First time cruising with toddler on Radiance - opinions much needed

Hi All,

I have booked our first cruise on the Radiance this Dec 2015 departing Sydney with my husband and 2 year old. we are travelling as a group of 9, 6 other adults and 2 older kids.

Am now stressing that maybe I should have waited for son to be a bit older before cruising as I'm worried we'll be

a) Running after him the whole time

b) Restricted in what we can do as most activities won't be age-appropriate for him

c) Restricted to the kids pool the whole time

d) Not getting the max out of our cruise as a result

Has anyone else travelled on the Radiance with their toddler and can you tell me whether you feel it held you back and think you should have waited until they were older?

We don't really want to fob him off to the nursery the whole time either, an hour or 2 here and there though would be OK.

Also how were the port visits with a toddler?

Any honest advice or opinions much appreciated.

Thanks.

Firstly relax! It will be fine.

We started sailing with DD when she was 6 months. By 2 we had an easily foldable stroller with sun umbrella for her and reigns for when she wanted to walk. We didn't need to chase her anywhere! If she got tired we just pushed her in her stroller;)

We either went ashore and did our own thing or took short excursions to work around her. We had one excursion that family watched her and we had our own time. If you are travelling in a group they will happily help out watching your child if you want a quick swim!

My best piece of advice is don't over think it. Go with the flow and relax and enjoy it. We had been on land vacations with our DD prior to cruising with her, and the cruise was the easiest:D

A lot of questions that only you can really answer - obviously having a 2 year old along will make a huge difference to your cruising experience.

Have not sailed the Radiance for a while, buy that class of ship would not be my choice for such a young child. I would think that there would be more to do on a Voyager, Freedom or Oasis class ship.

One important comment. He cannot use any pool unless completely toilet trained. No swim diapers are allowed. Also the Adventure Ocean program starts at 3 years of age.

Also not sure of what you mean by nursery? Are you referring to Adventure Ocean?

You might get more help on the family boards.

We had a good time on our first cruise on Serenade (sister ship) in Europe with our 18 month old in 2013.

Review here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939947

Have a great holiday

Our toddler loved running down the corridors which are long but apart from that there wasn't too much running after her to do. The staff all loved seeing her around and made us all feel welcome and looked after.

We have taken our now 4 year old on a 14 night TA at 16 months on liberty, a 7 night caribbean on the mariner at 2 years, a 7 night on the disney fantasy at 2 years and 2 months, a 7 night caribbean on the explorer at 3 years and a 14 night north TA on the brilliance at 3 and a half years. So he actually made platinum on his own by the age of 3.

Either way, we have had a fair amount of experience cruising in various stages of toddlerdom, all good.

The nursery staff has alway been excellent and when he was old enough to get to the kids program at 3 he loved it as well. To go to the kids program he must be potty trained. No exceptions. He wasn't quite there yet 100 percent, bit we always took him potty before he went to keep him from having accidents. If you have too many accidents they will kick you out.

In regards to a radiance class ship, we spent 14 nights on a northern TA on the brilliance and loved it. Our DS travels crazy well and the staff loved seeing him. Esp. On cruises like that as there are typically less than 10 kids his age on board or less so nursery time is plentiful, and lots of attention in the kids club.

We didnt have too much of a hard time finding things to do. We "played" putt putt. He loved to watch the people practice the acrobatics in the centrum, and look at the fish tanks.

He did spend a lot more time in the kids club on the brilliance than a freedom or voyager class though. On the bigger ships we would walk the promenade a lot and see the dreamworks characters.

Without a kids club or nursery the brilliance class could be a little more challenging, but we brought some small toys and he was pretty content. Food could be a challenge but the head waiter loved our kid cuz he was so friendly and happy so he would bring him a pb and j sandwich if we went to MdR.

He slept on the bottom bed with My wife and I took the top bunk.

Overall a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Have an oasis cruise in oct. With our new baby who will be 6 months then and a northern europe on navigator in june '16 booked as of now.

Ultimately only you can answer how much a toddler will "weigh you down." Obviously cruising with a toddler is completely different.

DW and I knew this going in. We knew we wouldnt do as many activities, stay up as late, etc. but that is replaced by the joy of having your toddler with you.

Naptime is obviously a must and getting an inside cabin is vital IMO, as my son sleeps crazy well in one as there is no light. We would often either just sit in the dark with him while he napped, in the bathroom or sometimes sit in the hallway while he was napping and watch something on the ipad. If you have a balcony(we had one once but prefer inside cabins for darkness, easier to sleep in with kids) you can sit on it during nap time.

We brought him to a couple trivia events here and there and he was pretty content to play with the IPad or some toy when the kids club was closed and he had to come with us.

There is no kids pool, so unless he is potty trained there will be no pool or hot tub for him sadly.

Our son is highly predictable and travels well. In regards to excursions he can do anything. We took him on the golden circle tour in iceland which is an 8 hour day mostly on a bus and tolerated it better than most of the adults imo.

Ultimately you know your toddler and how well he adjusts to changes in routine. We love cruising with ours but everyone is different.

I cruised with my toddler last summer. She was younger than yours but still a toddler. Ports were fine as we had brought a stroller. She loved the beach and ocean on our stop in CocoCay. On ship, she was not potty trained and was not allowed in the pools. This made for some very loud temper tantrums. We also did not like dropping her off so she was with us for the better part of the days. My husband and I took turns with naps, one would sit in the room with her and the other would take our other kids to the pool. She did well in the MDR, breakfast, lunch and dinner and the staff was more than accommodating with her. We had our older teens with us so we had a babysitter for nights, although we only went out late one night and let the teens run the others.

It was not the most relaxing vacation we've ever taken but not the worst either.

Is this your first cruise altogether? Or your first on radiance?

I think you will be absolutely fine.

Mega ships are designed more for kids.

Not radiance, but that doesn't mean they won't have an awesome time!

We just got back from "Serenade" which is the exact same ship as Radiance.

Read my review.... i'm currently in the middle of, it's all about my concerns taking our kids on that ship.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2195638

I just got off radiance this morning with my 5 and 2 year old we are in Sydney for a few days but will come back when I get a chance and answer some questions.

We just got back from our cruise with my 5 and 2 year old. We did have a fantastic time however we wont be going again until shes 3.

Yes you will be running around after him but just let him be the guide, nap when he needs to nap, take turns babysitting with your fellow travellers or take the pusher and have him sleep in that. My DD liked watching the shows and going to some of the activties, when she got bored i took her into royal tots open play and we played with the toys in there for a while.

Royal tots is only open 9am-12pm and 5pm-midnight. I found it quite annoying that it wasnt open for the afternoon activities. We went in school holidays so it might be different but we were only allowed to have 10 hours of babysitting in the first 4 days to allow everyone the chance to book in. After that they had extra spots where you could book extra time.

If hes not toilet trained then he wont beable to go in the kids pool or the big pool. However my DD was not trained but she just dipped her feet in and splashed around the outside of the kids pool which she loved.

I felt restricted after 10pm at night, all the good things happened after this time and kids club was only open till 10 so it was a take turns in going out while one person put the kids to bed.

Port visits were fine. We took our pusher, went on the hop on hop off bus in noumea and there was beaches, icecreams and playgrounds for the kids to play at. We also went to isle of pines which was also fine she loved playing in the sand and in the shallow tide.

Hope this helps!

Hi All,

 

I have booked our first cruise on the Radiance this Dec 2015 departing Sydney with my husband and 2 year old. we are travelling as a group of 9, 6 other adults and 2 older kids.

 

Am now stressing that maybe I should have waited for son to be a bit older before cruising as I'm worried we'll be

a) Running after him the whole time

b) Restricted in what we can do as most activities won't be age-appropriate for him

c) Restricted to the kids pool the whole time

d) Not getting the max out of our cruise as a result

 

Has anyone else travelled on the Radiance with their toddler and can you tell me whether you feel it held you back and think you should have waited until they were older?

 

We don't really want to fob him off to the nursery the whole time either, an hour or 2 here and there though would be OK.

 

Also how were the port visits with a toddler?

 

Any honest advice or opinions much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

We have always taken family vacations and now my grandchildren are also being trained as travelers. Newest member of family will turn 6 months old on July 28th and will be sailing for first time on July 30. Little babies are really easy -- a large towel and they can play anywhere. Toddlers are a bit more of challenge but then you manage your child at home and it is not much more difficult on a ship. You might enquire if anyone is available to babysit in the cabin for a fee. Some lines do this but I don't know about specific ones. I do know that what you loose in freedom, you make up for in making fun memories with your child. I guess it did not bother me because I don't like being away from my kids -- even after I went back to work vacations with the kids were so great because of time spent as a family.

I took a cruise with my daughter on the Explorer when it was brand new and she was only 3 years old. It was not the most enjoyable vacation and I definitely felt like I missed out on a lot of activities and I also didn't have as much fun as the other 4 people on the cruise. That being said, it just comes with the territory of parenting; some things just won't be the same for a while and you have to adjust and accept it.

If you are traveling with other adults who don't mind trading shifts with the baby/toddler, it could make things easier because you will have some unrestricted time to enjoy the ports and shows without having to worry about nap times and schedules. But it is what it is...a vacation with a "baby." And it will basically be like home, only harder, but with a little fun mixed in. I don't recommend it, and I recall, even 10 years later, telling myself I would someday go on another cruise and get to have fun...and it took another 8 years to do so. That's the life we accept when we become parents. It just is.

I don't mean my above post to sound negative, but this was my experience and I'm being honest, as I think a lot of Moms feel like they aren't allowed to ever say they dislike or don't enjoy parenthood sometimes. Well, this was one of those times that I was a little resentful of parenthood, lol. Everyone's children have different temperaments; mine was very active and not easy to relax with since she always wanted to get in the pool (not allowed) or run around on the pool deck (the railings are not child safe so you will not be lounging and sunbathing any more than you would be at home on the couch; constantly getting up to make sure they aren't getting into something).

Some people also have grandparents or traveling companions that are more willing to help out. I did not; my traveling companions paid a lot of money for their vacation and weren't interested in sacrificing any of it to be my babysitter (rightfully so). I could have paid for the ship's babysitters but as it was, I paid a full fare for her and she couldn't use any of the facilities and I wasn't about to pay more money for a babysitter. I ended up walking around the ports with her in an umbrella stroller and heading back to the ship for nap time while the rest of the group explored the islands and beaches. I do have a picture of her asleep in the stroller in port one day, so I got away with not having to go back every time, but it just wasn't as free or enjoyable as the "vacation" I had in mind. But it's a vacation, and you'll have fun, just not the same kind as if it were a child free vacation. Kind of like the difference between going to the grocery store with your kids vs without them. Haha.

We cruised with our 17 month grandson on Radiance Alaska May 2014...the Royal Tots Nursery on this particular ship was amazing...used it more than we thought. Actually this cruise worked out so well we are cruising with another grandson 19 months old this September on Radiance Alaska...Don't worry you'll be surprised at how easy it really will be.

Did anyone use monitors while their kids were being babysat ?

I haven't but have been wondering about it. Not sure if the monitors would have enough range though.

I found a baby monitor app but haven't tried it yet. Has unlimited range

I have been on 3 cruises now with a baby/toddler including explorer and independence of the seas. I really wouldn't worry - you will have a great time. It is definitely worth bringing a blow up pool and related toys. I would also really recommend a toddler sling. I carried my toddler in 2 different slings everywhere on our last cruise. She is a chunky girl but a good sling (I have a Tula and Connecta) means you won't feel the weight. These were invaluable for getting her to sleep at night, being able to use the stairs at busy times, going up and down to the buffet and particularly for the excursions. We really didn't feel restricted on our holiday at all. We also had a room with a lovely view which was ideal for the few evenings she didn't settle and we just ordered room service and enjoyed the room.

Most of RCI ships also have the toy lending service - on explorer they had 10 different bags so we borrowed a new one most days.