Reviews/tell me about Nursery on Dream.

[SJMommy]

DH, myself, DD1(2.5 years old) and DD2(6month). will be going on a 3 day dream end of Feb. We were on the dream last year with just DD1 at the time but we didnt use the nursery because we had someone with us to watch her for a few hours. How have your little ones liked the nursery?! Reviews/comments....good...bad :/. I have never left either of my children with a "daycare" , but this is Dinsey so I feel pretty confident they will do a good job. Do you/would you leave them in the nursery while you went to Castaway to relax on the beach for a few hours(2?)?? do they have swings for the little little ones?(mine will be 6 month). And do we need to bring dirnks and snacks for our kids--or do they have things there?! thanks!!

 

[Icataldoboysmomma]

I also am wondering about this. I have a 2.5 year old and a 7month old and will be cruising the dream in may. I am a stay at home mom...and needless to say but my boys and I are inseparable. I truly can not make a run to the store without my 2year old wanting to go with mommy. I hear about the daycare on the dream being fantastic and that the children cry because they don't want to leave....but I'm still very hesitant. This is a family cruise after all and I would not want them to be upset and crying with strangers because mom and dad wanted an hour....you know?

 

[caitlinS9]

Here is my experience.
Background: DS was 2 at the time, goes to full time daycare (he had just switched to a "center" before that he had been in an in-home). I also have a DD who was 4 (she went to the kids club).

First to answer the question, I believe the have swings.
The nursery was split into 3 parts. Part 1 is where you drop child off, there is a desk & then a door, split into 2 halves that you drop the kids off. They get passed through the top half. Part 2 is the "play area". There were toys, ride on toys, a ball pit (if i remember correctly), a play mat, etc and a TV. Someone in a review thought this was a small smace, it seemed about right to me, however. Ample room for the kids without too much room that you might lose one . Part 3 was the snack/quiet room. They had cribs & small tables. I think the swings might have been back here, again, don't quote me on that one.
My son at the time had extreme seperation anxiety when I would leave him, he did this at daycare so it didn't surprise/stress me. I am the type of mom (judge away) that can leave my kid crying & not be upset by it. I know that in less than 5 min he will calm down & all will be fine with the world. And that is exactly what happened. He had a ball. We would leave him here & there sporadically & then from about 7pm until bedtime (8-8:30 depending on the night) so we could enjoy dinner. I did not inquire as to what he did each time, just picked him up. Then, on the last night we got to our cabin to find a delivery from the nursery. They had made scrapbook pages of him having a grand old time. I loved it! They were precious & I knew that he was full of balony & enjoyed himself.
I did take him to the open house the first day, but it didn't really help break him into the experience. He was too mommy clingy at the time.
I would leave him again in a heartbeat, probably for more time in the future, but he'll be in the kids club on our next cruise.

 

[slindamood]

We used the Small World nursery every day on our December Dream cruise for my DGD, 3 months. She had never been in daycare and had not had a babysitter before, so we were not sure what to expect.

In short, the child care staff on the Dream is fantastic! She was happy to go with them and enjoyed watching the other children. Usually when we picked her up after our late seating dinner she was asleep, and they would carry her out to us ever so carefully. They are VERY good with infants.

We visited "Small World" during the open house to see the set up. They have the back room that is kept fairly dark in the evening. It has cribs, changing tables, rocking chairs for adults and swings appropriate for infants. In the center room are toys and infant chairs for more active play and more swings.

We always took a bag with a bottle, extra pajamas, diapers, wipes, and her blanket. She stayed for 2 - 3 hours each night during dinner and one afternoon she was there for 3 - 4 hours.

The last night on DD's door was an envelope with a certificate of award made out to to "sweetest little princess" to commemorate her time in Small World and a photo of DGD and Cinderella in a hand-crafted frame . It was so sweet of the staff and is one of DD's most treasured items ever.

Children must be checked in and out by an adult with a photo ID and password. DD registered her DH and both grandparents so any of us could get her.

 

[SJMommy]

When is the open house!?? and do they have food and drinks in there for the toddlers? Or do I bring a cup of water and some snacks for her when we drop her off?!?!? OH and what if they are crying for a straight hour....would they call us on our phone?!?!?

 

[slindamood]

The open house is the afternoon when you board the ship - before the lifeboat drill.

I don't know about snacks because all DGD needed was a bottle.

About crying - they would call you if needed, I am sure, but the staff seemed experts at keeping babies happy. They kept notes on when and what they ate, when they were changed, when they fell asleep etc. so you have a good idea of what the time was like.

Once we were told that they walked around and "talked" for about a half hour, looking at things on the walls and at toys, before DGD fell asleep. It seems they are skilled in finding what keeps the child happy. The children seem happy and there is very good one -to -one attention.

 

[caitlinS9]

Open house is the first day you get on the ship, after the life boat drill. If I remember, they had apple juice and crackers. My DS is a water guy, I provided a cup for them that they promptly labeled. They also labeled his diaper bag.

They will call you if they need to, but they will also attempt to calm your child down first and give him/her some time, which I appreciate. You can also go check on them and they cannot see you (one way glass), but give them more than 2 min to get acclimated.

One of the reasons I was so happy to sail Disney was because they had the nursery!

Hope that helps.

 

[ash901]

Just wondering if potty trained children are allowed in the nursery? DD will be 2.5 but is potty trained. Not sure where she would go since she is too young for kids club.

 

[ginger3son]

I know they serve lunch in the kids club but is this the same in the nursery? We are doing the Palo Brunch at noon and my 18 month old will go to the nursery during this time. Should I feed him before we go or will they handle this there?

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

They did serve snacks and lunch at the nursery. We put our 20 month old daughter in it several times during meals on our last Dream cruise. However, she was never interested in eating in the nursery, I guess she would rather play. So every time I picked her up she was hungry, which was fine because then we just ordered room service. My daughter cried almost every time I dropped her off there, but was always having a good time when I picked her up.

 

[lanejudy]

Just wondering if potty trained children are allowed in the nursery? DD will be 2.5 but is potty trained. Not sure where she would go since she is too young for kids club.

At 2.5 she will automatically be assigned to the nursery based on age. Potty-trained has nothing to do with it; they'll get her to the potty while in the nursery if/when she needs to go. You MIGHT be able to have her attend the Club/Lab, but that won't be decided until you are onboard and visit during open house, at which time the Club/Lab staff will evaluate her ability to be in that space. But keep in mind she'll be in with children possibly as old at 12, which is a HUGE gap in age and there is a lower supervision ratio than in the nursery.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[hpsalb]

We used the nursery for DS (then 21 months) last May on the Dream. He didn't usually want to stay, but always settled quickly and was having fun when we returned. He is in DC, but was going through a clingy phase at the time. I always took a bag with a diaper/wipes and a cup of water. They will feed them snacks (crackers). They offered meals, but he always ate with us, so I am not sure what they eat.

There is an open house time on the first day for you to come and visit, and there are some other open house times during the cruise, in all the kids' areas. There were a few mornings when the nursery had an open house time before the drop-off time began and we took DS because we were already up and looking for something to do. We also did some open house times in the other areas.

I felt very confident with the staff and the area was very secure. We saw some of the same faces the times we visited and they remembered DS.

 

[Meredisney]

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your experiences! I'm not the OP but I really found this information useful. I have a 18 month old son and am pregnant with another baby boy right now. We've already planned a cruise on the Dream for 2014 when ODS will be almost 3yrs (2yrs 10 months) and YDS will be 15 months. DH and I have been on many cruises but never as parents and we really don't know what to expect. My son has never been in daycare. Both sets of granparents live nearby and are able to provide babysitting when we need it, but as the OP stated, I feel pretty confident in Disney.

 

[gina_g]

We will be on the Dream in 9 days. Great info here! One other question I have is did you all find it necessary to book all of your nursery hours in advance or are you able to book on short notice each day? I have my 2 1/2 year old DD set up for an hour or so each night during dinner so we can feed her and then run her down there, but I'm hoping to add more hours if she does okay there. I'd love to play it by ear if we can. There's plenty of time slots open now but I'm curious if those will up fast once we board.

 

[LollieFollie]

My daughter was just a few months shy of 3 when we cruised on the Dream in 2011. They were pretty accommodating with letting her go to the nursery a few times, but she mainly went to the kids club with her big sister. (She was fully potty trained) We had a great experience with both the nursery and the kids club on the Dream.
Actually, one of the nursery workers remembered her from when we cruised on the Wonder the summer before!
From what I remember, she was with the kids club on CC day but I would have felt totally comfortable leaving her in the nursery while we were at the beach.