Nursery Survey

[MissMet]

We're planning our first cruise as parents. Our son will be 1 years old and we will be traveling with my brother who also has a one year old. I am at a loss as to what times and days to schedule the nursery at my 105 day mark. Every time I think I'm set on when would be best, I think of other reasons why other times may be better.

So when did you use the nursery most? Why then? When would you reserve times? Knowing you can get more nursery time on a first-come-first-serve basis which times seemed to be the busiest?

It's hard to plan this far out as my son is only 7 months old now. I don't know how his personality will change. He's real laid back & is no problem to bring to restaurants. He is a super easy baby, I know all moms say that but I watched my nephews full time so I've had some experience. We're not doing very much port wise as we've been to most of the ports already and we just want to relax. We are going for Palo brunch and possibly the spa. My parents will be traveling with all of us so they have offered to help babysit too.

Thank you!!

 

[SailingScout]

Definitely reserve your dinner time. Those filled fast, especially after the first night. You can always cancel of you change your mind. I also noticed mornings seemed to fill up. I have never had too tough of a time adding hours onboard, so don't worry if it seems like things are filling up online. Have fun-the nursery is why we cruise DCL.

 

[ctnurse]

Our DD was 18 months on her first cruise and we reserved dinner, spa time, our Mixology class, a few hours for the adults pool, and CC. We had no problem adding hours once on board. For her next cruise she will be two, and we plan for dinner, Mixology, and for an excursion while we are in Copenhagen. We probably will add a few more hours once we get on board for some adult time.

 

[lspst8]

We reserved every afternoon during nap time so the rest of the family could enjoy themselves without anyone being stuck in the room all afternoon. It worked out pretty well. Some days our older daughter would go to the kids club so we had adult time, and other days the 3 of us hung out.

Our youngest hates sand, so we also booked the morning on Castaway Cay.

 

[MissMet]

Thank you! This helps. Glad to hear it may not be as difficult to add hours once onboard.

 

[DLgeeks]

We were pretty similar, we mostly pre-scheduled to cover Palo/Remy, spa time, etc. that we had already booked, and then booked a couple of evenings right after dinner so we could go to a few of the shows (DS was 19 mo and not able to sit still for very long). The staff was great and we never had any issues with adding extra time as needed, especially if he was asleep in the evenings when it was time to pick him up.

You do need to give 4 hrs notice if you won't be using time that was previously booked.

One tip I would add is to make sure you book time on the last day/evening - it is a thousand time easier to get packed up quickly without trying to manage a little one at the same time.

 

[MissMet]

Thanks! I probably wouldn't have thought of during packing on the last night! Great advise!

 

[Quellman]

We didn't worry about dinner most nights, but booked for Palo. We didn't worry about naps in the afternoon because we used the Pack N Play in the room and enjoyed the balcony. Sure we missed classes and activities, but we didn't see the need when we had a great view and could still get some sun.

 

[gizzardgoop]

We were on the Fantasy with our then 12 month old and used the nursery for some nap times, during our Remy and Palo reservations and after dinner from 9pm to close. She slept fine there and we would just carry her or roll her to the room at the end of the night. The nursery staff were wonderful.

 

[DLgeeks]

Thanks! I probably wouldn't have thought of during packing on the last night! Great advise!

Honestly it was a lifesaver! We dropped DS off at the nursery for 2 hours after dinner, dropped DD at the kids club so she could say goodbye to her friends and then were able to get packed up, visit Shutters, and take a last stroll around the ship with so much less stress!

 

[MissMet]

Sounds like my kind of plan. I'm home full time with my little guy (7 months now) and I watch my nephew 45+ hours a week and they're only 20 days apart!! Yeah, I basically have twins. The LAST thing I want to do is sit in a room while he sleeps or try and eat a meal with him right next to me. Love my son, but see yah! I'm on vacation.

 

[pgroom48]

Sounds like my kind of plan. I'm home full time with my little guy (7 months now) and I watch my nephew 45+ hours a week and they're only 20 days apart!! Yeah, I basically have twins. The LAST thing I want to do is sit in a room while he sleeps or try and eat a meal with him right next to me. Love my son, but see yah! I'm on vacation.

I took a stroller and it was a life saver. My youngest could nap in the stroller by we sat by the pool with my other too. If you kid is a stroller sleeper you can save the hours for other times than mid day. We usually would schedule the nursery for Palo, a few hours at the Adult Pool one day, Spa services and occasionally a night in the clubs (we usually combined that with the Palo night).