Freedom of the Seas - Traveling with a TODDLER

[LLOVIN]

We will be on the Freedom of the Seas March 14th voyage with 2 small children. One of them is only 2 yrs old (not old enough to go into the kids club). What advice do you have for traveling with a small one? We still want to be able to relax while on board. Thanks!

[crusinmama06]

You found us, welcome. :D

 

So, adding to what I already wrote....don't forget...

 

sippy cups (glass and toddlers don't mix...lol)

 

ziplock bags to zip up the diapers (although the cabin attendants empty the garbage twice/day, it may get kind of smelly in there if the diaper is really icky)

 

small container of dish soap to clean up the sippy cups

 

Are you staying in a balcony? For us, it was the best place to relax when the kids were younger. They went to bed and we went "outside". ;)

[aiolos]

We are too! It sounds like you better stuff your wallet with some cash to pay babysitters. I saw the one post that said $16.00 per hour.....holy cow! If I liked children, I think I might quit my job and become a cruiseline babysitter!

[hansolosmom]

Freedom is an awesome ship! I wouldn't suggest the Flo Rider :p

 

They have a really nice water park type area for little ones which I think is great - you could take your toddler out there & when they get tired either take them back to the room or put them in the stroller & hang out on the deck with them sleeping.

 

Another fun one - which might sound strange - is walk the promenade with them, they have lights that move on the floor (almost like a disco ball) & kids love to chase them.

[LLOVIN]

Thanks, Hansolosmom...that floor sounds fun. Reminds me of Saturday Night Fever! :)

I like the idea of letting him sleep while we hang out at the pool. I think we should definitely bring an umbrella stroller!

14 days & counting!

[RCLnewbie]

Freedom is an awesome ship! I wouldn't suggest the Flo Rider :p

 

They have a really nice water park type area for little ones which I think is great - you could take your toddler out there & when they get tired either take them back to the room or put them in the stroller & hang out on the deck with them sleeping.

 

Another fun one - which might sound strange - is walk the promenade with them, they have lights that move on the floor (almost like a disco ball) & kids love to chase them.

 

From what I understand the little one will not be allowed into the spash area. Only the 2 inches of water in the "toddler pool". I also have an almost 2 year old and we are going on the Liberty next week. Hoping she wont notice the rest of the water activities! Lol! Yeah right!

[Max and Ruby]

Yeah,I have the same problem as one of the posters here. My daughter will be 3 years and 2 months by the time of our July cruise and she REFUSES the potty right now. I am really trying to get her trained so when we go to H20 zone with her 5 year old sister and older cousins she can follow them around too. But as I learned with her sister, forcing potty issues doesn't work and it just makes everyone miserable. She'll be ready when she's ready and if she whines that she can't follow her sister I guess I have to deal with that!

 

I wonder if anyone here knows why all of the FREEDOM Class H2O zone bans swim diapers? I can understand the pools, but if you are running around the splash park area and are wearing swim diapers I would think waste is contained? Do they think parents will just not care and stuff would leak out and contaminate the area?

[cruisinwithboys]

Carnival takes unpotty-trained toddlers and 2 year olds. Next year will be a whole new experience for you on a cruise once you can put your daughter into the kids' program!

[crusinmama06]

I wonder if anyone here knows why all of the FREEDOM Class H2O zone bans swim diapers? I can understand the pools, but if you are running around the splash park area and are wearing swim diapers I would think waste is contained? Do they think parents will just not care and stuff would leak out and contaminate the area?

 

Well its not that Royal Caribbean bans swim diapers its that the entire cruise industry in the form of the CDC bans swim diapers. ;) Royal Caribbean and Disney gets around the CDC by creating the Baby Splash Zone with the special filtration systems.

 

So if they didn't, then they would be like Princess, Carnival, Hal, NCL, etc and have NO water splash areas for kids in swim diapers. :(

 

Does that make any sense?

 

So there are laws that the entire cruise must follow. Royal Caribbean and Disney found a way around it. :) If you went on any other cruise line - the child would not be allowed in the water. Those Carnival water parks are for potty trained children only.

[cb at sea]

If a diaper is dirty, and gets wet, the water that flows through the diaper contains the bacteria that is in the material in the diaper.....which, in turn, contaminates the pool....unless there is a special way to "filter" the water. That's why most don't allow swim diapers.

[imsulin]

If a diaper is dirty, and gets wet, the water that flows through the diaper contains the bacteria that is in the material in the diaper.....which, in turn, contaminates the pool....unless there is a special way to "filter" the water. That's why most don't allow swim diapers.

 

You're right. Cruise ships change thousands of passengers every 3-4-5-7-and more days, so it's an important issue. I don't go into kids' pools, but have a problem with parents plopping diaper-clad kids into the main or adult-only pool, which I do use. (I also have a problem with older kids and teens and adults who hog hot tubs and older kids/adults who think that being drunk and cannon-balling or taking over any pool is cool). In my experience, Princess, NCL, and HAL have done a good job dealing with this. Carnival and RCI - not so much. Cruise lines have FOR YEARS promoted family cruising, but have made very little efforts to accommodate non-trained toddlers and babies pool-wise, except in newer ships. I've stated this before.

[Max and Ruby]

Thanks for the replies about "why no swim diapers". I just wondered why it was safe for public swimming pools, but not cruise ships?

 

I definately would not have chosen to pay for this summer's trip, but my mother in law is paying for her whole family to go (kids and grandkids) so who am I to say no to a free cruise? :)

 

We'll have to make the best of it and maybe I can teach my 3 year old to like sunning herself while reading Elmo and board books?:rolleyes:

[Mack2]

We'll have to make the best of it and maybe I can teach my 3 year old to like sunning herself while reading Elmo and board books?:rolleyes:

Hey... maybe it'll be the incentive you might need to negotiate a solution for her dependency on diapers. ;)

 

It's difficult for kids to tear themselves away from something they are doing to go use the potty. If they have the right incentive, though... it helps.

 

Fortunately for us, dirty underwear was enough incentive for the kids to start using the potty during the day... night time is a different story.

Thank goodness for Nighttime Pull-Ups.

[crusinmama06]

Thanks for the replies about "why no swim diapers". I just wondered why it was safe for public swimming pools, but not cruise ships?

 

Land pools can be chemically treated and super chlorinated enough to bring all of the marinelife to its knees -- or its fins. ;):p

 

So that's the difference. When on land, they don't need to worry about Flipper. :D So they can use chemicals to kill the bacteria. When on a ship, they can't use a lot of chemicals because those chemicals will be emptied right back into the ocean twice/day.

 

And then it would end up on Dateline NBC in a Special Report entitled "Poisoning Our Oceans: The Evils of the Cruise Industry!" :eek::p

 

That's a nice Grandma, by the way! Ask her if she'd like a few more grandchildren. :D

[MNmomof4]

I was motivating my 2yr old daughter for our october cruise on carnival by showing her pictures of the waterworks area and telling her she couldn't go unless she was all done with diapers. She wouldn't be able to join her brothers. Everyday we looked at the pictures and it obviously worked since she was completely trained after that. She kept saying she was big and could go in the water park. She will be 3 soon and is upset she isn't tall enough for the slides.

[kittycruize]

Ok this might be a stupid question, but how do the cruise lines know if your child is potty trained? Why not just put a swimsuit on your child and go in the pool? How would they know whether or not the child is potty trained, especially if they are 3 years old!!;)

[beachchick]

Ok this might be a stupid question, but how do the cruise lines know if your child is potty trained? Why not just put a swimsuit on your child and go in the pool? How would they know whether or not the child is potty trained, especially if they are 3 years old!!;)

 

Well, swim diapers are obvious, so I'm assuming you mean bringing an untrained toddler into the pool with just a swimsuit. How would the cruise line and other passengers know? They might not, unless the child had a number 2, which would definitely get out or the child said something.

 

But the bigger question is why on earth anyone would even consider being so selfish as to risk the health and safety of every other person, child and adult, using the pool and water facilities? Every year many children and some adults get ill, often seriously, from pool contamination. Every year some children and adults die because of it. And this is usually on land in large public facilities that are strongly chemically treated. Cruise ship pools are small and not heavily treated. They are easily contaminated. Every time there is an accident (or, in a few cases, intentional contamination by older children thinking it's a "joke"), the pool must be closed, drained, cleaned, and refilled--which takes the pool out of service for as long as a day. It's a really good way to have the rest of the passengers want to make someone "walk the plank" (or worse), especially if it happens on a sea day.

 

Swim diapers may contain solids, but they cannot contain bacteria, viruses, etc. Without even a swim diaper, number two is going to go everywhere. The very thought is disgusting! It's selfish behavior like this that is one reason we do not use ship pools or hottubs. We don't care to risk illness or death because someone else intentionally broke the CDC rules and snuck their untrained little darling into the pools.

 

I have a hard time understanding why any parent would risk their own child's health over this. If that parent is trying to get away with breaking the rules, they should assume that other parents are doing the same--and those other children may very well contaminate the pools. What unbelievably risky behavior. I am a parent, but I'm boggled over the rationalization that "my child will have a fit (or scream or go crazy or be so upset that the cruise is ruined) if he/she is not allowed to use the pool." It is difficult, no question, but even toddlers can learn that there are rules that must be followed, period. My child's health and life would be worth the hassle of dealing with a tantrum (even if it means we'd have to leave the pool deck and go for a time out in the cabin).

 

How can anyone even suggest such a thing, much less consider it seriously?:mad:

 

beachchick

[crusinmama06]

Ok this might be a stupid question, but how do the cruise lines know if your child is potty trained? Why not just put a swimsuit on your child and go in the pool? How would they know whether or not the child is potty trained, especially if they are 3 years old!!;)

 

Because then this happens (see below) on the only sea day and the rest of the children on the cruise get to enjoy a pool free vacation. The cruise line shuts down the pool due to cleaning. As the mother of the children who had to come up with something to do while the kids couldn't swim because the pool was closed, I assure you, it wasn't fun. So PLEASE, if your child isn't potty trained, PLEASE don't put them in the pool. :(

 

On Carnival....

 

 

 

And then on Disney...same reason each time - parents who think they are above the rules