AtlantaDisneyDreamer

Hi!

My question may seem trivial, but it is oddly important to me...

Maybe I am just missing it, but I can't find the public bathrooms on the FOS when I view the deck plans.

We would be staying in a family promenade stateroom with 5 of us and only 1 bathroom. If my 7 year old needs to go when my husband is in the shower, are there close bathrooms nearby?

We would be staying on deck 7.

Thanks!

Both Enchantment and Freedom do have nurseries. As far as the splash area on the Enchantment, I would check out the family forum to see the current status of that pool. When it was first installed, it was a baby area that allowed swim diapers. In recent years, the sign has changed and it states all children must be potty trained. Freedom definitely has a small area for babies and toddlers in swim diapers.

Thanks! I can definitely feel a meltdown coming if the little one sees her big sister playing in the water and she can't . . .

The worst thing about our cruise on the Disney Dream was waiting in line for the characters. You will need to bring your patience with you. The lines may not look terribly long, but we found that many people like to take more than their fair share of the characters' time. "Let little Bobby take a picture with Goofy. Now Bobby and Sally together. Now Grandma can join. Now one with just Grandma. Now one with Grandma and Grandpa.... and so on. We were surprised at the number of adults who got in line to greet the characters as well. In the Tinker Bell line, an adult woman in front of us spent about 10 minutes crying on Tinker Bell's shoulder (???) while young children cried and complained to exasperated parents that they were so tired of waiting. My daughter was also disappointed several times because she would see a character, then that character would leave before she could get a picture.

Disney is not good about moving people swiftly thru the character lines.

Sooo...

Find out when your kids' favorite characters are going to be somewhere and get there early.

Be patient.

Don't take up a lot of time when it is your turn. There are a lot of people who want to meet the characters, and young kids aren't known for their patience.

We found that a lightweight stroller that reclines was a must for us with our baby. We went on our first cruise with our daughter when she was 4 months old and bought a Baby Cargo 200 series stroller. It is lightweight, folds easily, and reclines almost fully. Therefore, our baby was able to take her naps while we enjoyed strolling around the deck or lounging by the pool. We didn't have to take her back to the room each time.

Most umbrella strollers do not recline, so it makes it difficult for the kids to sleep.

She will be two when we go on our next cruise, and we plan to take that stroller with us again.

Thanks for all the replies!

My children had a blast on their cruise. If you get a balcony cabin, your husband might not feel so confined when it is his turn to stay in the cabin with the kids. I am pretty sure your 2 year old will not feel confined at all on a 7 day itinerary.

On the Freedom, we would have the Family Promenade View room (Cabin 7607).

On the Enchantment, we would have the Family Oceanview room (Cabin 8012). We wanted to take advantage of the sale (only the 1st and 2nd passengers in a room pay) and I did not mention that my mom is also coming (so we essentially get 3 cruise fares free). Unfortunately, there are no balcony family rooms. In our experience, we don't spend much time in the room, but would that be too confining?

They have nothing to compare it to. Your oldest will not remember the cruise that she took when she was 4 months old.

It was actually our youngest who was 4 months old when we were on the Dream. Our oldest was 5, and she remembers so much about it. In fact, she is constantly asking to take another cruise, and she said she would rather cruise than go to Disney World, but she loves the character experiences and shows that she remembers from the Dream.

We took my grandson when he was about a year and a half ... he LOVED it ... Now he's 6 and will be on his 5th cruise. He's loved every one! I'd go with the bigger ship that has a nursery area.

Both ships have the nursery, right? We would not want to go on a ship that did not have a nursery for the baby.

There is a nursery for the little one if you want some alone time and a splash zone if still in diapers.

I think the Enchantment has a baby pool where kids can wear swim diapers. I know RCI's policy used to be that no swim diapers are allowed in pools, but from what I read, after they updated the ship in 2005, there is a splash area where toddlers can play in swim diapers. Is that not correct?

Thanks again for all of the thoughtful replies!

Hello! We are planning a cruise with our 7 and 2 year old girls in September. We are looking at either the 4 night Bahamas on the Enchantment, or the 7 night Western Caribbean on the Freedom. I know the Freedom is a much nicer ship and would be great for the girls, but my husband worries that our 2 year old might feel confined (or perhaps that HE might feel confined being with a 2 year old on a ship) for 7 nights.

We took a 4 night cruise on the Disney Dream when our youngest was only 4 months old and we had a blast. For that reason, I also worry that the Enchantment might be a disappointment after the Dream (especially for our 7 year old, who got used to cruising with the characters and to a great kids club).

Our cruise fare would be over $1000 cheaper to go on the Enchantment, which would leave us enough money to go to Disney World later in the year, too.

I much prefer the 5 star ship with the ice skating rink and the Dreamworks Experience, but on the other hand, my husband's concerns may be legit, and taking a trip to Disney at the end of the year would be fun, too.

Hubby is leaving it up to me to make the decision, and I can't make up my mind. What do you think?