Cruising with toddlers

[bawamz]

My DH wants to do a cruise. It doesn't really light me up, but since he puts up with my Disney theme park love, I'm trying to get on board. We have 6 kids, but I'm mostly concerned about cruising with the two youngest who will be 3 and 1. Anyone have experience with this? Tell me cruising can be fun even with really little ones. We are looking at a 7 day Western Caribbean on Liberty of the Seas.

Give me hope!

 

[bumbershoot]

Make sure the ship has the actual tots program. Make SURE. They don’t all have the full program. I would ask on cruisecritic’s message boards for Royal.

Vacationing with babies and toddlers is...more of the same of your home life but in a different location. It’s not a *vacation*. In my case it was closer to a vacation for Dh because I did a ton more for our son when he was bitty. Nowadays things are more relaxed for me, and Dh and ds spend more time together (ds is 13 now).

We didn’t cruise when son was little bc of finances and we used cloth diapers and that didn’t seem nice on a cruise (and we weren’t willing to use disposables). But we started traveling to Disneyland when he was 17 months, which is where I learned of the “it’s not really a vacation” aspect.

 

[bawamz]

That's good advice for the tots program. So true about vacations with little kids, I have six kids so I haven't had a real vacation in quite some time.

 

[ubish00]

I stated travelling with my niece when she was 1 and took her on her first cruise when she was 2. I found cruising so much easier then going to an all inclusive resort in the Caribbean. We did do Disney cruises when she was 2-4 and are now doing Royal Caribbean cruises. Yes, as you mention, travelling with little ones is a lot of work but I think the rewards far out way the work. I would make sure there's a kids club as well as a splash pad area for the little one still in diapers. One thing about cruising is you need to make sure anything you might need with you. Things are either very expensive or not available on a ship. I do highly recommend cruising with kids. You will enjoy yourselves.

 

[crabbymom]

Hi there!! We sailed with my DD when she was just barely 1. She is 6 now and has been on 5 cruises and loves them! At the 1yo stage, she stayed with us most of the time as the drop off kids club only starts once they are potty trained. However, they do have a play area for parents to stay with the little ones and play with a bunch of toys. Also, the splash pad area was really important as kids with diapers are not allowed in the pool or slides area. So yes, as mentioned above, it was work, but it was still fun.

At the 3yo stage, it was a totally different experience. She went to the kids club and loved it so much she wanted to stay all the time! We really only saw her for meals and tours but she had a BLAST! Royal's kids clubs are top notch (As I'm sure Disney's are too!!! ), also the Liberty has the Dreamworks characters so we had some really good character interaction if we wanted.

On the Liberty, I would suggest getting a Promenade View Interior. That way, your kids can watch all of the parades without having to deal with people standing in front of them or smushing them. I have stayed in the PR interiors several times, and I always choose them if I am sailing a ship that has them.

I hope all of this helps, I have cruised Royal quite a bit, and at least four times on the sister ship to Liberty so I am fairly familiar with the ships if you have any questions.