First cruise, question about childcare

[xQuizx]

On our last cruise our son was almost 3.5. He was primarily going into the Oceaneer's club with his sister who was 5. We had the Royal Court Tea so I decided to put him in the nursery for a couple of hours, since he would be alone in the club. When I went to pick him up he had the biggest smile on his face and was having a blast.

Your child will have fun in the nursery.

I suggest booking all your nursery times when you get on the ship, since hours book up for sea days.

Cheers!

 

[wazooz2424]

just an update. thanks for all of the suggestions and feedback. we booked our cruise for Nov 3rd and were able to convince my in laws to join us (didn't take much, to be honest). really looking forward to the cruise.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

just an update. thanks for all of the suggestions and feedback. we booked our cruise for Nov 3rd and were able to convince my in laws to join us (didn't take much, to be honest). really looking forward to the cruise.

You will be glad your in-laws are coming. Multi-family units are one of the ways DCL really excels. Not only is it extra family members to spend time with your kids, but the combinations are great. How many vacations do you get to spend time with your in-laws alone, while your kids are off having fun elsewhere? And it will be a great way for them to spend quality time with their grandchildren too. Plus, everything on the ship is relatively close together, so switching up groups and different combinations of your family being together at different times is easy and quick. So if different groups want to different things at different times, mixing and matching is easy. Not like on most vacations where you have to trade-off cars and things.

Have a great trip, and let us know how it goes!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

At that age, I’d prefer the little one to stay in the nursery anyways. Once you see the difference between the 2 environments you’ll understand why.

The nursery staff is amazing. They even remembered my daughter from our cruise the year prior. Love them!

 

[Minnie - Not the Mouse]

I would do a potty training boot camp (usually three days over a long weekend - you can find instructions online). We did it before a trip so we had options. It's nice to have options

 

[kboo]

We did our first cruise ever back in August, YDD was just shy of 2 years. She had a blast in the nursery and I'm sorry we didn't use it more often. Even though it was $9/hour, it was well worth it. We did it for a couple of early dinners and Remy brunch, and also a few afternoons where we just wanted to spend some time with our ODD. We also used it for an hour or 2 on occasion before dinner to have adult cocktail hour before dinner (1st seating). ODD who was almost 6 at the time (and pretty socially mature) had a great time at the kids' club and made friends there. That said, we will hold off on another cruise until YDD can go to the kids club with ODD next time. So 2019 at least.

 

[kboo]

Oh - one big bummer - and this is why we put YDD in the nursery a few times in the afternoon - is that unless they are completely potty trained, toddlers are also not allowed in any pools at all, and there is a height requirement for the Aquaduck. I think I went in 1 pool once on our whole weeklong cruise.

 

[Ravenne]

Something to keep in mind...

Oceaneer & Lab are connected and kids have free reign between the 2, for ages 3-12. Some 10-12 yr olds are the size if not bigger than some adults. It wouldn't take much to easily and accidentally knock over a 3 yr old. 12 yr olds are still kids too, and they get distracted, or maybe just not fully aware of their surroundings or to think to look for wee ones below their waistline. Most 11-12 yr olds prefer Edge, but they can and still do access Oceaneer & Lab whenever they want, and leave whenever they want. Do wee ones always get run over? Likely not, but just something to keep in mind that there is a huge age gap in there. While Youth Counselor CMs are great at what they do, the reality remains there are more kids than there are CMs. Furthermore, if your tot has an accident, they can't help change the diaper or Pull-Up. They're not even allowed to assist with going to the potty.