Experiences cruising with toddlers

[bcakes]

Adding my reply. We did DCL to Alaska when my son was 22 months. It was a great experience. We chose DCL because they have a splash area for kids in swim diapers and open house hours at the kids club so that my son was able to use it with my supervision. The other line we considered was NCL because they have daily toddler activities.

 

We had a great trip. I will note that his favorite activity was not kid specific at all. After dinner every night, we went to the lounge where live music was playing so that he could have a "dance party."

 

At ports, we mostly toured on our own. We brought along a stroller so that my son could nap on the go and it worked out well. (The only bad part is that he sometimes slept through activities that I thought he would really enjoy like seeing the salmon in Ketchikan).

 

I would recommend cruising with a toddler without hesitation. It is less relaxing than cruising without kids, for sure, but I found it way more relaxing than other vacations we have taken. Everyone on the cruise staff fussed over my son and there was so much to see that DH and I weren't in the position of entertaining him constantly.

[jubjubjulie]

We are seasoned travellers and my son has been travelling with us since he was 6 months old to Disney, Chicago, Mexico and Jamaica. We took our first ever cruise with our DS when he was 28 mths old on a 10 night cruise on NCL's Pearl.

 

Although he was not yet potty trained or old enough to participate in the Kid's club, he still had a fabulous time! it may not have been a "Relaxing" vacation for us, but let's be honest, when is it ever relaxing for parents nowadays?

 

NCL had an activity room filled with toys and books he could play with as long as we were there, along with a small enclosed toddler's pool with slide where swim up diapers were allowed so he didn't feel left out if he wasnt able to go into the pools.

 

We did have a difficult time with eating at the dining rooms as the meals tend to take a long time and he came down with Bronchitis on the ship which attributed to his crankiness so we spend all our meals at the buffet. It worked out for us as we didn't have to wait for food and we weren't worried about disturbing other guests.

 

Like other posters here, my son is an amazing sleeper at home, but while on the cruise, he wouldnt nap in the room. The pack and play that was provided was just too small and he could climb out so during his naps, he would sleep in his umbrella stroller and you would either see myself or my hubby walking the jogging track with him in the stroller - it was a wonderful breeze, quiet and that was my exercise for the day! :p

 

Alot of the excursions are geared towards older children so we did not book anything. We simply got off the port, wandered around, took taxi tours which took us around the town and to beaches which worked out to be much cheaper than what cruise lines offer for "beach excursions". We also prefer to do excursions on our own as travelling with a baby/toddler you go by their time.

 

Once my DS got old enough to be weaned from breast milk/formula, we stopped going to the all inclusives and stuck with US Cities and of course now cruising as we were very skeptical about the cow's milk (some are powdered, some have a strange taste, etc) at least on a cruise or american city we could always find actual milk readily available.

 

We are booked next month for Oasis of the Seas and my son will be almost 3.5 years old and fully potty trained! we are looking forward to the kids club and the H20 zone but we will still be choosing our own adventure and exploring the ports on our own and not booking any excursions with RCL. My suggestion would be bring your children along, some may say they won't remember, but my son still remembers NCL Pearl and was the one who asked to go on Oasis of the Seas. Just don't over schedule yourselves and have a fabulous time! Alot of ships these days are gearing more towards family. :)

[Gardeneroflove]

Dd has four in four years already, her sisters will have one before one!

 

I'm all for cruising with toddlers. Ime, cruises are the easiest vacations. I don't have plan, drive, figure out food, entertainment, or do anything but board the ship.

 

The pool wasn't an issue her first as she was too young to know. By the time kids are old enough to know what a pool is, they are old enough to be potty trained.

 

Best tip is be flexible. Eating and sleeping habits will likely be different. On Rcl my kid ate breads, yogurt and escargot -that's pretty much it! Where as on dcl, she ate everything. She needed more sleep (2 naps vrs 1) and more downtime than at home. I know this now so I can adjust!

 

We have out set things we do at each port, and we stay on the ship at some.