Cruising With the Kiddos...

Happy Monday Everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted or read anything on the forum here.

My wife and I had a Cruise booked to Bermuda on the Anthem this coming September 9th, and within the last year, sold our house, moved, and have done some renovation which ate up the cruise budget that was allocated. As a result, we decided to postpone the 9/9 cruise (sigh) which was going to be just the two of us, and made the decision to start looking for one that would be fun for us to bring our kids with us. We're looking around Spring/Summer of 2018, which would put the little ones at 4 1/2 years old and the other around 20 months.

We both love cruising, and are hoping our kids will as well, but being the first time planning with a family, there's a lot we're looking to research.

What ships are the best for kids of that age? I know we won't be doing much of the adult stuff on the ship this time around, but figure there has to be tons we can do and still have a great time.

Here are some of the questions I have in my mind that am looking for input on:

• What would you say is the optimal length for a first time? We live in Chicago and would either drive out to Jersey, or fly to Florida.
  
• What ship or ships would have the most for kids to enjoy themselves?
  
• What stateroom would you recommend? We were looking at a suite because of the tub and the extra space. Do the balcony doors have locks on them?
  
• What has your experience been with the Adventure Ocean and the Nursery? We're sort of paranoid with leaving our kids with complete strangers.
  
• Other Suggestions/Advice?
  

We're looking forward to getting back to it, and hope they will love it as much as they do.

There's so much of the world to see, and Cruising is a great way to do it.

Eagerly awaiting responses. Thanks in advance for all your input!

We used the Nursery on both the Oasis of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas and had good experiences both times. We will be using it on Freedom again in February. The first time our son was about 13 months old, the second time our son was about 18 months old.

We like the freedom and Oasis class ships because they have the baby splash zone which does let diapered kids get wet. They still can't use the majority of the H2O zone or the main pool though.

The newer (and larger) ships will have more available. They all have kids programs though.

Should note though that your younger child (20 months) will not be able to join the adventure ocean programs. There are programs for toddlers (up to 36 months) but you'll have to be with them, can't drop them off. Swim diapers are also not allowed in most cases, as mentioned some of the larger ships have specific pools that do.

Some ships have a nursery program where you can drop off young kids, but it has an extra charge of $6/hour during the day, and $8/hour in evenings. Empress, Majesty, Jewel, Adventure, Explorer and Voyager of the Seas do not have this option.

The length of the cruise doesn't really matter, unless you have some unique issue. Keeping the little one entertained will be your biggest challenge, but no different than at home. Just won't have all the toys. So this really depends on your own sanity ;)

As for the room ... depends completely on your personal preferences. If you only use the room for sleeping, an inside cabin is just as useful as a suite. I did read a story a couple weeks back where a toddler fell off a balcony. Thankfully they landed on the deck below and survived instead of going into the sea. Something to keep in mind though and I assume why you asked about a lock. Your older child though could easily work a lock, so I wouldn't rely on it.

We tried cruising for the first time in January with our kids (4 and 2) and loved it! We were on Oasis of the Seas for 7 days and felt that was a good enough length to get a feel for the experience. Our 4 year old loved the programs at Adventure Ocean and wanted to go everyday (shocker!). The 2 year old was with us the whole time as she was too young. Now that we know our kids are ok with cruising and enjoy it, we booked a 12 night Anthem of the Seas in January 2018. This time they will be 5 and 3 and will be in the same group in Adventure Ocean. Can't wait...

Really, for kids that young, the 4 1/2 year olds will be fine on ANY ship...they will love the kid's club! Highly trained counselors! No worries! You will want a ship with a nursery...not all ships offer that, tho.

A balcony is great when you have kids that nap or go to bed early...give you someplace "to be'. yes...there are locks!!! High up and hard as hell to open, even for me!

...we booked a 12 night Anthem of the Seas in January 2018. This time they will be 5 and 3 and will be in the same group in Adventure Ocean. Can't wait...

Enjoy!

I wish we had done something similar before our daughter reached school age. It gets much harder to do vacations during a 2 month window due to how much higher prices are for everything and also the crowds.

We're counting the days until she's off to college so we don't have to pay 2-3x the price for flights/hotels/cruises ;)

If you're looking at an Oasis class ship, consider a Cat G ocean view, it doesn't have a balcony but it does have a lot of extra floor space by the window for the kids to play.

Enjoy!

 

I wish we had done something similar before our daughter reached school age. It gets much harder to do vacations during a 2 month window due to how much higher prices are for everything and also the crowds.

 

We're counting the days until she's off to college so we don't have to pay 2-3x the price for flights/hotels/cruises ;)

Are you not able to pull her out of school for a few days? Both our kids are in daycare/preschool. It sucks that we still have to pay for those days that they are on vacation but we don't really have a choice. Can't leave them alone at home while we go. :p

Granddaughter was just 2 on her first cruise, which was on the Quantum. She had a wonderful time and we usedthe nursery when we went to see Mama Mia. She has also been on the Indy 9 months later. Loved everything. Waiters were great with her. No problems.

Are you not able to pull her out of school for a few days? Both our kids are in daycare/preschool. It sucks that we still have to pay for those days that they are on vacation but we don't really have a choice. Can't leave them alone at home while we go. :p

This depends on your district, they all have their own rules. Usually a couple days isn't a problem, but a week certainly is (let alone 2 weeks for a 12 day cruise). These get recorded as 'unexcused absences'.

Regardless of how you feel about the rules though, it really isn't a good thing to take kids out of school for so long.

Are you not able to pull her out of school for a few days? Both our kids are in daycare/preschool. It sucks that we still have to pay for those days that they are on vacation but we don't really have a choice. Can't leave them alone at home while we go. :p

The older they get, the harder it is to take them out of school, particularly if they're playing a sport or in advanced classes. That being said, we get 12 weeks during summer, as well as 4 other whole weeks during the year to try and find something that isn't outrageously priced. It can be done.

Our 2 boys have been on the Celebrity Reflection and Equinox, on the Norwegian Escape (never again!) and we leave on Harmony this weekend. The 3 year old went on the reflection when he was 7 months old and on the Equinox when he was 1 1/2. Our 1 year old went on the Escape when he was 8 months old. We have brought our parents with us on each of those and they will be on Harmony with us this weekend. We chose each cruise based on what we the adults wanted and not the kids because they don't care. Maybe later on I will be forced to pay Disney Cruise Line's ridiculous prices when they beg us to take them on one of those. We have enjoyed every cruise with them and they have had a blast. The 3 year old can't wait for this Saturday to roll around. We have never done the nursery or kids programs because we haven't had to and frankly I just don't trust them. We will try the kids program this time and if the 3 year old likes it he can keep going back. Not a chance in hell that we'll be leaving the 1 year old in a nursery and that is just our personal preference.

We normally cruise with just adults, but took our kids along this past Winter for the first time. They were 5 and 8 though, so a bit older than yours!

My 8 year old was adamant that he did NOT want to go to Adventure Ocean. But, that changed after he tried it once and after that, I think he would have preferred Adventure Ocean over hanging out with Mom & Dad the entire rest of the trip! They are amazing! Don't be hesitant to take your kids there.

As far as ships, we were on Freedom of the Seas and booked a Junior Suite for the exact reasons you're thinking. The tub was amazing, and the balcony was HUGE. And there was a lock. I could barely get the dang door open.

There was tons for my kids to do. (although, like I said, they're older than yours) Rock Climbing, Flowrider, mini golf, dance parties with Dreamworks characters in the Promenade, movies, a kids pool area...and the list could go on!

We did a 6 nighter out of Florida, and that was perfect for us. I mean, I could go on a 2 weeker, buuuut with my kids, 6 nights was enough.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

My suggestion would be to take a hard look at Royal Caribbean's current Kids Sail Free promotion. It is for sailings into next April. If you get an inside stateroom, you could go on a cruise for very, very cheap, I've seen as cheap as $1,500 or less for four in an inside cabin (this does not include gratuities).

My family is doing an oceanview family stateroom, that is about 300 square feet (we have three kids so need a little more space, but they are 5, 3, and 1) here in a few weeks on Liberty and are only paying $2,200. Getting a kids sail free deal can make all the difference in the world! This room would normally be over $4,000 for our family.

I'll respond to your other questions in a little bit, but just wanted to get this out for you to consider.

• What would you say is the optimal length for a first time? We live in Chicago and would either drive out to Jersey, or fly to Florida. The cost of the flights would be more that driving, but you're going to have a ton more options to choose from if you look to fly. You could go out of Florida, but there are also family friendly ships that go out of Galveston, Texas (Liberty of the Seas) and ones out of Puerto Rico as well. You may save the cost of flights by finding better deals with some of these options, just a thought.
  
• What ship or ships would have the most for kids to enjoy themselves? My personal opinion would be the Voyager class ships and up. The Freedom class in particular has the DreamWorks characters (except for Independence) which your kids would love, along with some great kids areas at the pool (splashaway bay, or whatever it is called on these ships), and the same with the Oasis class ships, although they will likely be a bit more expensive, but lots to do on them!
  
• What stateroom would you recommend? We were looking at a suite because of the tub and the extra space. Do the balcony doors have locks on them? You certainly can't go wrong with a suite! Our kids that age have had fun even just having oceanview rooms where they can sit by the window and peer out. I just posted a bit ago, but if I were you, I would be trying to take advantage of the kids sail free promotion and save a lot of money that way!
  
• What has your experience been with the Adventure Ocean and the Nursery? We're sort of paranoid with leaving our kids with complete strangers. These people are highly trained and skilled. We don't have a problem leaving our kids, but that's just us. Each person is different.
  
• Other Suggestions/Advice?
  

At that age, I would be talking seriously with other families, either relatives or friends, with kids the same age and exploring the possibility of vacationing together. We did this when our kids were that young and really enjoyed the opportunity to have a nice mix of family activities with babysitting for each other in order to have adult evenings as well. This is an even better option than grandparents along for the ride IMO since it is more mutually beneficial for the families involved.

Having said that, I second the notion that this is YOUR vacation and should be planned according to your wishes. The kids won't even remember that splash pool or beach excursion.

At that age, I would be talking seriously with other families, either relatives or friends, with kids the same age and exploring the possibility of vacationing together. We did this when our kids were that young and really enjoyed the opportunity to have a nice mix of family activities with babysitting for each other in order to have adult evenings as well. This is an even better option than grandparents along for the ride IMO since it is more mutually beneficial for the families involved.

 

Having said that, I second the notion that this is YOUR vacation and should be planned according to your wishes. The kids won't even remember that splash pool or beach excursion.

Funny you should mention this, as we're going to float that idea as a possibility. My wife's family has cruised a number of times before, and they all love it. Her sister and husband have 2 kids as well, close in age to ours, and we thought of the very same thing: "We'll take the kids for an evening, and then you guys can do it the next night, etc. etc."

It's a definite possibility, so long as everyone is on board.

No doubt its our choice, and we wouldn't be doing anything extravagant for the sole purpose that the memory would be foggy at best for them). It's just the change from "Hey' it's 8:30, lets have a bottle of wine, hit a show, have a few more drinks and not remember how we got back to our room" to "it's 7:30, the kids are passed out in our room - so now what?" (Which will most likely be: drink on the balcony!)

Love and appreciate all the advice, options and experiences. The kids sail free promo is tempting.

Will definitely look heavier into the Oasis class ships for the zero depth pools. I think it'd be a very cruel thing to show the almost 2 year old a pool, and have to keep him away from it while his brother is having a ball!

We'll see what happens!