Cruising with young children..tips?

[mregelmommy]

I have been on one cruise with my three children last year and it went very well. It was a disney cruise and there were alot of kids activities so it kept them busy. We are going on the conquest in about 3 weeks and will be taking 18month twins and a 4year old. I was wondering if anyone knew about the different activities that are kid friendly. I would also love any tips or suggestions anyone has about making this cruise go smoothly. Thank you so much!:)

[crusinmama06]

Welcome to CC. Let me see if I can try to help you. The 18 month old twins will be too young for the kids camp and I am assuming they aren't potty trained so they will not be allowed in the pools (I know, bummer, Disney has a water area for non-pt infants but no other cruise line does)

 

The 4 year old will get to participate in all kinds of things in Camp Carnival. This is our first experience with carnival but from what I was reading there is finger painting/ice cream parties/some ships have build-a-bear activities.

 

There is a Family Cruising Board here at CC that you might want to check out. It has lots of ideas on how to keep infants/toddlers happy while onboard.

 

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

 

Have a great cruise! :D

[Mysticks1]

If you want the 4 year old to participate in Camp Carnival activities you will want to go to the meeting that they will have the night of embarkation. You will get a chance to meet the counselors and will get lots of information on how they operate and they will give you a Camp Carnival Capers which will list the events. They have a few events for the whole family that you all can join in on.

For the twins they have a couple of hours each day that you can take them to the Camp Carnival play room and let them play with the toys and things that they have there. You will have to supervise yourself.

If you take them to the dining room with you there is a separate kids menu with the normal kid entrees like burger, hot dog, mac & cheese and they have kid desserts which include banana splits.

When you arrive check your cabin for life jackets for the children. If they didn't include the ones for the kids, contact your cabin steward or if you can't get with him/her before the lifeboat drill get with a crewmember who is working the drill and they will assist you in obtaining the correct size for the kids. Camp Carnival will require that all kids who attend wear an armband with their muster station printed on it so that in case of an emergency they can bring your children to your station rather than you trying to find them. I would ask them for extra bands for the twins also.

[DqALEX]

My daughter was 5 when she first went to camp carnival. She never wanted to leave. Camp Carnival is a very good program for the kids. I have taken my kids on 3 cruises and each time is better than the last for them.

[mregelmommy]

Thank you. I was wondering about it there was a water area for little ones. Was there anything that you felt was really important that you pack.(something that you would not readily think of) Also do they decorate for Christmas.?

[seashell36]

There is a childrens pool that is 1 1/2 feet deep. If you watch there are times that it is empty and you could get in with the twins if that's what you wanted.

[serene56]

pack everything you will need for your toddlers. Diapers and stuff are very expensive on the ship-- if they sell them.

A small soft sided cooler to keep drinks cold- like milk in the cabin.

You can use room service but some times that could take a long time to arrive.

[colette5479]

There is a childrens pool that is 1 1/2 feet deep. If you watch there are times that it is empty and you could get in with the twins if that's what you wanted.

 

That is if the twins are completely potty trained. No swim diapers or diapers are allowed in the pools, including the kids pool. I was on the Conquest a couple of weeks ago and there is a sign stating this. The kids pool was great because not many people knew about it and so it was never crowded.

[GoinCruisin]

There is a childrens pool that is 1 1/2 feet deep. If you watch there are times that it is empty and you could get in with the twins if that's what you wanted.

 

Not if they aren't potty trained. The regulation is not put in place by Carnival, it's the CDC, and it's for the health of everyone on board...

[seashell36]

:o Oops! Sorry about that little slip- I had read the age of the twins and then totally forgot it! If you can find one now you can get a little blow up pool and bring it, if the twins are not potty trained. It also works good to use as a tub in the shower to bathe the little ones.

[bensona]

the first time cruise we went on the our twins were only 21months old. although they were too young for the camp they were able to participate in the babysitting hours. on the Legend it was from 12-2pm during the day. it was great. we dropped them off and enjoyed lunch together. other than that they allowed parents to play with their children in the camp area as long as the parent supervised as another pp indicated. there is also the night time babysitting which starts at 10pm. we never participated in that as the twins were always asleep by then.

 

one thing that i brought that was very useful was a short fat bottle to fill up the night before at the drink stations. you could just use sippy cups but this way i could get the boys some drinks (and refills) before we actually had to get dressed and leave the cabin. i don't remember if milk was available at night so you might want to fill your extra 'milk' bottle earlier in the day and leave it in the fridge. we also stocked up on small cereal boxes for our room as well.

 

as far as the pool area goes there are signs about 'no swimmies'. on the Legend it was clearly a shallow baby pool and all the kids we saw in it (2-3 groups) were all wearing swimmies under their bathing suits. take that for what it's worth. i'm not sure what ship you are going on or how it will be set up. it seemed that parents with potty trained kids were all hanging out at the other pools.

 

one of those over the door shoe organizers was very useful for us. we hung it on the bathroom door and it was great for our personal stuff that we wanted to keep up high as well as for toys and things that we could keep lower for the kids to reach.

 

we brought our small umbrella strollers. these turned out to be very useful as my dh & i spent half the cruise pushing the boys round and around the ship.

 

when we called to inquire about cribs they told us they were available but that they couldn't guarantee that there would be 2 available. i thought that was nuts so we pushed and pushed on that issue until someone did guarantee that we'd have 2 cribs setup in the room. they came through on that.

 

i hope you have a balcony cabin. we would put the boys down for bed and then sit out on the balcony and read. we also brought little book lights so when the boys were finally asleep we had the option of relaxing in the cabin. if you're anything like us you might so exhausted from parenting that you might fall asleep early too! most nights we crashed pretty early but other nights we took turns meeting friends & family for drinks and whatnot.

 

as a pp said, if you use it, bring it! don't forget things like the kids medicines, baby tylenol or triaminic. i recommend the children's benadryl. check with your dr for dosage but benadryl is great for preventing seasickness.

 

we brought a small stash of trucks/cars/books and bath toys. hopefully you have a cabin with a tub. we spent lots of time letting the boys take baths and playing with some new toys.

 

i hope that helps! i neeed to go check out the family boards. i haven't been over there yet.

 

OH and i think they start some holiday decorating during the thanksgiving cruise.

 

---mom of 3 1/2 yr old identical boys:) :)

and an 11mo old boy! :)

[nybumpkin]

That is if the twins are completely potty trained. No swim diapers or diapers are allowed in the pools, including the kids pool. I was on the Conquest a couple of weeks ago and there is a sign stating this. The kids pool was great because not many people knew about it and so it was never crowded.

My youngest was 5 on Conquest and loved the kids' pool - that is, until he was scared off by a couple of adults who wanted to go wading. I know, I should have said something, but he didn't want to go back at that point anyway. Maybe the sign should say "no one over age 8" as well:rolleyes: .

 

For OP - Welcome! My youngest son was in the 2-5 Camp Carnival group on our first two cruises and absolutely loved it. The camp is usually closed two hours in the afternoon, which is the time the under-2 kids can play. In addition, usually there are family activities the first and last day - sundae making, cookie decorating, talent show, etc. There will be a "Carnival Capers" newsletter distributed for each age group, and that will list daily activities. On our sailing, there were enough kids in the 2-5 group that they separated them into 2-3 and 4-5, and that worked really well. Enjoy your cruise!

[GoinCruisin]

My youngest was 5 on Conquest and loved the kids' pool - that is, until he was scared off by a couple of adults who wanted to go wading. I know, I should have said something, but he didn't want to go back at that point anyway. Maybe the sign should say "no one over age 8" as well:rolleyes: .

 

For OP - Welcome! My youngest son was in the 2-5 Camp Carnival group on our first two cruises and absolutely loved it. The camp is usually closed two hours in the afternoon, which is the time the under-2 kids can play. In addition, usually there are family activities the first and last day - sundae making, cookie decorating, talent show, etc. There will be a "Carnival Capers" newsletter distributed for each age group, and that will list daily activities. On our sailing, there were enough kids in the 2-5 group that they separated them into 2-3 and 4-5, and that worked really well. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Oh that sucks!!! :mad: I never even saw the kids pool on the Conquest... I know that the 2 pools were full of kids, but the adult pool was good (just hate they put it back in the aft, it's like a sauna back there!!!!)... but I definitely would have said something if there were adults in the kids pool... that's as "not right" as kids in the adult pool... Sorry you had to deal with that :(

 

As for people putting their diapered babies in the kids pool... I can't imagine subjecting a child to potential disease by putting them in a pool where diapered babies are... but I guess it takes all kinds!!! Guess safety and health go out the window for some when they are on a cruise :rolleyes:

[nybumpkin]

I never even saw the kids pool on the Conquest... I know that the 2 pools were full of kids, but the adult pool was good (just hate they put it back in the aft, it's like a sauna back there!!!!)...

The kids' pool is definitely off the beaten trail - deck 12 all the way forward. I think the folks who decided to go wading had deck chairs far away from the main pools.

[greenjello]

hi!

definately check out the family boards- they are full of little tips and hints to make your vacation more enjoyable for everyone. I have cruised 3 times with my kids, at different ages, from 10 months to 10 years. Obviously bring enough diapers& wipes for the kids and Tylenol and cold medicines just in-case, but the best thing I took with us on the last cruise was a small blow up pool- it was maybe 3 feet in diameter (i paid like $3 for it at toys r us) and it was a lifesaver.... my daughter (10 months) and even my 3 year old son used it in to bathe in, in the bottom of the shower. And I even brought it up to the deck with me and used a borrowed bucket from the bar to fill it up with an inch or two of water (from the shower near the pool, that people are supossed to use to rinse their feet). It kept both of us happy. She was more than content to sit there and splash and mom got some time to relax too. I thought it might be in the way and was careful where I placed it, she was enclosed between some deck chairs and went unnoticed to many. We even took it off the ship to the beach with us, and at the end of the week I just threw it out!

The other thing I found useful was my son's "ready bed" it is a toddler size inflatable bed with the sleeping bag attached. I was nervous about him (3 years old) sleeping up on the top berth. I was able to hide it under the bed during the day and he slept peacefully at night, on the floor next to the baby's crib. B/C of this they didn't have to put the berth down at all and it left for a little more room in our cabin.

Oh, and bring your own crib sheets and baby blankets, if not Carnival will give you twin size ones.

And about the concern for milk, if you ask one of the staff in the buffet they can always get you some milk, even if they aren't serving it with the meal, it is easy enough for them to get you..... and room service is always another option!

Have fun and enjoy yourself!