Cruising with toddlers, gimmie the scoop!

[ae_soleil]

Its looking like our next cruise, we might have to be accompanied by our 1 yr old and 2 yr old because none of our family is willing to watch them for 8 days. So I'm wondering, those of you who have cruised with little ones, how does it work out? We were hoping this would be our much needed break from our kids (our older 3 have plans, its just the 2 "babies" we can't work anything out for) but now I'm trying to determine if we should cancel or if we can still have fun and do everything we wanted to do.

[Clarea]

You may also want to take a look at the Family Cruises forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[SarahD112]

I'm looking for information too. When my kids were little, they had to be three for the adventure ocean club. My brother is cruising shortly with their triplet two year olds and it seems now ships have a nursery you can check little ones into, although the info I'm finding varies greatly! Not sure it's on all ship - and can't find consistent pricing. They're sailing on the Brilliance.

 

 

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[ae_soleil]

I'm looking for information too. When my kids were little, they had to be three for the adventure ocean club. My brother is cruising shortly with their triplet two year olds and it seems now ships have a nursery you can check little ones into, although the info I'm finding varies greatly! Not sure it's on all ship - and can't find consistent pricing. They're sailing on the Brilliance.

 

 

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I had read that it was $8/hour/child which would get crazy expensive very quickly!

[njkruzer]

Our granddaughter, who was 2, went to the babysitting on the Quantum while we saw Mama Mia. They also had an indoor play area and a splash area for the tots in diapers. Very strict about not allowing diapers in the regular children's pool area.

 

She had a great time then and on the Indy the following thanksgiving. Waiters are great and always had food for her right away. She had a tablet with ear phones to occupy her when she finished eating but while we continued to eat. Definitely suggest things to occupy them when they finish eating to allow you to finish at your pace. Staff very accommodating.

[gerif]

Its looking like our next cruise, we might have to be accompanied by our 1 yr old and 2 yr old because none of our family is willing to watch them for 8 days. So I'm wondering, those of you who have cruised with little ones, how does it work out? We were hoping this would be our much needed break from our kids (our older 3 have plans, its just the 2 "babies" we can't work anything out for) but now I'm trying to determine if we should cancel or if we can still have fun and do everything we wanted to do.

 

You can still have fun but you will definitely not get to do everything you want to. Make sure to book a ship that has a nursery - I believe it's about $8 per hour per child and you can initially book ten hours then maybe more depending upon availability. Many of the ship's now have baby splash zones for the diapered set - good to have since they cannot go in any of the pools. Still better than being at home.

[hokkaido]

I am just back from the cruise.

I saw many babies on board.

The parents were moving around with strollers. I recommend you to use umbrella strollers because it will be easier to move around and get on elevators.

And to save the space inside your cabin. But I saw many people move around with the bigger strollers.

 

Since babies must be potty-trained to use swimming pools, there isn't much to do as a family, but just walking around the ship is still enjoyable.

[Florida_cruisers]

When my now 10 year old son was 13 months we took him on a test 3 day cruise to see how he would do at seas before we went on a longer sailing. He did fantastic! The cruise has a special program for toddlers, I forgot what it is called, as they are too young for the Adventure club, which is the club for the school age kids.

Six months later we took him with us on a Baltic cruise and again, loved it. He was very picky eater and ate Mac n cheese, chicken fingers, etc... from the main dining room with us. I would walk him around the ship and the areas that were somewhat empty. The key with traveling with children is that you have to keep in mind that it won't be the same cruise as going by yourself, you must accommodate. There were times we would miss a show as he had to go to bed (I was very strict about his bed time) or miss an afternoon activity for his nap. Luckily in port he would sleep on the stroller. One night I recall we took him to see the band play at the theatre for a tribute they were doing, he had a great time.

Don't be afraid, go with the kids, but be flexible and accommodating to them and you will enjoy your time. Our motto was "if he is cranky, we are going to be cranky." So I knew when to stop and give him his time to nap or find that playground in Ireland by the Blarney castle.

As far as sleeping arrangements, the cruiseline provides pack and plays. For our son's first cruise at 13 months I brought an inflatable bathtub. By the second one he didn't need it anymore and took his first shower (instead of bath) on the cruise. He thought that was cool.

One last note, for safety and peace of mind, book an interior or ocean view cabin. Definitely not a balcony.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Florida_cruisers

[cb at sea]

No reason NOT to book a balcony..heavy door with child lock...no worries! A balcony can give the adults a "place to be" when kids are napping or down early for the night!

[amydandrea]

We cruised with our 4 kids in an adjoining cabin And paid for grandma to come so she watched them when we wanted to do things alone. Sometimes with 3/4 passenger sail free promos this can work out nicely. Just a suggestion! We also used the kids program at times and we never felt like we couldn't enjoy ourselves. I actually find peace of mind in having them with me and not wondering how they are doing at home! :)

 

 

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[grandmarnnurse]

We cruised with our 10 month old granddaughter several years ago (she is now 10 years old). We bought an umbroller that had a sun awning to protect her, and requested a crib in room, which they had set up for us in our cabin. We also brought a blow up ducky bathtub for the shower, but if your two tolerate a shower, you won't need one. She spent time in the children's nursery when we wanted to do adult things, but was very well behaved in the MDR. From what I remember, we had to pay for the third guest in cabin rate, even though she ate very little of their food (we brought a suitcase of junior baby foods for her) One other thing I thought to bring, which everyone joked about my over packing issues, which turned out to be very much needed, was a six pack of Pedialyte! She became sick for our first few days on ship, and the Pedialyte was a life saver. Yes, we had a large suitcase full of food, diapers, etc that ordinarily we never would drag along on a cruise, but we ended up having a lovely time.

 

 

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[LisaT91403]

Its looking like our next cruise, we might have to be accompanied by our 1 yr old and 2 yr old because none of our family is willing to watch them for 8 days. So I'm wondering, those of you who have cruised with little ones, how does it work out? We were hoping this would be our much needed break from our kids (our older 3 have plans, its just the 2 "babies" we can't work anything out for) but now I'm trying to determine if we should cancel or if we can still have fun and do everything we wanted to do.

 

We cruised when my son was 12 months old. There were no nurseries when we did this, so your experience might be different.

 

Will it be your "much needed break" from your kids? Nope. You can get a break for a couple of hours here and there, but I don't think it will feel like a break overall because you will still be with them and caring for them most of the time.

 

Will you get to do everything you want to do? I guess that depends on what you want to do. I can't remember a cruise (either with kids or without) where I got to do everything I wanted to do :-)

 

The way it worked for us is that we kept our son with us during the day. We visited the pool area, took him for walks in the stroller, found open spaces to let him crawl around in (they have dedicated spaces for this nowadays), etc. Grandparents were with us, so we traded off sometimes. I didn't feel like daytime was really a break at all, but again, there was no nursery available.

 

In the evening is when we got our real break. We fed the baby early-ish, then put him down for bed. We had adjoining cabins, and the babysitter was in the connecting cabin in case the baby woke up (which only happened on 1 night out of 7). We had a nice kid-free dinner, then went to shows and/or the casino.

 

We had a very nice time, but again, the real "vacation" for us was at night...while it was still family time during the day.

[spookwife]

Its looking like our next cruise, we might have to be accompanied by our 1 yr old and 2 yr old because none of our family is willing to watch them for 8 days. So I'm wondering, those of you who have cruised with little ones, how does it work out? We were hoping this would be our much needed break from our kids (our older 3 have plans, its just the 2 "babies" we can't work anything out for) but now I'm trying to determine if we should cancel or if we can still have fun and do everything we wanted to do.

 

 

Unlikely since they will be too young for kids clubs which means outside of the nursery or in room sitting, they have to be with you 24/7.

 

 

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[ae_soleil]

Yeah, unfortunately we've decided to cancel. We figure there's no point in going on a cruise if we won't actually be able to enjoy doing all the things we'd planned on. If they were a few years older it'd be much easier but we cruise for the destinations and excursions the most and since we won't be able to do the things we'd initially planned we decided its just not worth it. We'll take all of our kids to Disney for a 4 day weekend instead. haha.

[moopetguy]

For the record, there is also in-room babysitting, at $19/hour, usually 2-hour maximum per session. Booked through Guest Services in advance, they assign two pre-screened and trained off-duty crew members whom you can meet in advance. DW (moopetswife) has previously written more about this service, which we had found to be excellent each time we used it.

 

For Explorer and Oasis, we had babysitting every night during our late-seating dinner -- allowing DD to be in the stateroom for bed time. Was obviously a bit expensive at $38 per night but worth it to have some time to ourselves. We had requested the same sitters every night for consistency/familiarity and they honoured the request.

[Robinhill]

Its looking like our next cruise, we might have to be accompanied by our 1 yr old and 2 yr old because none of our family is willing to watch them for 8 days. So I'm wondering, those of you who have cruised with little ones, how does it work out? We were hoping this would be our much needed break from our kids (our older 3 have plans, its just the 2 "babies" we can't work anything out for) but now I'm trying to determine if we should cancel or if we can still have fun and do everything we wanted to do.

 

bring your own pack and play sheets and blankets- definitely bring a really small inflatable baby pool for use on the pool deck- you can set it up between yours and your husbands chair and the kids can have fun. Also this works great in the cabin in the shower to fill up for a "bathtub" for the kids. There is babysitting for a fee if you and your husband want in-cabin babysitting and my experience is that they have been very good. Some ships even have a younger toddler play experience area but some do not and you are not able to leave them there in that case. They do have a toddler play thing that includes the parents being there and doing the interacting. Also you can borrow toys to take to the cabin or wherever for the kids to play with. It is just really hard for you to get much of a break with two that are that young but it is doable. You just have to allow for naps and things.

[theotherchad]

Yeah, unfortunately we've decided to cancel. We figure there's no point in going on a cruise if we won't actually be able to enjoy doing all the things we'd planned on. If they were a few years older it'd be much easier but we cruise for the destinations and excursions the most and since we won't be able to do the things we'd initially planned we decided its just not worth it. We'll take all of our kids to Disney for a 4 day weekend instead. haha.

 

This is wise. Most of the folks who said variations on "we took a toddler or two on a cruise and it was great" either paid for babysitting, which gets expensive, or there were multiple adults to share the care or they actually brought another person on the cruise to babysit.

 

You would not have a relaxing fun cruise, and just as importantly, I doubt if the toddlers would have as much fun as you would hope. They would love splashing in the water in the splash pool and probably at the beach tops, but tiny ones thrive on routine and vacation destroys their routine, so when they get tired, and nothing is as they have come to expect it, they get cranky, and when they get cranky, you get cranky, and that's no recipe for fun.

 

Enjoy Disney!

[negrilbride]

We had the time of our lives with our then 2 year old on a cruise last year, but it wasn't about doing everything we, the adults wanted to do, and it wasn't about an escape for us. We embraced our 7 days to spend time together as a family. There are so many things to do with little ones!

[spookwife]

We had the time of our lives with our then 2 year old on a cruise last year, but it wasn't about doing everything we, the adults wanted to do, and it wasn't about an escape for us. We embraced our 7 days to spend time together as a family. There are so many things to do with little ones!

 

the OPs stated primary goal on the cruise before they opted to cancel was adult time and taking a break from parenting. so for them, they would never have had the time of their lives. they WANTED an escape so it makes perfect sense for them to postpone their next cruise until someone was willing to babysit.

[cairyn]

My kids 6&4.5, just finished a Christmas Cruise and they loved it.

It was their 3rd cruise.

 

I prefer the balcony. Daddy asked them out & does bubbles and chalk & fun stuff while I pack or unpack or excursion prep. And as previous poster mentioned,3 it's great for reading while littles sleep.

 

I pay 10-15 an hour for 2 for sitting at home, 6 daytime and 8$ nighttime per head isn't That crazy.

 

Their 1st was at 3& 18m. They loved it. Panda I enjoyed them, and handed them off. Best of both worlds.

 

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[BNBR]

I'd wait until your 1 year old turns 2. Then book Carnival - they are the only line I know of that starts complimentary kids programs at 2 and includes diaper changing and what not. We just did a Carnival for this reason and our 2 and 3 year old were in the same class and it was fantastic.

[ae_soleil]

For the record, there is also in-room babysitting, at $19/hour, usually 2-hour maximum per session. Booked through Guest Services in advance, they assign two pre-screened and trained off-duty crew members whom you can meet in advance. DW (moopetswife) has previously written more about this service, which we had found to be excellent each time we used it.

 

For Explorer and Oasis, we had babysitting every night during our late-seating dinner -- allowing DD to be in the stateroom for bed time. Was obviously a bit expensive at $38 per night but worth it to have some time to ourselves. We had requested the same sitters every night for consistency/familiarity and they honoured the request.

 

 

 

Do you know if in-room sitting is $19/hour PER child?

[LisaT91403]

Do you know if in-room sitting is $19/hour PER child?

 

When I used it, you were allowed up to 3 kids for the hourly rate. But it has been several years since I used it, so you should double check on this.

[BNBR]

Do you know if in-room sitting is $19/hour PER child?

 

In July last year it was for both of our kids. Includes 2 staff members, which is why it's so expensive.

[moopetguy]

Do you know if in-room sitting is $19/hour PER child?

 

The official answer on RCI's web site is that it's (still) $19/hour, for up to 3 children within the same family. Other terms/conditions apply if you read the FAQ.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=2002&faqSubjectId=334

 

The rate has not changed recently because the first time we used the in-room babysitting was on board Explorer in Oct 2013, and it was $19/hr back then.