parents cruisin with toddlers?

[sheelysmom]

Hi all! We're taking a three night cruise with our barely two year old son in January. I was just looking for suggestions and thoughts from people who've done this. My four year old daughter is thrilled about the club - I am just not so sure about my son. Do parents just take turns at bedtime staying in the room or have you tried taking the little ones to do things at night? Anyway, any thoughts would be appriciated. we're really excited about the trip.
take care
Corinne

 

[qofhearts]

HI!

We took our daughter at 18 months on her first cruise(RCL). We had early dinner and took her to the shows. She absolutely loved the shows! Plus by then she was pretty tired that she went down quickly at night. We were lucky, we had our parents there to babysit at night, we all took turns. For us the hardest was dinner- but our wait staff was so flexible, they even took turns watching her for us! i.e. they would take her for a walk during courses or hold her. They were wonderful
I had some great afternoon naps on deck with her snuggled in a chair! My philosophy was anything goes, we would try and if she didn't like it- oh well! The funniest was taking her to Belize City! We did a tour of the city via cab- it was crazy but she liked it!

We did try to include her in everything with the flexibility of leaving if need be. Bingo was a good thing to do also- she played on the floor with toys. Also, any live music kept her busy- I did a lot of blowing bubbles on the deck. I think the one advantage of the DCL is the nursery- do it if you want time alone-RCL didn't have that and you had to reserve babysitting in the room in advance!

 

[sheelysmom]

Bubbles are a great idea. He does love music, so I think you have a good philosophy - try it. Be ready to leave, but give it a whirl. Maybe he'll pleasantly surprise us We are planning to let him stay in the nursery at least one evening if we can get a slot. Thanks for your reply!

 

[qofhearts]

You are welcome, hang in there! My husband and I would not have changed a thing about bringing her with! She's going on her second cruise this week (hopefully) we are on the Sept 18th 7 day. She's 3 so this will be a whole new experience!

 

[b&j's_mom]

Hi! We are in the same situation as you. I have been wondering the same thing. My son will barely be 2, my daughter barely 5. I was hoping he will be sufficiently entertained - I guess we will have to wait and see. We will be on the Jan 30 Wonder cruise - and we are so excited. Hope you all have a great time!

Julie

 

[janetlynn]

Hi I am also traveling with my 17 mo DD for the first time. I was told to purchase a lightweight stroller that reclined, I don't know if she will sleep in it or not but it is worth a shot. I don't have any idea how we are going to handle bedtime either because if DD is sleepy there is NO WAY she will stay at Flounders. I am thinking she could make or break or vacation. The problem I have is that as soon as she is done eating she wants out of the high chair, I think she may give us a problem in the resturants.

 

[yayasi]

We recently came back from the “Magic” in August. We took our ds who was 22 months and dd8. We had no problem with our dd8 in the lab. Are son did not like Flounder at all (I was very surprise because he loves being around other kids). He made it to Flounder twice because of our spa appt and Palo dinner. We did take a light stroller and was very helpful (could not have make it without it). Dinner by the most part was fine. My son loves running around but we managed to keep him busy in the high chair or sitting on our lap. (Once he fell a sleep in the stroller at dinnertime ). We did played BINGO twice and he was fine. Once the first game was over we let him play with the loosing card. He would take at least one nap a day with daddy. That would give me time to spend with my daughter. At night we walk around with him in the stroller and we would go to Cove for some drinks.

I felt the same way most of you moms feel about how it would be with the toddlers. My son did very well, a lot better than I would have imagined.

If you have any question let know.

 

[b&j's_mom]

yayasi-

I know my son will not stay in Flounder's nursery - he's not used to having anyone but me watching him. What kept your little one entertained during the day? And was napping pretty much the same as at home? Did the rocking of the boat help or hurt? Just curious to know what to expect. Plus, it seems like the dinners last a while, what kept your son busy during the course of the meal? Sorry, these are a lot of questions, I'm trying to get prepared! I'm glad you had a fun cruise.

Thanks!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Julie,

When we took our dd1, who was then 2.5, she only stayed in Flounder's once. Not because she didn't like it, but because we had so much fun with her!

What to do? Lots of meet and greets with the characters, lots of eating, and a lot of running around and exploring the ship. Dinners in the dining rooms were a bit hard, though, because they are so long. One of us often got up with her in between courses and walked around outside a bit.

This time, she's 4 and will likely love the Kids Club, but her sister, who was still baking in the oven on our last cruise, will probably be a handful.

Marcy

 

[b&j's_mom]

Marcy-

Thanks for the input! It sounds like you had a great time with her. I know we will be fine with our son, it sounds like there's plenty to do even though he can't participate in things like our 5 year old will be able to. We are really getting excited about the cruise, reading these boards make it even more so! Good luck on your cruise.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Just so you know, we did not do any excursions. When we stopped in ports, we just took it easy, walked around on shore a bit, and then went back and enjoyed the empty ship.

On CC, our dd just wanted to play in the sand, and we had a lazy, relaxed day, and alternated staying with her while others snorkeled.

 

[b&j's_mom]

We had already figured we better not push our luck with excursions. Most of them are pretty long and I know he wouldn't last that long!

 

[piglet33]

We took our DD on her first cruise last year when she was 11 months old. We had such a great time that we're going again in 2 weeks. We just went with the flow since everything revolved around her and had a blast.

 

[wildernessgirl]

We have cruised with when my daughter was 8mos and then again when my son was 8 mos. (DD is 5 and DS is 3 now). We are going this Oct with them and our now DD of 9 mos. Cruising with little ones isn't as easy as cruising with teens, but isn't a problem at all.

Flouders staff is really good and don't feel bad leaving your child there for "adult time" during your cruise. They have cribs and mats for little ones to sleep on. They have toys and toys and toys for them to play with. They also have disney movies playing for the little ones to watch.

If you have a little one who is the type (like my son was) who doesn't want to be left alone with strangers and is a cryer, don't worry the staff is so well prepared and work with crying children all the time. With our son after the first time we dropped him off and he was having the "mommy don't leave tears" they told me that as soon as I left, he stopped crying. I felt like the worse mommy in the world with him crying, but they made me feel better with him smiling and playing when I came back to get him. The next time we used them, the remembered him when we walked in called him by name and took him immediately into the nursery. They had him giggling before we left.

Don't worry about dinner, the servers work well to get the kiddies fed and busy with magic tricks, napkin folding, or taking them for walks around the dinning room. When we sit down we had the servers bring the kids food right away so they aren't sitting there waiting during the courses.

My advice is to have a great time and not to worry. You know your child and what he/she can handle. All my kids LOVED the crusie and can't wait to go on this one in OCt.

 

[hilbil]

We just got off the 9/12 Wonder and had a great time with ds 18 months and dd3. We did spend a lot of time in the cabin while one or the other napped, but that was fine so they wouldn't be tired during the evening. There are lots of movies to watch on the stateroom TV. We had early dinner with lots of little things for ds to play with like stickers, magna doodle, matchbox cars... The servers brought the kids' entrees during our appetizers so they wouldn't have to wait. After dinner, dh and dd went to get seats for the shows while I walked ds round and round deck 4 until he went to sleep, then I joined them to watch the show (and held sleepy baby on my lap.) Skip the excursions -- to much standing and waiting around for little kids. We brought a small kite to fly off the upper decks. Studio Sea was empty most days and has a big floor to play on. We also took both kids to Oceanears Club and stayed with them while they played. They loved it! Order breakfast in your stateroom or get a tray at Beach Blanket and bring it back to your room to cut down on the number of meals your little ones have to spend in restaurants with good behavior. We didn't swim at all -- the Mickey pool is crowded and the fountain ear is small. There were plenty of other things to do. It took us a day or two to get a routine going. We felt a little overwhelmed the first day and noticed a lot of other parents were stressed out, too, but the kids were having a great time.
We are so sad that it is over! Now we just need to book another cruise!

 

[sheelysmom]

hilbil - Thanks - that was really helpful. I'll make sure to bring a stroller to stroll my sweetheart to sleep. I'm glad you had a good time!

 

[janetlynn]

Wow! With all the work the servers do they have the time to entertain a cranky toddler I think that is great! For all the moms with little ones did you have to bring sand toys to CC? Did you pack any toys from home to play with? I am thinking our luggage is going to heavy anyway with all the diapers, wipes, cups, etc...

Thank you:

 

[wildernessgirl]

janetlynn, If I remember right, there are sand toys that you can rent on CC. I also know they sale them too. But if my memory serves me correct you can just rent them and return them on the island so that would be one less thing to pack.

Hope this helps!