Just back from cruise w/ 2yo - so great we're doing it again in 5 months!!!

[CruznIsBest]

OMG - we had the BEST time cruising with our 2 year old last week. We were so apprehensive after reading all the nasty comments about cruising with children. I can happily report that we did NOT bring our DVD player to the dining room and that we were able to enjoy each and every meal in the main dining room from appetizer thru dessert. The only "distraction" I brought was a new sheet of stickers for her to play with, pen, and small pad of paper. She sat on Daddy's lap while we were waiting to be served and just munching on bread and then sat quietly in her high chair while we were eating. By the end of each meal, I was covered from head to fingertips in stickers, but at least it was a quiet, non-disturbing activity. LOL

 

We're from the west coast, so we stuck to our daughter's Pacific Standard Time schedule (up at 7 am, nap from noon - 2, bed by 8), which translated to sleeping in until 10 am shiptime, napping right before dinner (3 to 5), and back to our stateroom by 11 pm. It was GREAT!!! She was well rested for dinner, so I think that's why she was so aimable to being a good girl in the dining room. :-) We were able to hang out at the beach and then shop afterwards; and we took turns in the casino in the evenings as our daughter played in the statroom or watched her DVDs in there.

 

We brought our small umbrella stroller, so it didn't get in the way and we didn't run over anyones toes while onboard or on land.

 

The experience was so great that we're going again in May. This time, we'll be going with my parents and grandmother, so we'll have built-in baby sitters, too!

 

So, for all of you who are leary of cruising with your toddlers, I say go for it!!! You'll have a blast.

[ColeandAbby]

Congrats on your cruise! Cruising with wee ones can be so much fun and you have so many memories. We cruise next month with my dd who is 3. I'm so excited for her! She keeps repeating that she wants to cruise for the popcorn and ice cream!:D May you have many more cruises with your family!

[myraid]

I'm so glad we aren't the only ones! We are just back from cruising with our 20 month old on the Star Princess and we had a blast! I think that cruising is a great way to travel with a little one! We are already looking to book our next cruise for Nov/07!

[croaziera]

We are sailing the Star Princess Feb. 3, 2007 with twins 2 yrs, 7 months old. I am interested what kind of activities we can do with them during the 2 days at sea.

[solly4]

Great to hear! Mine are a little older (4 and 7), but I also am going on my first cruise in a week and after reading all the nasty comments about children I also was a little leary!! Thanks!

[I&MsMom]

It is so true that cruising is a great way to vacation with little ones. We're planning our 6th cruise with our kids, and each trip has been truly wonderful. We get to see a bit of the world without the constant packing/unpacking, the kids LOVE the camp on board, and mom and dad have some time to themselves here and there! Everyone is happy. It's such a winning combination, it does become addicting!:D

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[vetgirl]

Great to hear! I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip.

 

I hope our cruise with our 2-year-old goes just as picture perfect next month!:)

[crusinmama06]

I just knew you would have an awesome time with your toddler! And I can assume that you didn't get the "dirty looks" and "child hater attitudes" onboard that you see here at CC?

 

I love cruising with my young children. It's the best way to travel as a family.

[CruznIsBest]

I just knew you would have an awesome time with your toddler! And I can assume that you didn't get the "dirty looks" and "child hater attitudes" onboard that you see here at CC?

 

I love cruising with my young children. It's the best way to travel as a family.

 

Hi! We met some really, really nice folks aboard the ship and also saw a ton of other young families. One of the older couples that we kept running into overheard one nasty little man on the elevator exclaim that no children should be allowed on the ship....whatever. Thankfully we never met anyone like that face-to-face. :-)

[CruznIsBest]

We are sailing the Star Princess Feb. 3, 2007 with twins 2 yrs, 7 months old. I am interested what kind of activities we can do with them during the 2 days at sea.

 

Hi! We only had one day at sea on our itinerary. Do you have two days in a row? For our single day on the ship, we took our time getting up and out of the cabin to head towards the breakfast buffet. Then we went to the kiddie pool and let her play in the water until she was bored. Then we headed on over to the miniature golf course and hit a few balls....then she and Daddy played on the basketball court for a bit. We had lunch and then it was off to the room for naptime (3 - 5 pm). When she woke up, we played in the room (we brought some brand new toys for her to play with as well as the tried and true coloring books, stickers, and favorite movies on DVD) until it was time for dinner (main seating at 6 pm) and the after dinner show. In the evening, she really enjoyed the live music and dancing, so that's what we did each night between dinner and the show. After the show, if we could find more live music, we'd take her to that...otherwise, we just went back to the cabin and my husband and I took turns watching her and going to the casino. :-) She did fine playing in the room, reading books, and watching TV for a couple hours before bedtime.

 

Have a great cruise - I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!!!

[KyleesMom]

HI I was wondering if anyone has even gone on a cruise while pregnant ( I will be 4 months prego then) and daughter will be 23 month old? We are considering going on a 5 day carribean cruise and I am very interest but concerned about what there will be to do for my little girl. Any suggestions or tips on ships or ports of calls would be great. Has anyone else cruised while pregnant? I have heard horror stories and great stories and this would be our first cruise so I am really clueless on were to start? Thanks!

Tiffany

[bmgaritty]

Cruznisbest,

Glad you had a great time on your cruise.......how did you handle the potty training issue?

[Kerry's Girls]

We are sailing the Star Princess Feb. 3, 2007 with twins 2 yrs, 7 months old. I am interested what kind of activities we can do with them during the 2 days at sea.

 

Our sea days FLY by. My girls love dancing on deck to whatever band is playing by the pool, plus you can bring them in to the kids area (one parent is allowed to join a toddler), that plus three meals, a walk and a nap and the day is over too soon! Some people bring a small blow up pool on deck, but we're always so busy, our little pool never comes out of the shower.

 

Have fun!

 

Best,

Mia

[myraid]

There is also an area that is accessible from the back of the ship (it is outside the fun zone, so both parents can go in) that has a ton of ride-on "big wheels" for toddlers. My little guy had a blast on these during sea days. It is also opposite a small pool that he would go in. Go all the way through Horizon Court, outside (I think it is near the adult pool). Take the stairs up and you will see the big wheels and pool on one side.:)

 

At night, after dinner, we would take him up to the Skywalkers lounge. The bar doesn't open until 10:00, so we would take him up there and let him run around and dance to the music. There was never anyone up there (except occasionally the manager, who always gave him some balloons to play with) and he loved it (plus it tired him right out!)!!;)

 

 

Enjoy!

[CruznIsBest]

Cruznisbest,

Glad you had a great time on your cruise.......how did you handle the potty training issue?

Hi there! I decided to hold off on the hard core potty training until we got back. I made it her New Year's resolution to be potty trained early in 2007. ;) I can happily report that PTing is going well at the moment. She wore "big girl undies" the entire day at preschool and home on Friday and did great. For our next cruise in May, she'll be totally PTed (except for maybe at nighttime).

[CruznIsBest]

HI I was wondering if anyone has even gone on a cruise while pregnant ( I will be 4 months prego then) and daughter will be 23 month old? We are considering going on a 5 day carribean cruise and I am very interest but concerned about what there will be to do for my little girl. Any suggestions or tips on ships or ports of calls would be great. Has anyone else cruised while pregnant? I have heard horror stories and great stories and this would be our first cruise so I am really clueless on were to start? Thanks!

Tiffany

Hi Tiffany,

 

I think how well you do while being preggers depends on your pregnancy. I went camping in a tent at Bodega Bay for a few nights when I was 7 months pg, so for me, a cruise would have been a breeze!!!

 

As for keeping your 23 month old entertained, I think it'll be easy. We brought some brand new toys for our daughter that we didn't let her see until we got there, and we spaced them out by a couple days so she wasn't inundated with a bunch of new stuff all at once. We also brought the tried and true favorites like pens, stickers, and paper. Oh, and we brought her favorite DVDs to keep her happy during the 5 hour flights and while lounging around our stateroom. She loves the beach and ocean, so we went to the nicest beach we could find at every port except for Key West. While we were there, we went on a glass bottom boat ride - BIG MISTAKE....she almost got sea sick because of the motion of the little boat. :( I felt so bad for her...and I felt like a horrible mommy for putting her through that. I didn't even consider motion sickness...I just thought it would be fun for her to see "Nemo & Dory" in person.

 

We were aboard RCI's Jewel of the Seas on a 6 nighter out of Ft. Lauderdale, sailing to Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Grand Cayman. All ports were great and we were able to find kid-friendly things to do. The beach in Grand Cayman was the BEST - it had a kid's play area with swings & slides, too.

[dosi]

The beach in Grand Cayman was the BEST - it had a kid's play area with swings & slides, too.

 

Which beach was that and could you walk there or did you need to take a cab?? TIA.

[dnj1]

Glad to hear you had a great time. We will be crusing with a 8 and 2 yo. Would an inside room be crampy on Carnival?

[KyleesMom]

Thank you for all the wonderful advise!! I am excited and nervous about the possibility of taking a cruise with a toddler..lol...

I think it would be a welcome change!

Tiffany

[kosoffj]

we are going on our 3rd cruise with our son in march (he will be 14 months old - i know we have an addiction lol :)) and each one has been fabulous!

 

as for the preganant lady, i went on a cruise to hawaii and fanning when i was about 4 months pregnant. it was great. but most cruiselines do have restrictions as to how far along in your pregnancy they will accept you and most require a docotrs note saying you are fit to travel.

 

and for what it's worth we got zero dirty looks. everyone loved our little guy (crew and guests) people were trying to BUY his formal pictures at the photo gallery! REally everyone was great to him...

[Zaniac]

Travelling with your kids is a blast. We sailed last year on the Valor with our then 9 mo old daughter. I got into some heated arguments with some "Child haters" here in CC and was glad to post back after the cruise that all went great. We had the best time and can't wait to set sail again with her on the Freedom of the seas next year. The staff and other patrons were great and everyone wanted to see her and gave us all kinds of compliments. We even had couples coming up to us saying that they wished they had brought their own kids but left them behind for fear of getting rude looks or comments. We devoted the entire trip to ou daughter and had a great family vacation. I wouldn't have traded it for anything else. To all who are leary of travelling with their kids, fear not, your not alone and the roll call is a perfect place to meet other families going on your cruise. Have a great cruise everyone...

 

D

[CruznIsBest]

Which beach was that and could you walk there or did you need to take a cab?? TIA.

 

Goodness, for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the beach. I've been trying to google all sorts of key words to help me find it, but it's not working. :( I found one small photo of it, and all the site said was that there were "public beaches" along Seven Mile Beach. We took a bus to the beach, and the bus made several stops along the way. I think our stop was one of the last ones, and it was the one that was most recommended by the bus driver. When we got dropped off at the beach, the showers, restrooms, play structure, and covered picnic tables were to the left if you were looking out towards the water. To the right were a zillion people, volley ball nets, beach chairs, a bar, food, etc. Here's the only photo I have of the children's play area...behind me was a climbing structure and some slides. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I'm sure if you described this to a bus driver or taxi driver that they would know exactly what you're talking about. Good luck!!!

 

[CruznIsBest]

Glad to hear you had a great time. We will be crusing with a 8 and 2 yo. Would an inside room be crampy on Carnival?

You might get a little stir crazy in an inside room. We chose to get a room with a balcony so when our daughter was napping, we could draw the curtains so it was dark inside the room and sit out in the sun to relax with a couple cold ones and play some cards. ;) She also loved looking into the water as we were sailing.

[jdonia0771]

Glad to hear it--we are going with son who will be 18 1/2 months when we go next month!

[KyleesMom]

We are sailing in about 3 weeks with our 23 month old! I cant wait!!!

Tif