4 year old on cruise, what is your experience?

[bsusanmb]

DH and I are raising our grandson who would be 4 by the time we cruise. We have been on DCL several times alone. What has been your experience taking an only child that age? I would hope that he would enjoy the children's club area, but I don't know if he would be intimidated by being left alone. He goes to pre school and loves other children. Should I stick to 3 nights or would 4 night be better? I am looking at December with a week in WDW afterwards. Thanks for any advice. Oh, any child that age seasick? DH and I use scop patches. We have been on the DCL in Dec and the water was pretty rough at times.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

We've done DCL with kids of all ages. The year my dd turned 4 was the BEST for her! She was brave enough to be in the kids' club without me. She begged to go! She was old enough that she didn't need a nap, which meant I wasn't stuck in the room with her for a couple hours. She was LOVING the characters. LOVING them! We had a blast. Now, she's not an only.

We had no problems with seasickness. I remember her first cruise, as we were leaving port, dd looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "My head feels dizzy!" I told her mine did too and we talked about how much we liked it! She was fine after that.

We've only done 7 nights. One of those times was a back to back 3+4 night. I can't imagine only doing 3 or 4 days! We didn't want to leave after 7!

Have fun!!!

 

[BealsRwe]

We have been taking DD on cruises with us since she was 5 months old. She is 6 now, and has been on 7 DCL trips, and 1 on Carnival. She loves the clubs. She is an only, and loves her club time. She used to go to preschool part-time. She looks forward to the clubs as part of her vacation.

My suggestion is go in for family time on embarktion day prior to the muster drill. Introduce him to the counselors and show him the great kids spaces with activities. Read through the Personal Navigators and find the activities he is most interested in...I bet you will find he is super excited to be in the kids areas with other kids his age.

DD never had an issue with sea sickness until our most recent westen 7 night in Nov/Dec 2010. The seas were so rough. She and I were both off, and I use the patch. The do have a children's Dramamine, which worked for DD on this trip, but she slept for the entire afternoon on a sea day. After she woke up, even though the seas were still rough, she felt great. That cruise was rough...worst we have ever felt, but thankfully only for 1 day. We enjoyed out stateroom that day, and just had some great family time.

Have fun!

 

[weluvMM]

My son just turned four in September and he was on three DCL cruises last year- Feb, July and Nov. He progressively had more fun on each of them. Four should be a great age. He loved the camps and would ask each morning when they opened.

The three day cruises are very short but that is how we started too. Just testing the waters. The one in November was hard, no sooner did I unpack that I had to repack.

 

[kcashner]

4 is a perfect age for cruising...and I'd definitely go with a 4 night cruise. A 3 night is really only 2 1/2 days, and totally TOO short.

Since he is used to separating from you for pre-school, I suspect he'll be so excited about the OC that it won't be an issue. One hint--I told my DD that she could ask the CMs to page me any time she needed me. She "tested" me once. I got the page, dutifully went down, and found that she just wanted to say hello. She was fine with staying to play, but just wanted to see me for a minute.

I think the reassurance that I would come if she asked was important to her.

 

[bsusanmb]

Thanks, everyone. I needed advice from moms and you all came through for me! Looks like it's a go for the cruise!

 

[dsneygirl]

Ds was 3 years and 9 months last year on our cruise and loved it. The Kids club is paradise for little ones so I think he will get over any apprehention pretty quickly.

 

[Magic3forme]

We took our daughter when she was 4, and then in 07 we took our son when he was 4! Both had a fantastic time. our son met friends in there.. who ironically were in the cabin next door. He spent a ton of time in the kids club!!
We did the Eastern with him and he had fun swimming in St Maarten. he asked to stay on the ship when we went to St Thomas! We kept him with the us the entire time on CC...and again.. fun fun fun!

4 is a great age!!

 

[mjaclyn]

OP - I know how you're feeling. We're going on our first Disney cruise in May and we have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I'm not so worried about the 2 year old because I'm sure the Nursery staff will be very focused on the little ones. I am a little concerned with the 4 year old now that they have mixed the age groups. I know she's going to LOVE the activities, I just hope she won't feel too shy going in by herself since we won't be traveling with family or friends this trip...just us! I also hope she doesn't miss out on doing certain things because she is a little more timid than the older children will be. I guess I'll just have to wait and see! If she doesn't like the club we can always do more family activities which is fine with me!

 

[MartDM]

Just wanted to add that, as we'll be cruising with a newly minted 4 year old in April, I've asked lots of questions about the Oceaneers Club. Everyone has reassured me over and over that, if a child is apprehensive about staying at the club alone, a parent is welcome to stay for any length of time, whether it be just long enough to help them "warm up" or having to accompany them the whole cruise.

 

[bsusanmb]

MartDM that makes me feel even better. I know that if one of us can accompany him until he warms up it will be fine.

I saw the club on the View yesterday, and Andy's room from Toy Story will be a perfect paradise for him. He LOVES that movie and has an Andy's room of his own that he plays with all the time. I am really looking forward to this now!