Toddler under 2 - comparisons?

[milton333]

DH and I have cruised twice, once on Royal Caribbean, once on Carnival. Just to give you an idea of us, we prefer a quiet, peaceful experience, and enjoy talking and reconnecting with each other. We've never been party animals and are not big drinkers, we'd be more likely to linger over dinner, have a cocktail at a piano/jazz bar, watch the stars, and spend hours talking on our balcony. We loved Half Moon Cay and would enjoy splashing in the ocean, and hope to do this with our son.

 

We would like to cruise in 2011 with our new son, who will be between 15 and 21 months when we cruise. We know that he will be too young for any of the "children's camp" activities on any cruise line. We still prefer to cruise with him over other possible vacation options, and we do expect to cruise with him in the future when he's older.

 

So, here's my understanding of some of the child options out there. Could anyone comment on these or other potential cruise line experiences, what you think we would like?

 

Disney

 

• Too young for the children's program
  
• Daycare options available at $8/hour during the day and evening
  
• Kiddie fountain/water area near the pool for kids not yet potty trained
  
• Family-friendly environment
  
• Bathtubs available, but our kiddo tolerates being taken into the shower with one of us, so not a major consideration.
  
• At his age, he will probably be amused by the Disney characters and entertainment, but won't specifically be "into" Disney.
  
• CONS - no indoor play area where we can take our son except for leaving him at daycare, so no way for us to play together. Only way for him to burn off energy is in the water (kiddie water area on ship or beach on shore) or in daycare (for which we have to pay, and we'll be separated from him). We were looking at a 7-day cruise, that's a long time for him to have nothing to do beyond water play or daycare. We're fair-skinned, so counting on being in the sun all the time may not be realistic.
  
• $$, but the cost is not totally out of line for us for a balcony/veranda cruise and level of polish/service.
  

Royal Caribbean

 

• Too young for children's program
  
• Free parent-child playtime during scheduled times each day.
  
• Daycare available at $8/hour during the day and evening.
  
• CONS - no kiddie pool for kids in diapers. Not specifically family-oriented, people may be annoyed by our kid.
  

Carnival

 

• Too young for children's program
  
• Childcare is $6/hour but only available from 10pm to 3am.
  
• There may be opportunities for free parent-child playtime at indoor play area, may depend on ship, hard to find this information.
  
• Relatively cheaper.
  
• CONS: no childcare during day or evening hours, so no chance for DH and I to hit the spa, have a quiet dinner, enjoy a cocktail. No kiddie pool for kids in diapers. Not clear if there's anywhere on ship for DS to play. We found Carnival to have more "budget" oriented cruisers, and our dislikes included cabins packed with 4-5 adults or college kids next door, seemingly all the balconies booked by smokers, etc.
  

Are there other cruise lines with noticeably different policies or amenities? Of these, which would you lean toward for a 4-7 night cruise with a young toddler? We'd be booking a balcony room.

[cb at sea]

Who says RCI isn't "family friendly"? They are! The pool thing may be a downer, but lots of folks bring small blow-up pools (useful for bathing, too, since only JS's and above have tubs) to use on deck. For a child that age, a few cups of water to "splash" in is more than enough.

 

Since you do want some "alone" time, I'd go with RCI, simply for the babysitting option. And, get a balcony cabin...so when baby is asleep, you can still spend those balcony hours chatting!

[hockeyucf]

We took our then-18 month old on Disney in August and we were able to take him in the kids' area and stay with him. However, it was pretty chaotic with many other older children running around. I posted a full review of that tripe here (hope the link works, first time doing this...): http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1263145&highlight=

 

We took him on NCL when he was 9 months old and are sailing NCL again next Saturday (hooray!). We had a good experience with Freestyle dining- very helpful when you're on your kid's eating/sleeping schedule.

[crusinmama06]

Just to correct something, RCI does have a children's splash area for babies in diapers. It's called the "Baby Splash Zone" and its available on Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

 

RCI is VERY family friendly. And VERY baby friendly. They are one of the few that have nurseries on some ships and have in cabin sitting on others. They have diaper delivery services. And children's books in the libraries. And they have a Fisher Price play group for the parents called Royal Infants/Tots.

 

 

 

[milton333]

THANKS, Michele!!!!

 

I had also heard, maybe a rumor, that Norwegian's Epic ship had a splash zone where swim diapers were permitted, does anyone know if that's true?

[Iggipolka]

Thank you so much for posting the schedule! It looks like there is lots for my to be 21 month year old to do. Hopefully they have some tHing similar on the FOS.

 

 

for posti

Just to correct something, RCI does have a children's splash area for babies in diapers. It's called the "Baby Splash Zone" and its available on Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

 

RCI is VERY family friendly. And VERY baby friendly. They are one of the few that have nurseries on some ships and have in cabin sitting on others. They have diaper delivery services. And children's books in the libraries. And they have a Fisher Price play group for the parents called Royal Infants/Tots.

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

THANKS, Michele!!!!

 

I had also heard, maybe a rumor, that Norwegian's Epic ship had a splash zone where swim diapers were permitted, does anyone know if that's true?

 

NCL does not allow kids in diapers in their splash area. One of the parents here went "stright to the top"...lol...on Epic to get to the bottom of it. Basically, the kids are using it, but they aren't allowed. Here is his review on it....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1246872

 

Thank you so much for posting the schedule! It looks like there is lots for my to be 21 month year old to do. Hopefully they have some tHing similar on the FOS.

 

Yes, Freedom and Liberty are exactly the same. There will be a Baby Splash Zone. With the addition of the new nursery, I don't know how that will effect the Royal Tots/Infants program.

[constansl]

Hello, I just got back from Carnival Glory with my 15 month old daughter. I too enjoy sitting in lounges and listening to the music. I found this entertainment horrible on Carnival. I have always enjoyed this on RCI. Don't know if this was just a fluke, but it was a disappointment. I never had my daughter on RCI, so I can't speak to that, but I can tell you my likes and dislikes with my daughter on Carnival.

 

1. The muster drill was horribly disorganized. I found myself thinking that if something happened on this ship, it would be a nightmare. This only bothered me because of my young daughter.

 

2. Look at the layout. Because we had a stroller, we spent a lot more time on the elevator. The Glory only had one main deck to walk. If I needed to go to a lounge I had to go up an elevator and down another. It was definitely not conducive to walking around. The lounges were a lot lounder, closed in and smaller. On my last cruise on RCI, the dance room was an open space. During the day it was open and lit. I had an idea of taking my daughter there to play and to see the lights. Carnival Glory had a closed off dance lounge that was just too loud and dark, even when not in use to ever take her into. All of the lounges were this way.

 

3. Carnival had a larger bathroom than RCI. That was nice. WE brought a blow up duckie to bathe our daughter. The extra space was nice. We tried to use it on the balcony, but our daughter wasn't having it. I wish I had got her use to it at home first.

 

4. My daughter didn't care about the pool. She just wanted to walk around the ship, up and down the stairs. We sat by the pool and she was fine. She didn't care about going into the pool.

 

5. We did not get to use any of the play times, there were inconviently timed and only for a short period of time. WE also didn't use the baby sitting service. It wasn't thrilled about dropping my daughter off in a room full of various aged children anyway. We ended up meeting other parents of young children in the buffet. We often went there to feed our daughter before we went to the main dining room for our dinner. Our daughter was generally good at the meals, but by desert she was ready to go.

 

Hope this helps. I enjoyed cruising with my little girl and would do it again. It definitely wasn't the relaxing cruise of the past. It was a lot of work and I was exhausted by the end of each day. However, seeing her at the beach for the first time was so worth it. She seemed to learn so much from every experience. I hope you love it too.

[cantw8togo]

Although I don't know any details about babysitting etc., I think you would like the ambience of Celebrity Cruiselines. Elegant, quality, yet still family friendly. It is worth checking out.

 

If having a ship that has more toddler friendly activities is more important to you, then Royal Caribbean may be the way to go.

[MandyGirl]

 

Disney

 

• Too young for the children's program
  
• Daycare options available at $8/hour during the day and evening
  
• Kiddie fountain/water area near the pool for kids not yet potty trained
  
• Family-friendly environment
  
• Bathtubs available, but our kiddo tolerates being taken into the shower with one of us, so not a major consideration.
  
• At his age, he will probably be amused by the Disney characters and entertainment, but won't specifically be "into" Disney.
  
• CONS - no indoor play area where we can take our son except for leaving him at daycare, so no way for us to play together. Only way for him to burn off energy is in the water (kiddie water area on ship or beach on shore) or in daycare (for which we have to pay, and we'll be separated from him). We were looking at a 7-day cruise, that's a long time for him to have nothing to do beyond water play or daycare. We're fair-skinned, so counting on being in the sun all the time may not be realistic.
  
• $$, but the cost is not totally out of line for us for a balcony/veranda cruise and level of polish/service.
  

 

Has Flounder's increased their cost? I was not finding it to be above $6 on the DCL website. We are booked for a 14-night cruise in September and were planning on utilizing it. $8 means a 33% increase in their rate from $6

 

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/magic/youth-clubs/flounders-reef-nursery/

[cantwaitforoasis]

wow RCI looks very baby friendly! for the under 2 group.

Does NCL have any similar activities???

 

We picked NCL for when our baby would be 21 months. Maybe RCI is the way to go on Allure or Oasis?

[milton333]

wow RCI looks very baby friendly! for the under 2 group.

Does NCL have any similar activities???

 

We picked NCL for when our baby would be 21 months. Maybe RCI is the way to go on Allure or Oasis?

 

After doing more research, Oasis sounds amazing. In addition to the kiddie pool and nursery, I love the idea of the carousel and the boardwalk areas (past cruisers have said that there are people who make balloon animals and do face painting at times). I like the Shrek characters. I think DS might enjoy the ice skating and water shows. I could see taking the stroller through Central Park.

 

The price makes me a bit twitchy, though. Oasis seems to be slightly more affordable than Allure for 2011 sailings, but it's still a lot. We would want an ocean balcony to hang out on while DS naps or sleeps at night. I am still considering RCCL Freedom and Liberty, because they are getting updates that will give them the nurseries and Dreamworks characters, along with the kiddie pools.

[cantwaitforoasis]

we went on the Oasis in March. It was the best cruise we've been on and far surpassed our past two cruises which were on Disney.

 

I wanted to go on the Epic to try something new and b/c it has so much to do! Also it is a lot cheaper than the Oasis. However we wouldnt get use of the solarium since we will have a baby. That part was one of the best on Oasis. THe carousel was adorable, and i get motion sick so easy but it didnt bother me at all. It wasnt ever crowded on the ship either, surprisingly! The baby could play mini golf, or attempt too, lol.

 

The Freedom of the Seas sounds good now that you say it is getting baby updates.

[SusieV]

We just got back from a Celebrity cruise with our 14 month old- I posted a review here somewhere.

 

Honestly, if you guys like relaxing, I'd bring another person along to look after your little one so you can get a break. We brought my mother and the cruise still wasn't as relaxing as we would have liked. We've decided not to bring our son again until he's old enough to go to the Fun Factory on his own.

 

Celebrity did have playtime for him in a toddler room with a parent whenever Fun Factory was open and the staff made a big fuss over him, but we didn't have much time to do our own thing. At least at home we sleep in our own beds and stay on routine, and don't spend $$$$ getting run ragged!

[milton333]

My parents will be coming with us. They can help watch him, but as far as entertaining him, I think grandparents will have their limits on a 7-night, it would be good if the ship had something to do.

 

DH and I struggled for years with infertility, we could never leave our son behind and vacation without him. It's not a family vacation without him - we regret the time we have to spend at work away from him. We are totally happy having him mostly 24/7.

 

I guess I just meant that we're not big partiers or drinkers, so aren't looking for that on a ship. We're looking to have a nice dinner, a night or two of dancing, maybe a trip to the spa - so maybe 7-8 hours without DS over the course of the week. Then wine on the balcony while DS sleeps will be our quiet time, lol. Otherwise, we're fine with spending a lot of time keeping our son entertained, so long as there is a reasonable amount of entertainment to be had on the ship, kwim?

[MandyGirl]

You really sound a lot like us. We chose Disney, and do not have grandparents traveling with us. in fact, it is a 14-night cruise, and we will have both our girls (one will be 15 months, the other turning 5 years old). From reading the DISboards, we learned that you can go into Flounders or the kid's club factory with your young child IF you accompany them - so they do get playtime. Deck 4 on Magic/Wonder is great for running in a shaded area (esp toddlers) - just watch out for actual runners. Splash area for toddlers. Big plus is what I read about toddlers enjoying the shows in the large theatre - which we would be attending anyway as a couple.

 

We are planning to let our 15-month old go to Flounder's for the nursery a couple hours each day, hopefully either during nap time or late dinner (stroller to fall asleep in at dinner). We will still get our alone time, but are actually very happy (and blessed) to have our two daughters that we really enjoy every moment we get to have with them.

[cruisincarly]

Sounds to me like Cunard might be the perfect option for you. They have a GREAT nursery for any kid over 1 year that is staffed by trained and certified British nannies. They even change diapers! We felt very welcome with our 18 month old by both staff and guests basically everywhere we went.

 

The atmosphere sounds like what you want, too: quiet, not raucous at all, but with lots of things to do. There are some posts in this forum and elsewhere singing Cunard's praises as regards children, and I can do nothing but wholeheartedly agree.

[YOWmom]

Hello, I just got back from Carnival Glory with my 15 month old daughter. I too enjoy sitting in lounges and listening to the music. I found this entertainment horrible on Carnival. I have always enjoyed this on RCI. Don't know if this was just a fluke, but it was a disappointment. I never had my daughter on RCI, so I can't speak to that, but I can tell you my likes and dislikes with my daughter on Carnival.

 

1. The muster drill was horribly disorganized. I found myself thinking that if something happened on this ship, it would be a nightmare. This only bothered me because of my young daughter.

 

2. Look at the layout. Because we had a stroller, we spent a lot more time on the elevator. The Glory only had one main deck to walk. If I needed to go to a lounge I had to go up an elevator and down another. It was definitely not conducive to walking around. The lounges were a lot lounder, closed in and smaller. On my last cruise on RCI, the dance room was an open space. During the day it was open and lit. I had an idea of taking my daughter there to play and to see the lights. Carnival Glory had a closed off dance lounge that was just too loud and dark, even when not in use to ever take her into. All of the lounges were this way.

 

3. Carnival had a larger bathroom than RCI. That was nice. WE brought a blow up duckie to bathe our daughter. The extra space was nice. We tried to use it on the balcony, but our daughter wasn't having it. I wish I had got her use to it at home first.

 

4. My daughter didn't care about the pool. She just wanted to walk around the ship, up and down the stairs. We sat by the pool and she was fine. She didn't care about going into the pool.

 

5. We did not get to use any of the play times, there were inconviently timed and only for a short period of time. WE also didn't use the baby sitting service. It wasn't thrilled about dropping my daughter off in a room full of various aged children anyway. We ended up meeting other parents of young children in the buffet. We often went there to feed our daughter before we went to the main dining room for our dinner. Our daughter was generally good at the meals, but by desert she was ready to go.

 

Hope this helps. I enjoyed cruising with my little girl and would do it again. It definitely wasn't the relaxing cruise of the past. It was a lot of work and I was exhausted by the end of each day. However, seeing her at the beach for the first time was so worth it. She seemed to learn so much from every experience. I hope you love it too.

 

We were on Glory last year with our then 11 month old and 5 year old, and our experience was almost identical to yours, right down to the lack of interest in the duck pool :rolleyes:. That's why this year we've decided to try Disney instead....

[CruiserInMD]

 

I guess I just meant that we're not big partiers or drinkers, so aren't looking for that on a ship. We're looking to have a nice dinner, a night or two of dancing, maybe a trip to the spa - so maybe 7-8 hours without DS over the course of the week. Then wine on the balcony while DS sleeps will be our quiet time, lol. Otherwise, we're fine with spending a lot of time keeping our son entertained, so long as there is a reasonable amount of entertainment to be had on the ship, kwim?

 

We just took a 12 nighter with our 19 month old (you can look at my previous posts if you're interested in more details of our experience). When he wanted to run free (not sure if yours is walking yet), the huge empty theaters were great during the day, not to mention the lounges and even the hallways of cabins. I don't think toddlers can possibly get bored on the ship :) Of course, we did sometimes, but we had a lot more sea days than we had ever experienced, and since our son never wanted to sit still, we couldn't do many of the activities during those sea days (or had to tag team). We did take him to the Fischer Price play group every morning after breakfast. It lasted until 9:45. There wasn't a whole lot else geared towards little ones on our ship (Enchantment) so we were pretty much on our own after that. Oh, but the kids area let us borrow toys which was nice. And we did in room babysitting every night from 8-10pm (it was $10 an hour with a 2 hour limit).

[jresn02]

was that a 2 hour min or 2 hour MAX?

[CruiserInMD]

2 hour maximum. I was a little surprised at that.

[e11e2]

2 hour maximum. I was a little surprised at that.

 

At least you get 2 hours! We're booked on the Eurodam for this coming Saturday and I've discovered that they don't offer any babysitting of any sort for children under 3!

 

I guess I was naieve but it never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to bring our 14 month old into the pool until I discovered this forum tonight! For any of the pools in our neighbourhood, as long as the child wears a diaper swim trunk under his swim trunks, he's allowed in the pool. I'm so disappointed and also annoyed that I didn't look into that before! I'm usually much better at doing my research. But the thought never even crossed my mind!

 

Unfortunately we have no parents or companions coming on the cruise with us so we won't get much of a break. I wish we'd booked a balcony so we could hang out there rather than be cooped up in our room for most of the cruise. We do have 4 port days though to play on the beach.

 

And also looking on the bright side, I guess I won't gain much weight on the cruise because I'll be walking the promenade with Jacob! Hmm.. can I bring a stroller on the prom??

 

I guess I should have just booked Disney! Next time for sure!

[constansl]

At least you get 2 hours! We're booked on the Eurodam for this coming Saturday and I've discovered that they don't offer any babysitting of any sort for children under 3!

 

I guess I was naieve but it never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to bring our 14 month old into the pool until I discovered this forum tonight! For any of the pools in our neighbourhood, as long as the child wears a diaper swim trunk under his swim trunks, he's allowed in the pool. I'm so disappointed and also annoyed that I didn't look into that before! I'm usually much better at doing my research. But the thought never even crossed my mind!

 

Unfortunately we have no parents or companions coming on the cruise with us so we won't get much of a break. I wish we'd booked a balcony so we could hang out there rather than be cooped up in our room for most of the cruise. We do have 4 port days though to play on the beach.

 

And also looking on the bright side, I guess I won't gain much weight on the cruise because I'll be walking the promenade with Jacob! Hmm.. can I bring a stroller on the prom??

 

I guess I should have just booked Disney! Next time for sure!

 

The things you learn. I too consider myself a very good planner. When we arrived in Miami on the airport, I discovered you can't expect to find a taxi with a car seat. This never occurred to me. In Alaska (where I most recently lived), we may have to wait a few taxis but every few taxis has a car seat. With all my travels, I just naively took it for granite that this would be true everywhere. It was one thing after another. We almost forgot our passports and only identification for our daughter. I remember after we parked at the airport. My husband had to race home, while I went in by myself with my 15 month old daughter, stroller and 4 pieces of luggage to check us in. That was a stressful start. My husband may need to pick up some of this planning slack, because it got so much more stressful.

[jamie.ford]

We just got back from a Celebrity cruise with our 14 month old- I posted a review here somewhere.

 

Honestly, if you guys like relaxing, I'd bring another person along to look after your little one so you can get a break. We brought my mother and the cruise still wasn't as relaxing as we would have liked. We've decided not to bring our son again until he's old enough to go to the Fun Factory on his own.

 

Celebrity did have playtime for him in a toddler room with a parent whenever Fun Factory was open and the staff made a big fuss over him, but we didn't have much time to do our own thing. At least at home we sleep in our own beds and stay on routine, and don't spend $$$$ getting run ragged!

 

Hi SusieV, didnt you use the in-cabin baby sitting? Our son will be 15m by time we cruise in october and we arent sure if the baby sitting service on celebrit is any good and are looking for people who have used it .... P&O seem by far the best as they offer an inclusive night nursery for 6M+ and give u a pager if there are any probs ... but we much much prefer celebrity .. oh dilemas :-{

[eskiemomo]

we've been on RCL half a dozen times but never with a child, I don't recall that many kids on RCL but of course I wasn't a parent then. Well this time we're cruising Disney with our toddler who will be 18 months.

 

FYI on Disney nursery rates: I just finished booking our optional formal dining (Palo), excursions, spa and it automatically will offer to book nursery time for our little one. The rate is $6/hr and you can book in half hour increments if needed. There was no maximum block of time one day I think I booked 4.5 hours straight.

 

we are looking forward to the DCL cruise and hope I don't regret it! An oceanview cabin on DCL came out to $1000 or so CHEAPER than an oceanview on Oasis (funny that, you always hear about how DCL is too pricey?!) for a comparable cruise. Plus I really wanted to be on a ship where others passengers expect there will be many kids everywhere, and not be annoyed by them. I guess I'm worried on other lines no matter what the 'ship' offers for kids, the other passengers would not tolerate a crying toddler too much:(