Kids 2-8 : What to bring and what to leave at home?

Previous poster mentioned a clothesline in the bathroom. Not all ships/cabins have a clothesline.

If you plan to wash a few things recommend bringing clothespins and hanging items from a coat hanger. You can hang in a corner of cabin from ceiling tile.

Also, if you are on a ship with an ice rink and plan to ice skate, everyone needs long pants and full socks.

We always bring medicine for the kids - Tylenol, ibuprofen, benadryl, Dramamine.

We also bring a small step stool so the kids can reach the sink.

I use ebags to pack - different color for each person.

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First time cruise with 4 and 2 years old grand kids. So many things we never thought about on our previous cruises.

What do you bring for meals? Do you bring kid size cutlery? or RCL will provide them. I never knew that they have a kid menu (of course that makes sense). I assume kid meals are served on regular adult size china, not on plastic ones.

First time cruise with 4 and 2 years old grand kids. So many things we never thought about on our previous cruises.

 

What do you bring for meals? Do you bring kid size cutlery? or RCL will provide them. I never knew that they have a kid menu (of course that makes sense). I assume kid meals are served on regular adult size china, not on plastic ones.

 

Everything is the same as adults.

Everything is the same as adults.

Thank you for the response.

I plan to bring a non-slip plate and a plastic fork and spoon for my 2.5 year old. Also a sippy cup with lid.

We try not to over pack and travel a ton, so here's our list of required items:

1. Medications (Motrin, Childrens' Dramamine, a round of oral steroids for our asthmatic son, and inhaler)

2. Puddle Jumpers for each child

3. Rashguard swimsuits (at least 3 for a week as we like dry suits and swim a ton) and coverup for daughter

4. Water shoes that are comfy enough to act as walking shoes (SunSans, Lands End, Keens, Natives)

5. One outfit suitable for dinner per child

6. Inflatable Pool Noodles

That's it!

Before cruising, we taught our 3 year olds how to hold a real glass and drink from it. They also were taught to eat from regular utensils. That way, we had no dining room issues!

All great ideas! I don’t think anything was missed. We cruise in April on my kids 5th cruise. I always bring our own life jackets just because we use them in port. I would recommend some playing cards like uno to play in the room. Maybe one personal item per kid (let them pick). We like to bring glow sticks just because. We don’t pack light but I will tell you the only thing we have that may not get used is extra outfit or two for my boys. We love packing cubes because it makes it easy when unpacking, I can just unzip the cube and place it in the closet or drawer for easy access to their clothes and I don’t have too much to organize. I recommend a travel size bag of pods for doing a little soak if anyone has a stain versus taking liquid soap it’s just easier. I also bought magnetic hooks for the walls in the room to hang hats and hoodies for us and the kids. Good luck to you! Have fun!

I cruise in March with my 10 and 2 year old. Great suggestions.

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We try not to over pack and travel a ton, so here's our list of required items:

1. Medications (Motrin, Childrens' Dramamine, a round of oral steroids for our asthmatic son, and inhaler)

2. Puddle Jumpers for each child

3. Rashguard swimsuits (at least 3 for a week as we like dry suits and swim a ton) and coverup for daughter

4. Water shoes that are comfy enough to act as walking shoes (SunSans, Lands End, Keens, Natives)

5. One outfit suitable for dinner per child

6. Inflatable Pool Noodles

 

That's it!

 

Before cruising, we taught our 3 year olds how to hold a real glass and drink from it. They also were taught to eat from regular utensils. That way, we had no dining room issues!

Wow! I am impressed. So, just 3 swimsuits and a cover up for clothing ALL week? And do you bring nicer shoes for the MDR as well? Do you wash clothes in the sink?

Wow! I am impressed. So, just 3 swimsuits and a cover up for clothing ALL week? And do you bring nicer shoes for the MDR as well? Do you wash clothes in the sink?

I should have said one outfit suitable for dinner per day! No...we don’t wear the same outfit all week! We do however wear swimwear with coverups by day and a nicer outfit for dinner/evenings. I have been known to bring more than 3 swimsuits...and do wash them in a sink after wear...but usually 3 is enough with the daily clothes.

My kids wear a ton of coordinating clothing as twins, so they are always nicely dressed in the evenings.

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I should have said one outfit suitable for dinner per day! No...we don’t wear the same outfit all week! We do however wear swimwear with coverups by day and a nicer outfit for dinner/evenings. I have been known to bring more than 3 swimsuits...and do wash them in a sink after wear...but usually 3 is enough with the daily clothes.

 

My kids wear a ton of coordinating clothing as twins, so they are always nicely dressed in the evenings.

 

 

 

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This is typical port day attire! And since we own tons of this stuff, I sometimes bring one outfit like this and one for nights. I don’t, however, bring a swim outfit, a shorts outfit, and a dinner outfit per child per day.

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I love it! I have triplets and I like to coordinate my oldest and the triplets outfits

I love it! I have triplets and I like to coordinate my oldest and the triplets outfits

Love it! Ours tolerate it on trips, but otherwise...not so much these days!

We are cruising with our 2.5 year old and 5 month old for the first time in March. This is a great list with lots of great suggestions- I jotted them down. I'll add an inflatable bath tub and a rinse cup. I picked up a cute tub for fairly cheap from BJs and I'll bring our daily rinse cup from home- the flexible munchkin one.

Sand off!! Best thing ever for a beach vacation....or for those of us that live in Florida

Puddle jumper is a good idea, we took ours and our 3 year old loved having it.

Water shoes

Ziploc bags

Favorite snacks

Acetaminophen and band aids (they are expensive on board)

coloring books & crayons

over the door shoe organizer (with kids this was a great item to put misc items in. Crayons and items for them went into lower pockets they could reach. Chargers, etc went into higher pockets for hubby & I)

clothes pins to hang bathing suits to dry

night light, definitely

sippy cup

plastic bags from store to use for wet clothes, garbage, etc

highlighter/pens/pencils/small notepad for Daily Compass, leaving notes for spouse, etc

One thing I wish I brought on the last cruise was a collapsible stool. The toilet was a bit high for my 3 year old to stand and use the potty and he couldn't reach the counter. I would just make sure an adult is with the child if using this so that if there is any ship movement they are there to help hold the child.

We were able to find small suitcases that rolled for the kids. They loved having their own bags and carrying them to the port. That way we could fit all the "extras" into our suitcases. Don't forget that suitcases can go under the bed as well to give more room.

Sand off!! Best thing ever for a beach vacation....or for those of us that live in Florida

I almost forgot- baby powder works great for getting the sand off as well.

So one thing that is not mentioned at all is the shower. We took my then 1 year old on a family Alaskan cruise. Someone on Cruise Critic suggested taking the little inflatable rubber ducky pool/tub to place in the shower. IT WAS GENIUS AND WORKED AMAZINGLY! It takes very little time to blow up and deflates quickly also.

https://www.target.com/p/munchkin-white-hot-174-inflatable-duck-safety-baby-bath-tub/-/A-10209874

Hope this helps!

the big things I always packed for my kids was children's medicines, including ear drops since they like to swim a lot. When they were younger puddle jumpers and snorkel sets if snorkeling was planned because you can't count on excursions having masks and snorkels that will fit little ones. With all the kids stuff to pack (car seats too) we usually bring our collapsible wagon to get it all in one place and make it easier to carry on. The wagon fits nicely under the bed and can be used instead of a stroller (especially for slightly older kids who won't use a stroller but might need a break)