Nursery Time

[LAmom33]

We'll be traveling with a 13 month old on a 7-night Western aboard the Fantasy. We're thinking we'll make nursery reservations each night for dinner, as well as once for Palo brunch. We're first time parents, so does that seem reasonable? Other than that, does anyone know if you're allowed to leave the ship on Castaway Cay while your kid is in the nursery? We wanted to do the jet ski excursion and spend an hour or so at Serenity Bay.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

You are only allowed to prebook ten hours in the nursery, so it would depend upon availability as to being able to do it every night. And to be quite honest, I personally wouldn't want to do that every single night anyway. Why not enjoy some family dinners, especially at Animator's Palate, which a kid that age would probably really like?

I am pretty sure I have read that the nursery is open on Castaway Cay day, but I think they require you to bring the wave phone with you, and I am not sure if that would work with the jet ski excursion. (Those things are not waterproof.) Plus, if you do the jet ski excursion AND spend time at Serenity Bay, that won't leave a ton of time for your LO to enjoy Castaway Cay too. If you want some adult time at CC, maybe just choose one thing to do.

 

[lanejudy]

For a 7-night cruise, I believe the pre-book max is 18 hours. You may be able to book more time once onboard. Dinner time is popular, so you may or may not be able to pre-book all dinners -- it just depends how many others on your cruise have the same idea.

Yes, you are allowed to leave the ship at CC or any port with the little one booked into the nursery. On CC day, I believe they take the little ones up to Nemo's Reef for some supervised water play time. I recommend advising them of the time of your excursion, so they are aware that you might not be able to answer the wave phone immediately.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[dcassetta]

This seems like a good plan to me, although as previous posters mentioned you may have trouble scheduling all the hours you wish before your cruise. As it's unlikely your baby would make it through an entire dinner serving, you have a choice of taking them to the nursery before time, or someone leaving during the meal to take the baby. I think it makes sense to take them ahead of time so that you can enjoy your meal.

A friend and her husband did almost this exact thing on a seven day Wonder when their baby was about a year old. She's a stay at home parent, so really appreciated getting to have special dinners with just her husband. They also spent about five hours on Castaway Cay, while their daughter was in the nursery.

 

[LAmom33]

You are only allowed to prebook ten hours in the nursery, so it would depend upon availability as to being able to do it every night. And to be quite honest, I personally wouldn't want to do that every single night anyway. Why not enjoy some family dinners, especially at Animator's Palate, which a kid that age would probably really like?

I am pretty sure I have read that the nursery is open on Castaway Cay day, but I think they require you to bring the wave phone with you, and I am not sure if that would work with the jet ski excursion. (Those things are not waterproof.) Plus, if you do the jet ski excursion AND spend time at Serenity Bay, that won't leave a ton of time for your LO to enjoy Castaway Cay too. If you want some adult time at CC, maybe just choose one thing to do.

Thanks! I don't really have a problem spending one grown-up beach day away from my kiddo...

 

[LAmom33]

Thanks, everyone! Good to know about the limitations on pre-booking. Of course we'll be flexible, depending on where the baby is in his development at 13 months, but good to know we have some options.

 

[KLK622]

When we have cruised with our son (13 months-36 months) we would often have him join us for the first part of dinner. We would have the server bring his kids meal while we had our first course - he would be with us from about 5:45-6:30. Then we would run him up to the nursery from 6:30-7:30 so we could enjoy the rest of our dinner in peace and he could play. This worked really well for us because a) he needed to eat dinner anyway and b) we didn't end up using all of our pre-booking nursery hours on dinner.

In addition to the time you have, we also usually blocked off an afternoon for our son in the nursery so we can have some time at the adult pool...but thats just us.

Also, we have left our son on the ship to do shore excursions a number of times (some DCL sponsored and some on our own). We always let them know where we would be and gave them a way to contact us (cell phone with international calling available)-this isn't a requirement, its just something we did to make ourselves feel better. If you are off the ship the only reason they would try to access you is for a medical emergency, so I don't think you would need to have your wave phone on you for a DCL excursion on CC as a pp stated.

 

[MissMet]

When we have cruised with our son (13 months-36 months) we would often have him join us for the first part of dinner. We would have the server bring his kids meal while we had our first course - he would be with us from about 5:45-6:30. Then we would run him up to the nursery from 6:30-7:30 so we could enjoy the rest of our dinner in peace and he could play. This worked really well for us because a) he needed to eat dinner anyway and b) we didn't end up using all of our pre-booking nursery hours on dinner.

In addition to the time you have, we also usually blocked off an afternoon for our son in the nursery so we can have some time at the adult pool...but thats just us.

Also, we have left our son on the ship to do shore excursions a number of times (some DCL sponsored and some on our own). We always let them know where we would be and gave them a way to contact us (cell phone with international calling available)-this isn't a requirement, its just something we did to make ourselves feel better. If you are off the ship the only reason they would try to access you is for a medical emergency, so I don't think you would need to have your wave phone on you for a DCL excursion on CC as a pp stated.

This is exactly what we planned for our upcoming cruise with our (will be) 12 month old. He normally does very well in restaurants but on DCL dinners can run very long, so we booked each night for the second half of dinner, during our palo brunch, remy dinner, as well as a little time on the last night so that we can pack in peace. I wanted to book during dinner since everyone advised that those times are the times that book up completely. Once we're on board we can cancel the dinner slots if he does well & we'll definitely add more time to enjoy the pool, castaway cay, etc. I'm a stay at home mom so I have NO PROBLEM putting him in the nursery...a lot! lol

 

[Quellman]

Ours was 15 months when we sailed. Booking second half of dinner is a great way to go to save a bit of money. We brought him to dinner every night however except with the exception of Palo and the last night in animators. The nursery is the only supervised kids space on the ship during CC stops. I got off in the morning, did the 5k and met with the family. We had lunch a little sand time, and took him to the nursery for nap time while we hit Serenity beach. Worked out great. My only other recommendation is to take your kid to every open house for the nursery. You can only bring so many items on board and at 13 months, they will want to see and explore and play with toys. It is also the only time you can be in the space with them. it can help adjust them to the new space with mommy and daddy present. Our guy was so excited when we brought him back to the nursery later in the day that he didn't wait to be let in. He went over to the gate and was trying to climb over it before we checked in!

 

[Rachel Hanson]

Thank you for all these super helpful replies! We're traveling with our 20-month-old in November and have been wondering this exact thing.