Northern Europe with 3 y/o?

[MariahJ]

Will a 3 y/o be completely bored on a Northern Europe itinerary? DH and I would love to do a cruise that includes the Baltics and Russia next year. I know 3 years old is too young to go to the Kids Club while we go on excursions so she'll be coming with us. We could potentially delay another year but for many reasons that is undesirable. Another option is to switch to a Med. Cruise (which we already did for our honeymoon) so we can do the Disney line, but that would be really costly and I'd hate to repeat itineraries when there is so much left to see. Any thoughts? If this idea is a bust, is there another European itinerary that is better with a LO?

[Onessa]

As long as you and DH alter your expectations of what you may be doing on-board or in-port a Northern European itinerary is great. There are parks and other interesting places most anywhere in the world.

 

I'm not certain why a Disney Med cruise would be any better than a non-Disney any other place cruise since you seem to be most concerned with what your child will be doing in ports? On a Baltic cruise with a 3YO you may not be able to tour the great museums of St. Petersburg; but with that same 3YO would you be touring the great museums of Florence or Rome?

 

Our DD is now 16 and her first European trip was when she was nearly three; this summer we will be going back for what may be our last family vacation -- this time to Denmark. She's loved each experience over the years but what we've done has changed. An outdoor sculpture garden was appropriate when she was 3YO; when she was 4.5YO however, she was ready for the Ufficio (she enjoyed it, but probably appreciated it more when she was 13YO). What was nice when she was three, was we'd do an early lunch with her (apple slices, pieces of a baguette, shelf stable milk, etc.) and with a full stomach by 1:00ish she'd be napping in her stroller and DH and I could have a nice, uninterrupted sit-down lunch!

[cb at sea]

I would imagine any 3 or 4 or 5 year old will be bored to tears with sightseeing and "touring"....if that's the reason for going. That applies to ANYWHERE! Most kids don't care much about historical stuff at that age!

 

I'm not sure the cruiseline will make much difference if you're taking her ashore....and most reviews aren't great with Disney's kid's club...not as organized as some of the others, as far as activities go.

 

For a family vacation, I'd try to stick with "family friendly" excursions....some things that will be fun for your LO!

[MariahJ]

 

I'm not certain why a Disney Med cruise would be any better than a non-Disney any other place cruise since you seem to be most concerned with what your child will be doing in ports? On a Baltic cruise with a 3YO you may not be able to tour the great museums of St. Petersburg; but with that same 3YO would you be touring the great museums of Florence or Rome?

 

Good point. I am most concerned with her being bored at port but I guess I thought maybe I could make up for it by having some more entertaining options for her in the evenings and on days at sea. I don't think it's probably worth the extra $, though. Maybe I just need to find a Northern itinerary on a ship with lots of fun activities that we can do together onboard.

[boulders]

DS6 has been on Disney, Carnival, Princess and RCCL. The only time he cried in a kids club was on Disney, when he was 4. IMO, the other cruiselines do a better job of entertaining the kids. BTW, Disney was in the Med, offseason, but the kids club was still crazy! The counselors didn't interact with the kids at all. They were too busy checking parents in and out.

[lmg1230]

Our younger daughter was a little older when we cruised in the Baltics (she had just turned 6), however, I agree that if you adjust your expectations that it can be done. We have also cruised in the Mediterranean with the kids and I think the Baltics was actually easier because it wasn't unbearably hot. We spent a few days in Copenhagen prior to our cruise and then stopped in Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo. With the exception of St. Petersburg, we were mostly outdoors. We rode ferries and hop-on hop-off buses for transportation which the kids loved and did things like play at Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki, the Pippi Longstocking museum in Stockholm and the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. We booked a private tour for our 2 days in St. Petersburg and limited the time that we spent in Catherine's Palace and in the Hermitage because the crowds were difficult for my younger daughter. All in all, we had an amazing cruise!

 

Lisa

[Joel&Hall]

So did you end up booking a baltic cruise for 2013? We are doing a Baltic cruise out of Southampton with Celebrity in May with our 2 year old daughter, should be alot of fun :D

[MariahJ]

So did you end up booking a baltic cruise for 2013? We are doing a Baltic cruise out of Southampton with Celebrity in May with our 2 year old daughter, should be alot of fun :D

 

I did not. I struggled a lot with what to do. We decided we wanted to go to Australia and NZ because we figured there would be more for our DD to do with animals and such than Europe with its cathedrals. Then we decided we really needed to postpone the trip another year until she is 4, because she still has terrible separation anxiety and won't go to the Kid's Club. We decided to do a Disney cruise to Alaska this summer and Australia/NZ winter (their summer) of 2014 so on either RCCL or Celebrity.

 

Enjoy your cruise!