much that day). We had it done the first day so for all of the time spent in the ocean and pools it was well worth it.

My oldest always gets it done for camp too. We always take it out shortly after our trips because of all of the times in the water is can get quite disgusting after awhile. Plus for the time it takes to get them done, it takes me twice as long to remove them!

For our cruise later this month I think we are going to pass as we will not be spending as much time in water as if we were snorkeling 2xday for a week. However I would like them to get a couple wraps each (just to make it special). Does anyone know if the salon on board does hair wraps or if they do them at CC??

 

[ThreeSmiths]

We were on the 9/11/04 Magic and they did offer hair wraps as well as braids, but I don't remember the price.

 

[tpmorley]

Can they braid them like a tire tread?

(cultural reference:like a football player for the Super Bowl)

 

[disneyjunkie]

Can they braid them like a tire tread?

(cultural reference:like a football player for the Super Bowl)

Care to explain what this means?

 

[tpmorley]

One of the players for the Super Bowl got his hair braided like a tire tread to advertise for a tire company.