Kids on Cruise in January

[laini620]

We are sailing late January on Carnival with a 2YO. I am just now thinking that there may not be many children his age on the cruise with us. Has anyone taken a cruise in January with kids?

[mitsugirly]

I have cruised in both December and also February and yes, this is the off season, but there are still plenty of kids as well. I'm sure there will be enough children for your little one to have fun with...especially if they go to the kids center.

[laini620]

Thanks

[lrowe70]

We're on Splendor at the end of January with our baby. Don't figure there will be a lot of kids due to school, but our son is too young for friends and play so we're not concerned. I'm sure your son will be fine and the camp carnival is open regardless of how many are on board.

[Kerry's Girls]

Families with children not yet in school are always on board. I've cruised with my twins in January almost every year since they were born and there have always been other kids their age. Not tons, since most families travel during the holidays, but always enough to make it fun.

 

Best,

Mia

[gottogetaway2]

Our last two cruises have been in late Jan early Feb. There seemed to be a good amount of kids, most seemed infant to 4or5. We are taking our three kids 3, 5, 5 (the twins missed kindergarten dealine) on the Carnival Splendor in Febuary. I don't really care how many other kids are on board as long as camp is operating, but then again all three of mine will be together in the same age group-lol:)

[Mom2B&Z]

There will be other children, but likely not many. I actually prefer this, as then the crew, kids club staff and even other passengers get to know your children, rather than have them be part of the cattle call that can happen when there are lots of other children on board. It makes the cruise special for them too :)

[JMB22]

There might not be as many children compared to peak season, but there will still be children to play with. At that age, they aren't in school yet, so it's usually easier to go cruising anytime. :)

[Bradyfam]

I have a 3 year old that will be there.

[TheCalicoCat]

There will be other children' date=' but likely not many. I actually prefer this, as then the crew, kids club staff and even other passengers get to know your children, rather than have them be part of the cattle call that can happen when there are lots of other children on board. It makes the cruise special for them too :)[/quote']

 

Ditto!

[HALrunner]

When we took our (then) 10 month old on HAL in February he was the only passenger under 19 years old! He was the star of the ship....everyone (crew and passengers) knew his name and gushed over him- even the Captain! I think less kids on board is better:)

[Showtune]

When we took our (then) 10 month old on HAL in February he was the only passenger under 19 years old! He was the star of the ship....everyone (crew and passengers) knew his name and gushed over him- even the Captain! I think less kids on board is better:)

 

That's too funny! The one time I've cruised on HAL we (ages 26 and 28) seemed like the only passengers under 50!

 

We are cruising on Carnival next week with our 2.5 year old, I'll let you know how many kids there are when we return. There's only one other toddler on our roll call.

[Julienatul]

There will be a ton of that age group compared with school age kids. All Carnival sailings will have kids of each age group but you will find many inafnts/toddler pre-school age in off season!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've cruised in late January a couple of times with grandkids; first cruise, ages 3-5. Second cruise, ages 5-11.

 

Both times there were enough other kids on board for them to enjoy and both in and out of the kid's club. Depending on your cruise line, 2-year-olds may not be able to use the kid's club.

 

Last January's cruise we were told there were about 120 kids from ages infant to 18; this was on the Navigator of the Seas, a five-day cruise. They combined the 6-11 age groups, because of numbers. which was nice for our bunch; only the five-year-old was in a different camp. The camp was never crowded, but always had someone else there.

 

Since we had 7 grandkids with us, they had lots of company among themselves, but they did make other friends as well.

[capriciousc]

There might not be as many children compared to peak season, but there will still be children to play with. At that age, they aren't in school yet, so it's usually easier to go cruising anytime. :)

 

Yes, I think that at your son's age, the time of year may be less relevant, because school schedules aren't a concern. Of course, families with older children may not be able to travel, but younger families or families with only one child would still have that flexibility. Before our daughter (now in 2nd grade) started school, the time of year didn't really matter to us, because we were only working around our own work schedules. Now we have to factor in school schedules, but even those vary from region to region.

[askimdog]

We vacation and travel in January. We cruised last Jan. and will in a few days again with our 7 year old. Last January plenty of kids were around that were in her age group. School just takes extra timing, I recieved a partial packet of homework for the cruise today in fact an have another packet coming tomorrow. The deal we have with our daughter is: do some school work before breakfast and she'll have time for a dip or to play with friends after dinner. No homewrk means dinner/homework/bed just about (she has an 8 PM bedtime).

 

Basically, always kids are around for friendship, I have never seen a shortage.

[elmom]

I didn't even think about it except to hope that there would be *less* kids then normal. We will be on the Carnival Magic in a couple weeks so I imagine that there will be kids. Ours are 6 (1st grade) and 5 (pre-k). I figured in their age groups there would be other families playing hooky. But who knows?

What did surprise me was how annoyed the school admin is about it. My son's teacher is all "forget homework! Go have fun and let him explore the world but have him coming back ready to tell us about his adventure" (she is a gem). I didn't expect school admin to be like "woot, send us a post card" but they actually made threats until I refused to back down (and used leverage). School *is* very important, and our teenagers are not going because they cant afford to miss a week of school. But my son is in 1st grade and has great grades and perfect behavior. So maybe there will be less playing hooky then I expected cause they knew the schools get all upset about it.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I didn't even think about it except to hope that there would be *less* kids then normal. We will be on the Carnival Magic in a couple weeks so I imagine that there will be kids. Ours are 6 (1st grade) and 5 (pre-k). I figured in their age groups there would be other families playing hooky. But who knows?

What did surprise me was how annoyed the school admin is about it. My son's teacher is all "forget homework! Go have fun and let him explore the world but have him coming back ready to tell us about his adventure" (she is a gem). I didn't expect school admin to be like "woot, send us a post card" but they actually made threats until I refused to back down (and used leverage). School *is* very important, and our teenagers are not going because they cant afford to miss a week of school. But my son is in 1st grade and has great grades and perfect behavior. So maybe there will be less playing hooky then I expected cause they knew the schools get all upset about it.

 

Although many schools here in Nebr. are normally liberal about vacations, in some cases the reason they don't want kids out is somehow tied to how much state/federal money the school receives, perhaps because of attendance requirements.

 

As a former teacher, I personally think vacations can be a very broadening experience for children. Yes, it is a pain to get lessons made up ahead of time so the kids can get work done ahead, especially since my lesson plans were not rigid but turned on how much (either more or less) time I thought the class needed on a subject.

 

If some very important not-to-be-missed concept is to be introduced I would talk to the parents about it and ask that they do their best to teach it. Of course I would reinforce and reteach as needed.

 

Also, I don't think that only the 'good' students should get to go, unless perhaps older children who are just plain being lazy. The struggling child also benefits from new places and things.

 

But, if you do take your kids out, please make sure they do their missed work--otherwise it is a real pain and delimna for the teacher!

[elmom]

Yeah I know it is funds related...and I do understand. I was just not fond of the threats to throw him out of school and let them know that. And I agree, being a good student isnt a requirement to have a vacation, especially with younger kids. But my point really is that it isn't like he is behind or struggling and a week off could be really an issue. I already talked to his teacher and she said no need to make up homework, just to do activities to help his brain grow.

 

I am going to have him chart the course on the trip on a map

Make post cards

do a picture tour on our of our stops to take back

talk about nutrition

journal every morning

 

I am still thinking of ideas...

[Showtune]

Back from the Carnival Pride January 8-15, Baltimore to Florida and the Bahamas. There were a few kids of all ages on our sailing. More late teens than any other age group. In the Camp Carnival for the 2-5's there were never more than 10 kids at a time. Our son (age 2.5/ 26 months) was just about the youngest kid in the camp when he was there.

[kimmimom]

with kids in Jan on Carnival. Both other times there were around 100 kids each sailing, apparently peak season you can have upwards of 1500 kids.

[GatorGirlinSeattle]

Hi! We will also be on the Carnival Splendor with our 2.5 year old sailing on 1/29-2/5. Is this your first time cruising with a toddler? Any tips/advice? TIA!