Ideas for a 2 year old and input on Flounders Reef

[bshbailey]

We'll be traveling the Wonder in June 2005. Does anyone have any specific feedback on using Flounders Reef? My daughter will be 2 years, 8 months. She'll be traveling with her 3 year old cousins. Should I push to get her potty-trained and hope that I can get her enrolled in the "club" with other 3 year olds, or should I just put her in Flounders Reef when necessary? Also, any tips for 2 year olds for Nassau or Castaway?? Thanks for your help!

 

[castlegazer]

I think even at 2 y 8 mo and potty trained you will not be able to leave her alone in the Club. You can go in and stay with her while she plays (you can do this even when not potty trained so you don't have to push it). This way she can be with the cousins, but you will need to be there too.

I will leave the rest of your questions to others.

 

[HappyMommy2]

Our youngest was 2 years 7 months on our Wonder cruise in August. It was a wonderful age for cruising! Your DD will have lots of fun.

About Flounder's: our DS normally cries and protests for a while when being left with caregivers he does not know, but at Flounder's he was happy as a clam! The CMs were just fabulous with him. They had all sorts of tricks to get him settled in and happy. We left him there one time, just for a couple of hours, but after seeing how much fun he had there we wished we had signed him up for another time as well. It was WELL worth every penny of the $6/hr fee. I'll bet your DD would enjoy Flounder's even though she wouldn't be with her cousins. Be aware that Flounder's is open only certain hours out of the day, and don't forget to go there early on embarkation day to request your time slots.

If I were you I wouldn't "push" potty training for the purpose of trying to get DD into the Club. I'm guessing it's unlikely such a young child would be allowed, but of course if your DD does end up being potty trained in time, and you felt the Club activities would be age-appropriate for your 2-year-old, you could always ask. Remember that even if your DD is not enrolled in the Club you can accompany her to activities there--spending time with our 2-year-old during "slide time" and other activities in the Club was one of the highlights of our trip! What a fun place for kids (and parents)!

As for Nassau: We didn't feel up to doing an excursion with our 4- and 2-year-olds, so we just had a great time walking around Nassau, looking around and shopping. We were glad we had our lighweight stroller for DS2 since the traffic and crowds were a little heavy and we wouldn't have wanted him wandering around. The boys enjoyed the straw market, though it was a tight fit for the stroller. All the people were most kind to us and our kids, and generally not pushy at all. We took lots of pictures, bought some T-shirts and postcards and beaded necklaces, and headed back to the very pleasantly uncrowded ship.

Castaway Cay was perfect for little ones. The water was so calm and our 2-year-old loved watching the little minnows and collecting seashells. Get off the ship relatively early to get a seat in the shade--you will need the shade! I rested in the shade and sipped a Konk Kooler while DS2 napped beside me in the afternoon--PURE heaven! Also, if you have room, take your own sand toys. We didn't, and ended up buying outrageously priced ones there on CC! I think it was something like $10 for a little pail and shovel.

Sorry that was so long. Hope I helped a bit. Have a fabulous cruise!

 

[aprilgail2]

I wish I had known our first cruise that I could have taken my daughter to the club and stayed with her there. She totally hated flounders, said it was all baby stuff there (she was 2 1/2-still a baby in MY book but to her the stuff was to babyish there)....she loved Castaway Cay, the water was really calm so she could play right there without me being worried she would be sucked out to the ocean by a wave like here at home LOL! I would try to get her potty trained by the time you go since non potty trained kids cant go in the pool on the ship and I can't imagine what it will be like with her there while her cousins are swimming in the pool and you tryingto keep her in that little splash ear!
I had a great time with her on the cruise even if she didn't go to flounders...we just hung around together the whole time!

 

[grlzmom]

On our last cruise we were able to leave our 2 year 7 month daughter in the club. She was given a trial (as were a few other almost threes). She did great and went every day for a couple of hours. They are very strict about the bathroom rules (going alone with no assistance). Our dd had been trained since 20 months so it wasn't a problem.

Our 15 month old twins loved Flounders and I cant say enough wonderful things about the staff there.

However, I know my 2 1/2 year old would have been bored with the toddler toys, etc.

We even took the twins into the club and stayed with them for some activities.