Strollers?

[Wendyf]

So when I go on my cruise next year should I bring a stroller for my two year old son? He will be walking much better than what he is now and my husband can carry him on his shoulders I heard that you have to stay with your stroller and have to keep it in your room they have no place you can park it if your on the decks does any one have thoughts to this? Thank you

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So when I go on my cruise next year should I bring a stroller for my two year old son? He will be walking much better than what he is now and my husband can carry him on his shoulders I heard that you have to stay with your stroller and have to keep it in your room they have no place you can park it if your on the decks does any one have thoughts to this? Thank you

You should store your stroller in your room if you aren't using it. Some people don't (leaving it in the passageway), but that's really not a nice thing to do. There are wheelchair/stroller parking areas (away from the staterooms) where you could put it.

Not sure what you mean by "stay with your stroller".

 

[Jess_S]

We found the stroller useful for ports when my son was 2. Didn't use it at all on the ship. I think it actually would have been tough to navigate certain areas with it. So my vote would depend on what you have planned in port.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

We used a lightweight stroller with our grandson at the age of 1,2 and 3. Believe me they get tired and it is hard to carry/hold them. We used it mainly during pirate night on deck and for the fireworks. When he was 1 and 2 he fell asleep during the show and we just left him in there. We used it when walking around checking out the ship. If you are like us, we did a lot of walking to make sure we could see as much as we could. Their little legs get so tired. Also, it was nice to use at the ports. When we were not using it, it folded up nicely under the bed.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Just remember that if you use the stroller, you will stand in elevator lines ALL the time. If you don't use a stroller and you're ok with carrying him up stairs, you can occasionally skip the elevator lines. And yes, please store the stroller in your room. Someone in our hallway stored their stroller outside their room (jogging stroller, so BIG) and we NEVER saw it move. And we were up and down our hallway probably 50+ times a day. The stroller created a huge bottleneck.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just a note about the elevators, if you have an umbrella stroller, you can still use the stairs if you can fold it up and carry it. They are lightweight, but of course, it depends on what else you have in your hands, like your child and assorted child accessories. But the option is there if the elevators are crowded.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

And yes, please store the stroller in your room. Someone in our hallway stored their stroller outside their room (jogging stroller, so BIG) and we NEVER saw it move. And we were up and down our hallway probably 50+ times a day. The stroller created a huge bottleneck.

Not a great picture, but you can get the idea. Really blocks things up for scooter/wheelchair users, as well as the service carts that the room hosts use:

 

[Sandbtwmytoes]

So when I go on my cruise next year should I bring a stroller for my two year old son? He will be walking much better than what he is now and my husband can carry him on his shoulders I heard that you have to stay with your stroller and have to keep it in your room they have no place you can park it if your on the decks does any one have thoughts to this? Thank you

We brought our stroller when DD was 18 months and we plan on doing the same this time. Mostly, it was a HUGE help with the airport and with luggage. Our stroller has a lot of room on the bottom and we were able to put all of the carryons underneath and DDs carseat fits on top. We had fully expected to store the stroller in our room which we were ok with, but our stateroom host quickly showed DH where he can store the stroller. We were on the wonder and I don't remember which floor it was, but there was a huge space near the back side of the glass elevators and lots of strollers were stored here and completely out of the way of everyone. We also used the stroller to walk around Nassau and for CC (again, mostly for the storage so we didn't have to carry bags while chasing DD around. I also appreciated having the extra shade for DD. Overall, having the stroller made our trip easier.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

Just a note about the elevators, if you have an umbrella stroller, you can still use the stairs if you can fold it up and carry it. They are lightweight, but of course, it depends on what else you have in your hands, like your child and assorted child accessories. But the option is there if the elevators are crowded.

Yes, you will wait in elevator lines with a stroller. But we carried our several times up and down the stairs as well (even with the child in the stroller, when he was asleep). Honestly, there is ALWAYS an elevator line with or without a stroller! If you are flying in they are great at the airports as another persons stated. They recommend not booking early flights back home and with the airlines we are normally stuck at the airport for over 5 to 6 hours. Last year, we got a day room at the Hyatt at the airport and my family swam and my grandson was able to take a nap. But if you don't get the day room, it gives your little one some place to nap and you don't have to carry them around at the airport.

 

[Wendyf]

Wow so many comments thank you everyone it seems like it might be down the middle now I'm even more confused lol I don't want the stroller getting totaled during the flight also he's kinda big for an umbrella stroller and can you take the stroller into the restaurants?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow so many comments thank you everyone it seems like it might be down the middle now I'm even more confused lol I don't want the stroller getting totaled during the flight also he's kinda big for an umbrella stroller and can you take the stroller into the restaurants?

I've read conflicting reports on this. Some have said, no, they had to leave their stroller outside the dining room (there's not a whole lot of space between tables on the Dream class ships, and the handle will stick out in that space). Others have said, yes, they were able to put the stroller in the spot where a high chair would have been placed.

 

[Chemist]

We brought our stroller for the napping thing. We didn't use it much around the ship, but our guy prefers to fall asleep in the stroller, rather than in his bed.
Our family went to a few on-board events with toddler asleep in the stroller. We just tucked him into the corner.
We didn't bring it on excursions, it would have just been in the way.

We didn't really use it for getting around the ship. It takes up space in the elevator and you do have to find a place to park it. Our City Mini did not fit easily through the stateroom door, either.

All that being said, I'm really glad we brought it.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

I've read conflicting reports on this. Some have said, no, they had to leave their stroller outside the dining room (there's not a whole lot of space between tables on the Dream class ships, and the handle will stick out in that space). Others have said, yes, they were able to put the stroller in the spot where a high chair would have been placed.

We never took our stroller to the dining rooms. I agree, there is no room for one there. But I loved having a stroller to get around on the ship for our grandson.

 

[Mariciram]

The ships have strollers you can borrow (with a deposit). We did this on our last cruise for our two year old. We didn't use the stroller around the ship - he wanted to walk everywhere, but did use it for ports/excursions.

 

[Sarah O.]

I can't imagine needing or wanting one on the ship. It wouldn't seem worth the hassle for any benefit you'd get from it, in my opinion. Our 3 and 1 year olds were just fine in our arms or walking with us. We took a carrier for ports, as a stroller wouldn't have been good on older/non-paved areas anyway.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We went on a family cruise in April, which included our then 15 month old son. We brought our City Mini GT.

We used it around the ship, though it took some finagling to get it in and out of our stateroom door.

As far as restaurants, we found that they had "parking areas" outside of the restaurant, which leads me to believe the strollers were not welcome inside. We did not try to bring a stroller inside, and I can only imagine that it would have been in the way. It's pretty tight.

Sometimes, we did "park" the stroller out of the way on the main deck so that we could walk around and no one ever touched it or anything.

You would need to use the elevators, but honestly if the line was too long, DH and I just carried the stroller up or down the stairs.

We definitely needed it for our port excursion.

Overall, given the choice, I would have totally done it the exact same way. Bringing our stroller was very useful to us.

 

[laceltris3]

I took my Mac Quest when I cruised with a 2 or 3 year old. We needed it for airports, but we used it in port and since it was for the youngest of 3 we would use it in places like the buffet, where we could get a table right away against the wall and he would be muss less of a distraction to others than if he were free to dart about. Then someone would stay with the kids while the other was getting the food, thus keeping all 3 of the kids away from the food line. We didn't use it in the dining rooms. It was able to fold up and slid under our bed when not in use.