Cruising with 17 Month Triplets - Looking for Advice

[Proud2BMomof3]

We are taking our triplets on their first cruise this Christmas. We have 17 month old identical twin boys and a little girl. My mother is coming to help, but since this is our first cruise with kids and on Disney we are not quite sure what to expect. We've cruised about a half dozen times (RCL, Celebrity, NCL)so are very familiar with the process. What's making me nervous is doing it with the babies. We spent a week at WDW when they were 8 months old and they did great. So any advice from packing, planning to excursions is greatly appreciated!

[familyfun5]

We took our 15mo and 3mo this last Oct. We are going again in Jan when they will then be 18mo and 6mo.

DO NOT SKIP NAP TIMES; is my best recommendation. Our kids only have me or grandmas to baby sit; so while the 3mo did great the 15mo had a bit of an adjustment to the nursery. We did a 7 night and wanted lots of diapers. We purchased two packs.One was left separate with our luggage at check in. We did get our package of diapers but it split open at the perforation so bring packing tape if you do it this way.
We had one pack and play, the 15mo slept on the sofa couch and did great. They put a bed rail on the bed and also brought a diaper genie.

We had early dinner and it was tough. He never really seemed to get his naps in so dinner was nap time. We are in CO so the early dinner was at his regular nap time (usually 1-330 our time)This Jan I am thinking of late seating or bringing his naps down earlier a couple of weeks prior to the cruise.

I introduced 15mo to Mickey Mouse and such; we watched lost of playhouse Disney. We have the hotdog dance down. I have heard others say this age were scared of the characters, not ours. He was only mad not understanding why he had to wait while others got to sit with the characters. I need to really work on taking turns, but your 17mo may have a better concept with this being triplets.
We only had a single stroller and took it everywhere. We would fold it and place it in the bathroom. Either the 15mo walked or we held the baby. Usually the 15mo walked. 17mo will probably walk and you may not need the stroller around the ship much.
Try getting a table in the corner at dinner. We had table 15 that was kind of in the corner two out of three rotations. One table next to us was empty. By the last two nights we just staged the adjoining tables chairs and made a coral. While we finished eating he played with his crayons in a cup, and his cars in the coral. Nice thing is with so many kids on the ship and early dining no one seemed to mind him playing ( this was better than the screaming alternative). But this worked well as we were in a corner. As a side, though in a corner we had a window at our table in two of the three restaurants and had great sunset views. The corner also seemed quieter if sensory overload is an issue for the 17mo’s.

Not sure how well you keep the triplets contained. I saw on here where someone had twin 8mo and brought a pack-n-play on the pool deck for them when not in the splash area. By the way, our 15mo loved the splash area and was not too concerned with not swimming. We also did not go by the swimming area so he may not have noticed it. (he has gone swimming quite a bit in his young life)

Not sure which cruise you are taking. We did the Western in Oct. In Key West we left the kids in the nursery for 4hours and went on the jet boat and parasailing (parasailing not through DCL). Being in the US we were okay with this. In Cozumel and Grand Cayman we did beach type family excursions and took babies with. Again, needed to accommodate the nap for at least 1hr then all was good. In Castaway we left the baby on the ship and 15mo made it till 1:30 with the water and grab races. All was good.
As a side note, our son has been on a cruise at 4mo, 15mo, has gone camping for two weeks at 11mo in a camper we rented. Our daily life is much less busy. The cruise threw him for a loop the first couple of days. On the first day he was quite confused and so was just about every other kid I saw under 5. Lots of crying going on in the terminal as it was also nap time for all.

We were allowed to not put the vest on either baby for the safety drill(brought them though) and was even allowed to leave slightly early for naps (the constant screaming prompted this I’m sure. ) They also did a large horn blow that was upsetting to the babies. You may check into not having to take the triplets on the safety drill where just the adults check in and then get to go back with the kids? Having said this, the safety drill is quick and necessary so if they will take it well I would just get it over with.

A bit long - sorry – Have a great trip. Others have said that they would wait until the kids were older. Not us. Though it is far from going with older kids or only adults the babies have fun and so did we. In addition to our Jan Eastern 2010, we are booked for the Panama in Jan 2011, they will be 18mo and 2 ½ then. So apparently it was not too bad or we are just crazy.

[MassDisLovers]

My children are grown now, but we always traveled with them when they were babies. Lots of people thought were were "nuts" and didn't hesitate to tell us so - wasting money, they won't remember it, etc. etc. All I can say (from the other side) is that we loved taking them on all the adventures, that they gained invaluable experience from travel, and that now that they are all grown up, I'd give anything to be taking babies/toddlers/children anywhere again! They grow very, very quickly, so ENJOY!

[lmhall2000]

Congratulations mommy!! I think you've made it through the toughest part of multiples!!

My only suggestion would be to let them walk their little legs off around the decks before the majority of folks wake up...if they're like my babies, they wake up at 5:30-6:00..take advantage of that and let them cruise and climb up and down the deck chairs...the more physical activity they can get the better their nap/rest times will be...also carry good snacks/juices with you at all times to keep them going...I would let their schedule be your guide...don't expect to do too much alone with dh...just enjoy the moments you have and enjoy the discovery they'll have of all things Disney...some of our precious memories were at character dining and my youngest babes playing peekapoo with their napkins and hugging Minnie and not letting go....it was too cute!!

Have a great time
Tara

[joksten2000]

We've travelled with our kids and now grandkids, never regreted any of it. Our 3 yo grandson has been on three cruises. Loved the characters on the Magic. Have a ball