Kids 3.5 and 8 mos., first cruise - Royal Caribbean Grandeur 9/10

[montrosegohl]

We're going on our first cruise in a few weeks - Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, Western Caribbean (5 nights). First, let me start by saying we did not plan this trip. My in-laws were kind enough to purchase a cruise for all of us (themselves, our family, and my sister-in-law's family) with some money my husband's late grandmother left them. However, I have to say I am completely dreading this cruise for many reasons. We didn't particularly want to vacation with my husband's sister, as we are very different from her and her husband, but that's a tough thing to bring up. My in-laws were also originally talking about doing a Disney cruise, which we were all for, as my daughter is a Disney nut (and our infant son even lights up when he sees Mickey on the TV). But, one day they announced that they booked the cruise and then told us it was on Royal Caribbean, 5 nights to Mexico. (I realize Disney cruises are more expensive, but we would have gladly paid the difference over their budget.) Don't get me wrong.....we really do appreciate this whole gesture, but we're not poor and love to travel. If we're going to go on a week's vacation, we'd prefer to have choices instead of being told what we're doing. We'd also like to do our first cruise "right." (My MIL also booked our flights without consulting us, and we're going to have to get up at 3am.)

 

Anyway, the more I read/hear about this cruise line and ship, the more I'm dreading it......I've learned that our 8-month-old isn't allowed in any of the pools, even with swim diapers. There is no "Baby SplashZone," so if he wants to "swim" we have to bring our own blow-up kiddie pool (which he will not like, because he'll want to be in the big pool with his sister). We're in an interior stateroom which also doesn't have a tub, so I don't know how on earth we're going to bathe our infant well. From the pictures I've seen, I'm not even sure a Pack n' Play will fit in the room with the sofa bed out....will it?

 

Any advice/insights you have regarding this ship, excursions, cruising with a toddler and infant, etc. is much appreciated. :)

[Carolin]

It was very nice of your MIL to purchase a cruise for your family. Since you are a family of 4 with a infant, it will get tight in a inside cabin. I humbly suggest you have a heart to heart with your MIL and let her know that you would like a balcony cabin and will pay the difference. Why? More room for the crib and while your little ones are napping, you and your spouse can spend time on the balcony having some special time together without disturbing the little ones.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about being around your sister-in-law, everyone tends to go their own way while on ships. Chances are, you might see them at dinner.

[montrosegohl]

Thanks so much for the reply, Carolin. My husband talked to his parents last night to ask some questions about excursions that are appropriate for our daughter and about more kid-friendly activities on the ship. We sent them an e-mail afterwards also to ask a few more questions, and they responded with, "If you guys don't want to go on this trip, let us know as soon as possible so we can get some of our money back." We clearly offended them by asking questions, which we were not trying to do, I just don't think they understand how much planning an infant and toddler really require.

 

My husband e-mailed the travel agent directly to find out how much it would cost to upgrade just our room, preferably to a room with a bath tub. My MIL says they chose interior rooms to avoid sea sickness. Is that something we should be concerned about on a cruise ship? We don't get motion sickness easily.....I felt sick when we went deep sea fishing in Aruba, but that was a fairly small boat and very choppy water.

 

My SIL has a boy our daughter's age and a 22 month old. Since there are limited excursions for young kids, I'm hoping they don't choose the same ones as we! :(

[Carolin]

You will want to check with the TA specifically about Granduer and cabins with bath tubs. I traveled solo on the Granduer in a inside cabin. I had plenty of room but it was just me.

 

I'm very sorry to hear that they were a bit offended. Your right, unless you've travelled with little ones, its hard for others to understand. You will need to take more just to be prepared for your kids rather then just two adults.

 

I wouldn't get too wrapped up around excursions. Your kids will be the deciding factor of your days on the ship. I think you probably already know how your older sweetie is on trips. I hope your littler one will be a good traveller.

 

I don't get sea sick at all. *knock on wood* Pretty much any cabin towards the middle of the ship will be most stable. You can feel a bit more of the sea at the front or back of the ship. I've been on sailing where the sea was totally flat and it didn't matter where your cabin was located. I think last cruise there was only one night where we felt any motion and no one seemed to be bothered.

[Essiesmom]

I have never sailed on Royal, but I have gone to look at the deck plans, and see that all inside cabins for four have upper bunks, rather than sofabeds. Are you comfortable with your 3.5 y/o sleeping in an upper bunk? In fact, to get a cabin with a sofabed you have to go to a balcony or suite.

I don't think the pools will be an issue with an 8m/o, they will not know...But your SIL's 22 month old will probably pitch a fit, as will her mom...?

Have your in-laws cruised before? EM

[mymollysue]

I would definitely see about upgrading cabins to something larger. We brought a Munchkin inflatable duck tub on our NCL Jewel cruise to bathe our 1 year old DD. We also brought an inflatable pool and toys for her out on the deck. We went one deck up from the pool and my DD did just fine. As far as excursions go, we recommend anything on the beach. My DD LOVED the ocean (didn't have to worry about the swim diaper issue in the ocean) and she enjoyed playing in the sand.

 

Can you see about changing your flight to the night before? I don't know what it costs to change but if it is reasonable, I would consider doing it. It might be easier than having to leave at 3am. Your in-laws should have consulted you first before booking anything but I still think it is possible for you to have a nice time.

[cb at sea]

You could always "upgrade" yourself....if you have the booking number, call and pay the difference for a better cabin (a JS has a tub and more space).

As far as the 8 mo. old, unless you SHOW him the pool, he'll never know about it! And, the blow-up pool is widely used by parents of the diapered set! you won't be the only one with a small splash pool!

I think as long as you have an open mind about the trip, you'll have a great time. Your 3 year old will have a blast, and the baby...we'll he won't remember any of it anyhow!

But, I would try to upgrade the cabin (buy yourself another connecting room) for the space! You will need it on this ship. Granduer's cabins are much smaller that the newer ship's cabins.)

[crusinmama06]

Hey you are cruising with ME!!!!! :D So it can't be all bad because I wouldn't have picked a terrible cruise. ;) We've been on Disney, twice. We are diamond with Royal Caribbean. It was my kids choice to go back on Royal Caribbean. So don't dispair.

 

Let me try to help you. The roll call for this sailing is here...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1103967&page=9

 

That's the other people who will be sailing with you.

 

You do need to do something about that cabin. We are in a Junior Suite. As of right this second, there are 16 left on that sailing. So I would grab one if you want one.

 

The schedules for the kids club are here...they are similiar fleetwide, so even looking at Liberty will show you some of the things they will be doing on Grandeur.

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Royal%20Caribean%20AO%20Compass

 

I can tell you about kid friendly excursions and anything else you need help with. What do you want to know?

[montrosegohl]

Thanks so much everyone! As of right now it looks like we will no longer be going on this cruise. :( This travel agent is a total nincompoop.....she kept giving us the wrong info......like that there is an ice rink on the ship, a sports deck, that none of the snorkeling excursions would even allow our daughter because of liability issues, and that we would have to buy baby food through the cruise line. ALL wrong information. I let my FIL know about our frustrations (and we DID upgrade our room ourselves, feeling like it was a small amount of money considering my in-laws were nice enough to pay for evereything), and he responded VERY rudely. Apparently the travel agent gave him some lies and told him she would have "fired us as clients" and even had the nerve to say we were upgrading to "get away from his daughter!" (my SIL). What a bunch of crap! Of course he was offended after hearing that, and it's so ridiculous.......we wouldn't upgrade a suite just to get away from people we will hardly see and can be cordial with, are you kidding me?? The only way a crib was going to fit in the interior room was if the steward broke it down and put it back up at night. What about nap times? Walking room to the bathroom? Our stroller and other gear? And of course the junior suite has the bath tub, so it seemed like a no-brainer to upgrade. We even said it would be nice for our nephews, too, so they can take baths instead of showers if they wanted.

 

Anyway, if anything changes we'll be back to planning, but right now I think we're just going to reimburse my husband's parents the cancellation fee and save everyone some heartache.

 

I SO appreciate all of the helpful advice!!

[asylum575]

We were on the Grandeur in February with our kids 5 years old and 24 months at the time. We had a nice time. Our son went to the kids program and loved it. Our daughter was too young, but there was a Fisher Price play area set up every day and we brought her to that.

We had early dinner and caught a couple of shows.

We've been to Cozumel a few times and knew what we wanted to do.

 

We had an oceanview and got by just fine. A JS would be even better. The tub makes life easier.

 

I would upgrade myself and have a great time. If it's "company" that is the issue, Hey, It's a big ship, you can duck them, LOL.

 

BTW, not any balcony cabins on the Grandeur

 

Good luck.

[Marie51]

I am sorry this happened to you. Planning your first cruise should be filled with excitement and anticipation. I have planned and taken my grown children, their spouses and my grandchildren on 3 cruises. I am in the process of planning another for the summer of 2012. I think it is very inconsiderate of your MIL to book you into a tiny cabin with 2 little kids and book such early flights although certainly one must be thankful for her generosity. I think the best way to handle this situation was to move yourself to a larger cabin and just tell MIL that you would be too cramped in the small cabin she picked for you. Too bad the TA said some inappropriate things. If you did go you know that you do not have to book shore excursions.....you can just take a cab to the beach on your own. There is no need to always have to do everything together.

I hope there is a way you can fix things and go.

[Marie51]

We were on the Grandeur in February with our kids 5 years old and 24 months at the time. We had a nice time. Our son went to the kids program and loved it. Our daughter was too young, but there was a Fisher Price play area set up every day and we brought her to that.

We had early dinner and caught a couple of shows.

We've been to Cozumel a few times and knew what we wanted to do.

 

We had an oceanview and got by just fine. A JS would be even better. The tub makes life easier.

 

I would upgrade myself and have a great time. If it's "company" that is the issue, Hey, It's a big ship, you can duck them, LOL.

 

BTW, not any balcony cabins on the Grandeur

 

Good luck.

I see balcony cabins listed for Grandeur.

[crusinmama06]

I see balcony cabins listed for Grandeur.

 

Yeah I am not sure what asylum meant by that. There certainly are balcony cabins on Grandeur. There are the standard D1/D2 balcony category cabins. There aren't any available, but they are there.

 

So maybe asylum meant they aren't available. ;)

 

montrose - sorry things didn't work out for you. Yep, that ship certinainly doesn't have an ice skating rink...lol. Sounds like that TA needs a little more training and got annoyed when you knew more than she/he did.

[bplazo]

From the sound of it, if you went on this cruise none of you would be happy. I would never cruise with family that I didn't get along with. My sister always vacations with her in-laws and it is alway h***. :)

 

Just book your own Disney Cruise and just enjoy it with your own family. We have done both Disney and RCCL and my daughter loved both.