Excursions with a 3 year old

In May 2017 I will be cruising with my 3 year old grand daughter on Navigator of the Seas. How should I plan to handle excursions? Do I have to bring her carseat? Do you have any recommendations for cruising with a 3 year old. My husband and I have cruised many times but this is our first time to bring the family.

Ship excursions will almost all be via a minibus or full size bus in Europe. I don't recall any belts available when we took tours in the Med, but you might want to research the rules for the countries you will be visiting. Not sure how interested a 3 year old will be in seeing historical places there so pick your tours carefully. She might prefer a beach. And foldup strollers don't work well on cobblestones.

Private tours in cars may be a better option for you. The boards for the ports you are going to will have recommendations.

At that age we took ours on a Disney cruise and we spent very little time on shore. She was big on the Princesses and characters.

I , too, would stick with private tours or beaches. At that age they have little interest in tourist sites.

You do not mention your itinerary.....I do think that is important for what you decide to do. If you list ports of call others may be able to suggest specific trips that are or are not suitable. In addition to the obvious beaches I would think of glass bottom boat trips, aquariums and 'bus drop off' type trips where you can be shuttled to a tourist area but then return when you have had enough rather than have set times.

If there are places where one or the other of you fancies a more adult tour the other may prefer to have a 'ship day' with the little one...empty pools, quiet decks...

A folding stroller with parasol is a must....you can use google street view pre cruise to look at the suitability of some small town areas for pushing - we have done this recently to see if a port would be easy to push a wheelchair around! At some ports you may find a walk around the port or promenade area with a local beer and food delicacy may be a good option...Bars and restaurants in the Med. really are great with little ones!

You can leave the child on the ship for the day while you are in port.

That is what we did.

I think they take them at the age of 3.

Ship excursions will almost all be via a minibus or full size bus in Europe. I don't recall any belts available when we took tours in the Med, but you might want to research the rules for the countries you will be visiting. Not sure how interested a 3 year old will be in seeing historical places there so pick your tours carefully. She might prefer a beach. And foldup strollers don't work well on cobblestones.

 

Private tours in cars may be a better option for you. The boards for the ports you are going to will have recommendations.

 

At that age we took ours on a Disney cruise and we spent very little time on shore. She was big on the Princesses and characters.

We have found that most of the tours or excursions that we take the buses have seat belts. Some countries are very strict about enforcing the law to wear the seat belts.

Suggest you contact the cruise line about the need for car seat. Hard to believe that you would have to carry one with you.

We took our daughter on trips when she was that age but made sure it was only for half day 3-4 hrs max. We did things that we thought would interest her and also things for us that she may not have enjoyed but we would never have left her on board without us. It worked for us.