Cruise review with a toddler, tips included

We recently sailed on RCI Explorer of the Seas. I had so many toddler related questions before sailing so thought I would post regarding my experience in case anyone else has similar queries. First just to say we have cruised with two children one of whom was 6 months and on this cruise 18 months. Cruising with youg children is absolutely wonderful. It is not something to put off until they are older but being prepared in a variety of ways can improve the experience.

Nursery Facilities

There is no drop off nursery on the Explorer. There is also no toddler pool and I heard from other parents that their toddlers were asked to leave the main pools. We brought our own blow up pool which was an absolute must have. We sailed on P&O Ventura the previous year and they had a night nursery - so it is worth bearing this in mind when booking a cruise if this is important to you. There are a number of places on Deck 11 of the Explorer to fill and empty the pool (showers under big screen and opposite side of pool where there is a drain).

Playroom

On Explorer there was a room on deck 2 which has baby and toddler suitable toys and in the mornings (9.30-11.30) and in the late afternoon there are sessions with a staff member such as painting and a bubble machine. We used this room a lot. It is in a conference room so is not purpose built. The first few days there was nowhere to sit but then they put in two office style chairs. On P&O ventura the night nursery was opened up during the day as a playroom and had a soft seating area overlooking the sea and the room was purpose built so was much better.

Pushchair/Slings

We brought two toddler slings (Tula and Connecta) which were absolutely invaluable as great for getting her to sleep and moving around the busy ship at night and also made going on tours possible where taking a pushchair would not have worked. Deck 5 on Explorer is very busy in the evening and it is much easier to get around with a sling rather than a pushchair. It also means you can use the stairs rather than the lifts where there is often a wait especially on sea day evenings. There was nowhere we were restricted to go to with children apart from after 10pm on Deck 14. All in all we found cruising on the Explorer fine with a small child but the facilities (nursery and pool) could obviously be better.

Food

We found eating in the buffet style Windjammer much easier than the MDR with a toddler and the staff bent over backwards to help us. We were able to offer the kids a variety of foods to try and because I had the sling I could carry the baby with me. There were plenty of highchairs. There is no kids cutlery but we had brought our own. In contrast on the Ventura we ate in the MDR every night - the difference being that the baby was asleep in the night nursery. We found cruising absolutely great with or without the nursery. The experience is what you make of it and being prepared helps.

Excellent information.

Keith

Here is a photo of the deck 2 playroom. I have lots more photos if anyone wants to see more.

Another thing to mention is that Explorer still has the toy lending system for under 3s. You sign out a bag of toys and can bring them back and replace whenever you wish. You get these from the 3-5 playroom in adventure ocean on deck 12. There are about 10 different bags and they mainly have fisher price type toys such as a lunchbox with pieces, train, ball, books.