How do you schedule naps while in port?

I'll be cruising with my 21 month old next month and she still takes regular naps at daycare, unfortunately they are in the middle of the day between 12:30-2:30pm.

I'm not sure what excursions we can do since I want her to stay on her nap schedule.

What did others do - did you go off the ship in the morning, come back for nap and then go out again? Or nap on the go while in port (which I don't think will be successful for me)?

Our ports are Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.

TIA

Find a palm tree and a beach chair and your 21 year old will sleep like a baby. Really with this age they are happy just playing on the beach. There are really nice ones- where they can build sandcastles and swim in the ocean. From 9- 12 you can be on the beach and then return to the ship for naptime. Many resorts serve food on the beach. We had a good experience at the Westin in Grand Cayman. Beach chairs are about $25 per person and swim diapers were allowed in their pool.

If you want to take your toddler on excursions AND stay on schedule, you'll really need to find 1/2 day excursions! Or, as the previous poster suggested, a beach day will give you flexibility...as long as your child will nap in a stroller or on a blanket/towel!

I have a feeling the schedule will be a bit disrupted no matter what you do....that tends to happen on vacations!

You know your kid the best. Ours would never nap anywhere except a dark quiet room. When we cruised with him at 19 months, we planned excursions that departed as early as possible and returned to the ship before 2. We were able to push his schedule slightly and nap him as soon as we got back to the ship (2:30-5). The consequences of this is that he was overtired and cranky even after napping, and a seated dinner (even with a 5:30 pm seating) was too much for him. We ended up tag teaming to take him to dinner in the buffet and then back to the room for bed by 7.

On this particular trip, we were travelling with his grandparents in an adjoining room, and having them available to "babysit" during nap time and after he went to bed was a sanity saver. They even took him on one port day for a 1/2 day beach excursion so that we could do a more adventurous all day one. You may find that your LO sleeps later than at home, due to the rocking motion of the ship and engine hum, and exhaustion from being on vacation. Your best bet is to be flexible and always have snacks on hand!

Yup, my kid would sleep where ever, when ever, what ever. Even when she was 4 or 5 YO. she'd sleep in the frontpack when she was little, the back pack as she got older, and/or in the stroller. Bright, dark. loud, queit, smooth, bumpy - she'd sleep when she was ready to sleep! :D

So I never thought too much about it! Just make certain we had food at her eating times, and she could sleep.

You know what your kid needs, you need to plan accordingly

For us, regular schedule had to be amended on the cruise. DS would sometimes fall asleep on the way back from excursions or in the stroller while we walked around the ship when we returned later in the day. It all worked out fine and he returned to the normal routine without issues after we got home.

I'll be cruising with my 21 month old next month and she still takes regular naps at daycare, unfortunately they are in the middle of the day between 12:30-2:30pm.

 

I'm not sure what excursions we can do since I want her to stay on her nap schedule.

 

What did others do - did you go off the ship in the morning, come back for nap and then go out again? Or nap on the go while in port (which I don't think will be successful for me)?

 

Our ports are Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.

 

TIA

Hi fellow Canuck! :) As most others have said, you know your child best. When we sailed our older daughter, she was just shy of 2 years old and still napped consistently in the afternoons... but she had to be in a crib in a dark room. So we planned our excursions accordingly and made sure we were back on the ship for nap time. Following that, we'd head back out to port and continue exploring. She was never a great on-the-go napper so we adjusted to that.

This time around, our youngest is an on-the-goer so perhaps we'll try the stroller or Ergo naps.

G'luck!

Find a palm tree and a beach chair and your 21 year old will sleep like a baby.

My first thought was - well my husband sleeps when he can. I guess a palm tree would work for him... probably the 21 YO too. Might even work on a toddler :D. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Woops. I meant 21 month old

When our dd was a toddler, she had herself on a schedule, and if we strayed just a bit on the time of that nap, boy, were we in for it! The nice thing was that 1:00pm our time was 2:00pm ship time, so we had an "extra" hour! She would only sleep in a dark, quiet room.

We did 3 of the 4 ports you have listed. Falmouth is not really close to anything we wanted to see in the time that we had, so we shopped in the port, had a fresh coconut and then returned to a completely empty ship. Cozumel, we did Nachi Cocum, and went back to the ship after lunch. In Grand Cayman, we took the bus on our own to the Turtle Farm and then to 7 mile beach, and then snagged the bus back to the ship for nap time.

Sure, our time in port and activities were somewhat limited. But we really enjoyed it anyway! DH and I took turns staying in the cabin for naps. And since DD was well rested, we were able to have an awesome dinner all together in the MDR followed by a lovely evening.

Enjoy your cruise!:)