Taking a toddler on his first cruise!

[Joseph Andrew Hunt]

My wife and I are so excited to be taking our son on his first Disney Cruise next March. My wife and I have cruised before, although not with Disney, but we have questions regarding cruising with small children. Our son will be 3 weeks away from his 3rd birthday when we are on the ship. He is also a very big boy for his age, Looks more like a 3 1/2 year old than a 2 1/2 year old. Will we have to sign him up for the nursery or the Oceaneers Club?

 

[lilsonicfan]

They are strict with ages - he will not be permitted in the Oceaneers Lab/Club until he is 3, even if he looks big / is close to 3. So nursery only. (Though, this is one reason I waited till my kids were older to cruise with DCL).

 

[KatieN]

We took my son on his first DCL cruise when he had just turned 3, but he couldn't use the club because he wasn't yet potty-trained. However, we were able to take him to the club during open house to check out all the theming and play areas and really enjoyed that! Anyone can go during open house, regardless of age. I think it would have been too much for him to be in there without us if he had been allowed to, though (tends to get very loud and chaotic). We made use of the nursery several times and it was wonderful. There were plenty of toys to keep him occupied (it's not just for little babies), and they get a lot more one-on-one attention. I found that it was very easy to schedule nursery times, even day-of, and the cost is pretty reasonable ($8 or $9 an hour, I think?). I'm sure all 3 of you will have a wonderful time

 

[dcassetta]

My wife and I are so excited to be taking our son on his first Disney Cruise next March. My wife and I have cruised before, although not with Disney, but we have questions regarding cruising with small children. Our son will be 3 weeks away from his 3rd birthday when we are on the ship. He is also a very big boy for his age, Looks more like a 3 1/2 year old than a 2 1/2 year old. Will we have to sign him up for the nursery or the Oceaneers Club?

Make sure and look at the paper navigator or app. There are activities specifically designed for toddlers and their families, so you want to keep an eye out for those.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Make sure and look at the paper navigator or app. There are activities specifically designed for toddlers and their families, so you want to keep an eye out for those.

Actually you’ll get a paper in your room day 1 that calls out ‘toddler Times’ that often includes things not on the navigators.

 

[dcassetta]

Actually you’ll get a paper in your room day 1 that calls out ‘toddler Times’ that often includes things not on the navigators.

I'm glad to hear that they do this. We never received a hand out like that, but it has been a number of years since I've traveled with littles - Our "little" is 17 now!

 

[mmouse37]

We took our granddaughter on her second DCL (she was only 1 the first time). While she was enthralled by all the sights and sounds on that first cruise, on her second when she was 26 months old she absolutely LOVED IT! Her parents could not go as my DIL was too far along in her pregnancy so we decided to just take her. My husband and I did not put her in the nursery at all as we wanted to spend time with her so it was a totally different cruise for us. No lounging by the pool, no late night clubs, no adult only areas, etc LOL. It was all focused on her. She did surprisingly well for having late seating for dinner. She really enjoyed the open house time at the clubs, the character interactions, the splash area (she wanted to go in pool but was not potty trained). We made sure we went back to the cabin and put her down for her nap everyday.

I kid you not when I say she talks about that cruise EVERY day. We are going back on the Magic with most of the family and a bunch of friends and that is all she talks about. Going back on the Mickey Boat. A huge incentive for her to be potty trained was the prospect of going in the pool and not the splash area and she has succeeded! Now I just hope the weather in Canada has at least one warm day so she can go in the pool!!!

MJ

 

[TrishaK]

We took our daughter on her first cruise when she was 3 and newly potty trained. Even though she'd grown up attending daycare, she wasn't that interested in being in the kids clubs by herself. She went twice for about 30 minutes, and that was it. The rest of the time, we were in the pool, in the splash pad area, eating ice cream, watching tv, taking naps, playing mini golf, etc. There's plenty to do for the younger set!

 

[MomOTwins]

To OP's question, they have your child's birthday in the computer system from the ID (passport/birth certificate) you bring for him to check in to the cruise, and they look up each child before admitting them to the club, so there is no possibility of them letting him in to the club for drop-off purposes. As others mentioned, they have a lot of nice open house activities in the clubs during the cruise where he can go to the club with you there to supervise him (e.g., our two year old loved the Mickey dance party).

The nursery is excellent if you'd like to drop him off--they get a lot more attention and supervision from the caregivers than in the club, so I think it is better for that age anyway. You can reserve it in half hour increments at $4.50 for the first half hour and $4 for additional half hours, so the cost is very reasonable.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

My daughter turned 3 two days after our cruise returned back to port and she was only eligible for the nursery. She was potty trained but not 100% self-sufficient with wiping so she couldn’t have gone in anyway.

Another thing to remember is the age of kids for port adventure excursions The system knows how old your child is and won’t let you book an excursion for a 3+ age range requirement.

That said- we had a blast with our 10 year old and almost 3 year old on the cruise. Plenty to do together. We only used the nursery once for an hour while working on packing up before debarkation morning.

 

[CarolynU]

We took our granddaughter on her second DCL (she was only 1 the first time). While she was enthralled by all the sights and sounds on that first cruise, on her second when she was 26 months old she absolutely LOVED IT! Her parents could not go as my DIL was too far along in her pregnancy so we decided to just take her. My husband and I did not put her in the nursery at all as we wanted to spend time with her so it was a totally different cruise for us. No lounging by the pool, no late night clubs, no adult only areas, etc LOL. It was all focused on her. She did surprisingly well for having late seating for dinner. She really enjoyed the open house time at the clubs, the character interactions, the splash area (she wanted to go in pool but was not potty trained). We made sure we went back to the cabin and put her down for her nap everyday.

I kid you not when I say she talks about that cruise EVERY day. We are going back on the Magic with most of the family and a bunch of friends and that is all she talks about. Going back on the Mickey Boat. A huge incentive for her to be potty trained was the prospect of going in the pool and not the splash area and she has succeeded! Now I just hope the weather in Canada has at least one warm day so she can go in the pool!!!

MJ

I seriously had to double check to see if I had written this post. We took my granddaughter last year when she was 16 months old and again this year when she was 27 months old and we even called it The Mickey Boat too.
We used The Open Houses and then did lots of character meet and greets but didn’t use the nursery as the little one was so excited to be taking advantage of everything that the vacation was geared around her. We didn’t mind that at all.
We had the most fabulous time and made incredible family memories.