Disney with a Two-Year-Old (Food?)

[Kathamo]

Hi! Cross-posting from the Family Cruises forum.

 

My family of three needs a vacation! My husband and I are contemplating taking our 2-year-old on his first cruise, but only if we can find something with child care so that we can have time to relax and enjoy ourselves. My son has no chill, so the only way to really relax is if someone else is watching him for a time. He is outgoing and is not afraid of new environments and new people.

 

Is Disney the only cruise line that provides child care (paid or unpaid) for two year olds? Most cruise lines seem to offer kids' clubs for age 3+ only. We are in Southern California and prefer to sail out of a Southern California port so that we don't have to get on a plane; therefore, our options are limited. [edit: I have since been corrected that several other cruise lines offer this service, depending on the ship.]

 

My only concern with Disney is the quality of the food for adults - can anyone speak to that? My husband and I have taken three Celebrity cruises pre-child, which we loved, so if the Disney food is comparable we are fine with that. We also enjoy the nicer food offerings at Disneyland, as another data point.

 

Any other tips are appreciated. Thanks!

[Shmoo here]

15 minutes ago, Kathamo said:

Hi! Cross-posting from the Family Cruises forum.

 

My family of three needs a vacation! My husband and I are contemplating taking our 2-year-old on his first cruise, but only if we can find something with child care so that we can have time to relax and enjoy ourselves. My son has no chill, so the only way to really relax is if someone else is watching him for a time. He is outgoing and is not afraid of new environments and new people.

 

Is Disney the only cruise line that provides child care (paid or unpaid) for two year olds? Most cruise lines seem to offer kids' clubs for age 3+ only. We are in Southern California and prefer to sail out of a Southern California port so that we don't have to get on a plane; therefore, our options are limited. [edit: I have since been corrected that several other cruise lines offer this service, depending on the ship.]

 

My only concern with Disney is the quality of the food for adults - can anyone speak to that? My husband and I have taken three Celebrity cruises pre-child, which we loved, so if the Disney food is comparable we are fine with that. We also enjoy the nicer food offerings at Disneyland, as another data point.

 

Any other tips are appreciated. Thanks!

I find the food on DCL to be on par with the other cruiselines I've been on.  It's really just mass produced banquet food, but good enough for me.  Some items are really good, others not so much, while most of them are in the middle range.

 

Food is really a subjective thing, so what's good for me, may not be so for you.  Or vice versa.

 

Since you're talking about a west coast DCL cruise, that would be on the Wonder.  Palo (the extra cost, adult only dining option) is very good.

 

 

[gometros]

I agree with Shmoo, dining tastes are very subjective. The one great thing about DCL, is that there are a lot of choices. If you don't like 'fancy' food, they have lighter note choices on the menu. And there are good options for vegetarians as well. And if you don't like something  the servers are always accommodating. 

[sford75]

I know RCCL has a paid Nursery as well. Both would require making reservations as they tend to book up. We used both RCCL and DCL and both were great.

[jandres12]

Carnival's kid club starts at 2 years old, and Carnival has multiple sailings out of west coast ports.