Am I crazy for wanting to take 1yr old?

[becka]

Lol, I remember stories from when I was a kid throwing tantrums. They're very memorable in the family

I'm wondering if anyone has ever gotten complaints while on a cruise with a child because of the noise in or out of the room? And if you have how did you handle it?

Well we didn't get any complaints but maybe they just didn't say anything to our face. I was a bit thankful that we were in stateroom 5000 and only had neighbors on one side. We never did see or hear them so it was my hope that no one was next door and if they were I took comfort in the fact that they most likely were at dinner/shows/pools when most of the fits took place. Thankfully she did sleep well so no middle of the night fits and first thing in the morning was not as bad as well because she didn't have as much time to get worked up.

We did still manage to have some good times but it was very stressful for me and after a few days of feeling a bit like a hostage in the room due to her attitude I started to get a bit crabby myself. I guess I could have just taken her with us anyway but I really did not want her to disturb anyone else...that seemed way too rude to foist a cranky 22 month old on everyone else so I just stayed in the room with her. I did get to watch a lot of Disney movies on the TV.

 

[NitaT]

Hmmmm, It's hard to know how to answer this question. It really depends on the kind of vacation you want and the kind of parent you are. We travelled with our 2-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. We wanted a FAMILY vacation - as in, time together as a family. We don't just drop our kids in the nursery whereever we go, so we had no plans to do that with our youngest on the boat. He was SO BORED!

First, He couldn't go in the pool, because he is not potty trained. (Now, there were lots of parents allowing their not-yet-trained children go in the pools - they just didn't put them in pull-ups so it looked like they were out of diapers - but do you really want to be the parent who's child poops in the pool?) There was a little wading pool with small fountains that my son could go in, but it didn't always have water in it, and when it was working, the older kids (as in, 8 years +) would crowd in and take up space (I actually had to kick one 10-year-old out of this pool when he started elbowing a 2-year-old out of the way so he could play - the "lifeguards" did nothing about it). So, when my 2-year-old could go in the wading pool, he enjoyed it, but he did keep asking to go in the big pools.

Second, there is no place on this cruise that you can take your child to PLAY with toys with him/her. Like I said, you can drop them in the nursery, but there is no where you can all play TOGETHER, at least, not that I found. The third day into the cruise, my son started asking for his toys. Our tablemates had the same problem, and our servers told us that there were other families saying the same thing. There are only so many character meetings you can do, and only so many walks around the promenade you can take.

Third, it really will depend on how picky of an eater your child turns out to be. My son is EXTREMELY picky (unlike his sister, who will try anything), and the food is a little fancy (and soooo yummy!). However, our servers were amazing, and went out of their way to bring our little guy anything he wanted. One night, he wanted peach yogurt for dinner, and they found it for him!

All in all, we had a nice time on our cruise, but it was hard for me to really enjoy myself when my child was not enjoying himself.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Second, there is no place on this cruise that you can take your child to PLAY with toys with him/her.

Can't you take a two year old into the clubs to play and join in some of the activities -- as long as the adult stays as well?

 

[Mean Queen]

My DD was 14 months when we took her on DCL. We did the 4 day and we loved it. She had fun in Flounder's so DH and I could get alone time. We wanted a kid-free vacation, but we have no one to watch our girls for long periods of time. So this was a way we could get adult alone time and know our girls were fine without us. We did a Carnival cruise a few months later and it wasn't as great for someone with a 1 year old.

 

[Mean Queen]

Can't you take a two year old into the clubs to play and join in some of the activities -- as long as the adult stays as well?

We were able to do this with our 14 month old. She played on the small slides and crawled around (not walking at that time.)

 

[crisi]

We took two in diapers to Disney - they were older than yours - but still diaper and sippy cup age. Logistically:

We swung through Wal-Mart on our way and bought diapers. If you cruise, you may want to rent a towncar that will do a quick grocery stop - or get a rental car. You'll have a good idea of how many diapers to bring since you know your kid.

Bring sippy cups or bottles and formula (if your kid still does it - we switched to whole milk at a year - of course, breastfeeding makes this whole thing moot - although I suppose you'd still want some sippy cups for water at least). If your kid is an apple juice kid, I'd bring that as well - it isn't available at the drink station and getting it from bars might get expensive (if its even available).

Both my kids ate table food by a year - cut up very very small - you won't have any issues getting appropriate food if they'll eat table food. If yours don't, add that to your grocery stop list.

If I had a smaller child on a cruise, I'd bring my own reclining stroller. Mine would have napped in it while I sat by the pool. Don't forget a blanket to keep the sun off them and plenty of baby sunscreen.

Once you pack all the stuff on, if you plan right you won't need to pack it back off - or not much of it (but don't pack too light, diapers on the cruise will be expensive and if you are brand picky, may not be what you want at all). Consider the suitcase in a suitcase trick or bringing a duffle so you can just check your baby stuff when boarding - except a daybag and your stroller.

There are probably some good places to let a crawler crawl or a toddler dart around - for instance, when Studio Sea isn't used for activities, its a big room with a dance floor. Beat Street/Route 66 is pretty empty during the day for little legs to find room to stretch. (Of course, be considerate of others - but during the day we've had some of these areas completely to ourselves). Some areas of the ship can get crowded enough that you probably don't want a crawler on the ground for fear someone may step on him, but once kids get mobile, you need to find someplace they can move.

 

[castlegazer]

Hey guys, I brought up Timon's TR only because it highlighted a point I was making about the inbetween stage of learning to walk on the ship. NOT because it was the way all toddlers will react on the ship - which, by the way, their little princess did so remarkably well with. You do learn a lot about the cruise through it also, plus she's an awesome person who puts it all out there for us to live vicariously through - BONUS!!!!

I have to agree about there being no really great place for toddlers to go play with toys at during the day. Yes - you can take them into the Club to play on the structures but that's not toys. Flounders is not available to just take them in to play for a few minutes with the age appropriate toys unless you have a reserved time. It's just an observation and it was a good one.

We brought a lot of toys and brought along one of those pop up mesh square boxes - it folds flat into the luggage - to store the toys in in the room and have them accessible for play. We brought play food and stacking cups - which make for great all purpose toys and bath instruments and pool toys, and on and on. We had a bag with us every night at dinner filled with toys and stuff to do at the table. It worked out fine.

Having a table by the wall or window also helps because the kids can get down - which is really all they want to do (remember this is a 1 1/2 hour plus event) - and play on the floor.

 

[Timon]

HI guys

Just found this thread via a link on another thread and saw my name mentioned.

Thanks for mentioning my trip report guys I write them to give future WDW/DCL vacationers some insight and provide some entertainment.

The biggest thing is that, and it was mentioned above, is that every single child is different! Just because I had a hard time with something, doesn't mean that you will. The report is there for you to read and take from it whatever you want.

The biggest thing about my cruise report that I think is helpful to others (and again, it's mentioned above as well) is that my daughter basically LEARNED to really walk ON the cruise. Which, for her, and for us, was really tough! Now, I planned this cruise and booked it when I was a few months pregnant, and every baby is different so I didn't know if she would be crawling or walking or what.

When we left for our trip, she was walking a few steps on her own but she decided to really start just as we were boarding the ship. If I had known this when I was planning the trip, I would have postponed it but I didn't and we had to go with the flow. It was tough on her because she was pretty wobbly and she fell down a lot and banged into things.

Looking back, I would have LOVED to take her after she mastered walking. I think she would have had a blast just walking everywhere on the ship.

We had a GREAT time in the parks because she was content to be in her stroller and snack all day long! We spent about 10 days in WDW prior to the cruise and I think she handled it REALLY well for a 10-month old. It wasn't hard because we were gone for 2+ weeks, in fact I would have loved 7 more days in the parks in lieu of the 7 days on the ship! Despite the heat and humidity, I was so proud of her at WDW, she was such a trooper! But it was rough for all of us on the cruise.

So maybe your 10 month old would do better on a cruise if they either had mastered walking or wasn't interesting in trying to walk, who knows? You are the only one that can judge if your child is suited for a cruise but I just wanted to warn parents of new walkers or soon-to-be-walkers that a cruise can be tough.

 

[allboyz]

Hi all, this is my first post to the cruise thread so pardon me if this is a common question. Is it crazy to take a 1 year old on a Disney Cruise? We are thinking about booking a a 4 night cruise for next summer, but we're concerned about taking a 1 year old with us (well, really about 15month old by the time we go, she'll be born on 4/30 of this year). I'm sure some of you have taken kids this young, just curious if it was a good experience. Just FYI it will be me, DW, DD5(7@time of trip), and of course DD1

It is up to you but I would NEVER do it. I know when my kids were that age they wanted to EXPLORE and I was constantly running after them to make sure they did not get hurt. That is not a vacation for me. So I personally would not want to do it.

 

[newfamilyman]

We celebrated DS's first birthday on a Mexican Riviera cruise in 05. DW and I both wrote trip reports sharing our experience, but in a word, it was difficult. Meals were tough, and Flounders during peak periods was a disaster. The second and last time we picked our son up, there were so many screaming babies, and not enough cast members to manage them. They can tell you, though, when the least crowded times are. We're going again this summer, and he'll have just turned four, so hopefully things will be smoother, though the cruise is 15 nights this time, not 7, so we're nervous and hopeful.