Worries with an active 20 month old, a 6 month old, and very worried parents

[dk555]

My husband and I would lilke to take our children/grandchildren on a cruise. Son and fiance are fine. Single daughter in our cabin is okay. 32 yr. old daughter and husband are very worried about the 20 month old. Will he be in danger? I need actual experiences - good or bad - that will help them decide if they are coming with us. We have 3 cabins reserved - all with balconies. My biggest concern is the top deck that has just rails. But, I just want them to have a really nice vacation. Please tell us your tales. Thanks, Dianne

[shellie100]

My husband and I would lilke to take our children/grandchildren on a cruise. Son and fiance are fine. Single daughter in our cabin is okay. 32 yr. old daughter and husband are very worried about the 20 month old. Will he be in danger? I need actual experiences - good or bad - that will help them decide if they are coming with us. We have 3 cabins reserved - all with balconies. My biggest concern is the top deck that has just rails. But, I just want them to have a really nice vacation. Please tell us your tales. Thanks, Dianne

 

I just went on a 10-day cruise on the Dawn Princess with my 20-month old and did not find safety to be an issue at all. Even on my parents balcony, it wasn't unsafe, we just had to watch so that he didn't move a chair to the railing or anything like that - something that he loves to do! Obviously, there was constant supervision whenever he was out there. Besides that, he loved to run around by the pool, something that wore me out more than him, hahaha. I was fortunate to have my parents around to give us a hand with him. You know, taking turns following him wander around the ship and the pool area. He loved to wander around, and the staff could not have been any sweeter to him. We did have to take turns taking him out of the dining room whenever he got rowdy, which was pretty much every night. BUT I really did not feel like safety was ever an issue. And he slept like a champ on the ship. I was amazed. That could just be my experience, though. Anyway, 20-month-old are of course a handful, and so it won't be like a childless cruise for them, but I recommend it, especially with grandparents and family to help out. I am looking forward to the next cruise, which will be right after my son turns 3, and then he can go to the kids area without me. It will be easier on me ;)

 

Anyway, have fun!!!!!!:D

[shellie100]

Hi

 

dont' forget most cruiselines have babysitters who will come to your cabin at night to babysit.

 

 

The Dawn Princess did not have that service, but I hear such good things about the RCCL in-cabin sitting.

[merela]

Not all my children, but everyone had fun and survived.

 

I'm not sure which ship you'll be going on, but I would choose one that have self-laundry service such as Princess, so your daughter wouldn't have to pack so many clothes for the kids. My sister who had the 6M old (and a 2YO) had to do 3 loads of laundry while on a 7-day cruise. Babies just have a way of soiling their clothes. All you need to bring are laundry detergent in ziploc bags (or any stain removers your daughter likes to use on stains) and quarters.

 

I don't think Royal Caribbean or NCL has self-laundry service. If you are booked on those cruiselines, then your daughter will need to either handwash the dirty clothes or to bring enough clothes for the duration of the trip. You can have the laundry done by the ship, but it'll cost quite a bit.

 

We love to cruise with our parents because they help with the babysitting so my sister and her husband and my husband and I can take turns watching the shows on the ship or participate in the activities offered by the ship.

 

In our mind, cruising is the only way to travel for people with young children.

 

I've written quite a bit before on what stuff to bring with you if you are travelling with very young young children. So search for posts I've done before.

 

Basically, your daughter will have to pack quite a bit of clothes, formula, diapers, medicine, etc... But depending on your ports of call, you maybe able to buy some stuff while you are in port. Bring along a stroller for each child. Double stroller is not wide enough for ships' corridors.

 

Don't plan or schedule any excursions if you are travelling with young children. Their regular naps are crucial. Buy a portable DVD player and bring along their favorite DVDs and it'll be a lifesaver during dinner time in the dining rooms. We ate all our dinners in the dining rooms without any problems.

 

Tell your daughter not to worry. With so many free hands who can help her watch the kids, it can only be easier and not harder for her to travel with her 2 babies.

 

Not sure what her hometown is and whether she needs to get on the plane to get to the embarkation port. Plane travel with young children is also a challenge, but if you bring enough snacks and toys, they won't be bored.

 

Also, your daughter, her husband, and her 2 babies will need a 4-person room and those rooms go really quickly, so you'll need to book them ASAP if you want them to cruise with you. Try to book their cabin near your cabin so you can run over to help them out if they need help.

 

If you have a balcony cabin, just don't open the door to the balcony in front of the 20M old. Keep the curtains drawn, so he/she won't know how to open the door to the balcony. If your daughter still doesn't feel safe, book an inside cabin across the hall from you. Not only is it cheaper, it will make your daughter worry less.

 

When we cruise with our parents, our parents are always free to watch the kids, mainly because they've been to these ports already and we are only cruising together because we want a family trip. We go our separate ways for breakfast and lunch and we try to organize our own excursions at different ports, but sometimes my sister's family go their own way because we wake up earlier than her children.

 

So as parents, you just have to set guidelines so that your son and his fiancee and your single daughter won't feel encumbered or limited by these young babies. They can do their own things during the day. All of you can meet for dinner. We usually talk about what we are going to do the next day during dinner the night before. If we can meet up the next day for port excursions, we do, if we can't, then we go our separate ways. Your 32YO daughter shouldn't feel pressured to join the daytime family activities if her children need a nap.

 

But if you want to enjoy your cruise and don't feel comfortable doing the babysitting for your daughter the entire cruise, then don't worry about it. This will probably be the first big vacation for your daughter since her 6M old was born, so she will be very happy if you can watch her kids for one dinner so she and her husband can eat together, alone. I don't expect my parents to babysit my children when we cruise, but it's nice when they offer to watch the kids so I can see a show.

 

Some cruiselines have in-cabin babysitting, some don't. So find out before you go what your cruiseline offers. Your grandkids are too young for kids' club, but if you are on a Princess ship, you can bring them into the Kids' Club and play with the games and use the facilities in there.

 

Which itinerary are you booked on? Check the ports of call board for information about visiting those ports with young children. We've done the Eastern Caribbean, Alaska, and the Mexican Riviera, but we had always done our own shore excursion, ie. walking around town. It's free and it's more flexible with small children. I can probably give you some ideas on where to go with those small chidlren. Please feel free to post specific questions or email me at

 

jtsaila@excite.com.

 

HTH.

 

Jennifer

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

Not sure what line you are cruising, or how they differ, but we just cruised the Carnival Miracle with our 21 mth old and our 4 yo. We had a balcony cabin and there was no way either of them could get the balcony door open. It is very heavy, and you have to push it out to open it. Plus there was a slide latch way at te top of the door that we could fasten too. The balcony rails are high and ours was just one wood rail at the top and glass all the way down (so no foot holds for them to use to climb up). I was worried about them climbing on the chairs on the deck to get up high enough to be in danger but it never happened that way. They could see thru the glass so they never really wanted to climb, but we NEVER took our eye off them out there either.

 

We had 2 balcony cabins right next to each other, and we had the divider opened between our balconies and it was great because they could go back and forth between gma & gpa's cabin and our cabin;) :D

 

As far as the other areas of the ship...everything is "nailed down" LOL!! I mean it has to stand for when there is rough seas, so things like lamps and such couldn't even be knocked over even if you tried. All the rails on our ship(on decks and public areas of the ship) were like I described the balcony rails. No space under them, too tall to get over them, and no where to get a foot up to climb. My 4 yo is a maniac and it was pretty impossible for him to put himself in danger.

 

Don't be too worried. They have children sail all the time. I am a worrier myself and although I am constantly on the lookout for dangers and such, I had a hard time finding anything to be concerned about. GL and enjoy your family cruise!

[Jenirae2]

A couple of questions...

 

1. Should we bring his stroller? It is the kind that you can put the infant car seat in? He abs loves it... but I am thinking space wise we should just rent one for a week? Has anybody seen them??

 

2. What did you do when your kids get sea sick? Is there something that we can give him at 8 mo?

 

3. Blow up pools? Did anybody bring this for their kids? How does carnival feel?

 

 

Any other tips and help would be ok????

[shellie100]

A couple of questions...

 

1. Should we bring his stroller? It is the kind that you can put the infant car seat in? He abs loves it... but I am thinking space wise we should just rent one for a week? Has anybody seen them??

 

I've never seen the rental strollers. I myself brought on a kind of heavy duty umbrella stroller. It was nice because it was small and it folded pretty compactly. The bigger stroller would probably be OK, but you might find it to be a bit of a pain, and also maybe take up too much cabin space. But, like everything else, if this is your "to die for baby accessory" (we all have one, LOL!!!), then bring it knowing that it may be a pain.

 

2. What did you do when your kids get sea sick? Is there something that we can give him at 8 mo?

 

You should check with your pediatrician, but mine recommended Benedryl as the only option for my son.

 

3. Blow up pools? Did anybody bring this for their kids? How does carnival feel?

 

 

Never brought a blow up pool on before, but I think it would be OK if you had the balcony space. It probably wouldn't be too welcome in the big pool area.