What is there to do on board with a 14 month old

[mcneilam]

We are taking a 7 day princess cruise (crown) on Jan 18 and I'm wondering what the heck we are going to do on board with our 14 month old daughter.

 

This is our 8th cruise on Princess, but 1st with our dd.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I know there isn't any baby sitting and I"m unclear about the pool usuage if she is in swim diapers.

 

Thanks

[cb at sea]

You may want to post this on the Princess boards--I know some ships vary as far as swimmies are concerned--some (even in the same cruiseline) have a pool for babies, and some don't!

[Baxter]

We had a great time playing in the kid's room with our DD at that age (we were on Princess) -- and that was her second cruise! But we sailed when there were very few kids on the ship so we almost had the run of the place. No swimming allowed unless fully toilet trained. We spent a lot of time walking up and down main corridors (during non-peak times). We pushed her around in the stroller a lot. And we took advantage of nap times and napped too!

[Kerry's Girls]

My first cruise with my twins was at 13 months and we never ran out of things to do. As Baxter mentioned, Princess allows you to take your toddler into the kid area to play - where there are lots of toys and other toddlers enjoying themselves.

 

We went for walks, went dancing by the pool and in the lounges, I'd also take them into the closed disco or an empty lounge where usually music is playing and the lights are going and they would chase the lights around the dance floor and just generally run around and lose their minds.

 

You could bring a blow up pool for water play (and to use as a bath tub).

 

Best,

Mia

[rebeccalouise]

What I did with my then 13 month old?... I ran down hallways chasing after him. I followed behind him while he explored the metal stairs by the pool. I was on Celebrity and they did offer in cabin sitting at dinner time- so I got a break for about three hours each night.

 

I slept in the top bunk because I was worried he would roll out and there was no room for a crib if we wanted to move around in the cabin.

 

I didn't cruise again until he was nearly 4 and since then he has been on 14 cruises. I am probably the only one on this site that thinks that cruising with a toddler is a bad idea.

 

This was a cruise to Bermuda and fortuneately my father had arranged for us to stay at a resort for two nights and then get back on the ship to return to Baltimore. Those two nights at the resort with a huge two room suite with a balcony overlooking the sea and a gigantic bathroom were far superior to being stuck in a cabin with a toddler.

 

Do a resort.

[myraid]

We cruised with our DS when he was 18 months old and had a blast. We were on the Star Princess which had a pool for non-potty trained, but if it didn't, we had definitely planned on bringing a blow-up pool. Other than that, there is so much exploring to do, playing in the kids play area, walking around, eating (lol) and napping. We had so much fun with him- he has since been on 2 cruises and enjoyed every one (as did mommy and daddy)!

 

We even had grandparents with us for 2 of the 3 cruises and never left him with them once- we were having too much fun!:D

[mcneilam]

thanks everyone.....we have enough room for a crib as we have a balcony room.

 

I'll take note to the blow up pool. She loves the water.

 

I'm sure we will also go to the kids play area at least once a day to "play"

 

Yes eating and napping sound good to me. I guess we will get our exercise with all the walking :)

 

I will also post on princess board.

 

Thanks everyone and Happy cruising!!!

[Kerry's Girls]

 

We even had grandparents with us for 2 of the 3 cruises and never left him with them once- we were having too much fun!:D

 

I love that! My family always begs to come along on our cruises, but I don't want to share my girls either when we're cruising.

 

Best,

Mia

[njber116]

We are also going on the Crown Princess but for a March 22 sailing and bringing our 1 year old (1 year and 2 weeks). I am curious - if we bring a blow-up pool for water play, where can you use it? On the balcony? Poolside? And how do you fill it? It sounds like a great idea - I just am curious about the execution.

 

Thanks!

[Olive]

I have heard of people using the pools on balconies and near the children's pool. I started a thread on this a few months back and received a mix of helpful and hostile responses. You can probably find that thread by searching on the boards. We leave next week for our cruise and I am bringing a small inflatable pool (the munchkin duck pool, which we got from target online) and will report back on how it went.

 

Good luck!

[Julienatul]

We sailed with DD at 12mo and again at 19mo. We had fun just walking around the ship, she loved hearing the music and just taking in everything. Its all new to them, the people, the ship, everything going on. I would stroll around with her in trhe stroller or baby bjorn. We played in the blow-up pool and the kids club. I would take her to an empty lounge during the day and we would play with a blow up beach ball or some toys I brought. Port days we would go to the beach since she loves water.

 

Have fun.

 

Julie

[Tggrtoes]

Not much to add that hasn't already been said. We were on Sapphire Princess a month ago with (then) 15 1/2 month old son. They have a kiddie pool in the Kid Zone - we spent a lot of time there and playing with all the toys in there. We usually went up to the nightclub during the day since nobody was there - great place to run around and explore. We rode the elevators A LOT. I can't stress that one enough. :D I was so tired of being on the elevator and running after him from one elevator to another that I lost 12 pounds on our cruise. Couldn't believe it. :eek:

 

Promenade deck is a great place to run around before bed... we'd get him in his jammies and take him out there, let him run around a bit, then push him in the stroller until he fell asleep. then we got to go to a lounge or catch the end of show.

 

lots of running around by the pool - climbing on deck chairs, playing in the splash area by the big pool, looking at all the fun things in the Atrium.

 

You won't be bored, but you will be tired! (in a good way... take advantage of the naps, especially since you have a balcony. If you can't sleep, at least go out and enjoy the nice weather.) have fun!