Length of cruise with 2 year old

[pezgirlroy]

Hi all, planning a cruise for spring of 2018. Will be myself, my parents, husband, 7 year old and 2 year old (at the time). Debating between a 4, 5 or 7 day cruise. From experience, has anyone done the 7 day with kids this age and did it seem to long? Thanks.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

I think the longer cruise is better. You will not feel rushed to fit everything in with only a few days. You can have nap time and a slower pace. We took a 3 year old on a 7 night and it was wonderful.

 

[hardis5]

Our youngest cruised first at 18 mos for 4-days and did his second cruise turning 3 during our first 7-day sailing. If you would do a 7-day vacation at a resort, cottage or local with the family a cruise will not seem long. The 7-year old will likely adjust well to the kids clubs on-board (we cannot get the youngest out of now) and depending on what ports or excursions you do, each day will seem like a new vacation with familiar restaurants, servers and nighttime rooms. If you are comfortable with Its a Small World (or the parents look after the youngest) there would be parent time as well for on-board activity and space.

 

[Trera]

Our DD took her first cruise at 1 and we did a 3 night just to make sure everything would be ok. My fear was she would get sea sick and we would all be miserable.

She took her 4th cruise at 2 and it was a 7 night western and she had the best time.

Last week was her 12th and she is not quite 4 and she did her first nearly half day in the kids club and loved it.

I think you will have a great time.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Thanks all. I think we may do the 7. I feel like the idea about relaxing is a really good point.

 

[olookasquirrel]

We just got back from a 7 night with not 1, not 2, but 3! 2 year olds (big group, not triplets!). They all loved it. Mine is already asking to go back on Mickey Mouse's Boat. Honestly I think the longer timeframe allowed even more fun because it built in enough time for them to get into a routine and know what was going on.

 

[MissMet]

We're headed on a 7 day next month with a 2 year old & 1 year old. Our son's first cruise was when he was 1. It was a 7 day & I highly suggest it. The longer it is the more relaxed it'll feel. Just be mindful, kids in diapers are not allowed in cruise ship pools, on any cruise line. The Dream & Fantasy have an awesome splash area for kids in diapers. The Magic & Wonder also have an area but it's mush smaller and doesn't offer near as much. If you can, I'd go with the Fantasy when you have kids in diapers. The splash area is better & the nursery is bigger.

 

[BAIC03]

From experience, has anyone done the 7 day with kids this age and did it seem to long? Thanks.

Hi! I'll be the negative voice here. We did a 5-night cruise with our DD at 18 months. It went terribly. Our DDs sleep/eat schedule was put off track by our dining time and excursion schedule. By mid-week she was waking up at 2:00-3:00 AM and my DH had to walk her around to get her to sleep. We never recovered our trip. The only time we had any fun was when DD was in the nursery...
You know your child. If not being able to eat and sleep on your normal schedule is ok, then you should be ok with a long (5-7 days) cruise. If scheduling is important... I would reconsider a week. We are going back later this year after her little sister is potty trained. We didn't want another miserable $6k vacation!

 

[5Texans]

We sailed w/ our 19 mo on the Fantasy for 7 days (as well as our 3 and 5 yr olds). It went great. I kept her mostly on her home schedule- we still took a nap every day, and we ate at pretty much the same time we do at home (main dining).

The nemos reef splash area was really cute and the wake up with disney junior programming gave us something to do in the morning when our girls were up at 630 am.
There was also Toddler time w/ toys and counselors

We told our waiter that we wanted our dinner pace to be quick, and he always had fruit and steamed veggies waiting for us at the table for the baby when we got there. We were done by 6:45 most nights (not animators palate show night). We then sent the kids to the kids club/nursery for a few hours while we saw shows or went to the adult only areas until bedtime. Hubby and I switched off staying w/ the kids and going to the adult area/spa after bedtime. We did take the kids including the baby to the 3 main shows and they loved them! I think that the mix of family time and adult time made this the best family vacation ever!!

 

[lorenni]

We did a 7 night cruise when DS was two, however as others have posted we stuck to our home schedule. One of chilled out in the room during nap times, and again at bed time - 7pm EST.

Our son had never been to daycare and was miserable at the nursery. We tried twice and both times got calls that he had not stopped crying after 20-30 minutes. We did not try again.

The splashpad was fine, but it was often crowded and no one enforces age limits. I took a full running elbow from a child much too old to be in a splash pad - would have knocked DS out cold had I not jumped in front of him. I ended up with a baseball sized BLACK bruise on my arm for two weeks. So be on guard there.

All of that said, we had a great family trip. It just wasn't action packed. He loved the characters, and the Disney jr activities. Our servers had watermelon waiting for DS every night when we arrived at dinner. We'be been one one more cruise with him since then (at 3 years old) and are booked on a third over NYE this year. All one week cruises.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We did a 7 night cruise when DS was two, however as others have posted we stuck to our home schedule. One of chilled out in the room during nap times, and again at bed time - 7pm EST.

Our son had never been to daycare and was miserable at the nursery. We tried twice and both times got calls that he had not stopped crying after 20-30 minutes. We did not try again.

The splashpad was fine, but it was often crowded and no one enforces age limits. I took a full running elbow from a child much too old to be in a splash pad - would have knocked DS out cold had I not jumped in front of him. I ended up with a baseball sized BLACK bruise on my arm for two weeks. So be on guard there.

All of that said, we had a great family trip. It just wasn't action packed. He loved the characters, and the Disney jr activities. Our servers had watermelon waiting for DS every night when we arrived at dinner. We'be been one one more cruise with him since then (at 3 years old) and are booked on a third over NYE this year. All one week cruises.

Thanks much. My daughter is a daycare kid so that will be old hat for her. Not being action packed is kinda what I want. Thanks.

 

[Tulip2796]

We did our 1st cruise, a 7 day, when our sons were 2.5 and 6. It was wonderful! We picked main dining bc it was close to the time when we eat at home and we made sure one of us was back in the room for his daily nap almost every day. We picked excursions that were shorter in length and didn't over plan our days. We did push bedtime a little later (9pm) but our kids would compensate by sleeping in later (until 8am). Just be careful that your child isn't overtired. Be mindful of their need for sleep and you have a greater chance of things going well. Overtired children just get more overtired and overwhelmed as the days go on and that most likley leads to tantrums and meltdowns. You know your child best but 7 days can be great!.

 

[hpsalb]

We've cruised with both of our kids at young ages. We've never done a 7-night with them because that is longer than DH and I want to be stuck in a small space with them. Maybe we'd feel different in a Concierge suite We also don't know exactly how they will do, even the same child, at different ages and stages. We've stuck with the shorter cruises so far.

It does help to stay on schedule or at least close to it. My kids can handle getting off track a bit, but they lose it completely after a few days of this.