itsmecarrie

We travelled with our 2.5 year old son in December on the Explorer of the Seas. It was his first cruise and he had an amazing time. Your kids will have a great time.

I think they should have let you decide if he was too big or not. we still use our pack n play for him. I think their cribs are the same size as a pack n play. what boat were you on?

 

I agree that they should have let us decide. I also had the idea of using the crib mattress on the floor and requested one but it wasn't in our room when we arrived. We were on the explorer

We were on the explorer on the December 2nd sailing. It was our 9th cruise but first time encountering rude people on a cruise. The first was a man in his 70s. He and his wife sat at our table during breakfast one morning as the windjammer was crowded. It was only the lady eating and the whole time the man stared at my 2.5 year old son. Didn't crack a smile or say hello which is fine but out of nowhere he yells, "Eat!" at my son and continued to stare at him. I didn't bother saying anything but my son who was sitting down quietly eating now had his head buried in my lap and stopped eating! If you're a parent of a picky eater, you can just imagine how upset I was.

 

The second incident didn't really involve us directly. There was a young lady in a wheelchair who was trying to turn around to go the opposite direction. It was a tight space so my family stopped walking to give her the room she needed and she apologized to us for making us wait (which wasn't necessary). There was a young woman in her early 30s who was behind the woman in the wheelchair who yelled, "where's my apology?!" and stormed off the second she could get around her. To me that is absolutely disgusting behaviour.

 

Other than those two incidents, we encountered hundreds of extremely friendly people who always stopped to say hi to my son even though he was too shy to say hi back. I found so many people to be patient and helpful. A lady ran to help me when my stroller was tipping over! There are definitely more pleasant and polite people on cruises than rude ones.

curious as to how your cruise went with your 2.5 yr old? how was the crib situation? what boat/cruise line were you on? I will also be cruising with my 2.5 yr old son in 2 weeks and we were told by the carnival booking agent to request the crib when we check in.

 

The cruise was amazing! The crib situation didn't work out. I spoke with my travel agent regarding sleeping options for my 2.5 year old. He's too small/young for the pullman's bed which i wouldn't have put him on anyway and said that he would have to be under 23 inches tall to use the pack and play. I don't know how tall my son is now but he was 23 inches at birth. We didn't have a sofa big enough in our room for him to sleep on so he ended up sleeping on the bed with us. We pushed the bed against the wall. You should ask what the size restrictions are for the crib. Your son may be too big to use it.

Has anyone ever stayed on deck two? Never stayed that low on a ship!

 

Yes, we were supposed to be on deck 9 and I switched to deck 2 midship at the recommendation of a friend due to the fact that I easily get seasick. Best decision for that reason. Barely felt the ship move at all. Loved it

Congratulations on a successful cruise with a toddler. That is a real accomplishment.

We are planning to take our granddaughter on a cruise next year. She will be about the same age. What did you do to keep your son busy? Did you attend the RC program? Did you go on excursions with him? Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you're planning to take your granddaughter on a cruise next year.

 

We did make use of the fisher price program that is available for toddlers under 3 years. On the Explorer, it was basically a small area set up with toys for the kids to play. While it did occupy my son, I found the toys to be more appropriate for under 2 years.

 

There is a toy lending program where you can sign out a bag of toys. The bag can be exchanged for another one as often as you like.

 

We didn't do any excursions. We generally like to walk around and do some shopping in the stores near to the ports and spend a few hours at the beach. My son loved collecting sea shells.

 

We were able to go to the late shows. My son loved the shows that involved singing and dancing. He was bored when they were comedians so we put him to sleep in his stroller first and covered the stroller with a towel or blanket to muffle the sound a bit.

 

The Explorer has a kids swim area that includes a slide. My son made a friend who was the same age as him and luckily they were both potty trained and able to use the pools and hot tubs. If your granddaughter isn't potty trained by the time you go, you can look into ships that have an area for kids in swim diapers.

 

The staff are so friendly and accommodating and will help you out with whatever you may need.

 

Let me know if you have anymore questions :)

We had an oceanview stateroom with a Pullmans bed. there is an age requirement to use the Pullmans bed and i wouldn't feel safe having my 2.5 yr old son sleep on it anyway. We pushed the bed against the wall and he slept closest to the wall. The cabins are small

but he had enough room to play and we were barely in our room anyway.

We sat near you in the dining room on this cruise and were very impressed by the way you and your husband parented your child. He was a delight to watch as you interacted with him and allowed him to try things on his own. You kept him occupied, he was well mannered and all passengers around your table marveled at his behavior. When he got fidgety, you were prepared to quiet him or took him out of the dining room. You were very conscientious of those around you. If you could simply pass on or model your exceptional parenting to the many others parents who do not have these skills that would be great! Thank you for making our dining experience so wonderful and for restoring our faith that young parents today are continuing to instill traditional positive manners and social values.

 

Thank you so much for your kind words! It really means a lot! Parenting a toddler is no easy task and while we parent the way we feel is best for our family, there are times where we doubt if our method is truly the right way. We actually had a few passengers approach us to tell us that our son was well mannered but wasn't sure if they were being sarcastic or not. Our son can definitely be a handful at times and we worried that he would be disruptive in the dining room. We could have restricted our dining to the windjammer but felt it was important for him to experience eating in a more formal setting so he could have the opportunity to learn proper table manners. I'm glad to hear that my little one didn't ruin anyone's dining experience :)

 

Thanks again for your feedback!

I just got back from a 10 night cruise on the Explorer of the Seas. My DH and I travelled with our 2.5 year old son and had an amazing experience. If anyone has any questions regarding travelling with a toddler, feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.

Here's a pic of my cutie on formal night in the dining room.

 

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In a few hours!!!

Which Holiday Inn are you staying...what city is it in. Most cases the N.J. Turnpike to exit 14 is maybe the only way I can say without knowing which city you will be in...Staten Island would be a different highway completely. As would coming from N.Y.C

 

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Sorry, we will be staying at the holiday inn in newark

We are coming from Toronto and will be staying at the Holiday Inn the night before. What is the best way to get to the port from the hotel? I've read that the GPS isn't very reliable. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We are travelling on Royal Caribeean. When we go out I always try and pick things up as best as I can - which is why I thought the splash mat would be good as the dining room floor is carpet and this would help protect it. We are travelling with my parents so we should be able to get a table with the 5 of us so we don't disturb others - although my mum had a dream/ nightmare the other day that my daughter threw her food and it hit another passenger! Worst nightmare!!

 

Here's the email address to make the request for you to sit by yourselves rcldining@rccl.com. You may feel a bit more at ease if you have it arranged before hand. I know I do.

 

That is a nightmare but if that happens you just apologize profusely. Kids behave badly at times but I find people are more understanding when they see that you're at least trying to correct the child and when either the child apologizes or you apologize for your child. The fact that you're so concerned makes me believe that you will be fine eating in the dining room with your daughter.

 

Maybe you could put food like bread, fries and chicken fingers in front of her but feed her messy foods like pasta.

[quote name='ckrobyn']Just off the Explorer yesterday. We had a fabulous 9 night cruise! The crew are amazing, very attentive and friendly. One major observation is that this ship really needs a dry dock sooner than later.... I know she is scheduled for 2015, but honestly there are areas of the ship that are looking very tired and worn. I'm used to an older ship (AOS), but on this cruise I couldn't help but notice that it was looking a bit on the beat up side. These are my own observations...... Like I said, we had a fantastic cruise and met some wonderful people!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using [URL=http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1]Tapatalk[/URL][/QUOTE]

Off topic...we will be on the ship next week. Just wondering when it started to warm up. Day 2 or day 3?

Thanks!

Here is a picture of the couch turned around in our Carnival Victory balcony room in May. Our son 2.5 years at the time and it worked out great for us both for naps and night-time sleeping: https://plus.google.com/photos/113755214272177301029/albums/5874522214918120065?authkey=COnn_qHahpCZPQ

 

Thanks for posting the pics. I think I will do the same for our 2.5 yr old son on our upcoming cruise. He's used to sleeping on a queen mattress on the floor but he will have to make do with this. Thanks again for the great idea!

I read this forum to prepare for our trip, thanks for your great suggestions.

 

We bought the Cosco Scenara car seat ($39 at Walmart) special to take lo to Playa Mia in Cozumel. The cab drivers were impatient and not thrilled, but install was quick and they drive crazy, so it was worth it to us, plus they charge full fare for her. The seat is super light and easy to carry around. The shuttle buses in Progresso didn't have seat belts to install it, but we had left the seat on the ship since we were just walking to the beach. The umbrella stroller was perfect for getting around the ports.

 

The long dinners were a bit of a struggle, but I packed activities for each night in a new backpack. The Pom poms from the dollar store in her snack trap were a hit one night, the iPhone games one night, stickers were especially popular, the dining room kid menu doubles as a coloring page and they have crayons, magna doodle was also good. The dining room is pretty loud and we were in a booth, so we didn't have to worry about her too much.

 

Camp Carnival starts at age 2, but she didn't want to be left alone there. The phone they give parents was handy to have since we traveled with the grandparents. They did allow her to come to the under 2 playtime where parents are required. On a particularly slow day they allowed me to come in and play to try to get her comfortable to stay. Overall, the staff was very kind and accommodating. The kids seemed to be having fun. The Triumph had a good toddler play area outside, but seas were rough and due to wind it was closed a few times.

 

The rough seas didn't bother her at all or any other kids I saw. The staff and crew all engaged her and genuinely seemed to enjoy having children around. We got an inside room, it was pretty small and I wish we would've got the ocean view room which was bigger and had a couch. She is in a toddler bed, so I requested the crib mattress and made up a bed on the floor. The upper bed seemed too dangerous. Sometimes in the afternoon on sea days, we were left looking for things to do, so we'd try to find an empty lounge and let her run around.

 

Overall, I'm glad we took her. We had fun, but I think she'll enjoy herself more when she can swim in the pool and feels comfortable being left at Camp Carnival. Having the grandparents along helped a lot, I recommend it if possible. I wish we would've had a loud fan to help block hallway noises, she woke early and only napped one day. I'd be glad to answer any questions.

 

I was just wondering if you requested for the crib mattress to be in your room prior to cruising or once you were onboard. I will be cruising in less than two weeks with my 2.5 year old son. I don't mind him sleeping with us on the bed but I'm afraid he won't want to sleep on his own once we get back home. Did you place the crib mattress beside your bed or at the foot of the bed?

Thanks guys. Yep we have been trying for a while t get her to keep stuff on her tray, but very little seems to work. We have found putting one thing at a time on the tray helps, but she still does toss! She does it with lots of things - toys and her pants we give her to hold while changing her nappy get flung across the room! She is only just 13 months so still doesn't understand that we are not happy about it. We can't find any disposable floor mats, but have found a large plastic one that we can take with us to meals and then use antibacterial wipes to clean it afterwards. At the moment we have been assigned traditional dining, but our TA is trying to change it to anytime so that will make it easier to be seated by ourselves.

Thanks!

 

We were originally booked for my time dining but thought it might be better if we had the same waiter every night who become accustomed to our son's needs. I sent an email and it has been confirmed that we will be seated by ourselves. Maybe you could email ahead of time too.

My son used to be a messy eater too. If we were at a restaurant or food court, I would just clean up after him as best as I could. Pick up all the larger pieces and wipe up any spills. They will vacuum or sweep the crumbs. It used to drive me nuts when my sister in law would just get up from the table and walk away after her son made a complete mess. Yes, it's the dining room staffs responsibility to clean up but it's also our job as moms to clean up after our kids when they aren't able to do it themselves. Don't stress about it. Kids will be kids.