Cruising with an 18 month old

[johnson5]

We will be on our first Dream cruise in December. We will be sailing with our 18month of daughter. Has anyone used the nursery or sailed with a child this young? Any suggestions or thoughts?

 

[momof2n2]

I'm cruising with 15 month old in 6 weeks and have vacationed with lots of 18 month olds (land trips with long drives). Key for me is be flexible & have fun. Lots of snacks. Let them out of the stroller whenever possible. Lots of snuggles for reassurance. It's such a sweet age.

 

[3Down1Up]

We sailed with two year old twins a few years ago. We used the nursery a few times. They have very limited availability so book your time there as soon as possible. They have a low staff to child ratio; I had no concerns with the care at all. The room attendants are very accommodating - I think ours realized right away that we had little ones and put in a Diaper Genie and bed rails in our cabin before we even asked for them! There are A LOT of little ones on board, so rest assured that the your little one will be well taken care of! Have fun!

 

[hardis5]

Our first Dream cruise was when our youngest was 18 mos old. If you have not done so already make sure to add a comment to your reservation about requesting a crib. They use the collapsible playpens for such and will setup and take down for you daily. We brought a travel umbrella stroller we used when moving around the ship and for the Nassau excursions. Visit the nursery during its open house to introduce the little one to the environment and visit the Oceaneers Lab at the same time (open house where all ages and parents can look around and play) as they will have a blast in the Toy Story room. Bring lots of Little Swimmers for Nemo's Reef and expect to spend as much time as they do in there have them develop comfort in the splash area and with the brave and boisterous older small ones.

 

[Runnergal]

We sailed with a 7mo and a just turned 2yo. It was great. We borrowed a stroller at guest services for the baby since we only had a double with us coming from WDW and it was way too big for the ship. But honestly a walker doesnt need to be in the stroller much on the ship; best to leave it in the room and just use it for ports so you dont have to always wait for the elevator onboard. Definitely check the navigator for open house time in the club; I seem to remember it usually being in the morning, and ds loved it. Funny thing is I thought we would make it back to the room for naps every day but that never seemed to happen. They were having too much fun. I strolled little guy on the promenade deck when he needed a little quiet time. Baby slept in a pnp in the room. 2yo slept in pull down bunk with rails. We had no trouble booking additional nursery time once we were on the ship and we realized that the little ones had no interest in being at dinner with us. They actually really enjoyed it there. I have an adorable photo of db with Ariel when she visited the nursery one evening(2yo wanted no part of it!). Don't worry, it will be great- DCL makes it so, so easy to travel with little ones.

 

[Mrspeaks]

We sailed with our 18 daughter on the fantasy and had the best time. She loved the characters! We made it through early seating dinner. We told our waiter we needed to be quick, ordered as soon as we at down and didn't always do all the courses. She was a picky eater so we brought snacks to hold her until the food arrived. We brought disposable bibs and place mats for meals. I stressed less about her ruining the table cloths with the placemat. She went to the nursery almost every day, she would cry when we dropped her off, but she was doing that at home too. We did a lot of the planned activities in the D lounge. They had open times in the kids clubs that was rally fun. Overall, it was great!

 

[Freesia123]

It'll e great! I I sailed with a month old baby and a two year old. Be flexible and have fun!!

 

[cajunprincess]

Your 18 month is going to LOVE it! We sailed two months ago with a 12 month old and he was in awe of the characters. We did a couple hours in the nursery so he could get down and play. He had a blast. The CM there are great. They remembered his name when we would take him to he open house there. It was so easy that we changed our plans for a vacation doing something else so that we could do DCL again.

 

[readytogotodisney]

I love reading this post! We'll be sailing with our then 16 month old in Nov. Land travel doesn't phase me a bit (did that plenty with our now 4 yr old), but hearing about cruising with her at young age is very reassuring!

 

[jkmommy]

My son sailed for the first time at 10 months, then at 3 and is booked again when he'll be 4.5. My daughter was 6 months and will be 19 months in November for her second cruise. It's the best, most relaxing vacation we've ever had with kids. And they were still with us almost 100% of the time; we only used the nursery for our dinner at Palo. We also take them to WDW every year and the cruise is way easier.

 

[AZMermaid]

I did a week with my 17 month old and she loved the nursery. She went for a bit every day. She sometimes fussed at drop off, but they have a two way mirror and I would watch and she would be happy in like one minute!

 

[jlk51496]

Anyone have better luck in the Nursery than they do at home!?!

My 2.5 yr old daughter (very attached to her mama) has never been to a daycare and has only really been babysat by family and close friends! Which she does really well but her older winnings are usually around!

We leave for the Fantasy in 40 days, so I decided to test the waters and I went to my gym and signed her up for the daycare at my gym. She was fine day 1 - but Day 2 - they had to call me to come pick her up - they said she cried hysterically the whole time - her eyes were swollen from crying so bad! I felt awful!

I was planning on leaving her in the nursery a couple of times - to have adult/alone time with DH and while my 6 and 5 yr old are in the Kids' club/lab

I am so nervous - it is going to be a disaster! Grrr

 

[jlk51496]

Anyone have better luck in the nursery then they do at home ??? my two and a half-year-old daughter has never been babysat by anyone except for close family and friends and does real well but her 6 and 5 yr old brother and sister are always there....and she has never been in day care.

We leave for our fantasy cruise in 40 days and I was planning on leaving her in the nursery a couple of nights so my husband and I could have some alone and adult time after dinner. I also really want to take a Mixology class !!

So I decided to test the waters and take her to my gym and have her stay at the kids club there... and the first day she was okay but the second day she was crying hysterically and they call me to pick her up after about 20 minutes ... They told me she was crying the whole time ...her eyes were even swollen from crying so hard!! I felt awful!!

Now I'm nervous that she is going to be a disaster in the nursery!

I am hoping some of you have similar experiences at home and were pleasantly surprised aboard the fantasy!!

Thanks!
(Sorry to hijack this post!!)

 

[k3chantal]

We will be on our first Dream cruise in December. We will be sailing with our 18month of daughter. Has anyone used the nursery or sailed with a child this young? Any suggestions or thoughts?

We sailed with our 18 month old daughter (she is now four). Yes, we used the nursery and she was very happy there. We didn't bring any of her toys with us so the only place she could explore and play with toys was the nursery. We found (for us) that putting her in the nursery during dinners worked the best. The dinners are long and the dining rooms are busy. She was happier eating in the nursery, we were happier because she was happier so it worked out.

Our stateroom host put a rail on the bottom bunk and that worked well. There is milk in the free beverage stations and that worked out well too. I just served the milk into one of Disney's cups and then poured it into her sippy cup.

We did bring a small stroller and only used it when we went on port excursions AND to carry the wine on board.

She did really well and liked the water play area; she did not seem to notice that she could not go in the pools and I was relieved about that.

I had to bring a lot of diapers! By the time we drove up to our house after the trip, I had exactly one left in the diaper bag but the additional space was great for souvenirs.

We have just returned from our second cruise. It was easier since she was four but again we had a fantastic time with her at 18 months; we just had more freedom to do things together as a family since she was older and also more time as a couple since she loved the kids' clubs.

 

[Huney]

We sailed with our 18 month old daughter (she is now four). Yes, we used the nursery and she was very happy there. We didn't bring any of her toys with us so the only place she could explore and play with toys was the nursery. We found (for us) that putting her in the nursery during dinners worked the best. The dinners are long and the dining rooms are busy. She was happier eating in the nursery, we were happier because she was happier so it worked out. Our stateroom host put a rail on the bottom bunk and that worked well. There is milk in the free beverage stations and that worked out well too. I just served the milk into one of Disney's cups and then poured it into her sippy cup. We did bring a small stroller and only used it when we went on port excursions AND to carry the wine on board. She did really well and liked the water play area; she did not seem to notice that she could not go in the pools and I was relieved about that. I had to bring a lot of diapers! By the time we drove up to our house after the trip, I had exactly one left in the diaper bag but the additional space was great for souvenirs. We have just returned from our second cruise. It was easier since she was four but again we had a fantastic time with her at 18 months; we just had more freedom to do things together as a family since she was older and also more time as a couple since she loved the kids' clubs.

How many nights were you gone and how many diapers did you take?

 

[melglnh2o]

Cruising with a little one will be a breeze and a lot of fun. Our DD was 3 months old when we took her on her first DCL cruise. It was our first DCL cruise too. Although we didn't use the nursery (we brought her grandparents) it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. She also slept great every night (must have been the movement of the ship) whereas at home, no way. She has also cruised two times since then and will cruise two more times this year. She turns 4 this week! She loves it! We love it! And hopefully you will too. Enjoy!!

 

[k3chantal]

How many nights were you gone and how many diapers did you take?

I believe I calculated for 7 diapers a day/night. Our cruise was 7 nights but we also went into Disneyland (it was a West Coast cruise) for 3 days. And of course, I had to bring swim diapers.....they do sell them but I wanted to be prepared.

 

[jlk51496]

I believe I calculated for 7 diapers a day/night. Our cruise was 7 nights but we also went into Disneyland (it was a West Coast cruise) for 3 days. And of course, I had to bring swim diapers.....they do sell them but I wanted to be prepared.

thats what I always calculate and bring! and i ALWAYS come home with extra!

 

[lawyergirl]

I tell everyone who will listen to me that a DCL cruise is the best vacation for an infant/toddler! We were on the Fantasy with our almost-14 month old last December and he had a blast. The crew was seriously amazing with him, to the point where we were actually "disappointed" at the lack of interaction when we got to WDW post-cruise!!

Pools/water: He wasn't even walking yet, and he still had a ball zooming around the splash area. I was worried that he would see the pools and beg to go in (he's in a pool almost every day at home) but he either didn't notice them or didn't care. CC's water was too cold for us, but he didn't seem to care for the 5-10 minutes he was in it.

Meals: We had early seating and he loved dinner almost every night. The only time he wasn't as happy of a camper was at about day 5 when he started to get a cold. But he would munch away happily on his banana (the servers brought him one every night as an appetizer) and even eat stuff off our plates if he thought it looked neat.

Supplies: We used Babies Travel Lite for diapers, disposable bibs, wipes. We also used our stroller from home (Britax B-Agile) in order to allow him to nap/chill in it when we went out on excursions. There was space for it under the bed, but it didn't fit through our stateroom door.

Shows/entertainment: Way too late for him (he has a 8:00 bedtime and we stuck with it as much as possible) but he did manage to stay up to see the first bit of Aladdin. I think he would have liked it more had it been earlier. The earlier shows were a no go for him because he was still having two naps/day.

The only caveat: DS wasn't going to daycare at that time and the nursery freaked him out. He was okay with it on the first day but by the time the 4th (and final) time arrived, he started flipping out when we turned down the hall towards the nursery. It took him a while to like strangers after that, but that's also a developmental/age thing.

HAVE FUN!!

 

[AZMermaid]

thats what I always calculate and bring! and i ALWAYS come home with extra!

Me too! And like a ton extra! I think I must think I change diapers more than I really do....