1-2 year old on a ship

I have cruised before and I'm looking to book a cruise next year for DD(6months) and my DF. I'm guessing my daughter will be 1 1/2 by the time we sail. I've researched a little but I'm not sure what the best line would be? Please help!

If you are looking for child care to be available for your little one I would recommend Royal Caribbean. Most of their ships have nurseries onboard for kids under 3. Only 1 NCL (Escape) and 1 Carnival (Vista) ship have nurseries planned. Disney is also great for kids, but it's pricey and you may want to wait until your LO is older to fully enjoy it.

most cruise line's kids programs start at 3, Carnival starts at 2.

Feel free to check out the reviews in my signature. We have been cruising with our son from 9/10 months old up until a few weeks ago at 2.5 years old. He's cruised 6 times. I know excessive, but I have a lot of helpful tips in my reviews.

Check out the following ships from my signature.

Carnival Glory- 9/10months.

Enchantment of the Seas- 14 Months

Carnival Breeze- 16 Months

Brilliance of the Seas- 19 months

Liberty of the Seas- 20 months

and Jewel of the Seas- 2.5 years.

I'm interested in this information too. We are looking at booking a cruise with our daughter. We have cruised before but she hasn't. She will be about 20 months old. I am getting conflicting information when calling regarding use of splash zones. CCL rep when I called said that the 2 year olds in Camp Ocean can use the splash thing they have if not potty trained but not available for under 2.

The website however says all water facilities need to be fully potty trained per health guidelines (which I would think would make them universal).

However when I called NCL they said they had splash areas could be used not potty trained but only the one ship with a nursery.

RC gave me list of ships with the nursery program and then list of the ships that have splash zones she could use w/o being potty trained and I had read someone's post somewhere saying RC did have splash areas for non potty trained little ones but now wondering if it is true?

I'm interested in this information too. We are looking at booking a cruise with our daughter. We have cruised before but she hasn't. She will be about 20 months old. I am getting conflicting information when calling regarding use of splash zones. CCL rep when I called said that the 2 year olds in Camp Ocean can use the splash thing they have if not potty trained but not available for under 2.

The website however says all water facilities need to be fully potty trained per health guidelines (which I would think would make them universal).

 

However when I called NCL they said they had splash areas could be used not potty trained but only the one ship with a nursery.

 

RC gave me list of ships with the nursery program and then list of the ships that have splash zones she could use w/o being potty trained and I had read someone's post somewhere saying RC did have splash areas for non potty trained little ones but now wondering if it is true?

The only ships that have splash areas for non-potty trained kids are the DCL ships, and the RCI Freedom and Oasis class ships. Ships operating out of Australia have different requirements, and I'm told they allow swim diapers in all kiddie pools.

The only ships that have splash areas for non-potty trained kids are the DCL ships, and the RCI Freedom and Oasis class ships. Ships operating out of Australia have different requirements, and I'm told they allow swim diapers in all kiddie pools.

I think the Quantum class may have splash area too, but not 100 percent sure.

I think the Quantum class may have splash area too, but not 100 percent sure.

I wasn't sure, but checked the RCI website (I know, I know), but it hasn't either been updated or Quantum doesn't have one.

I wasn't sure, but checked the RCI website (I know, I know), but it hasn't either been updated or Quantum doesn't have one.

I checked too and it was not mentioned. Better to say it doesn't until someone reports otherwise [emoji41]

If the ship you sail has a "no diaper" policy, bring a blow up TUB (also useful for bathing a child in a shower!) and put a bit of water in it for "splashing" on the pool deck. You can still be out and sunning, and baby gets to get wet....Empty into a floor or shower drain. A blow up tub will only need about 2 ice buckets full of water for baby to have fun.

Here is a photo of the diaper-friendly splash area on Liberty of the Seas (Freedom & Independence are identical). Its just the small area, not all the fun colorful stuff in the background.

and here's an example of my son at 10 months, enjoying a blow up tub on the deck of the Carnival Glory.

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful!

When I called RC they told me only the Freedom and Oasis classes for the splash area - of course they were probably looking at their website too.

Sunkissed momma I read some of your reviews last night they were very helpful. They had me very nervous though because I didn't see anything about the splash area and I was thinking one of the reviews was on a ship that had it supposedly. My daughter loves the water so it would be very hard if she couldn't play in it.

We are from Minnesota over by the North Dakota border so playing outside in the water has a very limited season.

We're having a very tough time deciding because we like the itinerary more on CCL (and the price) but really want the splash area for her. Also I'm thinking there may be more to do on board RC to keep her occupied.

We have cruised before a few times but never on RC.

Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors. I'm using my phone and have my daughter's occasional help.

Two things to consider.

The blowup pool is a great option that many people have used. But, this can also be useful to give your child a bath in the cabin, as most cabins do not have tubs. So, it could serve dual purposes, and they do not really take up that much space in your luggage.

Second, if the itinerary has lots of places with good beaches, your child can get their water play there. No restrictions on diapers at the ocean :)

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful!

When I called RC they told me only the Freedom and Oasis classes for the splash area - of course they were probably looking at their website too.

 

Sunkissed momma I read some of your reviews last night they were very helpful. They had me very nervous though because I didn't see anything about the splash area and I was thinking one of the reviews was on a ship that had it supposedly. My daughter loves the water so it would be very hard if she couldn't play in it.

 

We are from Minnesota over by the North Dakota border so playing outside in the water has a very limited season.

 

We're having a very tough time deciding because we like the itinerary more on CCL (and the price) but really want the splash area for her. Also I'm thinking there may be more to do on board RC to keep her occupied.

 

We have cruised before a few times but never on RC.

 

Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors. I'm using my phone and have my daughter's occasional help.

Never mind regarding the reviews. I see now none of the reviews were ships that had them.

With a 1.5-2 year old, I would recommend you use whatever your normal cruise line was pre-kids assuming you can find a ship and itinerary that you like.

I would not recommend tailing your vacation to them at that age. They can't use the kids club on any ship until they are potty sufficient and only a select few ships outside of Disney have a nursery or baby sitting services...which you still have to be comfortable using as a parent...some people are not.

We have cruised with both our kids at that age and the reality is that a 1.5 year old is going to be spending almost all of their time with you on a cruise vacation. Cruising with young children is a lot different than cruising pre-kids. Better in some ways, more restrictive in others ...just a whole different experience.

You might as well be doing something you prefer vs what you think they may like....it won't make a difference to them :)

We prefer itineraries that have a few beach stops. Beaches seem to be a better bet for swimming. When the ship is sailing, the pool area on the bigger ships tends to get pretty windy and hard to use with younger kids.

Never mind regarding the reviews. I see now none of the reviews were ships that had them.

I had a review of Liberty but for some reason it is missing. I recently had my username changed on here and it may still be attached to my old name. I'll go looking for it.

Thanks I'll try reading reviews today, I've always cruised Carnival, but my DF has never cruised and I'm really looking at Norwegian or RCI due to the ability to drop off for a couple hrs (paid by us) we won't use it a lot or we might not use it at all just nice to have the option to use it.

I'm taking my DD on her first cruise in Dec. She'll be 20+ mo. And although she likes the potty, I doubt she'll be fully potty trained by then.

We chose RCI because of the swim-diaper area, the Dreamworks parades, and the nursery. She doesn't know the characters, but I think they will still be fun for her. And we hope to leave her in the nursery for a couple hours so we can have a quiet dinner, but we will see how it goes. I've also always wanted to try one of RCI's ships.

This is our first cruise on Royal, and we have only been on Carnival (pre-baby). I can report back when we return.

(FYI, a bunch of Carnival ships now have Dr. Seuss activities, and some have a Bookville. NCL used to have Nickelodeon, but I read that's going away.)

We just disembarked the Anthem OTS on Wednesday and I can verify that they have a small splash area for diapered children. We all played in there with my 20-month old granddaughter. For potty-trained children they have a zero-entry pool; and for everyone else there is s mini-lazy river, outdoor pool; indoor pool with wading area and of course, hot-tubs. The solarium (adults only) is amazing. It was a chilly day on the north Atlantic, but all the water was heated, and we had a blast.

We just disembarked the Anthem OTS on Wednesday and I can verify that they have a small splash area for diapered children. We all played in there with my 20-month old granddaughter. For potty-trained children they have a zero-entry pool; and for everyone else there is s mini-lazy river, outdoor pool; indoor pool with wading area and of course, hot-tubs. The solarium (adults only) is amazing. It was a chilly day on the north Atlantic, but all the water was heated, and we had a blast.

Thanks so much for posting this! We are taking my 2.5 year old son on Anthem in February- glad to hear they have an area he can use. He's interested in the potty, but certainly not "trained" yet!!

We did Allure when DD was 2 and I'd highly recommend it! We got her potty trained so she could use the regular pools (we were happy there was a splash area if she had not been potty trained though). I know it works for a lot of people, but an inflatable pool would never have worked for us. We live in FL and DD has been used to being in regular pools since she was a baby.

The nursery was excellent! As was the toy lending and playroom. The ship itself had so much to entertain her (carousel, small playground, mini golf--even a toddler course, shows, parades, character breakfast, promenade, fountains under Rising Tide, Central Park, etc).

We did Disney earlier this year and liked it a lot. The splash area on Disney was great (better than Royal Caribbean), but the pools weren't (2 pools for such a large ship are not enough). I'm glad we waited for the Disney splurge until DD was old enough to appreciate it.

While we had a great time on Disney, we plan to sail mostly Royal Caribbean with DD in the future.