Dee79 Posted May 23, 2008 #1 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Or smaller? I see a ton of pics of families of 3 in a Suite but nothing smaller. We plan on cruising before we have the baby. (If it works out, I most likely will be pregnant at that time.) I would love to do a cruise later on when he/she is about 2 or 3 years old. How was it with a Toddler in a Balcony Cabin and not a suite? Pics please!!! Or just post your comments. I know in a suite you'll have much more room, but Carnival charges $500+ for a Toddler. Weird right? I know some cruiselines are free for children but not Carnival. (Leaving out of NYC or Bayonne) I also checked out Disney, but the family cabin with flight for the three of us is about 8k!!!!! :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJI2596 Posted May 23, 2008 #2 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Not to be Debbie Downer but I can't even imagine us traveling with our 2 yr old in a reg balcony room. Esp with the stroller which we left open all the time, the crib and toys, etc. For us it would be too cramped. It was worth the extra money. And the price you pay is for a third guest in the room. It doesn't matter how old they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmfam Posted May 23, 2008 #3 Share Posted May 23, 2008 We just sailed on the Valor with 3 in an Oceanview. My Sister & BIL had a connecting cabin. At certain appropriate times we had the door open and my son was able to go between both rooms. This worked well for us. We didn't bring a stroller, pack n play (he slept with us), no special foods, etc. He brought a backpack with toys & movies. He is a low maintenance boy. At night I usually brought him back for bed, after he saw our towel animal and got the mint off the bed, he ran into their room to see what animal they got and of course to take their mint. We are sailing the Miracle in Oct and have decided to do connecting balconies. This is my BIL's 6th cruise and he was ready for a balcony!! I'm not saying I'm not excited about the balcony but an Oceanview was pretty darn nice too. Whatever you decide you can't go wrong. God bless you and your growing family and good luck with planning. :) ~D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted May 23, 2008 #4 Share Posted May 23, 2008 You're on Carnival? You'll be fine with a balcony on Carnival. Their inside, ocean view and balcony cabins are bigger than most. Heck even I had an OV on Carnival with 4 people. :eek: And there was lots of space for us to move around. Here, I just did a search for a Carnival Miracle Balcony (not suite) Cabin http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2260203770084531763FeJwTp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jridou Posted May 23, 2008 #5 Share Posted May 23, 2008 We've done 5 in a balcony room, twice ! It's tight but do-able (quad with queen size, sofa and bed that comes from the roof) Once we used a pack and play, once the baby just slept in the middle of the queen bed. You just have to be very neat and organized. This trip we're taking MIL so we needed a second cabin. Just having one toddler in the room seems like the biggest luxury ever ! HTH, Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee79 Posted May 23, 2008 Author #6 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Fantastic, thank you so much for the info! We'll be doing our first cruise in the same room but I'm bored and love to gain knowledge. :D I read on other threads that they can remove some tables out for you if need be so that's always a good option. Or push the pack and play against the couch/side of the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Posted May 23, 2008 #7 Share Posted May 23, 2008 We have no issue in an inside with a little one. Tight? Sure. But absolutely manageable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 23, 2008 #8 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I could not resist! Imagine a mariachi band playng on the dock and this little butt starts to swing from side to side because he loves to dance to music.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 23, 2008 #9 Share Posted May 23, 2008 This is pic from the Serenade of the Sas (RCCL). We were in an E1 balcony room. I think the balcony rooms are fine for little ones. The spacde is just enough to give them some room to play with their toys AND they can go all over the room and never be out of your sight (cept in the bathroom, but just leave the door closed) You just have to take up the pak n play when they are not in it, to give yourself more room. But pak n plays fold up small, easy to tuck under the bed or into a corner (or even in the shower, eh?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted May 23, 2008 #10 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I could not resist! Imagine a mariachi band playng on the dock and this little butt starts to swing from side to side because he loves to dance to music.:D HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How cute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike91911 Posted May 23, 2008 #11 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I could not resist! Imagine a mariachi band playng on the dock and this little butt starts to swing from side to side because he loves to dance to music.:D Make sure you save that pic. You can threaten him with it someday. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katerkat Posted May 23, 2008 #12 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Well, the pic in my signature is on the balcony, does that help? We had no issues with our room - but we had the connecting room with my sister so he was bopping between rooms. Not to mention the next cabin was Grammy and then his cousin, so he essentially had four rooms to play in. And no PnP, he slept on the couch. At almost three, he was way too big for the PnP. Our biggest trouble was the carseat - it was huge and took up a lot of closet space. (We came from a weeklong car trip, so had to have the seat.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeleBrat Posted May 24, 2008 #13 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Here are two pics of space in a balcony room: PIC #1--Disney Magic balcony cabin. Pack-n-Play is open, and DD is peeking over the edge like Ziggy (remember him...?) If you look in the background, you will see that the coffee table, which is normally in the cabin, has been placed outside to accomodate the open P-n-P. The couch folds out--and that's where DS slept. The PnP served as his bedrail because we pushed it right up against his bed. At night, if we were careful, we could "creep" past the PnP out to the balcony. And yes--DS is sitting on his potty chair! (In keeping with the theme of butt photos in this thread...!) PIC #2 A year later, DIsney Magic balcony cabin again. This time, you can see that the PnP is folded up during the day and placed next to the couch. And, our coffee table is inside serving as a dinner table for the kids. DS was still sleeping on the fold-out couch, and YES, he was potty trained this time! So--as you can see, space can be tight in a cabin with little ones. But, you just need to be creative and figure out how to maximize your space during the different times of day. CeleBrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianelevene Posted May 25, 2008 #14 Share Posted May 25, 2008 We've been cruising with our kids since they were 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. We take a regular balcony cabin and it works out great. We especially love the deals on Costa when the kids sail free plus we like the layout of the Costa cabins with the single sofa bed and the bunk bed that pulls down from the ceiling (quite safe since it has a nice sturdy railing). We love the balcony since DH and I sit out there at night while the kids are falling asleep. We have brought the kids with us on Costa, RCCL, NCL and HAL. The kids have enjoyed every cruise and loved each ship's kids program. HAL's had the shortest hours but the most attention for the kids, meaning the most adults for the fewest kids. The rest were all about equal in terms of hours and activites and kindness of the adults in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhealsmom Posted May 25, 2008 #15 Share Posted May 25, 2008 We returned from the Miracle 3 weeks ago and DS had her 18 month old daughter and our grown special needs son in her cabin with her. She put the crib supplied by carnival at the foot of the bed. This cut off the easy access to the balcony door (but it was still accessable by crawling over the bed). This worked out very well as it blocked both our son and the baby from going out on the balcony unattended --- the baby could never open the door -- but our son is 30 years old with the development of a 2 year old --- so he could open it and she would be right behind him.) This also meant that no additional cabin floor space was taken up for the crib. We also took along a small stroller (more substantial then an umbrella stroller) that stored neatly at the end of the crib. If I can figure out how to post a picture --- I will try to bring one up. This was in a standard balcony cabin on Miracle. Tracey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee79 Posted May 26, 2008 Author #16 Share Posted May 26, 2008 Oh thank you so much for the pics! Keep em coming!! I mentioned to DH that when the time came to bring our babe on a cruise, he said 3 years old would be a good age. I agreed. :D Plus it gives more time to save. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohannaM Posted May 26, 2008 #17 Share Posted May 26, 2008 I love the naked dancing pictures. I could see my DS doing that! We have an Oceanview on Celebrity for our upcoming cruise, and looking at the pictures makes me ask - you can have a highchair brought to the room? Handy if it works! I could see us doing this once in a while for meals, or maybe I should bring along his portable booster seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 26, 2008 #18 Share Posted May 26, 2008 I love the naked dancing pictures. I could see my DS doing that! We have an Oceanview on Celebrity for our upcoming cruise, and looking at the pictures makes me ask - you can have a highchair brought to the room? Handy if it works! I could see us doing this once in a while for meals, or maybe I should bring along his portable booster seat? The highchair we had stayed in our room all week long. We had a room that was big enough to do that. I have also been told that you could request a higchair at the same time every day from your room steward. If he/she does this for you, be sure to to tip appropriately! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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