Cruising with Pre-Schoolers??

[Popovich]

The DH and I are thinking of planning a cruise but do not know if our children are too young. Our DD is 5 1/2 and our DS in 4.

Are there family shows/activities for our son's age group? We would love to know your experiences and tips!!

If you had a category 5 or 6 with a verandah, did you have any concerns about your little ones being able to fall overboard? Obviously, I'm a little nervous, but the DH and I would love to have a verandah.

Thanks so much!!

 

[rgionet]

I have twin boys and they went on the cruise last April two months before their second birthday and they had a great time. They loved the Hercules show and the Mickey pool the best! Now that they are three we are going again in Sept. I know they will have a great time participating in the club activities or just swimming in the pool. Check out Dave's cruise site (can't seem to think of the website address right now) or Barbara's site at www.castawayclub.com they have the navigator's for the daily ship activities as well as the navigator's for the children's clubs. This should give you a better idea of what would interest your children. HTH

 

[PiperG]

We brought DS 4 (now 5) to the club immediatley upon emarkment. He just fell in love with the place.

We spent our days in the Mickey pool and really did very little else. I know that we missed a lot of great stuff but he was just crazy about the pool. He napped in the afternoon while we sat on the verandah. Then, we dressed for dinner. Here is the great part!!! He loved the club so much that he downed his Mac and Cheese in no time flat. DH or myself would take him over to the club in between courses, and then enjoy the remainder of our dinner with our tablemates. Very nice to have adult time at dinner

We would pick him up later in the evening and then let him watch whatever Disney movie was on while we spent time on the verandah. He was thrilled about staying up to watch the movie, although always konked out ASAP.

We felt the verandah was very safe. Enjoy your cruise

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by Popovich

If you had a category 5 or 6 with a verandah, did you have any concerns about your little ones being able to fall overboard? Obviously, I'm a little nervous, but the DH and I would love to have a verandah.

Although the verandahs have rails, the inside of the railing is lined with PlexiGlas so kids can't climb the rails like a ladder. This is also true on all public decks. The door to the verandah has a lock that is tricky for adults to open and would be impossible for your DS and DD to open. Just make a point of locking the door when you come back into the room and make a rule that they're not allowed on the verandah without an adult.

And for what it's worth... nobody has ever fallen off a Disney ship (although a couple people have jumped).

 

[Popovich]

Thanks for the information. I'm glad you had success with the kid's club. I think we would take advantage of it at least once to have an adult dinner

What time of year did you cruise? Was it too crowded to enjoy the pool?

We are planning to book our trip for end of March or beginning of April!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[ZebraStripes]

We cruised on the Wonder the 3rd week in March, 2001 when my daughter was 5. As my daughter was a very earlier riser at that stage, we would be at the Mickey pool by 6:30 am and would have it all to ourselves. Mid afternoon it did get filled with kids, but I never thought it was out of control. She wasn't daring enough to try the slide though. We actually did maybe 1/4 of what the ship had to offer as we just enjoyed relaxing. We had a cat. 6 and I was never concerned about the verandah. My daughter loved to sit out there. It is definately worth the extra $$. She wasn't much for the kids club though. She is a velcro child and wanted to be with her Mom and Dad. Dinner was always an adventure because my child eats NOTHING normal! But the wait staff always accommodated our strange requests. Hopefully, when we cruise on the Magic in February 03 we'll get to see more of the shows and experience all the things we didn't get to see the first time around. My daughter prefers a Disney cruise over any other type of vacation, even going to WDW!

 

[plutospup]

DD4 loved our "Magic" cruise. Most importantly, though, we insisted on "nap time" each afternoon. On Sunday we skipped our nap, and by 8pm it was getting ugly! Other than that she loved the shows, Mickey Pool, and Oceaneers'Club. Although she's a picky eater, she ate well thoughout the cruise!

 

[Popovich]

I'm glad you all had such good experiences. Your input and the info on the boards has convinced us to give it a try!

Thanks much!