DCL w/2 year old?

[Sarangel]

Howdy all, I had a question regarding those of you who have cruised with very young children. My DH and I have reservations for the Magic 7/9 to 7/16/05 for the west coast cruise, and our DD will be just 2 years old then. We're planning on driving down & taking a couple of days afterward at Disneyland. Since the last time we cruised, we were childless, I have a couple of questions:

Can anyone tell me how Flounder's Reef works, and will they take a child over 2? All the liturature I've found for them says they take children up to 2, and the oceaneer's club takes ages 3 and over, so what happens to our little girl? Also, how much does the nursery cost?

Any other tips would be appreciated, since we're still making this parenting thing up, and I have no idea what our DD will be like in a year.

 

[thiscloud]

i believe flounder's reef will take kids who are under 3 (i guess when they say they'll take up to 2 year olds, they mean up until they turn 3). also if a child over 3 isn't fully potty trained, i think there's limited space in flounder's reef for them.

the first disney cruise we went on was a 4-day on the wonder and our dd was just 1 year old. fortunately we had my parents with me (separate cabin luckily but adjoined ), so we didn't have to use it, and on our next cruise, dd will turn 4 on the ship. so i don't have any firsthand information.

 

[thiscloud]

this site has more information: http://www.allearsnet.com/cruise/cruise_7.shtml

 

[SueEllen]

Last October we sailed and my son was 25 months--so he had just turned 2.

Flounders does take children up to 3, and if a 3 year old isn't potty trained they will taken that child also. Go to Flounders first thing to request your times for babysitting. You are guaranteed a certain number of spaces (you put a * next to your preferred times and those are the ones they guarantee you.) Then if they are able they will call and confirm your other times you chose (if you chose more than the guaranteed times.)


No need to look any further than the DIS for your information--Look at the thread stuck on the top of the board with links and such. There is a link to the children's programming information for you. Children's Programming Link

Relax and you will be fine. You will have a great cruise and your 2 year old will have a good time too. I do suggest utilizing Flounders at dinner time if necessary. Often dinner lasts too long for their short attention span. We would eat together as a family for the first hour, then we would take my son to Flounders and we would finish our meal (dinner takes about 2 hours)

I hope this helps some.
Sue Ellen

 

[bnlbebes]

Is there a ratio that DCL tries to maintain with staff to kids?

Also, our 2yo DS has been in home care with just a few other children. He is social, but never really been in a large group setting. How will he take to the Reef? Is there enough there to keep him occupied?

 

[Sarangel]

Thanks for some great information. SueEllen, my girl will also be 25 months old, so your post is very reassuring. I'm wondering whether or not my DH & I will be able to go on any of the excursions on the west coast... i suppose we'll find out more about this once other cruisers have started using this intinerary.

Thanks Again.

 

[SueEllen]

Flounders offers times during excursions that coordinate with the Disney excursions. We took advantage of this so that we could go ashore and know he was being well taken care of. They know what excursion you are on so if they need to reach you they know just how to.

I think you will be fine--but I highly suggest the dinner time reservation if your little one is anything like mine!

Sue Ellen

 

[erbie]

I took DD into Flounders when we went on the cruise when she was just one year old. We didn't leave her there because she has never been okay with strangers, but we did go to the open house time they had, and played a bit. There is PLENTY there to keep the little ones busy. Tons of fun toys, (multiples of each thing), rocking horses, videos, cribs for napping, gliders for the caregivers to rock babies, etc.

DD had lots of fun playing there when we visited.