Mintycake Posted June 22, 2011 #1 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Hello! My husband and I loved cruising pre baby and we noticed Holland America having a sale for the Carribean. My daughter will be almost 2 by the time of our (potential) cruise. So although we are vetran cruisers, this is new territory with a toddler in tow! So I have some questions - 1) Holland America - kid friendly? I know they have bathtubs and couches in cabin which is a plus. They probably won't let kids into the kids club if not toilet trained but I remember Princess would if you stayed with your child. 2) Iteneiary - more or less sea days better? We're trying to decide between 7 Day Eastern Carribean - Ft. Lauderdale, Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, Half Moon Cay on the ms Eurodam 7 day Eastern Carribean - same as above but St. Maarten instead of St. Thomas on the ms Nieuww Amsterdam 7 day Southern Carribean - Ft. Lauderdale, Half moon cay, Curacao, Aruba on the ms Westerdam 3) Do they allow kids in the pool with swim diapers? any other tips/advice is appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted June 22, 2011 #2 Share Posted June 22, 2011 HAL is not nearly as young child friendly as other lines. They do not have a program for those under 3, even if the parents stay. They don't have sitting services as the child must be 3 and out of diapers. No cruise line allows diapered children in pools or hot tubs. Only if there is a baby splash zone, and HAL doesn't have those, will a diapered child be allowed. To be honest, there are better lines than HAL for an under 2 child. Royal Caribbean has their Royal Tots program, they have in cabin sitting and some of their ships have baby splash zones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted June 22, 2011 #3 Share Posted June 22, 2011 1. The wait staff will love her, but there are no facilities for a child this young in Club Hal, not even if you stay with her. Must be three and potty trained. 2. If you are traveling with a child this young, I'd want less sea days, but I don't know what would work for your family. 3. NO line allows kids in pools in swim diapers As kitty9 stated, there isn't any babysitting offered for a child under three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milton333 Posted June 22, 2011 #4 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I disagree that no line allows kids in swim diapers in pools. Disney has small baby pools. Royal Caribbean Allure, Oasis, Freedom and Liberty (Independence?) have a small baby pool for non-potty trained kids. The only caveat there is that it's next to the very bright and colorful splash zone with the water-spraying sculptures, which is technically off-limits for the swim diaper set (though compliance/enforcement may not be total). Others report no issues with having a swim diapered tot in the splash zone on NCL Epic though, again, it's technically not allowed. I'm not familiar with the child care options on Disney. I do know that RCL Allure, Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, Radiance, and Splendour have the Royal Tots nursery (sitting available for an hourly fee). Most/all RCI ships also have in-cabin babysitting that is limited in availability and not guaranteed, performed by volunteer crew members in teams of two. ETA: For what it's worth, we'll be traveling with a 20 month old, not expected to be potty trained, and picked RCI as the most kid-friendly with activities for adults, in our opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvhubandbabys Posted June 22, 2011 #5 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I disagree that no line allows kids in swim diapers in pools. Disney has small baby pools. Royal Caribbean Allure, Oasis, Freedom and Liberty (Independence?) have a small baby pool for non-potty trained kids. The only caveat there is that it's next to the very bright and colorful splash zone with the water-spraying sculptures, which is technically off-limits for the swim diaper set (though compliance/enforcement may not be total). Others report no issues with having a swim diapered tot in the splash zone on NCL Epic though, again, it's technically not allowed. I'm not familiar with the child care options on Disney. I do know that RCL Allure, Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, Radiance, and Splendour have the Royal Tots nursery (sitting available for an hourly fee). Most/all RCI ships also have in-cabin babysitting that is limited in availability and not guaranteed, performed by volunteer crew members in teams of two. ETA: For what it's worth, we'll be traveling with a 20 month old, not expected to be potty trained, and picked RCI as the most kid-friendly with activities for adults, in our opinion. I would agree with this being an issue. Anytime we take my 2 yr old to the local water park. We play in the baby splash zone with her little sister who is 1 and right next to it is the fun bigger kid pool with slides. My 2 yr old is always oooooohhh let's go mamma big slide....so I know I could not keep her out of the "cool" pool if I was on a cruise. Just saying I would def think about that. Of course u can tell ur child no not until ur potty trained. But I have opted to wait until both kids r potty trained so I could avoid that particular meltdown....lol But that doesn't apply unless u go disney and the few other lines that have Baby poools for diapered babies.. Either way I'm sure u will have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted June 24, 2011 #6 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I disagree that no line allows kids in swim diapers in pools. 'OP was asking about Holland America. There are no pools for kids in diapers on HAL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milton333 Posted June 24, 2011 #7 Share Posted June 24, 2011 3. NO line allows kids in pools in swim diapers . I was responding to this. You may have meant "no ship," but you wrote "no line." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grossnmoe Posted June 24, 2011 #8 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Hello, I have 2 year old who has been on two cruises. The frist cruise he was 10 months on RCCL Liberty of the seas. The second cruise he was 2 1/2 on the Carnival dream. The first cruise I took him on was a breeze. This past cruise was a lot of WORK!!! And that boat had stuff for him to do. If I knew going into it there was little or nothing todo fo a young one such as mentioned above I don't think I would go with my youngest son. It wouldn't be worth the money. I would say look into a kid friendly boat. ( rccl or Disney). I myself didn't care for carnival kids club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted June 25, 2011 #9 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I was responding to this. You may have meant "no ship," but you wrote "no line." O.k., how about no ship or line allows children/people in diapers in the regular pools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mintycake Posted June 26, 2011 Author #10 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Thanks for all the input everyone. I think that we are going to hold off on cruising for now - it would break my daughter's heart if she couldn't go in the pool and I think once she's toilet trained travel will be much easier. At this point I'm not sure if spending the money on a cruise would really be worth it. Hubby and I just miss it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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