Toddler will be almost 3... too old for Nursery...

[jennyjinx3]

I wouldn't place a 2 year old in the clubs even if they had older siblings in with them. It is not fair to the older siblings to feel they have to look after the younger ones, and yes it probably is a very overwhelming environment for a 2 year old.

Also, like the PP stated, the child held it together then cried when the parents got there. This might ruin the club experience for them the next time the family is on a cruise.

This was part of our decision not to cruise until our youngest is five. (who thinks she is much older )

Good luck With your decision OP.

 

[lbgraves]

Regarding kids' reactions to the club. Our first cruise DS was 5 and loved the club. That was back when they did seperate by age a lot more with the 3-4 and 5-7s. DD at 3 went once with me staying and once on her own - never again. The next year DD4 didn't want to go to the club and the CM suggested they bump her up to the 5-7 yo group so she could be with her brother. The fact is that until this past March's cruise when she was 11 she hasn't really liked going to the club and we pretty much have had to tell her that we will be going to Palo for two hours twice a cruise and she will go and deal with it then she doesn't have to go the rest of the cruise. On the other hand, DS has always enjoyed the clubs. Not all kids are going to like them, but I wouldn't not go on a cruise because of this. Our first two cruises we didn't go to any adult areas. We were on a family vacation and enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with DD while DS was having fun in the club.

 

[lanejudy]

Regarding the diaper issue for the other posters interested in this---We started at the nursery but the CM at the nursery suggested we go to the Club instead since: (1) there were no other kids in the nursery; and (2) they only had "baby" toys. The CM said that the Club CMs will just call us if she needs to be changed.

How such issues are handled can depend on the demographics of a specific cruise - how many children in the nursery, how many in the Club/Lab, etc. On your particular cruise, there may not have been a lot of kids in the club and therefore the CMs were able to accept a younger child who needed to have parents called for pottying. Another cruise may or may not be that flexible. This is the first I've read of actual "diapers" allowed on a child in the club, though I have heard of pull-ups allowed on a case-by-case basis with similar circumstances.

 

[jmb910]

We are going on the April 6th Fantasy. Our youngest boy will be 2, but turns 3 April 28. Anyone familiar with the policies regarding this? He enjoyed the Nursery a year ago... but I know he would be bored by this April.
I think I remember the CM say it would be okay to register him for the Oceaneer's club... but not clear.

And what about potty training? Thank you in advance!

I will be on your cruise and I plan on putting my almost 3 year old in the nursery. We have tried potty training her right now and she is just not interested. I would rather pay for it and have piece of mind than worry about having to go back every hour, etc. to make sure she's gone to the bathroom.

Join our cruise thread if you haven't already . Only 4 months until we cruise

 

[kimmypie1]

This is my experience with my almost 3 year old when we sailed on the Wonder this past February:
DS was 3 months shy of being 3 years old. He was fully potty trained and he goes to daycare full time so he is used to being around kids of all ages.

Once we boarded we went to the Club to register, one of the CMs got a supervisor to observe him to see if he was developmentally ready to be in the club. She agreed he was and gave him a wristband.

He has an older sister (6) who said she would help keep an eye on him in the club, but she honestly didnt because she was having too much fun playing by herself.

He never felt overwhelmed by the older kids and always had fun. He ended up having two accidents during the week (even trained kids get busy and forget) and I thought we were going to be told to send him to the nursery but the CMs said it happens all the time and sent him home with us in loaner clothes.

We did not send him to the lab on the times where there was open house in the club just because he did seem overwhelmed there.

Bottom line, you know your kid better than anyone else, if you think they are ready for the club and they are potty trained, then go for it! My advice is not to force them to go if they dont want to. You will only have your adult time ruined by having to leave early to get them and you will make it so they will view the club as a bad thing if you end up cruising again.

 

[TDC Nala]

I've seen on another thread where a child who was not fully potty trained (still in diapers or pullups) was allowed with the result that the parents would be paged if they were needed to tend to toilet issues. The CMs will not change diapers and I'm pretty sure they are not allowed to go into the bathroom with the children.

The poster who said their child was allowed to stay said this was sometimes done when the clubs weren't busy.

 

[stewartm]

That's what they let us do with our 3 year old. We had to check on him every hour or so they said and would page if any issues.