Taking young kids on Fantasy solo

[Philharmagicfamily]

Our PIF date is quickly approaching, but unfortunately we have some uncertainty about whether my husband's work schedule will allow him to travel during our cruise dates. We would like to keep our cruise booked and just have me take the kids if he can't come. Would we be able to bring another adult with us in his place? If not, would we be allowed to board, given that we are booked in two rooms with me in Room A with two kids and my husband in Room B with one kid?

Also, I don't think that I would be able to handle buffets logistically if I had all three kids alone (kids will be just-turned-four, 2.5, and 9 months). Would we be able to eat all meals in the main dining room?

 

[fredandkell]

My friend had a similar situation where her husband's father got very ill so she took the two kids without him. She did get a friend to come in his place; DCL allowed that change. I am almost positive DCL will not allow minors to be in their own stateroom without an 18+ so you would have to cancel one stateroom and put all 4 of you in the same room unless you get another adult. Personally I would not bring 3 kids that young by myself. Like you said the buffet would be a nightmare and eating all meals in the dining room would take forever; I don't see kids that age happily consenting a 3 sit-down meals every day.

 

[Mommb]

You can switch the name on your husband’s reservation to that of another adult. You would not be able to have 2 rooms with only 1 adult.

If you can’t find another adult to take your husband’s place, your only other option would be to put all 3 kids in one room with you and cancel the other reservation. If you don’t want to share a bed with one child or use a pack-and-play for the youngest, you may want to look into changing to a Deluxe Family Oceanview or Veranda stateroom with 4 beds.

You can eat all meals in a main dining room if you prefer. Breakfast and lunch in the main dining rooms may take longer than at the buffet, but the servers are used to dealing with children and will help you as much as they can.

Good luck!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Also, only one child will qualify for the Oceaneer's club. If you want any alone time, you'll be booking the Nursery (which costs, so allocate funds for that) for you 2 youngest children.

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

My friend had a similar situation where her husband's father got very ill so she took the two kids without him. She did get a friend to come in his place; DCL allowed that change. I am almost positive DCL will not allow minors to be in their own stateroom without an 18+ so you would have to cancel one stateroom and put all 4 of you in the same room unless you get another adult. Personally I would not bring 3 kids that young by myself. Like you said the buffet would be a nightmare and eating all meals in the dining room would take forever; I don't see kids that age happily consenting a 3 sit-down meals every day.

Thanks! I think we'd be able to find someone to go with us if he couldn't join.

And if my husband can't join, I'd either be solo parenting at home or on the cruise. I think being on a cruise would almost always be better than being at home/work! Plus, we are lucky that we would be able to treat this as an extra vacation and book another cruise onboard for when my husband could join, so taking this cruise wouldn't keep my husband from taking a vacation with us.

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

Thanks! We actually booked the cruise because there is available childcare for kids so young, so we have planned to budget for this!

 

[lklgoodman]

They only serve breakfast and lunch in one of the MDR restaurant each day. They also aren't open as long as Cabanas. You can also order room service for breakfast and lunch if needed(no room service the last morning).

 

[Kate_45]

When I was alone with two kids in the buffet I often had waiting staff offer to help carry plates etc.
I would recommend going off peak, in order to get a table next to the buffet, so you can set them up and just pop over for forgotten bits whilst they're eating. I would also recommend filling just two plates, with empty plates underneath and then splitting the food when you get to the table.
Do you have a baby carrier for your 9 month old? Popping the littlest on your back to give you both hands free will make such a difference throughout the cruise

But yes. You can eat all meals in the main dining rooms. Pool deck can be pretty quiet at points too so you can get a convenient table and do one trip to the window.

 

[Kate_45]

And staggering mealtimes will help a lot. If 9 month old is in morning nursery then that opens up room service breakfast for the other two to eat at their own pace.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I have sailed with kids those ages and I don't think I would go if I were in your shoes. I am used to solo parenting since my DH travels every week for work, and I travel alone with the kids alot, but 3 that little on vacation is hard enough with another adult. I wouldn't spend the money to do it alone. If it were a 3 night or maybe even 4 night I would possibly consider it, maybe. I am thinking of going alone with my DD3 soon, but one parent and one small child is a different ball game.
If you find a friend to go, definitely that would be fine. If you don't you'll certainly need to move into one room. If you are alone, I would suggest only eating in the dining room. Or sometimes I'd be up in cabanas super early because our little one's internal clock was all messed up and she woke up early. It was quiet up there then, so if you have early risers you could just eat right when they open and sit as close to the buffet as possible. Baby wear the infant and put the other one or 2 kids in a stroller. Navigating in a double is difficult on the ship, but maybe the 4 year old is a good listener and can just walk along side you so you can use a single stroller.

 

[MomOTwins]

I "solo cruised" with my three young kids by accident when my husband got noro and was quarantined for pretty much all the cruise. It actually was fine. We ate meals in the MDR like you plan to for the same reason: buffets are tough when the littles are too young to carry their own plates. Castaway Cay was great: there are so many attentive life guards I felt comfortable being in the water with all three (in life vests) even though I had to hold the baby the whole time. The downside was my youngest DID NOT like the nursery, and so I only had about 20 minutes of relaxation time at the Spa before I was called to come get him because he wouldn't stop crying for mommy. So just be aware you may not get to use the nursery. But we still had a great time.

 

[mickip]

I would probably only go if another adult can go in his place. I am a big proponent of cruising with young children and don't mind traveling alone with my kids but given the ages of your kids I would be hesitant. It all depends on the demeanor of your children, and how much you plan to utilize kids clubs/nursery. Will your middle one be potty trained to use the pool? Will your oldest be ok just using the splash area if the middle one can't use the pool?

I'm pretty adventurous and don't hesitate to travel solo with kids but I don't think I'd attempt solo at your kids ages unless you're planning a lot of nursery time. I've traveled with all ages of baby/toddler and it would definitely be work but I think if you decided to go for it DCL would be the place to do it.

 

[MomOTwins]

I don’t think I notice the first time reading this that it was not yet your PIF date. Just reschedule: it’s not really fair to your DH to have to miss a family vacation for work when you can just rebook to avoid the work conflict with no penalty. The only time I would consider doing this is because PIF had passed and it is too costly to rebook.

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

I don’t think I notice the first time reading this that it was not yet your PIF date. Just reschedule: it’s not really fair to your DH to have to miss a family vacation for work when you can just rebook to avoid the work conflict with no penalty. The only time I would consider doing this is because PIF had passed and it is too costly to rebook.

If there were any time (other than really $$$ weeks like Christmas) that he'd be guaranteed to not need to work, I would definitely do that! Unfortunately his job is really quite my unpredictable. I'm a huge planner, so it is hard for both of us, but the best vacation strategy for us is to just book and hope he will be able to join. We usually book things that are easy to cancel, but for a cruise that seems not possible (and cancel-for-any-reason insurance is so expensive that we'd rather just book and take our chances).

He's fully on board with us traveling alone, and he knows that I will happily rebook another cruise while onboard if he ends up not being able to come

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

I would probably only go if another adult can go in his place. I am a big proponent of cruising with young children and don't mind traveling alone with my kids but given the ages of your kids I would be hesitant. It all depends on the demeanor of your children, and how much you plan to utilize kids clubs/nursery. Will your middle one be potty trained to use the pool? Will your oldest be ok just using the splash area if the middle one can't use the pool?

I'm pretty adventurous and don't hesitate to travel solo with kids but I don't think I'd attempt solo at your kids ages unless you're planning a lot of nursery time. I've traveled with all ages of baby/toddler and it would definitely be work but I think if you decided to go for it DCL would be the place to do it.

Thanks! I've traveled alone with 2 before, but not since #3 has been born (though I've done lots of solo parenting, just at home). I am planning on using the nursery liberally, especially during naptimes so I can do things like the pool and aquaduck with the older one and have a bit of solo time. My oldest loves splash pads, so I think he will be in his glory using it!

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

Thanks

I "solo cruised" with my three young kids by accident when my husband got noro and was quarantined for pretty much all the cruise. It actually was fine. We ate meals in the MDR like you plan to for the same reason: buffets are tough when the littles are too young to carry their own plates. Castaway Cay was great: there are so many attentive life guards I felt comfortable being in the water with all three (in life vests) even though I had to hold the baby the whole time. The downside was my youngest DID NOT like the nursery, and so I only had about 20 minutes of relaxation time at the Spa before I was called to come get him because he wouldn't stop crying for mommy. So just be aware you may not get to use the nursery. But we still had a great time.

Thanks! This makes me feel that I can do it if my husband ends up not being able to go with us!

 

[MomOTwins]

Thanks

Thanks! This makes me feel that I can do it if my husband ends up not being able to go with us!

Another thing to consider is you could cancel your current reservation before pif, wait to see if his work allows it and then do a last-minute booking. We did that when my job would not allow me to plan vacation ahead of time and would book vacations a week or two in advance. The good thing about a cruise is that they do not require advance booking because most things need no reservation and for those that do, they hold back spots for onboard booking.

 

[wombat_5606]

#Phil

Thanks! I've traveled alone with 2 before, but not since #3 has been born (though I've done lots of solo parenting, just at home). I am planning on using the nursery liberally, especially during naptimes so I can do things like the pool and aquaduck with the older one and have a bit of solo time. My oldest loves splash pads, so I think he will be in his glory using it!

Philharmagicfamily, it doesn't sound like you have ever been on a cruise before. If I'm correct in thinking this, then I have some apprehension about the ease in which you think things will go. I'm a very seasoned cruiser having taken my first in 1980 and I was taken by surprise when my cruise with my granddaughter did not go as I had dreamed.

I traveled with her grandpa and her parents on our 5 night cruise. Our granddaughter ended up not being able to use the nursery(she was under 2) because she developed a rash, from what, we could not determine. Her first day in Nemo's Reef, the older kids ran over her, so she would not go back. Then, the extra stimulation and all of the activity, made her the most unhappy I'd ever seen her. Since I was the person who had sailed Disney the most, I gladly took her back to the cabin during meals and shows when she became disinterested. She would not, could not nap so she was not at her best. If you end up with 1 or 2 of those kind of kids on your cruise, I'm afraid you've just spent an expensive week for nothing.

My suggestion for you, is to cancel and reschedule when your husband can accompany you. If you don't want to do that, I would hope you could find someone to go with you. It is your decision to make with the input you have sought.

 

[Kate_45]

I second the previous poster who said that if you're going on holiday solo with 3 those ages anyway, then a Disney cruise is the way to do it. You will have more assistance from staff than you would most places.

Yes you might find that the babies don't settle in the nursery and your 4yo doesn't like the club but you can mentally prepare yourself for it being all the kids all the time and do things you do at home (but without having to cook). Watching a film or reading to them in the stateroom because they're overstimulated is better with room service. Even if the baby won't take to the nursery, she has to sleep at some point, then you can pop her in the buggy and focus on the other two. You'll be fine. It might not be too relaxing but it will be fun.

Spend a decent amount of time in the nursery on embarkation day so they can get to know it, but leave before they want to, so they're keen to go back.

 

[Calantha]

I’ll just add that my 4 year old wouldn’t stay in the club unless his older cousins were there - even though he is in pre-school - the club was too busy and confusing.