DW or cruise

[la79al]

I posted yesterday about how exhausting our DW trip was last week with DD at 19 months. I got a lot of good advice and I am thinking that I can make the spring trip work (DD will be 23.5 months), with a little tweaking. DH on the other hand is questioning whether we should do a cruise instead. I have tried to tell him a cruise would be worse, as there is little to nothing for DD to do, she can't get in the pools unless she is PT (she shows no interest), and there is not a whole lot of room for her to run around safely. So who's right? Would DW, as difficult as it would be, still easier than a non-Disney cruise?

 

[happymommy]

I would say from my experience, Disneyworld is far easier with a very young one. There is so much to see and do. We always take our time, go at our own pace, relax when we feel like it at WDW. Our kids would sleep in the stroller for a nap, so some days we'd just park it in the shade and sit somewhere with a cool beer, people watching and relaxing.

I did the Disney cruise once, but really prefer WDW. I even started taking my kids without my DH (he works a lot, and now doesn't want to go as often as me) when my kids were 4 and 6. I find WDW so easy to vacation with little ones - there is so much to entertain them, there are so many food options, you don't need to drive anywhere, and I love walking around a lot.

On a cruise, at least the Disney one, kids must be 3 and potty trained to use the clubs. So, you are taking care of a young one on the ship. There isn't as much for them to do at all. I'd wait on the cruise personally. Actually, my son was 10 on our cruise, and he was bored a lot. He didn't like the clubs (they are better for younger kids) but was too young for the teen things. He wants to do a RCCL one sometime now!

 

[peyjax]

I want to say CRUISE! However you said non disney and you lost me there. I have been a RCL and Disney, one is geared for kids and one is sooo not. Take a guess.

I would do Disney Land and Sea. Three days on the boat and four days at the parks. It gives you the best of both worlds!! Our 2 yr and 4 yr old loved it!

 

[MiniGirl]

Our Disney cruise was our favorite family vacation ever. However, with a young one like yours, I would opt for DW. I don't know how it is on other cruises. On DCL though, the kids' clubs are free but the nursery is not. It is also on a first come, first serve basis meaning that you couldn't even really plan to leave them in the nursery and have a nice dinner.

If it were me, I'd pick WDW.

 

[ekatiel]

We are going on our first family cruise in March. Our kids are 3 and a half and 5 and a half. DH and I LOVE cruising, but we've never taken the kids before. Some things to consider: I would wait until your DD turns 2-- then she can go in the kid's club on a Carnival cruise. I'm not sure if there are any other cruise lines that take 2 year olds. I know both RCCL and DCL both only take them at 3 years old in the clubs. Disney cruises are also generally priced MUCH higher than other cruise lines. Also, for us, we live near a cruise port and will not have to buy airline tickets to go on our Carnival Cruise (RCCL also cruises out of Houston), but if we were to go on a Disney cruise or go back to WDW, we would have to buy plane tickets, which makes our week long cruise on Carnival cost about HALF as much as our week long trip to Disney World last May (and we stayed in a VALUE with the 4/3 deal!!). I would say that it's worth a try if you can find something for fairly cheap on a cruise line that will take 2 year olds in the club. Otherwise, I'd do Disney again. --Katie

 

[micheleq]

Won't your older kids be hurt because the toddler went to WDW and then their trip to WDW gets cancelled? Or would they prefer a cruise instead? I'd ask the kids what they would like and go from there. Any trip with a toddler is exhausting LOL!

 

[abdmom]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that a cruise, is much more relaxing, but you have to choose the right one. I haven't been on DCL (yet). I have been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. If your little one were 2 -3 y.o., I'd recommend Carnival. They change diapers. For a 23 month old, I'd recommend Royal's Oasis of the Seas, which has a nursery program for the little ones. Oasis, Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas all have pools where a non-potty trained child can play. All Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships have in - cabin babysitting (at an additional charge).

 

[ktlm]

Maybe it's just me, but I would never take a kid that age on a cruise. My DD was very active and liked to run away from us at that age. If we took her on a cruise, I would have spent the entire time panicked that she would run off and fall off the ship somehow. Also, I'm not comfortable leaving a kid that little in a nursery or club or play program with strangers on a cruise ship either (or being babysat by strangers). I don't think there would have been much to keep her entertained for long on a ship.

 

[Brancaneve]

We took our DD on a cruise at 15 months and I vowed to never do it again. Kids at that age need space, to run around, to explore and a cruise ship has limited space. Our cabin was tiny and she would see our door and run the other way! She hated the room and the dinners were way too long.

My advice to you is to take her to DW where she can get our of her stroller and play in the Pooh playground, or explore Epcot. Despite what you do, have a great time!