Best cruise for a 2 year old?

[whitepoppy]

We are hoping to take our son on a cruise – he will be 2 at the time, isn’t potty trained yet and is also too young for supervised children’s activities on many of the cruises which start at 3 years old. I’ve been carrying out some research into the kid’s clubs which are open for 2 year olds and just wanted to check if anybody is aware of anything I’ve missed, other cruise lines offering similar or if the information I’ve got is wrong! Also does anybody know if they all charge a reduced rate for children?

The only three cruise lines I’ve found are:

P&O - Aurora, Azura, Oceana, Oriana and Ventura

 

Pros

· Splasher (ages 2-4) smaller age difference than Carnival and NCL which are for 2 to 5 year olds

· Supervised activities from 9am to 11.30am then 12pm to 5.15pm then 6pm to 10.30pm.

· Free launderettes

· Can use paddling pool

· Stateroom listening facility.

· Will staff change nappies?

· Free Night Nursery up to 2am on first come first serve basis

 

Cons

· Must take child ashore if going on excursions

· Given a pager and they will page you if child needs changing.

· Need to be with child for meals

· Morning session is only 2 and a half hours.

· Age group may be changed from 2-4 to 2-8 years out of season

 

 

Carnival – all ships?

 

Pros

· Camp Carnival (ages 2-5) - does anybody know the opening times?

· Will look after child during on shore excursions.

· Staff will change nappies

· Slightly larger cabins than other liners

 

Cons

· Group babysitting costs $6 an hour but this is only charged from 10pm to 3am when we can cope without it.

 

 

NCL – all ships?

 

Pros

· Trained counsellors provide age-appropriate supervised activities for Juniors (ages 2-5)

· Supervised from 09:00 to 12:00, from 14:00 to 17:00, as well as from 19:00 to 22:00. Only 3 hour sessions though so would have to keep settling him.

 

Cons

· There is a “nominal charge“ for group sitting. Group sitting is offered whenever in port which would be most days since travel is usually overnight with the odd sea day?! Does anybody know how much this is? We have a limited budget so I’m trying to avoid any that charge $5 an hour for babysitting etc.

· Parents with participating children who are not potty-trained will be issued a beeper and be alerted when the child needs to be changed. I’m a bit worried about this because think it could unsettle him us popping in and out several times a day although fine with taking him for meals.

· Children not potty trained are not allowed in pool.

· The NCL website states that cribs are only available up to 2 years old – eek I hope they would let us have one.

 

So from this summary it looks like Carnival may be our best bet for a 2 year old, closely followed by P&O?

 

Does anybody know whether all these ships have buggy hire etc? If anybody can answer any of my questions or have their own experiences, I will really appreciate it!

[RoadTripFanatic]

Some cruiselines offer discounts for children on certain sailings. They are usually off season cruises. Disney has done that. For the rest of the time your 2 year old will be charged as a 3rd passenger in the cabin. It is a discounted rate. How discounted just depends on the line and the time of year you are cruising.

[milton333]

Royal Caribbean's ships Oasis, Allure, Freedom, and Liberty have the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, where they will watch kids between 6 and 18 months and 18 and 36 months for a fee.

 

I believe that all RCI ships offer in-cabin babysitting on a first-come, first-serve basis for a fee (it's a team of two crew members who watch your child in your cabin). They recently imposed a 2-hour limit on this babysitting, though, so it's not terribly useful.

 

I'm not sure if RCI will change diapers.

 

I do know that Carnival rents strollers/buggies, I believe it is $25 for the week.

 

ETA: Oasis, Allure, Freedom, Liberty and Independence all have a kiddie pool for non potty trained kids.

Edited March 22, 2011 by milton333

[Essiesmom]

the info available from the various cruiseline websites does not give info equally. For instance, Carnival does not have any pools where diapered persons are allowed (this includes adults). That is not to say you won't see diapered children playing in the waterworks area, but it is not supposed to happen. EM

[whitepoppy]

thank you - that's been really helpful.

 

roadtripfanatic - so a 2 year old could have to pay daily gratuities as well? :rolleyes:

 

milton - it is independence of the seas we ideally wanted to go with but wanted to avoid the fees which would soon add up if he were to spend several hours a day with them etc. maybe we should just wait until he is 3 - will have to wait 18 months though :(

 

didn't expect buggy hire to be so much - may take our own and keep in cabin until needed if they will allow!

 

essiesmom - it's useful to know that they aren't always strict about the nappies in waterworks area. Possibly some parents may take a child's nappy off for going in the pools without staff being any the wiser?

[jhdoublin]

On the NCL Epic 10/2010 my 2 3/4 year old son was allowed to go to the childrens program and he was in pull ups. yes they give you a beeper. No I didn't get to keep it long to worry about it because- they had lots of exciting things to do and in the same room, but wanted the 2 year olds to sit at the table and doodle or whatever they were doing with the 4 and 5 year olds. So they called me to come get him lol!

 

Well, duh, 2 year olds don't do that. So that was it for our kids camp. It was really just an experiment for me- we weren't doing anything anyway- so it didn't matter- I just wanted to see how he would do in that type of setting. He has a mind of his own and it didn't align with theirs......

 

 

They weren't mean or anything like that- just called and stated he wasn't participating in the group setting...I kindly tried to explain why 2 year olds probably wouldn't sit at the table in a room with toys lining the walls and a ball pit just outside the area- but they didn't seem to be getting it.

 

It would be much better if they would have seperated the 2-3 and the 4-5 year olds since they had multiple workers, but hey it's their program.

 

I personally feel that Carnival had a better grasp on things than my experience on NCL Epic- but it is a new ship and maybe new people I dunno.

 

It would help if they had workers that were mothers so they understood the logistics of parenting- and maybe some were, but most weren't on that particular ship/sailing- although I do believe that on Carnival they all have to have a college degree to work in that program- I thought I read that somewhere-

 

And that is another thing- the workers are all different- I have had some that really took to the kids and would go out of their way to make them happy so the parent's could go out for a bit- then you will have those who just do ABC cause that's what the rules are....so you can't necessarily judge a ship/sailing/cruiseline because the workers change often.

 

Anyway- my 33 month old loved the Epic as we did too- it's a great ship with a FABULOUS water park for the little tots!

 

Julie

 

 

 

We are hoping to take our son on a cruise – he will be 2 at the time, isn’t potty trained yet and is also too young for supervised children’s activities on many of the cruises which start at 3 years old. I’ve been carrying out some research into the kid’s clubs which are open for 2 year olds and just wanted to check if anybody is aware of anything I’ve missed, other cruise lines offering similar or if the information I’ve got is wrong! Also does anybody know if they all charge a reduced rate for children?

 

The only three cruise lines I’ve found are:

 

P&O - Aurora, Azura, Oceana, Oriana and Ventura

 

 

Pros

·Splasher (ages 2-4) smaller age difference than Carnival and NCL which are for 2 to 5 year olds

·Supervised activities from 9am to 11.30am then 12pm to 5.15pm then 6pm to 10.30pm.

·Free launderettes

·Can use paddling pool

·Stateroom listening facility.

·Will staff change nappies?

·Free Night Nursery up to 2am on first come first serve basis

 

 

Cons

·Must take child ashore if going on excursions

·Given a pager and they will page you if child needs changing.

·Need to be with child for meals

·Morning session is only 2 and a half hours.

·Age group may be changed from 2-4 to 2-8 years out of season

 

 

 

 

Carnival – all ships?

 

 

Pros

·Camp Carnival (ages 2-5) - does anybody know the opening times?

·Will look after child during on shore excursions.

·Staff will change nappies

·Slightly larger cabins than other liners

 

 

Cons

·Group babysitting costs $6 an hour but this is only charged from 10pm to 3am when we can cope without it.

 

 

 

 

NCL – all ships?

 

 

Pros

·Trained counsellors provide age-appropriate supervised activities for Juniors (ages 2-5)

·Supervised from 09:00 to 12:00, from 14:00 to 17:00, as well as from 19:00 to 22:00. Only 3 hour sessions though so would have to keep settling him.

 

 

Cons

·There is a “nominal charge“ for group sitting. Group sitting is offered whenever in port which would be most days since travel is usually overnight with the odd sea day?! Does anybody know how much this is? We have a limited budget so I’m trying to avoid any that charge $5 an hour for babysitting etc.

·Parents with participating children who are not potty-trained will be issued a beeper and be alerted when the child needs to be changed. I’m a bit worried about this because think it could unsettle him us popping in and out several times a day although fine with taking him for meals.

·Children not potty trained are not allowed in pool.

·The NCL website states that cribs are only available up to 2 years old – eek I hope they would let us have one.

 

 

So from this summary it looks like Carnival may be our best bet for a 2 year old, closely followed by P&O?

 

 

Does anybody know whether all these ships have buggy hire etc? If anybody can answer any of my questions or have their own experiences, I will really appreciate it!

[squares]

Carnival for US was AWESOME with our 2 year old. She was a preemie and so quite sickly her first two years and we had planned a cruise just the two of us (hubby and I) when she got sick and we had to take her with us last minute - 2days before. We were on the Valor and they were amazing with her. We just packed her baby bag each day and left it with them, they were happy to change diapers. We sent two extra sets of clothes even though they didnt ask and they had to change her clothes on one occasion. We had our beeper/cellphone which they used maybe once. The counselors are really well trained in child care, work less hours than the other ship workers overall so you rarely see sad faces. Our daughter was very very pleased with Camp Carnival and is now a veteran cruiser. We brought our own stroller and kept it near the door. We even felt comfortable enough to leave her in the late night baby-sitting because they just showed the kids so much love and attention. The following year took my entire family of 17 kids, grandparents and all and they loved the care from Cranival as well. Going on Carnival July with another large group of family members - they just know how to take care of kids, so they will continue to get our money. FYI - My daughter at 5yr did NOT like RCCL Freedom which was shocking but very telling to us. NCL - Pearl was an ok Kids club but do not do 2 year olds. Hope this helps.

Edited March 25, 2011 by squares

[jfhandel]

We've cruised P&O with a 10 month old, and had a wonderful time as the children's facilities were excellent. A few corrections/clarifications to your points:

• Staff will definitely chanage nappies
  
• I'd check re the opening times, it may have changed but when we cruised it was open all hours until 2am!
  
• Having a pager is a pro, not a con - if your little one is really distressed, wouldn't you want to know about it? In reality our experience was that the staff were wonderful and would do their best to comfort and settle little ones ie they weren't 'trigger happy'
  
• Yes, you can use the in-room listening service...but we never met anyone who was happy to leave their child alone in their cabin. Heaven knows what our toddler what get up to...
  

You've left off Cunard from the list...whilst their opening hours are more restrictive, in every other respect the service is the same as for P&O. Don't discount them just because they are posh line, their kids facilities are something of a hidden secret.

[MamaParrotHead]

We've cruised Carnival several times with different ages of kids in our extended group. Without exaggeration, most of the time we're so active and busy, whether it be in port on excursions or on the ship doing activities (including the kids in Camp Carnival), my kids haven't even ever set foot in a pool on either of their 7 day cruises. I wouldn't let the pool thing deter you, although I also wouldn't risk infecting other passengers by taking your non-potty trained kiddo into the pool (diaper or no).

 

The one thing I would say is to look for cruises that have things to do close to the port and those which don't require tendering. It's a pain with a stroller and lugging a carseat to use for taxi rides.

[whitepoppy]

wow loads of fab advice! thank you so much! feel much happier about taking 2 year old and you've definitely convinced me about having a pager ;)

 

going to check out P&O and Carnival cruises now and look into Cunard more :D does cunard add on a lot of extra charges for looking after a 2 year old though?

[jfhandel]

Cunard doens't charge a penny extra for looking after your little one.

 

Although to be fair, they are generally more expensive than Carnival and Cunard.

 

But then again, they often have offers where kids cruise free. We did this in July 2009 (ie peak kiddie holiday season!), having priced up P&O and Cunard for a 14 night cruise they came out at the same price for the three of us...P&O is very good, but for the same money I'd go Cunard every time.

[ahamill]

We got off Oasis this morning with our 17 month old and I can not say enough FABULOUS things about the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery. We went there almost immediately on the first day as I was all worried about being able to book time. You register your child and then they give you a cute little bag with his name on it and a cell phone that you keep for the whole cruise so they can reach you. The nice thing about the phones, too, is that they can be used to call or receive calls anywhere on the ship. So, say you are at the pool with the phone and your husband is in the room, you can call him from the pool or vice versa.

They only allow you to book 20 hours on the first day but by the end of the second day, they open up more hours. (It all depends on how many Babies and Tots are on the cruise and who uses the service). We never had a problem booking time, they could not have been more flexible.

They will feed lunch or dinner that they provide (of course, they ask you if it is ok and the registration from covers any likes/dislikes and allergies) and they also provide crackers, fruit, water and juice for snacks. We always packed some of his snacks that we brought onboard in his bag. They play, watch movies, color, go on walks, etc., etc. They change diapers when necessary and will put them in pj's and down to bed for the night. They have a separate sectioned off room that they have cribs in and the whole place was always dimmed when we went to pick him up at night.

Fabulous people that worked in there, can't say enough. If we cruise again with our little guy before he is 3, we will only do Oasis/Allure or Disney as I have heard they have something similar.

Oh, and there is a baby splash zone by the kids pool that they can go in with diapers.

[whitepoppy]

Only just seen this now! Sounds fab - really want to go!

 

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[megann831]

we're going on Carnival in April, my kids will be 4 and 2 weeks shy of 2. While I'm hoping they bend the rules and let my little guy stay at the kids club for dinner a few nights, I'm preparing to keep him with me the whole time. I just wouldn't worry too much about the sitting services because if your little one is anything like mine, it's highly unlikely that he'd stay anyway. Even though my son goes to daycare and would be there with his sister, I just really don't think many 2 year olds will willingly leave their parents in such a new, uncomfortable environment.