Taking 3 yr

[Hurricane Girl]

Cannot wait!!! We are leaving on 4/13 Fascination with our 3 year old granddaughter for her first cruise...Finally!!! :D Been waiting 3 years to do this. We just hope she likes it because we are planning to take her at least once a year and next year taking her little sister with her. First time we have taken a child this young on a cruise any tips would be appreciated.

[fungirl76]

She will love it!!! The staff are very generous to kids and it makes the kids feel so special...some things I bring for my 3 yr old are a swim tube and beach ball for the pool, her blanket and pillow a doll and then I purchase one of the bon voyage gifts that includes crayons, book and a few other things. I let her run around the card room and theaters when they are empty so she can release her energy. Also bring a laptop with some of her favorite cartoons downloaded. Bring dish soap if she uses sippy cups to wash in your room sink and a toddler spoon/fork. Lastly I bring a couple of her favorite snacks.

 

Have a great time!!!!

[SadieN]

Look on the Family board. Tons of info over there.

 

She won't be allowed into the pools if she is not potty trained.

[tocruzagain]

Ditto with everything the above poster said. The dish soap is such a handy thing to have to wash her cups out. I just bought one of those empty travel bottles for shampoo and poured it into there. Just be sure to then put that bottle in a zip lock bag to pack...just in case it leaks any (which mine did). Swimmers for both the pool onboard and the beach, if she is in pull ups put have a few extra. I put them in a separate back pack (that stays with us hanging on her stroller) along with wipes, baby powder, straw cup etc. basically anything that I "know" that I absolutely have to have for er that week goes in there a d stays with us for boarding until we get to the cabin. Call me paranoid, but I just wasn't willing to be that one that ends up with that bag being the missing piece of luggage on the ship. YIKES!! Remember ole Ty if good sunscreen. The water babies sunscreen stick is good for their ears, nose, and the part in their hair that will burn!! Like the poster above said, a few of her favorite DVD's is great to help them to lay down for a rest, if not a nap, in the afternoon. Lastly, the kids always have a blast at Camp Carnival!! We took our daughter on her first cruise when she was 2yrs, and she totally flipped when we tried to leave her one night at camp. Last year she was 3yrs and ran there every evening after dinner and couldn't wait to go play.

 

Just remember to bring a toy or coloring book with her to dinner to help occupy her while waiting. She's going to have a great time!! It is the way our family prefers to vacation bc the kids enjoy it so much.

[MYRN1]

We took our 3 1/2 year old on The Dream when he was almost 2 1/2 and The Breeze this past January when he was almost 3 1/2. He had an absolute fabulous time!! The first time he had a slightly tough time warming up to camp carnival, but by day 3 was fine!! This time, he was *begging* to go every day. He also loved the water slides(was toilet trained for both trips). He talked about Camp Carnival for weeks after getting back home! We felt 100% comfortable and confident in the staff and felt they generally adored him!!

 

We always tried to all take a nap mid-day for about an hour...usually 3-4 and we all slept. If we were in port, we did usually when we got back to the ship. We found cruising to be perfect for our family, and booked The Sunshine for January 2014.

[JYeagersGrl]

She will love it! My daughter has been sailing since she was 7 months old and we recently asked her would you rather go to on a ship or to disney world and she said a ship haha. We also have older kiddos who started sailing at 3 and 4 who adore it as well.

[mairead224]

I agree with the above posters. Staff are great with the little ones and bring plenty of colours, phones with cartoons (dora etc etc) or even nintendo Ds/ipads/learning comps. Just remember to bring extra dollars as you will spend a fortune on family pics with the ships photographer!!!

 

By the way I am printing your post out to give to my mother in the hope of giving her a nudge in the right direction!!! Heres hoping my 2 get a holiday with nana!!

[mairead224]

Meant to add that she will adore cruising. I have a 6 and nearly 4 year old who just adore it. Last year we did eurodisney first, then a 7 night med cruise and then a few nights in a spanish holiday resort. Disney was a you would expect it, the cruise was fantastic and salou had everything a child needed. Salou had the waterparks, cheezy spainish dancers, beaches and coming from Ireland .....really fab weather. Last year we did a 3 in 1 holiday. This year we are scaling back a bit and asked our girls which one did you prefer as we can only do one this year and they BOTH said a cruise!!!!! Your grandaughter will love it!!!!

[rrraydon]

I'm thinking about adding my 5 year old granddaughter to our Oct cruise. I have been promising her about taking her on "the big boat"...that's what she calls it. I know she'll have a great time!

 

Problem is, I have 5 other grandchildren who are all too young to take now. But once they are older I will have to be fair and take each one of them. Good Lord, I'll be cruising with a toddler every year!!!!!! :p

[mondello]

We bought our little one a stuffed FunShip Freddie.

A few days later we purchased a photo they had made from when we posed with FFreddie on Lido deck and received a free stuffed FFreddie. Wish I'd have known we'd get a free one.

Our little boy loved the Cherry On Top candy store. Sure, the candy is over-priced but a few dollars was a small price to pay to make him so happy.

[Hurricane Girl]

I'm thinking about adding my 5 year old granddaughter to our Oct cruise. I have been promising her about taking her on "the big boat"...that's what she calls it. I know she'll have a great time!

 

Problem is, I have 5 other grandchildren who are all too young to take now. But once they are older I will have to be fair and take each one of them. Good Lord, I'll be cruising with a toddler every year!!!!!! :p

 

 

We have three grandchildren so far, there is a year and five months between each one. We are hoping to start taking them on cruises at least one time a year after they turn 3. We try to take two cruises a year (done that a couple of times) and we will take them on one of them but not the other. If we can't do two a year then they will probably have to wait until the next year and go. They will have to be potty trained too before I will take them. The one going in April is potty trained and has been since right before she turned 2.