Small World Nursery with Twins

[BritneyBelle]

Hi Everyone! Sorry if this has been asked before but I can’t for the life of me find it. We will be doing an Alaska cruise in August (if it still happens) and taking our two year old twins with us. I have a couple of questions about reserving Small World Nursery time:

1) how many hours can you reserve? I’ve seen anything from 10-18

2) is that per child or per family? Since I have twins if it’s 10/family that effectively means I get 5 hours?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi Everyone! Sorry if this has been asked before but I can’t for the life of me find it. We will be doing an Alaska cruise in August (if it still happens) and taking our two year old twins with us. I have a couple of questions about reserving Small World Nursery time:

1) how many hours can you reserve? I’ve seen anything from 10-18

2) is that per child or per family? Since I have twins if it’s 10/family that effectively means I get 5 hours?

Thank you so much for your help!

1) Max hours:
3 or 4 night cruise – 10 hours
7 night cruise – 18 hours
14 night cruise – 35 hours

2) I'm not sure, but I think it's per child. But you'd do better asking someone from DCL.

 

[BritneyBelle]

1) Max hours:
3 or 4 night cruise – 10 hours
7 night cruise – 18 hours
14 night cruise – 35 hours

2) I'm not sure, but I think it's per child. But you'd do better asking someone from DCL.

Thank you so much! I didn’t want to call with all the crazy long lines, but knowing we get 18 hours is super helpful.

 

[lanejudy]

I don’t have experience - but it should be per child. Otherwise that puts a family like yours at a very unfair disadvantage. You are paying nursery fees for 2, you should have the option to pre-book the full amount of time for each.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Thank you so much! I didn’t want to call with all the crazy long lines, but knowing we get 18 hours is super helpful.

Actually, I have called DCL twice these last three weeks, and both times I had one of the shortest wait time ever.

 

[MomOTwins]

One other thing to bear in mind is you can add more hours on the ship. We didn’t prebook much because weren’t sure if our DS would like it. He hated it the first time and didn’t last more than 30 mins. He loved it the second cruise when he was a bit older and we were able to add tons of time onboard—they always seemed to have availability whenever he wanted to go or could extend his hours when he didn’t want to be picked up. So don’t stress too much about advance booking.

 

[MomOTwins]

Actually, I have called DCL twice these last three weeks, and both times I had one of the shortest wait time ever.

So true! I think a lot of people have moved or cancelled by now, and not many people who did not already have a cruise booked are booking now.

 

[BritneyBelle]

Actually, I have called DCL twice these last three weeks, and both times I had one of the shortest wait time ever.

That’s great to know! Thank you!

 

[BritneyBelle]

One other thing to bear in mind is you can add more hours on the ship. We didn’t prebook much because weren’t sure if our DS would like it. He hated it the first time and didn’t last more than 30 mins. He loved it the second cruise when he was a bit older and we were able to add tons of time onboard—they always seemed to have availability whenever he wanted to go or could extend his hours when he didn’t want to be picked up. So don’t stress too much about advance booking.

Do you mind me asking how old he was for the second cruise? My boys will be 2 1/2 for this one, they tend to cry when I first leave them but then calm down with distraction, but that’s with people they’re used to.

 

[SamFaniam]

@KT2038 or @bbel may have some info.

 

[MomOTwins]

Do you mind me asking how old he was for the second cruise? My boys will be 2 1/2 for this one, they tend to cry when I first leave them but then calm down with distraction, but that’s with people they’re used to.

He was a young 2-year old his first cruise, and on the second one he was almost 3 (we sailed a week before his birthday). He was definitely in the separation-anxiety phase the first cruise. While he normally would cry and calm down with our babysitters at home, I think it was all just too different and out of his comfort zone for him on the cruise and he got scared about being left in a strange place. To their credit, they did try to calm him down but he wouldn't stop crying so we were pinged to come pick him up.

Based on our experience on the first cruise (e.g., having to leave 10 minutes into a spa session), we decided to alternate activities for my DH and I on our second cruise so that one of us would be available if a kid needed to be picked up. It worked out a lot better that way because we could each enjoy our solo activities without having to constantly check the app for a message from the kids' center, while the other spouse did something low key (e.g., lounging by the adult pool) where it was easy to leave if needed.

 

[BritneyBelle]

He was a young 2-year old his first cruise, and on the second one he was almost 3 (we sailed a week before his birthday). He was definitely in the separation-anxiety phase the first cruise. While he normally would cry and calm down with our babysitters at home, I think it was all just too different and out of his comfort zone for him on the cruise and he got scared about being left in a strange place. To their credit, they did try to calm him down but he wouldn't stop crying so we were pinged to come pick him up.

Based on our experience on the first cruise (e.g., having to leave 10 minutes into a spa session), we decided to alternate activities for my DH and I on our second cruise so that one of us would be available if a kid needed to be picked up. It worked out a lot better that way because we could each enjoy our solo activities without having to constantly check the app for a message from the kids' center, while the other spouse did something low key (e.g., lounging by the adult pool) where it was easy to leave if needed.

That’s good to know-thank you so much. My husband and I were planning on doing a couples massage, but we also will be sailing with my MIL so maybe we can have her on nursery backup that day. One of my boys will be fine, he’s never met a stranger and as long as they’re willing to sing songs he’s happy. The other is the one who has some separation anxiety, but he usually can be distracted.

 

[MomOTwins]

That’s good to know-thank you so much. My husband and I were planning on doing a couples massage, but we also will be sailing with my MIL so maybe we can have her on nursery backup that day. One of my boys will be fine, he’s never met a stranger and as long as they’re willing to sing songs he’s happy. The other is the one who has some separation anxiety, but he usually can be distracted.

Sounds good! Just make sure when you register for the nursery to list your mother-in-law as an additional person who can pick them up.

 

[bbel]

@KT2038 or @bbel may have some info.

I've been gone from DCL for too long to give a definite answer, sorry.
But 99% sure its per child.

Alaska was always quiet too, so you'll probably be able to add more hours once onboard if you wanted/needed. As well as walk ins.

 

[orangesub]

You can also let them know you are going to the spa for that drop off and that your MIL should be the primary contact during that time. The texts may still go to all phones but if they have to call someone hey will focus on the phones for her room.

 

[AZMermaid]

We cruised to Alaska when my kids were 17 and 34 months (7 years ago). We got 18 each kid. They absolutely loved the nursery. At the end we got a little packet with pictures and art. Some characters had stopped by at various times! We had their food come during appetizers and then ran them to the nursery between courses on a few nights. Then we stayed out an extra hour or so after dinner. This worked great!