Cruising w/2 year old - Will they verify age for kids programs?

[Roccco]

I wish to take my then to be 28 month old daughter on a Scandinavian cruise this summer on Holland America Eurodam. She is tall, as tall as my 3 year old niece and she can easily pass as a 3 year old.

 

Do cruise lines verify the age of the kids entering the activity areas? My wife and I would be present and aren't planning on just dropping her off there while we do our own thing. But, it would be a disappointment if she was unable to play in the area for 3 year olds and up on the couple days at sea there will be on the desired cruise.

[cb at sea]

Yes..when you board, ages are verified. I doubt they will allow a 2 year old in with the 3 year olds.....but there's certainly no harm in asking! Good luck!

[mjkacmom]

I know on NCL, they don't allow parents to stay with the 3 year olds, and they are very strict on age. I believe DCL isn't as struct on age, but doubt they'd allow a child too young for any program.

[OzCanuck]

Not that famliar with HAL's programs, but it looks like they don't have anything for the under-3 age group. I know at least on NCL there is a 'guppy' room with some basic toys, but that's it.

 

Regardless even at 3 years old you would not be allowed to participate I'm pretty sure - it's no parents allowed so you would not be 'present' (at least that's how it is on other lines).

 

And to answer your question - they will verify the age when you register the child for the program, usually they get a bracelet or somesuch with pertinent data..

[kitkat343]

The kids club will have a manifest listing each child's age, and it is my understanding that HAL will not allow a child under the age of 3 in the kids club even with parental supervision, although you might want to email them to confirm. HAL's babysitting starts at age 5.

 

Having traveled with a 3 year old to the Baltics, I should warn you that this is a very intensive cruise, and we were very grateful to have a drop off kids club program when we returned to the ship and on the two port days so we could recharge and be ready to explore the next city.

 

 

 

If you want to sail to Scandinavia and would like a kids club for a two year old, your options are:

 

Disney cruise line, with a fee based nursery.

 

A newer or refurbished Royal Caribbean ship with a fee based nursery. Royal also will have parent-and-child programs at various times during the cruise.

 

Cunard will allow 2 year olds to be dropped off in their kids club. Children under the age of 2 are allowed in the kids club with parental or guardian supervision.

 

Princess will allow children under the age of 3 to use the kids clubs with parental or guardian supervision (although please note that the Regal/Royal ships cannot dock directly in Stockholm, requiring a tender and a train ride into the city). Princess kids club employees were very helpful in finding arts and crafts and other activities to keep my then 2 year old entertained, but I sailed on a cruise with only 11 children, and they may have less time to help toddlers on a more popular cruise for children.

 

P&o will also allow children under 3 to visit the kids club under parental or guardian supervision, but I don't know if they sail to Scandinavia.

 

Norwegian does not offer a kids club for children under 3, but the Star (which travelled to Scandinavia last year) has a very small room with padding and toys available for young toddlers near the kids club. The star also has a small children's pool area, although your daughter would need to be potty trained in order to use them.

 

I should note that HAL's passengers were the least child-friendly of the cruises I have taken my son on, and there appeared to be the fewest activities/amenities for children, as compared to Princess and NCL (although this could have been due to the fact that we sailed the Ryndam, one of the older and smaller ships in their fleet. It's a nice quiet ship if you don't have young children, but does offer limited amenities for small children). It would have been a fairly difficult trip if our son wasn't three and couldn't use the kids club.

Edited March 30, 2015 by kitkat343

[flhokie]

Also, keep in mind that any of those programs that might allow a 2 year old to be dropped off usually require that they be potty trained (if not, I've heard of some allowing a non potty trained child only if there is an agreement for parents to check regularly).

 

Also, non potty trained children are not allowed in swimming pools on cruise ships.

 

I know some 28 month olds are (DD was for our Allure cruise), but I know a lot are not so I wanted to make sure OP was aware of that.

[gerif]

I wish to take my then to be 28 month old daughter on a Scandinavian cruise this summer on Holland America Eurodam. She is tall, as tall as my 3 year old niece and she can easily pass as a 3 year old.

 

Do cruise lines verify the age of the kids entering the activity areas? My wife and I would be present and aren't planning on just dropping her off there while we do our own thing. But, it would be a disappointment if she was unable to play in the area for 3 year olds and up on the couple days at sea there will be on the desired cruise.

 

Sorry - of course they will know exactly how old your daughter is (they have a manifest after all). While we enjoyed our adult cruise with them, HAL is not particularly kid friendly. Not sure about that line in particular as we've always used RCI when the grandchildren were small but I know for a fact that parents were not permitted in the kids' club in any event.

[RSLeesburg]

To further what kitkat recommended, Royal Caribbean will have Brilliance of the Seas sailing in Scandinavia this summer, and she does have a fee-based nursery.

[megann831]

We went on Carnival a few weeks before my son was 2. I said he was 2, no one questioned it. If he wasn't screaming when I tried to drop him off, they would have let him stay in the kids club.

[mikesteg]

We went on Carnival a few weeks before my son was 2. I said he was 2, no one questioned it. If he wasn't screaming when I tried to drop him off, they would have let him stay in the kids club.

 

Did you actually fill out the registration form and have it accepted? As stated above, they do know every child's age and have a printed manifest for check in. It's hard to believe that they'd allow a child in when they have no record of them. Likewise, it's hard to believe they'd allow an underage child to register. It's all about liability.

 

Carnival does (or at least did a couple years ago) have under-2 time once or twice per day. This would be when the club wasn't open otherwise and parents are required to stay with the child. Still, quite nice to have them contained for awhile and have some "new" toys to play with.

Edited March 31, 2015 by mikesteg

[Lerin]

We went on Carnival a few weeks before my son was 2. I said he was 2, no one questioned it. If he wasn't screaming when I tried to drop him off, they would have let him stay in the kids club.

I find this hard to believe.

Every time we've gone on Carnival, not only are they very diligent about checking in the kids, but they have pre-made name tags with each child's age printed on them before the ship even sets sail. The age rule is a liability for the cruise line.

 

To the OP: no HAL (which is owned by Carnival Corp) will not let your under-3 into the kid club. Sorry. If you must be away from the child of some time then pick a different cruise line, pick a different date when she's 3, or bring a nanny.

[Cruisin' Chick]

They will know the date of birth for every passenger including children as you're required to provide an authentic birth certificate (for many cruises, you'll need a passport even for kids -- we got our daughter her first one at age 3).

 

You should definitely go on the HAL website and check the info about children onboard -- and there will be plenty of other good info for you there.

 

Some cruise lines will allow you to take a toddler to the youngest kids' playroom as long as you stay there to supervise. That info will be on the website. But if so, there may be specific hours for that. Some people posting above seem to be mistaking that for the actual kids' program, which your child won't be able to participate in as there will be liability issues for the program.

 

And I doubt if that under 2-year-old was going to be able to be in the kids' program, screaming or not.

[wampuscat7]

Nevermind. Misread.

Edited April 1, 2015 by wampuscat7