Cruising with 2 year old

[LoveMyDVC]

Anyone here ever do the cruise for 7 nights with a 2 1/2 year old? How did it go? Did they enjoy it? Did you enjoy it? THinking about doing a cruise next January with DD and DW. Would love any feedback

 

[BALAMAV]

We just got back from 3 night cruise. My sisters son is 2 1/4. She felt ther ewas not enough on the ship for kids that young. They are not aloud in any of the pools. Only the one ear of the Mickey pool. The clubs they have to be three. They have babysitting service not in the rooms but somewhere on the ship. But it does cost. It was alot to go site seeing at the ports. You have to take a stroller and make sure you have food and water when your out there. She didn't want to let him eat any food on Nassau. Afraid he would get sick. But she said they had a great time at CC. There was alot to do for him. My kids are 6 and 8 and there was alot to do. We didn't spend much time with them because of the age differance. So I didn't even realize this till we got home. But they still had a great time. We spent 7 days before the cruise at the parks. She said there was alot for him to do there. They are going back next year but just the Parks. She said she will wait a few more years to do another cruise. Hope this helps Brenda

 

[LoveMyDVC]

thank you, that is very helpful

 

[SueEllen]

We took my son at 14 months and 25 months. We had a great time. I do suggest using Flounder's nursery for evenings or dinner time so you can enjoy yourself also, but overall we had a wonderful time with him.

The pool usage was a non-issue for us. There is so much to do that we never even went to the pools (and he is a water bug--we have a pool at home.)

I think you will have a great time whatever you decide.

Sue Ellen

 

[lkohawaii]

I've heard that the times in Flounder's is limited. Is it possible to get a dinner slot for all the dinner's? I thought I read somewhere that they limit you to 2 slots. I can't imagine my son sitting for an hour and a half through dinner.

 

[We Love the Mouse!]

We went on a 4 day when my daughter was almost 2. We used Flounder's, which was great but my daughter who was a little more independent didn't like to stay there too long. We still had a good time, just a little less adult time. We were able to go to the spa by just taking turns. This past year we went on the new Year's 7 day. Our dd was 3 and absolutely loved the club. Our ds was 5 1/2 months and we used Flounder's alot. He loved it. On the first day you are able to chose your top 3 selections and then after that you can check to see if they have additional availability. We used Flounder's for a couple hours every day! We are now trying to decide if we will go againthis year because we don't think we will go when ds is between 2-3yrs.

 

[minniemouse1]

We went on a cruise in Oct with our 2 DDs that were 1 1/2 and 2 1/2. Our 2 1/2 yo was potty trained so she went to the Oceaneers club and loved it. We did not use it that much though. She went to dinner with us and ate, only took about 15min since our server brought her food out immediately, and then she went to the kids club until we were done if she wouldn't sit still. We did use flounders twice for our 1 1/2 yo and she enjoyed it there. They have lots of cribs for napping, toys, and it is very clean.

We had a wonderful time on our cruise I just wish I could of joined my husband and the rest of our family in the evenings for the adult entertainment instead of retiring to the room to put the children to sleep. You can leave the kids at the OC until I think 1230 and also at Flounders but I did not want to pay for that much time in the nursery for my youngest.

My 2 1/2 yo also loved the pool. It was an issue for my 1 1/2 yo because they wouldn't let her in the mickey pool. This is a big debate on these boards about if a non potty trained child should be allowed in the mickey/goofy pools. All I know is that in the past 2 months we have stayed at 2 different hotels with pools, visited a theme/water park and visited 2 of our local YMCA's with pools and a swim diaper/non potty trained child was never an issue. Some of the other disers on the boards have had the pool closed on the cruise for a few hours because someone had discovered stool in the pool. From experience the stool cannot exit a swim diaper and IMO this was done by and older child or a child without a swim diaper on. So if this is going to be an issue than I would maybe wait until she is trained so she can enjoy the whole pool without any restrictions.

We also took both of our children with us on the stingray excursion. We brought our own lifejackets from home and a small blow up pool ( bought at walmart for $.99) that we put our youngest in. She floated in the pool and we pulled her along with us while we were in the water. Our 2 1/2 yo swam with us most of the time and spent a little time in the pool. They both loved it and we would definately do it again with our children.

So in my point of view we loved our cruise and are doing another in April with our 2 DDs and our new baby due to arrive in August. I believe it is what you make of it and if you expect it to be perfect and completely stress free than that's unrealistic esp with a toddler. My oldest still talks about mickeys boat and playing on the beach at CC and it was 7 months ago!

 

[RickW]

Just a quick note about the "extra cost" of Flounders:

Consider the following:
According to the DCL brochure that I have sitting next to me, the cost to take a child under 3 on the 7 day cruise is $139.
The cost to take a 3 year old is $399-$1399 (I assume that the difference is based on stateroom category and season).

Let's assume that you are in a Cat 12 duing low season, and you paid $399 for your 3 year old. That is $260 more than the 2 year old. This means that, in essence, you are paying $260 for the "free" use of the kids club. At $6 an hour for Flounders, your 2 year old could spend over 40 hours in Flounders during the cruise and you still wouldn't pay as much as you would for a 3 year old who can use the club for "free".

If you are in something other than a Cat 12 during low season, the difference is even more dramatic.

Now, of course, this ignores the issue of Flounders' limited space, but I don't think that I will consider the cost to be a determining factor for the amount of time our 2 year old will spend there during our cruise.

 

[CM_Mom]

The "NO Swim Diapers in the Pool" is a US Public Health restriction and applies to all cruise ships, not just Disney.

 

[LisaGoeke]

We took a 7 night cruise last October with two 28 month old boys (plus two older children). It was a lot of work for us, not too relaxing, and we decided it would be a few more years before we take them again. Our 4 and 8 year old did great, so probably when the boys turn 4 we'll give it another shot.

 

[rsjj]

did 7 night in march with our 2 DSs 4 & 2 1/4. we had a blast! our 2 yo loved being in the ear of the mickey pool! he was content just sitting there, with the water streams! and another family had water toys, so they were playing with those. we put him in flounders twice, once for palo dinner and once for palo brunch. he enjoyed going there. he still talks about "nursery reef"-that's what he calls it. and he loved seeing the characters! he, along with his older brother, chased goofy down the hall one night when we happen to spot him! goofy went into flounders (i guess to visit the little ones), and our DS2 was standing out side the door way yelling "goofy, come out!!!" it was so cute!

yes, definitely bring an umbrella stroller. we used it when we went on shore to browse around. and brought our own waterbottles for the boys, so they had water while off the ship.

we had cat 6, since our boys still took naps, and figured while they're napping, DH & i can enjoy our time out on the verandah, and our boys loved the verandah! they loved seeing the ocean, and feeling the breeze, etc.

oh, and our DS 2 LOVES to run around, and there were enough places for him to run around on deck 4 ( i think).

all in all, we really enjoyed ourselves, together as a family, and without our boys, for short while.

 

[epjenk]

We just got back from the 3 day wonder with our 4 yr old and 2 1/2 year old. My 2 1/2 year old had a great time. He loved the mickey ear, loved the dinners and the shows, was quite the ham on stage during the family dueling pianos and the family disco party. I do think he would have had more fun if he had been 3 so that he could have gone into the kids club with his brother. Flounders is convenient, but no doubt the kids clubs are more fun. He was not happy about the "baby class" after he had seen the Oceaneers Club his brother was in. If timing is flexible, I'd wait until he is 3 and potty trained so you can make full use of the pools and kids clubs.