Crusing with Kids - Many Questions

CruisinWKids

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
4
We cruised on our Honeymoon (Celebrity) and then anniversary (Royal Olympic/Mediterranean) and now are back to cruise with kids on Disney - 1.5 year old daughter and 2.5 year old son.

Scheduled for the Land/Sea in May 2004 on Wonder.

Any advice on crusing with kids this young would be MUCH appreciated, and specifically:

1. Should we bring a stroller on board? Double? or is it a pain?

2. Do people bring kids this young to dinner?

3. If you arrange child care with the Flounder's Reef upon embarkation, how do you know your dinner schedule to plan/reserve accordingly?

4. Is it true that the Nursery will not change diapers, and they will page parents child if in need of diaper change?

5. How is the fountain that is poolside (in lieu of the pool, since I heard swim diapers are not allowed.)

Thanks!
Michelle
 
. Should we bring a stroller on board? Double? or is it a pain?

2. Do people bring kids this young to dinner?

3. If you arrange child care with the Flounder's Reef upon embarkation, how do you know your dinner schedule to plan/reserve accordingly?

4. Is it true that the Nursery will not change diapers, and they will page parents child if in need of diaper change?


Hi...I traveled Carnival w/a 17 month old and then did DCL when my girls were 5 & 9 so I will answer your questions as best as I can.
I think a double stroller is way to big...I personally would bring an umbrella stroller. For the excursions or if you are just going off ship for shore excursions maybe then 2 umbrella strollers.

Yes....children of all ages are at dinner & usually the waiters are wonderful at keeping them entertained. From what I understand from these boards, Disney tries to keep the ages of children at the same seatings...so that may be a help.

Your dinner rotation is printed on your kttw card and you will no that when you sign in.

I thought that the nursery did change diapers, but I have never used them, I'm sure you could call them and find out.

Have a magical trip!!!:D
 
I'd lean towards a single stroller and a sling -- but that's what I always used when my girls were this size.

I did not see children this young at dinner; however, we had the later seating so it's very possible that I missed them. If I had cruised when my daughters were this age, I would've brought them to dinner half the time and enjoyed an adults-only dinner the other half.

We were "guaranteed" late seating when we made our reservations; when we checked in at the terminal, we learned our specific rotation. Thus, you should know in time to make up your mind about child care.

Thankfully, I'm beyond diapers now, so I have no idea about Flounder's policies on diapers.

There is no fountain by the pools; however, there's one "ear" for infants with swim diapers. I'd suggest taking them early in the morning or late at night for a swim. That'd mean you'd pretty much have the place to yourself; mid-day, it's a madhouse.
 
Yes, Flounders will change diapers.

There are strollers you can borrow on board for $100 deposit. They are very nice and clean. A double stroller is way too big, you may not even be able to get it on the elevator.

Don't worry about taking your kids to dinner. You will probably have early seating and a kid-friendly rotation. The dining room will be filled with kids.

My DD3 and DD4 were exhausted at the end of the day. Plan plenty of time for rest and naps. They also fell asleep whenever we went to a show so be prepared to carry them back to your room. DD3 fell asleep at dinner twice.

Have a great time!

Denae
 

I brought a double stroller when we went in October w/ my 3 month old and 2 1/2 year old. This time around I'm bringing 2 umbrella strollers. I'm hoping DD will walk most of the time and we'll just use the 2nd stroller at the airport.

Flounders does change diapers and they are wonderful.

We always brought the kids to dinner. My older DD got a little restless at times, but they do provide crayons and such. Bring toys to occupy the little ones, but I think people would be surprised if you didn't bring your kids. We had late seating and there were plenty of little ones

Have a great trip
 
We did the land sea when our youngest was 3....

We were one of the EVIL WDW patrons who brought a jogging stroller into the parks with us and we enjoyed every second of it. The only time it was a pain was getting on the bus (but it was manageable) and then it was a pain on the ship..but we had conflicting reports from here and Disney themselves if there were strollers on board or not. It was nice to have the jogging stroller because ds slept in it A LOT at WDW during the day meaning we could all still enjoy the parks and he could take a nap. I wouldnt' take a huge stroller on board with you though..it took up a huge chunk of our stateroom so we put it on the balcony most of the time. I'd bring 2 umbrella strollers as well..they are tiny, fold up and can go under the bed and not be a nuisance. One thing we were NEVER able to use the elevators so we never used the stroller on the ship. My fil did end up carrying it to Parrot Cay one night and we put our exhausted child in it.

I wouldn't give taking the kids that small to dinner a 2nd thought! Our seating had all kinds of kids all ages and it was pretty noisy but it was a fun noisy!!

The rest of it I can't help you with.
Heidi
 
just got back from our 7 day cruise, with 2 DSs, 5 & 2.

1. Should we bring a stroller on board? Double? or is it a pain?

yes, at least one! like others have said, double stroller would be too big & bulky, maybe. we brought an umbrella stroller, used it mainly when we got onto the islands, and also at the airport! oh, i realized you're on land/sea...you'd definitely need a stroller! unless you want to rent one at land.

2. Do people bring kids this young to dinner?

yes! we had early seating & there were kids of all ages! and they have crayons & mickey paper menu thing that kids can draw & doodle on. and the wait staff try to entertain the kids, as much as they can.

3. If you arrange child care with the Flounder's Reef upon embarkation, how do you know your dinner schedule to plan/reserve accordingly?

your rotation for dinner is printed on your kttw card when you first check in. people say if you have little ones, your rotation will most likely be APL. and i went with that, and checked out the different menus for the different days, and decided which days i wanted to skip/reserve for palo. at the nursery, you have the option to sign up for up to 3 slots, max, for the first day. and then, on subsequent days, you can sign up, if there are spaces. we picked our brunch & dinner time slots, and signed up the first day for those. oh, bring a walkie talkie, and have your husband get in line at the nursery & you get in line for palo, or vise versa, so if the times you wanted are not available, you can "reschedule" with one another right on the spot! that's what we did!

4. Is it true that the Nursery will not change diapers, and they will page parents child if in need of diaper change?

they do change diapers there. they don't feed your child. unless it's your own bottle. we fed our DS before we dropped him off, and he was fine. you have to bring a little diaper bag with diapers & wipes so they have it with them at the nursery. or just a little zip lock bag with your stuff in it. label everything, cuz if you don't they will!

5. How is the fountain that is poolside (in lieu of the pool, since I heard swim diapers are not allowed.)

it's fun for them. a little circular "pool" that water just streams out of the side, and drains into the middle of the "pool". our DS2 enjoyed it! this other family brought some little water toys (scooping cups), and all the kids were playing with that. your child have to be in swim diapers to be in this "pool" area!

it'd be fun for your family! our DSs loved the characters! our DS2 enjoyed going to flounders reef! he kept saying it was fun there!

if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! have a great trip! :wave2:
 

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