Did your 2.5 year old emjoy the nursery?

[christinalynne]

I am getting super sad about thinking of leaving my daughter in the nursery while her big brother and 2 friends who are coming with us (ages 5.5, 5.5 and 4) go to the clubs. At the same time- I am thinking it could be nice for her nap, which she still takes every day, and for me to have some alone time with the husband. So....before I get my heart set either way; I thought I would ask. Is there anything for the older "babies" to do in the nursery? Are there activates, games or characters there? Any words of wisdom or "been there" stories appreciated!

Thanks!

Sorry! Can't figure out how to edit title to "enjoy"!

 

[Meghatron]

Yes, there are toys, character visits, cartoons, and crafty stuff in addition to a quiet, dark space with cribs. We had an envelope delivered to our stateroom after DD's visit that had all the stuff she'd "made" (mostly colouring) that included a set of her handprints on Flounder's Reef Nursery paper with one of those sentimental poems about being so small. It's still framed and on our wall. The nursery staff is amazing, don't worry about her.

 

[Smittycait]

We just went on our first cruise on the fantasy and I was worried about leaving my 2.5 year old too. So we went to the open house on the first day and got him comfortable with the surroundings and some of the councillors before we left him. When we did finally leave him he had such a good time he would refuse to go to dinner with us b/c he just wanted his "friends". They do crafts, play games, some characters show up and some down time too. The councillors got to know him really well and he just had the best time. At the end of the week they had a little envelope with crafts he did and a few pictures. It was awesome. He has an older brother and he didn't miss him one bit. Actually I think the 2.5 year old had more fun than my 10 year old. But go to the open house, it'll help calm your nerves.

 

[Woodmnky]

Definitely go to the open house as this will give you a better feeling for the situation. My son was 2 and had absolutely no interest in the nursery, but loved when we went to open house in the club. I think that the toys were way to close to what he has at home for him to be excited about being there. Each kid is different, so it is hard to tell. You can always schedule an hour or so where you have no plans to see how it goes before you leave him during a time when it would be more inconveinent to need to get him.

 

[disneywonderfun]

I think it will just depend on the child. Our son is now six. He was on a Disney cruise at ages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (next month). He hated the nursery! He still makes us go back to the nursery on each cruise to tell them that he no longer needs to go to the nursery. It always gets a laugh from the check-in CM. Anyway, your child might love the nursery or might hate it, or be indifferent. You will find out!

DWF

 

[dreamcat78]

Good question thanks for asking I hope more moms reply so I can get more info about it haha I'm hoping its fun for my 3 yr old DS

 

[aanderson5]

I am worried about DD in the nursery on several different levels. She will be 2years 7months when we cruise. I am a SAHM so she is not used to going to daycare and I am not sure how she will handle the seperation. Also she has an older brother (will be 8) and is used to older toys and kids so I am also worried she will be bored. The nursery looks pretty babyish for her now and she is not even 2 yet.

We are working on potty training but she is still 5 months too young for the clubs so I have no real expectations she will be allowed in there even though I think she would be happy with DS. She is not a particularly large child so she would not be mistaken for three and might get bowled over in there anyway.

Worse comes to worse we will take her to clubs during open house and maybe the grandparents can watch her so we can atleast get a dinner at Palo.

 

[alexandlillie]

My three year old (36 months exactly) enjoyed it. The kids club was too much for him but he liked being the big kid in the nursery. There were several 2 plus. Mostly watching cartoons and playing with a slide/climby thing when we saw them.

They will call u if he doesn't settle down after u leave. That is, I would expect some tears initially but that your lite one will be fine within a few minutes. The staff was excellent when we were there. Clearly experienced in comfort and distraction.

 

[dpswift]

When we went on our first cruise DS was almost 21/2 and he hated the nursery. We tried leaving him twice and both times we were called to come after him. Beforehand I had left him at the church nursery to prepare him. But he hated the nursery on the ship. We all had a great time but I still feel like I missed out. I would plan on using it but have a backup plan in case it does not work.


I think that I went on our first cruise with too high expectations(this was Disney) Our Mdr servers did not live up to all the hype we were expecting and the nursery was alot like a daycare(I do not know what I was expecting Disney charactors and decorations?) But overall we had a great ime and wanted to go again.

 

[Sarahlawrence]

Our 21 month old loved it and she will go again in just a few weeks. She just misses the cut off for the older clubs even though she is potty trained but I think it will be just fine. She had NEVER been away from me at all other than family and she transitioned perfectly! They fed her, played with her but don't count on them giving your kiddo a nap. I scheduled her every day at nap time and she did not nap one time.

I was worried as well because she is the youngest and thinks she is a big kid too, but she did not mind at all, in fact she got mad when we picked her up

 

[deanimal]

Which ship are you on? We sailed on the Wonder when our son was 21 months and the nursery was okay, but it seemed small and kind of boring for older toddlers. We sailed on the Dream when he was 35 months and checked out both the Club and the Nursery. The nursery on the Dream was much bigger with much more to do for 2 year olds. We ended up going with the Club since he was potty trained and wanted to be with his big sister, but if it was just him I think I would've preferred the nursery for him, even at that age.
But whichever ship you're on, I'm sure the nursery staff will be awesome. We were super impressed with the staff on the Wonder and I've only ever heard good things about them.

 

[Tink113]

We JUST returned from a 7 night on the Fantasy with our 2.5 almost 3 yr old son. (Note: this is his 3rd cruise. He was also in the nursery at 7 months and for his 2 yr birthday. This was the first time we have had a hard time leaving him at the nursery because I personally feel he is too big for the nursery and too small (by Disney standards) for the kids club.

I think that it's a really hard age. We managed to do both the kids club (open house) and the nursery with him.

Here are my thoughts on the nursery...

Pros:
- HE seemed to like it there. There were toys to play with, cribs for a nap (he's big for a crib, but that's what they have), movies to watch.
- Because he was older, there didn't seem to be a worry about the "ratio" of kids to adult like with a baby - so we had no problem dropping him off anytime we needed with or without a reservation (and we were on a PACKED Easter cruise)!
- They adored him

Cons: This turned into a biggie for me
- They adored him... lol. I know doesn't seem like a con, but I did notice that whenever we picked him up (especially later in the evening) someone was holding him, rocking him in the rocking chair, or carrying him around. He's almost 3 and can walk just fine! I am by no means an unloving mommy, but I started making him walk, climb in and out or the car, etc on his own long ago. I mean he's over 30 lbs and carry him around all the time, just not going to happen! This proved to be a problem later in the week and continues even now - 2 weeks later. About half way into the cruise, I noticed something I have never seen him do. He wanted to be carried EVERYWHERE! No piggy back rides, it was up in the arms or a screaming fit!! It happened on the ship, in port, and the following week at Disney. It seemed like he would take 10 steps then insist to be carried. It took me a while to connect the dots and figure out that he got used to being cuddled/ treated more like a baby then a little boy.

This was by far the hardest age for him & cruising. He spent more time in the nursery then ever before - mainly because he didn't want to sit and watch the shows or have dinner. He just wanted to go "play". We took him to Nemo's reef on sea days and did other things with him, but left him on the ship for 2 port days (his grandparents were on the ship). He loved being on the ship but it was hard to get him to nap unless we insisted by blacking out our stateroom and napping ourselves (read loss of 2-3 hours a day that we thought we'd be doing other things). He just didn't like napping in the nursery. Skipped naps, late evenings in the nursery, and trouble with meals times made for a cranky kiddo pretty often. Not saying all kids are like that, but ours was at this age.

In total we spent about $165 on the nursery.

 

[Tink113]

I should also say that he LOVED the kids club even more. He spent the whole time we were there for open houses running around and playing.

I wish he could have gone there all week because I really feel like he spent a lot of time watching movies and being less active in the nursery. If he had spent that time running around and playing with other kids, I don't think we would have any problems getting him to nap. I'm sure he would have just passed out, lol.

 

[calismic]

Is your daughter fully potty trained? My daughter was 2 year 7 months and after watching her interact, the CM's permitted her to stay in the Oceaneers Club. She absolutely loved it. She had no interest whatsoever in the Nursery. We were told they are a little more lenient if they have siblings with them. We worried at first but found we had to go collect her because she'd never ask to leave!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We only took our 2 year old once and she was so excited because we called it "her" club. (She was jealous of her brothers who got to go to their club.) She was absolutely beaming and she was only there two hours (while we ate dinner at Palo.) She got lots of attention.

 

[baddog576]

It really depends on the child. DD was 2y 8m when we went on the Magic last year. She was in preschool and has an older brother (5 years at the time) and she was fine when we left her in the nursery but she looked like a giant in there compared to all the babies that were doing 'tummy time' laying around. We peeked at her trying to have fun. She was on the little slide (3 small steps up and maybe 3 feet long). It was kind of sad. I felt bad for her.

She saw O Club during open house and she wanted so badly to go in the big tree and slide and play with him. She was fully potty trained (my goal for the cruise so she could swim in the pool) and we spoke to the CMs at both the nursery and OC and they said she could try the OC but once we made our decision she couldn't go back and forth, she had to pick one. We went with OC and she loved it. They won't do it all the time and it's a case by case basis. They definitely have to be fully potty trained, no pull ups.

 

[christinalynne]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I really do appreciate hearing all of the stories. We are on the Wonder- so I guess we'll have to see!

 

[JKSWonder]

My then 2 1/2 year old son loved it on our first cruise on the Wonder in October 2009. He went there a few times and referred to it as "his club".

 

[gotomu212]

The first time we cruised my son was 2 1/2 exactly. It was the Baltic cruise so it was on the lighter side of the typical number of kids. We took him to the nursery on the second day and they suggested we take him over to the OC as he was potty trained and they only had little babies at the time. (They would have been happy for him to stay but thought it might be a better fit in OC).

We watched him play about twenty minutes and the CMs told us to let him stay. I was a little nervous seeing him next to the 8 and 9 year olds that sometimes came over from the Lab, but it all worked out for us.

I know the CMs base their decision on the number of kids on board so it might not be an option for everyone but it doesn't hurt to ask or go to an Open House to check it out.

 

[kjackson83]

Yes, there are toys, character visits, cartoons, and crafty stuff in addition to a quiet, dark space with cribs. We had an envelope delivered to our stateroom after DD's visit that had all the stuff she'd "made" (mostly colouring) that included a set of her handprints on Flounder's Reef Nursery paper with one of those sentimental poems about being so small. It's still framed and on our wall. The nursery staff is amazing, don't worry about her.

Awwww, I would be so excited if they did something like that for my 2 year old when we go in November!! Made me tear up a bit