psumomluvswdw said:

How old do kids have to be to participate in the "free" child care and activities on the ships? We are debating whether to go next year when our son is 2 and I think we should wait until he is 3. Can someone please let me know! Thanks!!!
Unless you get really lucky, there is not such thing as "FREE" child care.
If you take a child that is 2yo, he gets on the ship virtually for free. But it cost money to place him in Flounders. But if you wait until he's old enough to stay in the kids' programs, you will pay $$$ to get him on the ship (something on the order of $500 or more for a 7-day cruise). You can buy a lot of Flounder's time with that $$$.
Now there are a lucky few that bring an ALMOST 3yo on-board (pay almost nothing) and the child is already potty trained and mature enought to say in the kids programs. These people do get "FREE" child care.
But now here's the flip side of that "FREE" child care. There are an UNlucky few that bring a 3yo on-board (pay $$$) but the child isn't potty trained and therefore can no stay in the children's programming without a parent.
So add to that information the fact that (on average) boys usually don't get potty trained until something like 38 months (i.e. AFTER they are 3yo).
My personal suggestion is that you either take him on the cruise when he's still less than 3yo so that he gets on for free, or you wait until he's closer to 4yo when he's more likely to be able to stay in the children's programs without you.
(BTW, this advice is "free" and worth what you're pay for it, and it's also coming from someone who has taken a 1yo on a 4-day cruise and a 2.5yo on a 14-day cruise. It won't be until next year we see what it's like to have a 4yo on a 7-day cruise.)