First timers with little kids, few questions :)

[morphius909]

Hi All,

We are set for a Princess Cruise out of FLL on Sunday November 4th-Eastern Carribean.

We are late 30's couple with a 2 yo and 7yo. We travel a lot (fly) so our kids are a veteran air travellers but we are all new to cruising. And yes they are quite well behaved.

We have zero expectations (we know better) and we are very relaxed.

But with all the information I've read I still have a few questions:

1) With a 2yo and 7yo, should we even bother with main dining room dining? I know, it's part of the experience, but buffet style relaxation for breakfast/dinner/lunch with 2 kids just seems easier. And we are pretty healthy eaters so I assume we can find something that won't put on the pounds.

2) Excursions: we are planning on none of them, rather just get off the boat and explore the shore and bits of the town where ever we port. Thoughts?

3) Packing and luggage. I have no worries about Airline fees since I don't get charged (up to 3 bags free for me) but I know there is a huge issue with space in the cruise cabins. Is 2 normal sized suitcases excessive? Should we do 1 regular + 1 smaller? I know we are sorting out what to bring based on great info on this site.

I think those were the three pressing questions we had so far

Thanks for any advice!!!!

[notentirelynormal]

Don't deprive yourself of the main dining room. If the 2 YO gets cranky then you will know it might be difficult BUT the waiters are used to kids and will do things to help. For example, we always had a bowl of cut up strawberries sitting on the table when the kids arrived. It kept them busy while we ordered and got them started. Kids take a long time to eat so they get their meal and you get yours and it seems to work. At the buffet for breakfast you can get cereal boxes for snacks later and you will have a fridge where you can store milk or juice for later.

I don't know your room type but there should be plenty of room in your cabin to store your suitcases. Under the bed is the preferred space or in the bottom of the closet. The only time that won't work (in your case) is if a car seat is taking up space - but again there is under the bed. Bring what you need. Don't forget "special items" like a favorite blanket or toy for the kids to be familiar. There are drawers to store things and above the hanger area for storage as well.

Hard to say on the excursions as you haven't told us what ports. Some you can get off and walk around the shopping area or maybe get to the beach but you can't always count on that.

[Keith1010]

I would do the main dining room.

I think you've done well not choosing excursions.

It is very normal to take two suitcases.

I wish you all a wonderful cruise and a very safe journey.

Enjoy!

Keith

[KirkNC]

Welcome to CC!

[Laughing Angel]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

I'm in agreement with what has been said so far...don't pass up the Main Dining Room--it can be a lot of fun. notentirelynormal is correct, the wait staff is very experienced in dealing with little ones, and can help find ways to occupy them during the meal. There are lots of choices for healthful dining too--just ask.

A lot of people do what you're planning to do when it comes to excursions. Do a little research on your ports of call, and you should be fine.

With very few exceptions (some inside cabins), you should have plenty of room for your suitcases. Last cruise, we had 3 suitcases. Emptied them out, shoved them under the bed and never saw them again until it was time to leave.

Good luck, have fun and enjoy the ride! I'm sure you'll have a blast.

[kitty9]

We've had four suitcases, bigger ones, and they fit under the beds with no problem.

Don't miss the MDR. Lots of families go there. There will probably not be many school age kids on board, as it's not a US vacation time, so be prepared for the kids club for the 7 year old to be different than if they had lots of kids on the ship. They WILL have the club, but it may not be as extensive as with a large group of kids.

[Roz]

You may want to check out the Family Cruising forum. Lots of people there with experience sailing with children. I think you'll have a great time.

Roz

[Cruisin' Chick]

Originally Posted by morphius909

Hi All,

We are set for a Princess Cruise out of FLL on Sunday November 4th-Eastern Carribean.

We are late 30's couple with a 2 yo and 7yo. We travel a lot (fly) so our kids are a veteran air travellers but we are all new to cruising. And yes they are quite well behaved.

We have zero expectations (we know better) and we are very relaxed.

But with all the information I've read I still have a few questions:

1) With a 2yo and 7yo, should we even bother with main dining room dining? I know, it's part of the experience, but buffet style relaxation for breakfast/dinner/lunch with 2 kids just seems easier. And we are pretty healthy eaters so I assume we can find something that won't put on the pounds.

2) Excursions: we are planning on none of them, rather just get off the boat and explore the shore and bits of the town where ever we port. Thoughts?

3) Packing and luggage. I have no worries about Airline fees since I don't get charged (up to 3 bags free for me) but I know there is a huge issue with space in the cruise cabins. Is 2 normal sized suitcases excessive? Should we do 1 regular + 1 smaller? I know we are sorting out what to bring based on great info on this site.

I think those were the three pressing questions we had so far

Thanks for any advice!!!!

My hubby was reluctant to take on little one on her first cruise, but when she was 23 months old, we did, and she has come on every one of our cruises since then.

The waitstaff will dote on your kid. Many have little ones back home that they miss and some will often love to tell you about them. They'll bring a coloring book and crayons (at least Carnival did) and maybe saltines which they know kids at that age like to play with. Just decide between the two of you who will take the toddler out of the MDR if he/she is fussing. Princess has a kids' menu the kids (adults have even ordered off of it w/o problem) can select from or they can try items from the adult menu. You can also bring a small toy or doll with you.

Breakfast and lunch on Princess is always open seating -- you get quicker seating if you're willing to share a table. Apparently on port days, the MDR is no longer open for lunch. There is also a pizzeria and grill (hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches) that is open from late morning to around 11pm. On most ships, these are by the uncovered pool. The Horizon Court (the buffet) can be fun for them as they can put together their own meal.

The youngest will be too young for the kids' program, but you might be able to take him/her to play with the toys there as long as you stay. When you take the 7-yr-old to sign up for the kids' program the first night, you can ask about their policy for toddler play and possibly post-10-pm kidsitting (for about $5 or 6 per hour -- prorated by the quarter hour -- kids can play with video games or watch a kid-friendly movie). There will be a "Pelicans" packet for the 7-yr-old listing the day-by-day listing of activites. There might not be a full-fledged program as there could be few school-aged kids on board that week.\

As for excursions, I agree with the others. You don't need to do anything in port; you don't even need to go off the ship. Read up on the ports and see if there are beaches, kid-friendly museums, etc. for each one. Some towns are right there near the pier, some would need you to grab a taxi. I like to go on the websites for each port -- some will have a good map. If you weren't going for several weeks, I would have suggested seeing if these sites have a tourist brochure to mail to you (I find them very helpful -- in fact for our last cruise, when I was studying a brochure for the next day's port, many fellow passengers asked me where I got it, thinking they can buy it in the ship's store).

We have found that we can stash the suitcases under the beds. We have even brought a big plastic crate for beverages (I'm into Mountain Dew, which Princess ships don't carry, and Sobe) and other supplies such as snorkeling gear. The crate even fit under the bed. You can also use the closet (some of the Princess ships have an open closet) to store suitcases, bag for dirty clothes and car seats (hubby bought a large duffel to help carry our girl's car seat and booster seat (those can usually be dissembled when not in use).

I would suggest bringing a good supply of diapers/pullups for the toddler as you can't depend on the ship's store carrying the right size. Also bring whatever meds (Tylenol, cold meds, etc) just in case, for the same reason.

The Princess ships have self-service laundry rooms on most of the passenger decks, either in front or in back. You can get coins at the passenger services desk, if the coin changer isn't working. The pods or 3-in-1 sheets are very handy (I need to bring allergen free ones because daughter is allergic to regular detergent).

My biggest advice, if it's not too late, is to fly into your embarkation city at least a day ahead. Besides making things less stressful, just in case there's weather/mechanical problems that change your flight, you can also do a little shopping for anything left behind.

[morphius909]

This is all awesome!
Thank you!

To fill in some gaps:

-We are flying into FLL on the Saturday.
-We have a normal room with a balcony
-I believe on Princess we are set for Princess Cays, St. Maartin, St. Thomas and Turks and Caicos for our ports
-

[notentirelynormal]

Originally Posted by morphius909

We are flying into FLL on the Saturday.
-We have a normal room with a balcony
-I believe on Princess we are set for Princess Cays, St. Maartin, St. Thomas and Turks and Caicos for our ports
-

Princess Cays is a beach day. Take some cheap toys that you can leave, like blow up toys and a bucket and shovel for the kids. When we left we donated the toys to the kid's center. We also brought the kid's life vests so that both them and us were comfortable with them being in the water.

St Thomas you can walk into town or for cheap (used to be $3) take a shuttle and ride into town and walk around.

Don't remember about the other ports.

[Pcruuz]

Hello,

We are also on the November 4 cruise on the Ruby Princess- Eastern Caribbean! We are ALSO bringing our two young children with us ages 3 and 15months. Perhaps we will see you onboard and have a couple play dates in the youth centre! Anyhow, we took a cruise 2 years ago with our oldest when she was 14 months and we ate in the main dining room every night except one. As someone else suggested, we had a bowl of fruit and bread/butter immediately at the table for our little one to snack on while we waited for our food & hers. The wait staff are SO SO SO friendly with the kids. One night our waiter made an animal balloons which was fun.

We don't plan on doing any excursions with our kids on this cruise. We will get off and browse the shops for a couple hours, have a snack/drink,and head back to the ship. Maybe head to the beach for an hour or so (not long). I know my 15month old isn't a great "window shopper."

I'm so glad to hear there will be some other children on the ship. We are flying from Canada to FLL on Saturday. Looking forward to it!

[Daisyloo]

Turks and Caicos is a great beach day. You just walk off the ship and turn left and you are there. In St. Thomas it depends on where the ship docks. We docked at Crown Bay, which is far enough from the downtown area that you need a cab. If you like beaches, Magens Bay is nice - nice soft sand, shallow calm water - great for kids. There are change rooms and washrooms, snack area. It's a great place to spend a few hours.
Have a great cruise.

[morphius909]

Originally Posted by Pcruuz

Hello,

We are also on the November 4 cruise on the Ruby Princess- Eastern Caribbean! We are ALSO bringing our two young children with us ages 3 and 15months. Perhaps we will see you onboard and have a couple play dates in the youth centre! Anyhow, we took a cruise 2 years ago with our oldest when she was 14 months and we ate in the main dining room every night except one. As someone else suggested, we had a bowl of fruit and bread/butter immediately at the table for our little one to snack on while we waited for our food & hers. The wait staff are SO SO SO friendly with the kids. One night our waiter made an animal balloons which was fun.

We don't plan on doing any excursions with our kids on this cruise. We will get off and browse the shops for a couple hours, have a snack/drink,and head back to the ship. Maybe head to the beach for an hour or so (not long). I know my 15month old isn't a great "window shopper."

I'm so glad to hear there will be some other children on the ship. We are flying from Canada to FLL on Saturday. Looking forward to it!

-Flying from Where? We are coming in from Edmonton on Saturday Too.

-Yes we are bringing ONE..count it ONE decent fancy set of clothes for us. Rest is Shorts and T shirts.

-Can I ask what you do with Car seats? Do you take them to the Hotel? The Cruise Ship?

I wish I had another week to plan...only 3 days away UGH!

[Pcruuz]

Originally Posted by morphius909

-Flying from Where? We are coming in from Edmonton on Saturday Too.

-Yes we are bringing ONE..count it ONE decent fancy set of clothes for us. Rest is Shorts and T shirts.

-Can I ask what you do with Car seats? Do you take them to the Hotel? The Cruise Ship?

I wish I had another week to plan...only 3 days away UGH!

We are from Niagara Falls, but driving to Buffalo airport to catch our flight there.

As for car seats, we are bringing 2 carseats!! It's going to be a royal pain, but we are doing it for safety reasons when traveling by land! We will use the carseats on the airplane- just so the kids won't be as fidgety in them because they are used to them. We will use them in the shuttle from the airport to hotel and hotel to the cruiseship terminal. Once we get to the cruiseship we will bring the carseats onboard with us. I wouldn't recommend giving the carseats to the bag porters at the pier. Don't want to risk the carseats getting damage amonst the handling and maneuvering of all the luggage. We are borrowing a "Go Go Babyz" wheely thing- it attaches firmly to the backside of the carseat and it wheels around like a piece of luggage on wheels. For us with 2 carseats, we will attach our 2nd carseat facedown to the first one and tie them both with luggage straps and wheel them both around like that! They will get stored away for the week and will bring them back out for our taxi ride back to the airport....I'm sure we'll be one of the few people there with carseats...that's us!!

Will you be bringing a booster for your 7yo?

If you would like to eat in the dining room (which I highly recommend)- nothing like being waited on like kings and queens, definately pack some "smart casual" outfits. Buffets carry more germs than the dining room!

[1025cruise]

You will be unable to hook up car seats in most hotel shuttles. Don't plan on using them.

[morphius909]

Essentially we need the Car seat for:
-Home to Airport in the cab
-Airport to Home in the cab when we get back

not sure about the booster yet. Prolly skim by without one.

I'm looking into Hotel and Port transfers tonight to see what is effective.

What a pain!

[Pcruuz]

Originally Posted by 1025cruise

You will be unable to hook up car seats in most hotel shuttles. Don't plan on using them.

That's what I thought, but apparently when I asked the reservation agent over the phone about doing so she informed me that we could. Just going by what she told me. We will see I guess!

[Daisyloo]

The hotel shuttles I have been in have been large vans and they had seatbelts so I think you could probably use your car seats.

[Pcruuz]

Originally Posted by Daisyloo

The hotel shuttles I have been in have been large vans and they had seatbelts so I think you could probably use your car seats.

Oh, that's a relief! Thanks for posting. If there aren't any seatbelts, probably have to opt for a cab instead. Hope the reservation agent is correct then!

[1025cruise]

I've seen a mix.

Once I flew into FLL and stayed at a hotel that provided both an airport shuttle, and a port shuttle.

The hotel shuttle was a van. So there would be no issues with child seats. The port shuttle was a minibus, towing a luggage carrier. No way to put in child seats.