flippergirl

1 hour ago, twodaywonder said:

I really have no idea why so many have giant luggage. Ours are the largest that will fit in the xray machine. The are the kind that have and extension you can unzip. We never had to. Even on our longest cruise of 14 days. We pack sparingly and usually add an extra shirt and shorts just incase of damage. If we must. We just get washed what we need if anything. Long ago I carried on a tux. No longer. On 5 day or less cruises, we only take one.

In general I agree with you. My husband and took a 16 day land trip with a carry on and a back pack each. We did do laundry once. Now we are taking 2 little kids with us and they require so much stuff so we need a big bag. 

I can see both sides of this argument. I think if you don't have anyone to watch her for a week (that everyone is comfortable with) and you want to go on a cruise that is your answer. That is our situation as well. It is definitely I different type of vacation. I think Allure is a good choice as it has a nursery and a baby splash pad. I think intermittent child care can make it a lot less stressful. 

For your family I would probably do a ship tour to playa mia in Cozumel with bus transport. Taxis are a potential issue and I would not want to take a 6 month old without a car seat in a taxi nor would I want to schlep one around. 

My guess is that prices are high now to make it seem like a deal when they go on sale for black friday.

1 hour ago, Sif said:

 

Two. Your child will be two.

In this scenario it is quite relevant as a 2 year old can go to camp carnival but her child can't. 

OP we decided to go with RC because most of their ships have a nursery for kids this age. 

4 hours ago, DfDinLA said:

During a transatlantic crossing on Rhapsody I decided I wanted to host 6 guests in my suite one afternoon.

 

I told the concierge I wanted to buy 5 bottles of champagne and a case of Evian, and I wanted the champagne delivered chilled  in ice buckets with 7 champagne glasses, 7 drinking glasses and some cocktail napkins.  I also ordered a tray of assorted veggies and dip, a tray of assorted cheeses and asked that it all be delivered at 1 PM the next day.

 

At the desired time it all arrived and he stopped by to make sure everything was OK and then he told me the snacks were compliments of Royal Caribbean..

 

My guests and I had a very nice afternoon and afterwards I thanked the concierge for his help and the nice surprise.

This is helpful. My youngest will have his 2nd birthday on the ship in January and we are traveling with extended family so I want to have a little birthday party. Glad to hear that I can get some help from the concierge for that. 

I agree that it is probably not a money maker but definitely attracts parents to the line. The drop off nursery is the major reason we booked a royal cruise instead of NCL for January. 

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Same here, we've done that twice on Brilliance out of Tampa.

Hmm, that is interesting to know. We are on Brilliance in January and there are 8 ships in Cozumel. Is there a way to know where we will dock?

Definitely price it out because I think 2 cabins is usually cheaper that a suite. I would say that the pros of a suite are a nicer room with suite perks and the pros of 2 rooms is more privacy. 

For our family we decided on the suite vs 2 connecting cabins but our kids are 2 and 4 so we don't get privacy anyway and they sail free in a suite.

My plan is to get these https://www.whizrider.com/ for my older kid (4) and use an immigo for my 2 year old. Your kids are old enough to use these for both.  They aren't scheduled to ship til October since they are in preproduction. 

8 hours ago, Don'tNeedAName said:

@RCCL Fan, I don't have any specific better answers than what has been discussed above, but we just got off of Adventure on Saturday, after an 8 night cruise with our two sons, ages 3.5 and 1.5.  (I put together a short review here, if so inclined).

 

I guess I thought it may be helpful to offer our experience that (other than the first night which took an exceptionally long time) the MDR staff were so attentive to our kids that it really was an easy experience each night.  About half the nights we did end up breaking out a tablet to let them sit in the windowsill next to our table and watch a show, but even then... they were mostly quiet, and dinner was enjoyable.  It wasn't perfect--one night our youngest did knock over a glass of red wine; luckily the wife was at least wearing an orange dress... not too noticeable!

 

 

Two years prior, when it was just our oldest son at 1.5 at the time, we were on Anthem for 5 nights.  We had planned to bring him to the nursery during dinner for two nights, and booked times as soon as we got on board.  However, the experience in the MDR was so good night 1, we went ahead and canceled the nursery to bring him with us to all dinners.

 

Obviously, you're a parent, so I don't need to tell you every child will be a different scenario, but hopefully my rambling can give a little something else for your friends to consider.  Hope you all enjoy whatever you/they end up choosing!

 

To be fair, my thoughts are based on a land vacation we took with my kids the same age this spring. The younger one slept poorly, we had a few disastrous meals, and by the end I was just exhausted and done. We did have some fun times but my vacation experience would have been vastly improved by a few nice dinners where we could actually relax. After that trip I vowed that I will not take any vacations without so type of childcare in the near future. It wasn't a cruise so not exactly comparable and maybe it makes me a bad parent but that is how I feel. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3231

This article has the list of ships with a nursery and unfortunately Adventure does not. And you are right they don't offer babysitting so there is no child care for kids under 3. 

Honestly we booked the cruise we did specifically because not having a nursery was a dealbreaker for me. And they don't make it easy to find info about the nurseries. 

So in your situation personally I would choose among the Florida departures (less travel time to get there) and pick the itinerary you (and the other adults) are most excited about. They all have some nice beach ports and your kid is young enough to enjoy most any activities she can participate in. 

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

If it matters, there will be no childcare or splash pad for a child that age on those ships.

Personally I would look for these amenities. That as well as ease of getting to port (shorter flight, less plane changes,  port closer to airport) are more important than the itinerary to me with a toddler. 

Others had good points re: the car seat. We also use a cosco scenera for travel. 

ETA: the NCL Escape has a nursery so if the last cruise is on that ship you would have childcare. 

I would definitely say 2 bedrooms for teenagers would be better. Kids have a more private place to sleep and you can actually use the living room. 

On 7/20/2019 at 9:30 AM, clo said:

And I agree with you.  I nominate you to be in charge of this on ALL cruise ships!  Okay?  And, yes, to better cheeses please.  A couple of years ago two of our grands who were pre-school at the time came to visit with their parents.  I had a wedge of my favorite cheese that costs a pretty penny.  These little girls are cheese hounds.  I hid that in the back of the fridge 🙂

This is off topic but one of my favorite places to eat in all the world is St James Cheese Company in NOLA. Oh, and my 18 month old loves Gouda so I feel you. 

30 minutes ago, rimmit said:

The nursery and adventure ocean are open the entire time the ship is in port If the nursery is not open yet, when you need to leave for your excursion, you can request it to open.

Thanks!

8 hours ago, Heymarco said:

Hi,

 

Do the nursery hours vary from ship to ship? Also, what are the hours during port days? I am particularly interested in Serenade when she returns to Florida this fall. Any info is greatly appreciated.

This thread is helpful as I have been trying to hunt down this info. We are on brilliance this winter with my (will be) 2 and 4 year old. We booked ai independent scuba excursion and I'm hoping to leave the kids on AO and royal tots and I have been trying to find out if it will be open. 

We have a cosco scenera we use as our travel seat. It is also light and cheap (the safety 1st seat mentioned above is also a good option).  There are several products to help with carrying a seat through the airport, a strap to strap it to a roller bag, a car seat bag/backpack with or without wheels, a luggage or car seat cart. It is a huge pain to lug it but if both parents are traveling with 1 kid it isn't too bad.

Depending on which departure port there are some shuttle services with car seats available as well if you don't think you will need it for any of the stops on the trip.

Speaking as someone who just went on a vacation with a 3 year old and 1 year old, book a ship with a nursery! This way mom and dad can have a relaxed meal which is basically impossible to do with kids that age. A baby splash pad would be nice as well.  For the bigger kids I would think the sporty things on the bigger ships would be good or a port intensive itinerary.