First time Cruiser- leaving 2 year old in baby center

[bryannem]

Hi all!
We are taking our first Disney cruise in May 2016. Our son turns 2 in March. We are debating on having him go to the baby center one night so we can eat at Palo. I am a little nervous, as he is not really old enough to say if anything is wrong. So I have a few questions:
Would they feed him dinner? What if he is just eating food from the restaurants?
Do they come and get us if he was upset?

Any thoughts, opinions or experiences would be very much appreciated!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Although my daughter was far beyond nursery age when we discovered DCL cruises, I've read nothing but wonderful things about the nursery. The nursery staff will send you a message to your Wave phone if they need you. They will feed him. I'm not sure if they offer the toddlers in the nursery the same types of food for dinner that they offer to the kids in the Oceaneer's Club, but he would be fed food which is appropriate for him to eat. If you are concerned, go talk to the nursery staff on embarkation day. I'm sure they will put your fears to rest.

There is a Youth Activities crew member who has a thread here to answer questions about kids clubs. I will find that thread for you and post a link here.

ETA: http://disboards.com/threads/current-youth-activities-cm.3466830/

 

[ANGRebel]

We used the nursery on the Wonder in November and the staff was extremely nice. Our 2 year old did not really care for the nursery (primarily, I believe because she was on the very older end of the children in there and her sister was off in the Oceaneer's Club. We think she felt like a baby in the nursery.) The staff was very kind. We never had her in there during mealtime (we did a Palo brunch, but fed the kids before we dropped them off). We put her in the nursery twice, I think. We checked on her through the window a couple of times, and she always seemed to be having a fun time playing. We were going to put her in a different day, but she really didn't want to go so we kept her (I wasn't going to make her go if she really didn't want to). The other two times she did fine with drop off. I don't know for sure what they served for meals, but I know they did different things like crackers and stuff for snacks.

 

[DLgeeks]

We used the nursery on the Fantasy back in March quite a bit for DS who was 19mo at the time and it was great. We did a couple of Palo/Remy meals and he had a fine time. The kid to counselor ratio in the nursery is much smaller than in the kids clubs so they get a lot more focused attention, and there are a lot of toys/art projects, etc to keep them occupied. If they are there at meal times they will feed the kids (things like pasta, chicken, veggies, etc) and they also have snacks available all the time. For the evening times he was there we'd drop him off with a pair of pjs in the diaper bag and they would change him and put him down to sleep if he was getting too tired before we finished eating (there is a separate "quiet" room with cribs and rocking chairs). As long as you have a wave phone with you they will call you if anything comes up (we would also always try to let them know where we were planning on being). Half the time we would go to pick him up at our scheduled time and they would let us know he was sound asleep and to go out and have fun for a bit longer!

 

[fab1976]

My daughter will be 3 in April, and we just got off the Fantasy this past Saturday. She is a very shy little thing but does attend a preschool so has experience being dropped off somewhere. We made sure to attend the open house on the first sea day from 8-9 so she knew it was a fun place. Took her back later that morning and she went easily. Did another hour either later that day or the next, and there was a kid who cried so much they made themselves throw up. Did not go over well with my sensitive girl. We picked her up just after it happened and she was in tears. The next day we went to drop her off for a third time and she was super clingy and cried hard. Pushed through because sometimes you just need to do that and then they settle down. Well when we went back to pick her up she was asleep, 2 hours before her nap time and without her beloved soother which she always needs to fall asleep. So in this case, she didn't calm down, she cried herself to sleep . We left her there but that was the last time we had time to ourselves because she REFUSED like hysterical limp noodle couldn't get her through the door again even for open house time. I think the little ones and crying just didn't mix well with her. Her preschool teacher hearing that it was for babies up to age 3 said she understood why she didn't like it, thought she was too mature for that age group. I'm not sure about that, and I know they have separate activities for older vs babies, but for us it just didn't work. I wasn't willing to push either, it's not a situation where she HAD to go. And they did deal with the tears, and I have no doubt they would have messaged us if she hadn't fallen asleep. In fact they messaged us when she woke up. So if your child is upset and can't be calmed they will definitely get you back there for them. They also ask when you check them in about snacks and juice and such. They don't provide baby food but do provide solid food. Not sure about meals but we saw trolleys being wheeled in the back room of the nursery at meal times so I know they have something for them!

Sorry mine isn't the most positive experience, but wanted to reassure you they will let you know if the child can't be comforted. And there's a good ratio so there's always someone available to comfort a child. And there's always 2, they are never alone with the kids.

 

[xQuizx]

On our last trip we were on the Dream and we used the nursery every day of our cruise. We would bring him in for an hour in the morning and also after dinner each night. After dinner he would be ready for bed so they would put him down in a crib for a few hours while we took our 3.5 year old out to the shows. The longest stretch we had was just over 3 hours and during that time the nursery crew put our little one down for a nap, changed him afterwards and fed him lunch.

You keep a wave phone with you so the staff can contact you if there are any problems, or if you want to call and check in.

Our little one doesn't go to daycare, but he loved going to the nursery.

If you're a little nervous about dropping him off at the nursery, just remember you're not more then a 5 minute walk away.

 

[Mandlz]

We used the nursery on both the Dream (18 months old) and the Magic (2 years old), and she absolutely loved it both times! On the first cruise, we were worried she wouldn't be able to sit and have a meal with us every night, so we booked her in the nursery at dinner time. Not only did the feed her, but she had such a wonderful time playing it was hard to get her to leave! On the night we did Remy's, we came back expecting her to be sound asleep (long past her bedtime), and she was still going strong! We didn't book her in as much on the Magic, but the times that we did, she again had a great time playing and creating with the craft stuff in there, and when we would tell her it was time to leave, would say Nope, and keep right on playing! We fully intend to book her some more time in there on our cruise this April, as she won't be quite old enough yet for Oceaneers.

I think it's entirely up to the individual child, though, as to if they will enjoy the nursery or not. Some children are more outgoing and open to change than others, and some will just hate being left with strangers. The staff has always been fantastic, and while we have never had an issue that necessitated them to contact us, they have assured us absolutely that they would if something were to go amiss. I would definitely say book some time in there and try it out, and if you little one just absolutely hates it, you can always cancel any future time, or if they love it, you can book some more!

 

[fab1976]

I also wanted to say they were really good about canceling the times we had booked and cancelled last minute. I expected a charge on pirate night but they waived it. Regular policy is cancel 4 hours before. If you want some last minute time that you didn't prebook they may or may not be able to take them based on their ratio of caregiver to child. They recommended calling first just in case you get there and they are full and have to say no. Doesn't always go over well with littles to get told they can't play after all.

 

[Mandlz]

I also wanted to say they were really good about canceling the times we had booked and cancelled last minute. I expected a charge on pirate night but they waived it. Regular policy is cancel 4 hours before. If you want some last minute time that you didn't prebook they may or may not be able to take them based on their ratio of caregiver to child. They recommended calling first just in case you get there and they are full and have to say no. Doesn't always go over well with littles to get told they can't play after all.

Also to note, you can only prebook so many hours in advance, but if you have more times you want to book, just call or go in on embarkation day and do it then. The restriction on hours only applies to time booked prior to the cruise - everything afterwards is fair game.

 

[Quellman]

We have used the nursery on the Fantasy for our then 14 month old. He had very limited experience being left places without us. Just church nursery on Sunday mornings. We did as others have mentioned, making use of the open house time to get him acclimated and show him what was going on. Even if you do not plan on leaving your kid there at nursery, I still recommend doing open house times. Kids love toys and activities and you can only pack so much on board, even if you drive!

When we put him in nursery one night so we could have a sane adult meal with family, he was knocking on the door to be let in before we even were checked in. So for us it was a success. He even had an accident with his outfit. I honestly don't remember if it was something wet was spilled on him, if he made a mess or what, but they had put him in a DCL standard grey onsie by the time we came back. Nothing was ever the matter with him, but they will reach you by wave phone, and usually ask where you think you might be on the ship (or off of it, like on stops to Castaway Cay).

We will be using the services next month on the Dream and he is now 2.5 years old. Can't wait to see how he does!

 

[KT2038]

Hi! I am a youth activities Counselor. We are all very highly trained with lots of experience in looking after children. We feed the children dinner or lunch which is the same as what the older kids eat. If there is a problem we will call you straight away on your wave phone. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[lolainkent]

My DD was just under 2 when we went on the Dream in 2014 and we loved the nursery! We had pre-booked about 8 hours but we were able to get her in anytime once on board (obviously that might not always be the case). DD just loved going in, the staff were amazing, we ran into Ariel going in one night (she told us that the nursery is her favourite place on board ). DD was given a certificate, which we still have, that said "best giggle on the high seas," delivered to our fish on the last night. Your DS will be in great hands.

As for dinner - you could always book Palo for 8pm and take your DS in the MDR and sit with him as he eats? I guess that only works if you have main dining but I know that's what a lot of parents do - your server won't mind if only he eats and you have a soft drink or tea or whatever.

 

[bryannem]

My daughter will be 3 in April, and we just got off the Fantasy this past Saturday. She is a very shy little thing but does attend a preschool so has experience being dropped off somewhere. We made sure to attend the open house on the first sea day from 8-9 so she knew it was a fun place. Took her back later that morning and she went easily. Did another hour either later that day or the next, and there was a kid who cried so much they made themselves throw up. Did not go over well with my sensitive girl. We picked her up just after it happened and she was in tears. The next day we went to drop her off for a third time and she was super clingy and cried hard. Pushed through because sometimes you just need to do that and then they settle down. Well when we went back to pick her up she was asleep, 2 hours before her nap time and without her beloved soother which she always needs to fall asleep. So in this case, she didn't calm down, she cried herself to sleep . We left her there but that was the last time we had time to ourselves because she REFUSED like hysterical limp noodle couldn't get her through the door again even for open house time. I think the little ones and crying just didn't mix well with her. Her preschool teacher hearing that it was for babies up to age 3 said she understood why she didn't like it, thought she was too mature for that age group. I'm not sure about that, and I know they have separate activities for older vs babies, but for us it just didn't work. I wasn't willing to push either, it's not a situation where she HAD to go. And they did deal with the tears, and I have no doubt they would have messaged us if she hadn't fallen asleep. In fact they messaged us when she woke up. So if your child is upset and can't be calmed they will definitely get you back there for them. They also ask when you check them in about snacks and juice and such. They don't provide baby food but do provide solid food. Not sure about meals but we saw trolleys being wheeled in the back room of the nursery at meal times so I know they have something for them!

Sorry mine isn't the most positive experience, but wanted to reassure you they will let you know if the child can't be comforted. And there's a good ratio so there's always someone available to comfort a child. And there's always 2, they are never alone with the kids.

Thank you for sharing this. He does go to daycare/school every day and does well, so hopefully we will be ok. I think we are planning on only 1 dinner alone, since it is such a short cruise. We will definitely watch him to see if he doesn't want to go. I appreciate the feedback

 

[bryannem]

Thanks everyone. This makes me feel a lot better. I figured it would be fine - if you can't leave them at Disney, where can you?!? I think we will try for Palo one night. I like that they put him to bed. Might get to go have some adult drinks!!