Itching to Cruise

[DisGin]

The more I read the cruise trip reports, the more I'm itching to go. We have 4 kids and I wanted to wait until the youngest is 3, but that's over 2 years. We can go before that, but would it be worth it? We would probably do a 3 or 4 night Caribbean since it would be our first time and to shorten any potential misery, but in general, we don't shy away from traveling with the kids. Pros and cons anyone?

 

[ndavis]

We only have one child, but went when he was a month shy of two, we loved it. That being said, we have no interest in leaving him in kids clubs (we work opposite shifts and rarely get to spend time as a family). We did do open house stuff with him. I loved that we could go back and take a nap whenever he needed it. There was plenty for him to do. He couldn't do a lot of the water activities, which wasn't an issue with us only having one, not sure if that would be having more, dividing up kids. We've booked our second for this winter and he will be three, and I do look forward to him being able to use more water activities once he is potty trained.

 

[EZMoney]

I've been when my son was almost 2 and it was great. If you are going to a place where there are several excursions you want to take part in, it could be a factor. You can search disney port excursions and can see which ones are suitable for that age group. I have been on 4, 5, and 7 day cruises. I would recommend a 4 or 5 night (if available) Bahama cruise for a first time one. It doesn't travel very far so it's a very calm ride. We personally think 4 is too short and that extra 5th day really made a difference. The 7 day caribbean cruise was my favorite though. We went early December and the price was good and the boat was decorated for Christmas. Awesome!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

We have 5 kids ages 1 to 9 and we just did 4 nights on the Dream. We loved every minute of it and have already booked our next cruise for Jan. 2017! I love that the rooms are so close so you can go back for naps when needed but still be close to the action. The nursery was awesome with the 2 littlest ones, they even knew their names and greeted them while we passed in the hallway after one day. That made me feel like they really care about the babies they are watching. They also had so much entertainment, there was never a dull moment. Another thing I loved was the character interactions. I feel they spend more time with the kids onboard than in the parks. I could go on and on about how great the cruise was. Not sure if you came across my trip report but here it is

http://www.disboards.com/threads/not-cold-but-refreshing-4-nights-on-the-dream.3478401/

You can get an idea of what it is like to cruise with a bigger family with little ones. We always said we wanted to wait for them to get older to cruise but it was so much fun with them being little and their fare was much cheaper. I don't think you will be disappointed if you choose to go with a one year old. One more tip I can give you is to take advantage of room service if kids are napping or your feeling like you need some down time its "free" except for tip!