First Time Cruise!

[TinkerChelle]

We are considering cruising on the Dream May 2012 and then hitting Gay Days at MK and Epcot following the cruise. I know it is more than a year away but I'm sort of an OCD planner! My biggest concern is how many cruisers actually cruise with little ones. Both our kids (God willing) will be too young to use the Clubs-we do have the option of the nursery center that is an extra charge but I don't know how interactive/fun that would be for them. DS would be 2 years 10 months and the baby would be 15 months. The upside is, of course, they are free but I assume dining with two toddlers would bother our fellow diners and we don't want them spending every dinner in the nursery. Any thoughts? Anyone cruised with little ones?

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I have never cruised with kids that young but from what I have seen it is wonderful. Just think being able to spend time with the kids with NO other worries. No thoughts of cooking, cleaning, working. Nothing.

Don't put them in the nursery. Just be cognizant of their behavior. If one starts to act up take them out of the dining room. Remember there will be no other stresses so dinner can be a nice relaxing time as well.

My opinion is to go for it.

Also as you do your research and stuff you may want to check out the cruise critic message board. There are lots of great tips for traveling with families.

 

[2GirlsMama]

My kids are older, but we just booked the Disney Dream for January 2012. Maybe be can OCD plan together.

We have always included our kids in everything we do. We got lucky and have really great kids, but we don't let having kids slow us down. They are great at travelling and love a good adventure!

 

[akcire]

The upside is, of course, they are free

Bad news. Disney changed their policy. They are not free anymore.

I looked at a cruse for Dec/Jan of 2011--when "feti" (I am 32 weeks pregnant now) would be 7-8 months old. Her fare was going to be $300. Now I have no problem paying taxes or port charges for her, but there was an actual fare also--she won't be eating anything from the ship, nor doing any activities.

We just decided we'd wait until she was old enough to at least walk off some tread on the deck, and more likely until she was old enough for any activity.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I have never been on a Disney cruise. I am a frequent NCL cruiser. If you are looking for a cruise I know that NCL is often portrayed as one of the few that does not charge for kids under 3 or 2. I can't remember. It's been such a long time since mine fell into that category.Not sure how that happened.

 

[TinkerChelle]

Bad news. Disney changed their policy. They are not free anymore.

I looked at a cruse for Dec/Jan of 2011--when "feti" (I am 32 weeks pregnant now) would be 7-8 months old. Her fare was going to be $300. Now I have no problem paying taxes or port charges for her, but there was an actual fare also--she won't be eating anything from the ship, nor doing any activities.

We just decided we'd wait until she was old enough to at least walk off some tread on the deck, and more likely until she was old enough for any activity.

Thanks for the heads up! Glad I knew that before the quote came back!

 

[itsmuggsie]

We took Ellie on a 4 night cruise on the Wonder in Dec, she was 13 months. We used the nursery a few times. She seemed to enjoy it lots of toys to play with. Dinners were a bit challenging. Although Ellie's dinner was brought out first, by the time we got our dinner she was done. We rarely were able to eat dessert. We did put her in the nursery one night for dinner. We did get to enjoy a leisurely dinner that night. We took her to one show and she loved it, I forget which one it was.

She loved getting her picture with the characters, it was cold so we weren't able to go in the pool with her. She did get to stick her feet in the water at Castaway Cay, and she really enjoy that and playing in the sand.

We are planning another cruise either in Oct or Nov of this year.

 

[TinkerChelle]

We took Ellie on a 4 night cruise on the Wonder in Dec, she was 13 months. We used the nursery a few times. She seemed to enjoy it lots of toys to play with. Dinners were a bit challenging. Although Ellie's dinner was brought out first, by the time we got our dinner she was done. We rarely were able to eat dessert. We did put her in the nursery one night for dinner. We did get to enjoy a leisurely dinner that night. We took her to one show and she loved it, I forget which one it was.

She loved getting her picture with the characters, it was cold so we weren't able to go in the pool with her. She did get to stick her feet in the water at Castaway Cay, and she really enjoy that and playing in the sand.

We are planning another cruise either in Oct or Nov of this year.

Thanks for the info!!! We should cruise together sometime. Join us in May 2012??? I bet we would have a blast.

 

[itsmuggsie]

Thanks for the info!!! We should cruise together sometime. Join us in May 2012??? I bet we would have a blast.

I was thinking the same thing! I can run it by Cindy see what she says.

 

[TinkerChelle]

I was thinking the same thing! I can run it by Cindy see what she says.

Awesome! Let's make it happen...we could request the same table for dinner and then all the kids could fuss together, but it would just be us, so who cares?