Better to cruise with 1 y/o or 2 y/o?

So DH and I are thinking of booking a cruise with our little girl, who will be 1 in September. He thinks it would be *easier* to cruise with her at 1 than waiting a year till she's 2, as she may not be quite as mobile. I tend to disagree, and feel like once she's walking, she's walking.

The other decision is whether to get a balcony or not. My thinking is yes, because it gives us that extra space to hang out at night after she goes to bed... He feels like having a balcony with a small child is just asking for trouble.

We would likely cruise NCL, either Dawn out of Boston (suite most likely) or larger class out of NY (balcony or mini suite - Haven is Way too expensive right now, lol)

Questions for those who have cruised with child(ren) this young:

What room type did you get? Did you have a balcony?

Was a crib/p n p provided? Or did you bring your own?

At what age could a child safely sleep on a sofa pullout bed as an example? (I'm envisioning making "barriers" with pool noodles along the edges so she couldn't roll out!)

...or are we just nuts for even considering this?? [emoji45]

I will be honest with you - my sons are both insanely strong, and my oldest little Houdini was able to open the room door and the balcony door on the Coral Princess at 24 months. That's really unusual, and most parents on this forum will say that small children cannot do this. If you aren't a light sleeper, you might want to get bells or something to put on the door handle to make sure you know when your child goes out. My son slept at 24 months in a pack n play that the cruise ship provided so I think I would have heard him climb out (he only opened the balcony during the day so it was pretty safe). My youngest is usually glued to me, and spent most of the cruise when he was 24 months on my lap, so I don't know if he can open doors. We weren't too worried and continued to get balconies - we just kept a close eye on him and had a rule that he couldn't climb any furniture out on the balcony and supervised him to make sure he didn't break this rule.

For my family, the biggest consideration on when to sail is the kids club availability. We sailed on Princess with our older child when he was 2 for the first time, and Princess allowed children under 3 to visit the kids club with supervision (they have since revamped their kids clubs and their website no longer addresses if this is possible). We resolved after that no more traveling without a drop off kids club since it was too hard for us to tour museums and cities all day and then watch our kids at night (although if you are planning a beach vacation it might be more manageable).

Your options for daycare at 1 are nurseries you will need to pay for on Disney, NCL Escape or newer or some refurbished Royal Caribbean ships (and RC may have a newer ship stationed in Bayonne, NJ so you might want to look into that). At 2 you can add Carnival and Cunard and possibly some European lines. We just sailed to Norway last month with Cunard and their kids club was the weakest of those we've sailed (Princess, HAL, NCL).

If others don't address the experience on NCL with a child under 3, you might want to ask on the NCL forum. On the Star, there was a baby play room that had nice padded equipment and toys for younger children to use with parental supervision. Our son was 3 on our NCL cruise, and he slept on a pullout bed safely. In the long term, you can note that the kids club was really good, and he loved it there. NYC is our home port, but we can't sail with NCL from NY while our kids nap since the kids club is closed on sea days from 12-2 and 5-7, and our kids usually nap from 2-4 and there are a ton of sea days on cruises from NY. We sailed on HAL when my son was 3 years old, and he'd wake up from his nap at 4 and want to go to the kids club and get mad every day since it closed at 4:30 and he couldn't go. This wasn't as much of an issue in Europe, since the kids were jet lagged and we just let them sleep when the kids club was closed and everything went fine.

Are you nuts? Well, it depends. On my honeymoon, I ran into a family at Angkor Watt, and they had two toddlers and were traveling the world for a year. I was very impressed. And now that I have kids of my own, I'm even more impressed, and there is no way I would be able to take my kids to Cambodia. But my kids have been to St. Petersburg and Cartagena, thanks to the daycare on the cruise ships. It really honestly depends upon your family and also your children's temperaments - some children prefer being at home and it is a struggle to get them to adapt to sleeping somewhere new. My kids love to explore, so they are really happy on vacation.

My kids were difficult travelers so we didn't take many vacations except for going back east to visit family. Disney was one of those trips and it was exhausting.

We took our first family cruise last year when the kids were 5 and nearly 8 and we're going again this year. I loved that we didn't need to worry about naps, strollers and diapers and the kids had fun at the kids club and enjoyed the sight seeing on the islands.

Go for it. We just got back from a cruise with our 4 & 1 year old. We have cruised when our oldest when she was two and I think it's easier when they are one bc you can put them in a carrier. I basically carried my baby everywhere and it was nice to not have to take a stroller. We got an owner suite on royal and I would highly recommend getting a suite bc of the bigger space and perks (e.g. Priority boarding and tendering so you don't have to wait in line). With a suite, you can also get your dinning room food sent up to your room instead of going to the dinning room, which made it so less stressful too.

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I will be honest with you - my sons are both insanely strong, and my oldest little Houdini was able to open the room door and the balcony door on the Coral Princess at 24 months. That's really unusual, and most parents on this forum will say that small children cannot do this. If you aren't a light sleeper, you might want to get bells or something to put on the door handle to make sure you know when your child goes out. My son slept at 24 months in a pack n play that the cruise ship provided so I think I would have heard him climb out (he only opened the balcony during the day so it was pretty safe). My youngest is usually glued to me, and spent most of the cruise when he was 24 months on my lap, so I don't know if he can open doors. We weren't too worried and continued to get balconies - we just kept a close eye on him and had a rule that he couldn't climb any furniture out on the balcony and supervised him to make sure he didn't break this rule.

 

For my family, the biggest consideration on when to sail is the kids club availability. We sailed on Princess with our older child when he was 2 for the first time, and Princess allowed children under 3 to visit the kids club with supervision (they have since revamped their kids clubs and their website no longer addresses if this is possible). We resolved after that no more traveling without a drop off kids club since it was too hard for us to tour museums and cities all day and then watch our kids at night (although if you are planning a beach vacation it might be more manageable).

 

Your options for daycare at 1 are nurseries you will need to pay for on Disney, NCL Escape or newer or some refurbished Royal Caribbean ships (and RC may have a newer ship stationed in Bayonne, NJ so you might want to look into that). At 2 you can add Carnival and Cunard and possibly some European lines. We just sailed to Norway last month with Cunard and their kids club was the weakest of those we've sailed (Princess, HAL, NCL).

 

If others don't address the experience on NCL with a child under 3, you might want to ask on the NCL forum. On the Star, there was a baby play room that had nice padded equipment and toys for younger children to use with parental supervision. Our son was 3 on our NCL cruise, and he slept on a pullout bed safely. In the long term, you can note that the kids club was really good, and he loved it there. NYC is our home port, but we can't sail with NCL from NY while our kids nap since the kids club is closed on sea days from 12-2 and 5-7, and our kids usually nap from 2-4 and there are a ton of sea days on cruises from NY. We sailed on HAL when my son was 3 years old, and he'd wake up from his nap at 4 and want to go to the kids club and get mad every day since it closed at 4:30 and he couldn't go. This wasn't as much of an issue in Europe, since the kids were jet lagged and we just let them sleep when the kids club was closed and everything went fine.

 

Are you nuts? Well, it depends. On my honeymoon, I ran into a family at Angkor Watt, and they had two toddlers and were traveling the world for a year. I was very impressed. And now that I have kids of my own, I'm even more impressed, and there is no way I would be able to take my kids to Cambodia. But my kids have been to St. Petersburg and Cartagena, thanks to the daycare on the cruise ships. It really honestly depends upon your family and also your children's temperaments - some children prefer being at home and it is a struggle to get them to adapt to sleeping somewhere new. My kids love to explore, so they are really happy on vacation.

Thank you! We took a 4 night vacation with her a couple of weeks ago (3 or so hr drive away)... I was anxious as to how she'd do, would she sleep as good somewhere else as she did at home... and she was fine, she did great!!!! Good insight into the kids clubs. We are in Boston so at this point Dawn and likely Escape would be the ships of choice. Kids club may be a good reason to try Escape instead!!

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Been on P&O and Cunard with children when 10m, 13m, 2 yrs.

Very well catered for, and I can assure you, have lots of fussing from other passengers and crew!

One took first steps on board last year (does this qualify for a free cruise...haha), usually buggied around prom deck and lido decks.

Absolutely no balcony for us, not worth any risk, provided with baby bath and travel cot. no hesitation taking them again.

GO, and enjoy.

So DH and I are thinking of booking a cruise with our little girl, who will be 1 in September. He thinks it would be *easier* to cruise with her at 1 than waiting a year till she's 2, as she may not be quite as mobile. I tend to disagree, and feel like once she's walking, she's walking.

 

The other decision is whether to get a balcony or not. My thinking is yes, because it gives us that extra space to hang out at night after she goes to bed... He feels like having a balcony with a small child is just asking for trouble.

 

We would likely cruise NCL, either Dawn out of Boston (suite most likely) or larger class out of NY (balcony or mini suite - Haven is Way too expensive right now, lol)

 

Questions for those who have cruised with child(ren) this young:

 

What room type did you get? Did you have a balcony?

 

Was a crib/p n p provided? Or did you bring your own?

 

At what age could a child safely sleep on a sofa pullout bed as an example? (I'm envisioning making "barriers" with pool noodles along the edges so she couldn't roll out!)

 

...or are we just nuts for even considering this?? [emoji45]

Personally I waited til my son was 2 and old enough for camp on Carnival. The whole purpose for us cruising was to get a vacation, which included some down time for mom and dad and camp was just the ticket. I don't think the ships you are considering start until 3.

We always had a balcony but our two sons were in an inside across the hall with grandma. We put 8 year old big brother in the top bunk and he slept in the bed. So it depends on where your child is developmentally at 2, whether or not they can handle a bed.

When we traveled when my child could not, I would bring one of the toddler inflatable beds and set them up on the floor. I have also been so relaxed as to get a comforter and fold it and put it on the floor; then, he just slept in his PJs with his lovie blanket.

As for the balcony, it is a must IMHO. He could go to bed whenever he was tired (even mid day for a nap) and we could relax on the balcony. You will find you can get door alarms so to me it is not a big deal. Also on Carnival, there is no way my child could open the door - and it comes with a top latch 5' up, so without a chair and tip toes, they can't reach that. I can't speak for NCL.

The cruise can be done but imho it won't be as relaxing until the child is old enough for camp. Until then, we opted for beach weeks and fun cities like San Antonio that were walk able, and had plenty of child friendly activities.

We went with my daughter when she was 20 months. We went on the Allure (Royal Caribbean) and they had a nursery. We were pretty disappointed in the nursery. We decided that we will not go again until the kids are old enough to do the kids club. We are doing NCL this November as our daughter is now 3 and can do the club. The reason we don't want to do the nursery thing is because on the first night they kept her up until we picked her up at midnight. So she started the cruise with a crazy lack of sleep. Unfortunately she did not nap very well either so she was not the happiest little camper.

We booked adjoining balcony rooms for us and my mother. The balcony was great for us. She was great with the balcony as well. Originally the railing made me nervous, however the railing is pretty high. Even if she was standing on a chair it was still at her shoulders from what I recall. The balcony doors also have a child safety lock on them. They are on the top of the door. This should prevent them from being able to sneak out.

I will say that her being mobile was good. It was nice to be able to let her run around a bit. Especially in the baby splash pool. She loved that. We also brought our own pack and play (the one we have is the 4Moms brand which opens and closes in seconds). She did not end up sleeping in it at all. She slept in our bed the first 2 nights and then slept in my mom's bed the rest of the trip. We just blocked the sides off with animals and rolled up blankets and towels.

It's an either/or, IMO....or both! 2 year olds sometimes suffer from "separation anxiety", so the kid's club/nursery might not work for everyone!

Diapered kids are not allowed in any pool...just so you know about that going in! (some ships do have a "splash zone for diapered folks) Also, most cabins only have showers, so a blow-up tub might be useful...can also be used for "splashing" on the pool deck. A couple ice buckets worth of water (empty into the floor or shower drain, not onto the deck or into the pools) can help you on pool days.

I think a balcony is a must, as well...gives you someplace "to be" when baby is napping or down early for the night. You are never more than a couple steps away from anyone in a standard cabin, so don't worry about your child "escaping"!

I started at 13 months and took mine a number of times as toddlers. It got easier each time, but I don't think there was a huge difference between how easy it was from 1 to 2. I agree that having a kids club as an option is the big change.

Best,

Mia

I'll be cruising with my 19 month old in September... I am hoping it goes well and is fun!!!

I cruised with my sons when they were 4 and 7, and am now going to be cruising with my daughter next month at 20 months (boys are now 15 and 11) and again in December at 26 months. While I haven't cruised with a toddler (yet), we have traveled extensively with her (4 round trip flights, 2 all inclusive resort visits and 1 hotel visit in Puerto Rico), so we have some parallel experience. At the resorts, we did have balcony rooms in our hotels and they were not an issue for us. She was unable to open any of the doors, etc. While she's now more capable at opening doors, she's also now old enough to understand our direction not to.

I think traveling at 1 vs 2 isn't a huge difference. Definitely look closely at the nursery policies if childcare is important to you. We're traveling NCL next month and they do not have ANY drop off childcare for under 3 on our ship (they only have it as an extra charge on 1 or 2 ships). However, when we tried the drop off childcare at Club Med, they wound up calling us to get her because she was crying for us. She is in daycare since I work full time - it was more that she just wasn't familiar with the staff. I don't particularly mind not having childcare, because in this instance I'm traveling to spend time with my kids.

We're doing Oasis of the Seas in December and they do have drop off childcare for infants and toddlers for an extra fee. We may or may not attempt to use it, because we'll be traveling with a large group of family for my cousin's wedding. It's likely my mother in law will be happy to help so we can have some adult time.

For both trips we have cabins with balconies. I believe both lines will provide some sort of crib or pnp, although my daughter is starting to nap on a mat at school and we may prefer to setup a pallet for her on the floor. She's a stroller napper and she also easily sleeps in new places, so I'm not super concerned either way.

NCL doesn't have any pools for non-potty trained kids, but we'll be in Alaska and I don't think we'll be poolside often anyways. I found out Oasis (Royal Caribbean) does have a splash zone that diapered toddlers can play in and that about made my day. While it will be December, it'll be plenty warm enough in the Caribbean for a splash zone. On a side note, Royal is offering a kids sail free promotion right now, so it's a good time to book with them.

I love traveling with kids. I think the key is to just embrace that it's a different type of trip entirely than traveling without kids. I will say though, that we budget for suites so that I can still have some pampering. I'm looking forward to a butlered dinner in the Haven next month - why lug a toddler to the main dining room when you can have it served in your room for free?

We've cruised a few times with our older daughter who is now 4 when she was 7 months (RCL allure of the seas), 10 months (carnival), 21 months (NCL breakaway) and 24 months (Carnival). I don't know if I would say one age would be easier since there are pros and cons to both ages..

On those cruises, she still slept in the ship-provided pack and play since we did not move her to a bed until she was 2.5yo, although I am sure many people transition their toddlers to beds earlier. (As an aside, if you are looking for an easy travel solution for a safe sleeping solution on the pullout bed, we used inflatable bumpers that we tucked under the sheets). We loved having balcony cabins, although we did not wind up using it much when our daughter slept, since she was a light sleeper and would wake up to the sound of the balcony door opening and closing. Safety wasn't an issue since she was never out there by herself and she would not be able to unlock the door on her own to get out.

We did wind up taking a break from cruising when we had our second, who is now almost two, because we thought it would be really difficult sharing a cabin with a baby and a toddler. We finally booked another cruise for next year on the escape (leaving out of NYC) since the older one can go to the kids club and they offer babysitting for kids under 3. This time around, we skipped the balcony cabin and booked a family oceanview cabin, which has a curtain divider that separates the kids' sleeping area from the rest of the cabin so we can hopefully get in and out more easily if the kids go to bed earlier.

cruising with a toddler definitely isn't "relaxing" but we had a good time on each cruise. I think we just had to manage our expectations.

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We took our daughter when she was 15 months and will be taking her again in august now that she's 2. Although I don't have the 2 year trip to compare it to yet I have no doubt in my mind that this one will be harder (but still fun..I hope lol). At 1 she was a new walker so active but mainly only in our room and was fine with the stroller when out and about. The main difference to me in age isn't her mobility as much as her attitude. Being more verbal has made her a lot more demanding and kind of impatient. Obviously that's only the case a small fraction of the time but at 1 she was just so curious and happy to be there whereas at 2 she has her own opinions and has no problem voicing them.

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And I would definitely recommend a balcony. We would put her in the crib and go straight out there. I don't think she would have even tried to sleep if we were right there next to her.

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Every child is different, we don't have a clue how your baby will travel. My oldest traveled much better at 1 than 2. My youngest was the opposite-travel at 1 was very difficult.

To answer a few of your questions:

-we've had all types of cabins, balconies included. If your child isn't normally flinging themselves over balconies on land, then they won't on the cruise.

-You can request cribs or pack in plays. They don't usually have proper bedding, so you may want to bring your own blankets/ pillows.

-Our kids are all different, 1 was able to sleep on a pull out bed starting basically at birth. Another...well...we're still waiting. lol :D Same as the balcony idea. If they aren't flying out of bed at home, they will probably be fine on the ship. Even if they do fall out-what is it? 8 inches. She'll be fine. Every kid falls out of bed eventually, some even fall from bunk beds.

No you're not crazy, but you do sound panicked. Relax, it's vacation. have fun.

In our experience, cruising at 15 months was better than our experience at 24. It was a much more agreeable age. On the cusp of two her toddler attitude was starting to come out! When we cruised next at 3.5, it was much better.

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We just booked a cruise and will be with our 4 kids- ages 7, 5, 3, and 1. In our experience, just do it whenever you CAN. Don't overthink it. Unexpected things can always pop up and get in the way if you're always waiting for the "perfect time".

We get a balcony room (actually 2 of them). Our kids can open the doors. But we watch them closely- and they don't do it at night (because it looks reeeeally scary out there at night!) We pull the balcony furniture close to the sliding doors and emphasize the importance of not climbing on them. (even if they did, I don't think they'd fall overboard anyhow). You could even bring blue painter's tape and make a "magic line" for her to never cross without Mommy. Balconies are nice. We often get room service and they will eat dinner out there before we drop them off at the kid's club and go to the MDR without them!

Yes, they have pack n plays. Don't overpack. I read that a lot of parents on here bring bathtubs and shower curtains and all kind of crazy stuff. We bring only absolute necessities.

I would check out that Royal Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne, NJ. They have two ships that are sailing next summer, Anthem of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas. They have a nursery on board where you can check your kid in while you enjoy some adult time. Of course, there is a charge, but well worth it! They also have dedicated kiddie pools and short programs for a toddler with a parent to attend. A two year old can have fun! Most other cruise lines except Disney don't have anything for babies and toddlers.