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Back from 5 day cruise with a 2yr old


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I read this forum to prepare for our trip, thanks for your great suggestions.

 

We bought the Cosco Scenara car seat ($39 at Walmart) special to take lo to Playa Mia in Cozumel. The cab drivers were impatient and not thrilled, but install was quick and they drive crazy, so it was worth it to us, plus they charge full fare for her. The seat is super light and easy to carry around. The shuttle buses in Progresso didn't have seat belts to install it, but we had left the seat on the ship since we were just walking to the beach. The umbrella stroller was perfect for getting around the ports.

 

The long dinners were a bit of a struggle, but I packed activities for each night in a new backpack. The Pom poms from the dollar store in her snack trap were a hit one night, the iPhone games one night, stickers were especially popular, the dining room kid menu doubles as a coloring page and they have crayons, magna doodle was also good. The dining room is pretty loud and we were in a booth, so we didn't have to worry about her too much.

 

Camp Carnival starts at age 2, but she didn't want to be left alone there. The phone they give parents was handy to have since we traveled with the grandparents. They did allow her to come to the under 2 playtime where parents are required. On a particularly slow day they allowed me to come in and play to try to get her comfortable to stay. Overall, the staff was very kind and accommodating. The kids seemed to be having fun. The Triumph had a good toddler play area outside, but seas were rough and due to wind it was closed a few times.

 

The rough seas didn't bother her at all or any other kids I saw. The staff and crew all engaged her and genuinely seemed to enjoy having children around. We got an inside room, it was pretty small and I wish we would've got the ocean view room which was bigger and had a couch. She is in a toddler bed, so I requested the crib mattress and made up a bed on the floor. The upper bed seemed too dangerous. Sometimes in the afternoon on sea days, we were left looking for things to do, so we'd try to find an empty lounge and let her run around.

 

Overall, I'm glad we took her. We had fun, but I think she'll enjoy herself more when she can swim in the pool and feels comfortable being left at Camp Carnival. Having the grandparents along helped a lot, I recommend it if possible. I wish we would've had a loud fan to help block hallway noises, she woke early and only napped one day. I'd be glad to answer any questions.

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Welcome back! Great review! I am glad you had a good cruise - and yes, OVs are good, balconies with kids are better so YOU can step out while they are sleeping :)

 

My other tip if you cruise again before she is potty trained is to cruise on a ship with a baby splash zone (Disney or Royal).

 

Sounds like you had a great time otherwise - thank you for the review!

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Be aware that not ALL RCI ship's have baby splash zones! Only a very few ships allow diapered kids (or adults!) in the pools!

 

There are 6 Royal ships to choose from - so "very few" - not exactly :)

 

But as I said - book a ship with a "Baby Splash Zone".

 

And NO ship allows diapered kids or adults "in the pools" - just the Baby Splash Zone.

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One thing that I think really helped the trip go so well was a book we made preparing lo for the trip. I saw a pediatrician named Dr Harvey Karp on the Today show discuss this, I printed off pics of the hotel, ship, ports, etc, to prepare lo, we just taped it into a book and showed her the pics to prepare her for each phase of the trip.

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I read this forum to prepare for our trip, thanks for your great suggestions.

 

We bought the Cosco Scenara car seat ($39 at Walmart) special to take lo to Playa Mia in Cozumel. The cab drivers were impatient and not thrilled, but install was quick and they drive crazy, so it was worth it to us, plus they charge full fare for her. The seat is super light and easy to carry around. The shuttle buses in Progresso didn't have seat belts to install it, but we had left the seat on the ship since we were just walking to the beach. The umbrella stroller was perfect for getting around the ports.

 

The long dinners were a bit of a struggle, but I packed activities for each night in a new backpack. The Pom poms from the dollar store in her snack trap were a hit one night, the iPhone games one night, stickers were especially popular, the dining room kid menu doubles as a coloring page and they have crayons, magna doodle was also good. The dining room is pretty loud and we were in a booth, so we didn't have to worry about her too much.

 

Camp Carnival starts at age 2, but she didn't want to be left alone there. The phone they give parents was handy to have since we traveled with the grandparents. They did allow her to come to the under 2 playtime where parents are required. On a particularly slow day they allowed me to come in and play to try to get her comfortable to stay. Overall, the staff was very kind and accommodating. The kids seemed to be having fun. The Triumph had a good toddler play area outside, but seas were rough and due to wind it was closed a few times.

 

The rough seas didn't bother her at all or any other kids I saw. The staff and crew all engaged her and genuinely seemed to enjoy having children around. We got an inside room, it was pretty small and I wish we would've got the ocean view room which was bigger and had a couch. She is in a toddler bed, so I requested the crib mattress and made up a bed on the floor. The upper bed seemed too dangerous. Sometimes in the afternoon on sea days, we were left looking for things to do, so we'd try to find an empty lounge and let her run around.

 

Overall, I'm glad we took her. We had fun, but I think she'll enjoy herself more when she can swim in the pool and feels comfortable being left at Camp Carnival. Having the grandparents along helped a lot, I recommend it if possible. I wish we would've had a loud fan to help block hallway noises, she woke early and only napped one day. I'd be glad to answer any questions.

 

I was just wondering if you requested for the crib mattress to be in your room prior to cruising or once you were onboard. I will be cruising in less than two weeks with my 2.5 year old son. I don't mind him sleeping with us on the bed but I'm afraid he won't want to sleep on his own once we get back home. Did you place the crib mattress beside your bed or at the foot of the bed?

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I was just wondering if you requested for the crib mattress to be in your room prior to cruising or once you were onboard. I will be cruising in less than two weeks with my 2.5 year old son. I don't mind him sleeping with us on the bed but I'm afraid he won't want to sleep on his own once we get back home. Did you place the crib mattress beside your bed or at the foot of the bed?

 

When we got on board, I asked the room steward to just bring the mattress from the crib. He seemed a little confused and said he'd talk to his supervisor. When we came back to the room, it was in there. I knew if I got the whole crib, she'd just climb right out.

 

We set it up near the foot of the bed, but to the side. That way we could see her easily. Most nights she crawled in bed with us at some point. Thankfully, she had no issues going back to normal once we got home.

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There are 6 Royal ships to choose from - so "very few" - not exactly :)

 

But as I said - book a ship with a "Baby Splash Zone".

 

And NO ship allows diapered kids or adults "in the pools" - just the Baby Splash Zone.

 

These are available on Oasis and Freedom class ships, right? And I would assume they will also have one on Quantum. Are there others?

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These are available on Oasis and Freedom class ships, right? And I would assume they will also have one on Quantum. Are there others?

 

Freedom OTS, Liberty OTS, Independence OTS, Oasis OTS, Allure OTS, Quantum OTS are all ships you can book now. And then Anthem OTS would be a 7th one in the not too distant future :)

Edited by crusinmama06
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  • 1 month later...
I was just wondering if you requested for the crib mattress to be in your room prior to cruising or once you were onboard. I will be cruising in less than two weeks with my 2.5 year old son. I don't mind him sleeping with us on the bed but I'm afraid he won't want to sleep on his own once we get back home. Did you place the crib mattress beside your bed or at the foot of the bed?

 

curious as to how your cruise went with your 2.5 yr old? how was the crib situation? what boat/cruise line were you on? I will also be cruising with my 2.5 yr old son in 2 weeks and we were told by the carnival booking agent to request the crib when we check in.

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curious as to how your cruise went with your 2.5 yr old? how was the crib situation? what boat/cruise line were you on? I will also be cruising with my 2.5 yr old son in 2 weeks and we were told by the carnival booking agent to request the crib when we check in.

 

The cruise was amazing! The crib situation didn't work out. I spoke with my travel agent regarding sleeping options for my 2.5 year old. He's too small/young for the pullman's bed which i wouldn't have put him on anyway and said that he would have to be under 23 inches tall to use the pack and play. I don't know how tall my son is now but he was 23 inches at birth. We didn't have a sofa big enough in our room for him to sleep on so he ended up sleeping on the bed with us. We pushed the bed against the wall. You should ask what the size restrictions are for the crib. Your son may be too big to use it.

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The cruise was amazing! The crib situation didn't work out. I spoke with my travel agent regarding sleeping options for my 2.5 year old. He's too small/young for the pullman's bed which i wouldn't have put him on anyway and said that he would have to be under 23 inches tall to use the pack and play. I don't know how tall my son is now but he was 23 inches at birth. We didn't have a sofa big enough in our room for him to sleep on so he ended up sleeping on the bed with us. We pushed the bed against the wall. You should ask what the size restrictions are for the crib. Your son may be too big to use it.

 

I think they should have let you decide if he was too big or not. we still use our pack n play for him. I think their cribs are the same size as a pack n play. what boat were you on?

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I received an email from Holland America stating that they only provide pack n plays to children under 2 and therefore our child will not be granted one. We haven't left on the cruise yet, so I don't know if they will bring one but wanted to let other parents know to check with their cruise lines. You can request a crib ahead of time on both HAL and Princess.

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I think they should have let you decide if he was too big or not. we still use our pack n play for him. I think their cribs are the same size as a pack n play. what boat were you on?

 

I agree that they should have let us decide. I also had the idea of using the crib mattress on the floor and requested one but it wasn't in our room when we arrived. We were on the explorer

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We were on Allure when DD was nearly 2 1/2. She was way too tall for a pack n play at that point (even though our reservation was marked to have one originally). Our original plan when we sailed was for her to sleep on the sofa bed, but after the 1st night we realized it wouldn't work (took a lot of room, plus she didn't want to sleep in it). The next night our cabin attendant made a small bed on the floor in front of the sofa using the bed linens (including comforter) from the sofa bed. This worked out perfectly and it's where she slept the rest of the cruise.

 

I'm sure that any cabin attendant should be able to do something similar. It takes up very little room, has no risk of falling off and uses regular bed linens.

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