Carnival Pride with a 23 month old

[stout]

Here's my scenario:

My DH is thinking about taking a professional review course that just happens to be offered on the 03/09/08 Carnival Pride cruise--gotta love continuing education! We would do this as a family vacation (although he would be in class from 9-5) and we would be taking along our then 23 month old DD.

1. Will she be able participate in the club? Will I be able to leave her there for a short time for a couple of the days as long as I stay on board?

2. Will the staterooms be big enough for the three of us? We have sailed twice with Disney and are a little scared of the idea of the stateroom being even smaller than that.

3. Will there be enough to keep the two of us busy while my DH is in class?

TIA for your replies.

[crusinmama06]

1. She is not old enough to "offically" participate in the kids club because she would have to be 2. But you can drop her off certain times each day for babysitting that you would hvae to pay a small fee for.

 

2. Cabins depend on what you get. I can tell you that Carnival is generally larger than any other line. If you are worried about the size, then get a Verandah suite (Cat 11 or 12) with a balcony.

 

3. I have taken my girls ALONE without the hubby on cruises and yes there are more than enough things to keep the two of you busy while he is in class.

 

Remember though, since you are not on Disney there are NO water areas for the baby who is not potty trained. So you might wanna bring a small blow up tub and some buckets. All kids must be potty trained to use ANY pool on Carnival, including the little kid pools you see on the ships.

[kitty9]

Unfortunately, your DD will not be allowed into the kids club. The rule is you're the age you are on the first day of the cruise, for the entire cruise, and they do have a list of children and their ages. You can take her for babysitting at night, from 10pm until 2am, for $8 an hour. No private sitting on Carnival.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We took DD on a cruise when she was 21 months old. It was great! As mentioned, she couldn't go in any of the pools, but we had a great time anyway. The cabins are just fine for three--DD is 12 now and we're about to go on our sixth cruise--it'll be our fourth on a Spirit-class ship (which the Pride is) and we've never felt crowded in the stateroom.

 

We brought some of DD's favorite toys and also got a couple of new ones for her to keep her busy. I've read about people bringing a small blow-up pool like cruisinmama described--if your DD loves the water, that might be a good idea.

 

As mentioned, you DD won't be able to participate in Camp Carnival except for the group babysitting after 10 p.m. This is the first I've heard it's gone up to $8 per hour--it was previously $6. I've read that there is a play time during the day that parents can go into Camp Carnival with their children who are under two, but I don't know if that's reality--you might want to check on that.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Jayne