Your experience taking a 3yr old on Cruise.

[ggg196078]

We are flirting with the idea of taking our 3 and a half year old grandson on a cruise. Can he go to kids club during day? How Long? Any costs? Is it too much to worry about? What's your experience? Will it be too stressful? Any pros and cons will help.

[Twelvevman]

Our son turned 3 on the Dawn. He was able to go to the kid's club, 3 and up can be dropped off at the club. Our son did not like being there, but ha is not in daycare and was not used to the group setting. It is required that the child is potty trained completely to be in the club. THe staff cannot assist in any way.

 

It was our son's second cruise, he was also on the Epic at 13 months. He had a great time on the Dawn. He loved the kid's pool and the dino slides. He liked watching the ship pull into port from our balcony.

 

If you take your grandson just know it will be a different cruise for you. Someone will need to stay in the room with him when its bed time. I reccomend getting a balcony so you can sit with some separation while the child is going to sleep. Other than that, cruises with kid's are great. :)

[Prinycesa07]

My daughter was 3 on our last cruise and she loved it. It was a great age to sail IMO. But I sailed when she was 10 months & when my son was 18 months so maybe 3 just seemed so much easier in relation to our previous ;) On our next trip they will be 3 & 4.5 and that sounds so easy now ;)

 

Anyhow, yes in kids club. No cost during the day except a meal time fee if they stay inboard at port.

[garycarla]

Your child will most probably love it.

 

You might love it, or resent not enjoying the cruise.

 

Your child will also be very excited to go to the zoo, Walmart and the Grocery store.

 

You have to be realistic and decide what it is you are trying to accomplish. You will surely get lots of great bonding time. No doubt. You will also get great bonding time driving a 200 miles to ____ and staying in a cabin.

[DrNora]

A lot depends on how much

Time you spend with your grandson NOW. Are you live-in grandparents or visit several times a year grandparents? Would it be his first long trip away from mom and dad?

While a cruise is awesome for kids( we have been cruising with our 3 since they were 9 months, 2 and 2), being away from Mom and Dad and on a strange , bobbing ship with a lot of strangers where he gets put in a play group may not be the most fun.

If you get a Haven suite you will have the DVD player and the small pool to play in, in other rooms the awesome kids pools areas, but are you pool folks?

 

Lots of pros and cons. Happy thinking!!!

I personally started traveling with my grandparents when I was 3 and always had a blast.

[sdmike]

Taking young kids on a cruise is a lot of work. It will be all about the child and not about you. Your schedule will revolve around them, their moods, their safety, when they're hungry, what they want to do, etc. I think a couple grand is a lot of cash to spend for that. As GaryCarla says, there are a lot less expensive ways to spend time with your grandchild. My daughter went on her first cruise at age 4, and if it wasn't for the fact we were on Disney I think it would have been too young. She had a great time, but because it was all things Disney

 

 

There is a Family Cruising Board here that can provide a lot of advice about traveling with young children. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Jenjer]

We started cruising with our kids at 4 and 6 on Disney. It was amazing and the best vacation we parents had taken.

 

They have to be potty trained 100% able to do their own pants and everything. The staff is not allowed to help at all.

 

My DS the youngest loved the kids clubs On a sea day we would get up early (7 is sleeping in early), eat breakfast maybe even hit the pool. Change take them to kids club for a few hours, DH and I would hang out together, get lunch as a family, back to club. Early dinner and they always fell asleep in the show and back to bed.

 

I know my kids grandparents love them very much and are going with us on our Getaway Cruise in May. They could never keep up with them and the attention they need but if you can thats great.

 

IMO and I do not know you or your grandkids I would say wait until 6 or 7 and they are more self reliant. Unless you are used to caring for them full time.

[4774Papa]

I love my Granddaughter, but we had a large family group on a cruise a few years ago. She was three. My Granddaughter is very active and every meal seemed to be a struggle with her. My Daughter doesn't want to cruise until the kids are older.

 

Another thing, if the child likes to climb, a balcony may not be the way to go.

[deeleecox]

I have twin 3 year olds (they will be 4 when we set sail) and we are older parents and I am looking forward to our cruise. Last year we took them to Walt Disney World for a week and my hair turned grey...literally LOL. I swore on our drive back that our next family vacation would be a cruise so we can put them in camp a few hours a day to give them and us a break.

 

 

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[eh24fan]

We took our then 3 year old on a cruise in 2010. We also had our 10 year old at the time. We had a balcony, we also had my parents, my grandparents and my husband's grandparents along. Even with all those people, with the exception of 1 afternoon excursion in St. Thomas and a couple of hours one evening, we had our kids with us. My 3 year old LOVED everything about the trip. He liked sitting with us on the balcony watching the sea go by, pulling into port, leaving port, exploring the ship, going to the pool, etc. We got up early, had breakfast at the buffet, enjoyed the pool (before it got crowded), then played mini golf, trivia, or whatever. Had lunch, then we took him back to the room for a nap. Usually, my husband would nap with him while my older son and I sat out on the balcony reading, doing word searches, etc. We had early seating, he often fell asleep at dinner even with taking a nap. LOL Then we went to the shows, which he enjoyed as well. We were sometimes in our room by 830 as well.

 

I guess what I'm saying is, you can see how our schedule pretty much revolved around the little guy, but it didn't matter to us. We still did the things we were interested in doing. But our kids are well behaved, not squirmy and generally go with the flow. With that said, neither of them have ever done the kids clubs. My oldest was never interested and just prefers the company of the grown ups, always has. My now 7 year old (he hasn't cruised since he was 3), MAY try the kids program this time but we will see. We don't care one way or another, it's up to him.

[NJJenLyn]

Hubby and I took our 5 year old last month on the Breakaway. We knew that it would be a different cruise than if we went alone. However we had expected / hoped to be able to leave him at Splash Academy a couple nights so we could see a couple shows. The first night we left tried to leave him at the kids club he cried and we couldn't leave him. We had gotten three tickets to Burn the Floor, just in case, and took him with us to that. He made it through about half the show before I had to take him back to the cabin. Two days later, we were able to leave him for a couple hours, I think maybe after he was a little more familiar with the ship in general and it wasn't ALL so new to him. He did okay that night. A night or two later, we dropped him off to have dinner at Moderno and went to the Second City show. They paged us halfway through the show because he wanted to go back to the cabin. (If a child wears diapers, needs help in the bathroom, or has special needs they give you a pager whenever you drop him/her off.)

So my advice is don't count on using Splash Academy because you may have to adjust your plans. We knew we were taking that chance and didn't sacrifice anything that had cost a fortune because he didn't love the kids club.

 

Also keep in mind that three year olds generally have limited food preferences. We ate at the buffet every meal except the one night at Moderno without him and once in the main dining room with him. And even then, he didn't eat much, especially at breakfast. We knew from a previous cruise that juice is only available at the buffet in the morning. You can ask room service for it, but that's nearly all my son will drink so we had to plan ahead for that and stock up in the morning in water bottles so we didn't have to call room service over and over again for apple juice. We had the cabin steward empty our minibar the first day aboard and we stored apple juice and milk in the fridge in the room.

 

We also took turns alternating nights going out to the casino or wherever, some people wouldn't want to do that but it gave each of us some time for adult only nightlife without worrying about our son, as he was sleeping in the cabin with the other one.

 

My son is definitely a climber, so we opted for a family room with a large picture window. Did not at all want to take a chance on a balcony. Also, if your little ones are explorers at all, know that there's no way to lock the cabin door from the inside that can't be opened by just turning the handle. I completely understand that's a safety feature, but it did lead to one episode when I was sitting by the window and my son decided it would be funny to run out of the cabin. He bolted through the maze of cabin hallways and found the stairs, and ran (literally ran) up nine flights of steps before someone coming down helped me out and led him to me huffing and puffing a flight and a half behind him. At night we left a suitcase blocking the door so we'd at least hear him if he woke up before either of us and decided to wander.

 

I would definitely take my son again, but I'd also love a cruise with just hubby. It's certainly doable to take a cruise with a little one, as long as you have realistic expectations and plan accordingly.

[mitsugirly]

We took our daughter on her first cruise when she was 3 and she absolutely LOVED it. She is hooked (I think just as much as we are). It's all she talks about and everything that she has done on every cruise just amazes me. We cruise twice a year and she will be turning 6 next month. We can't imagine cruising without her now. :)

[Prinycesa07]

We took our daughter on her first cruise when she was 3 and she absolutely LOVED it. She is hooked (I think just as much as we are). It's all she talks about and everything that she has done on every cruise just amazes me. We cruise twice a year and she will be turning 6 next month. We can't imagine cruising without her now. :)

 

Same. My daughter is 4 & will be going on her 4th cruise next month. She loves them just as much as we do. She's counting down the "days til the big boat". I can't imagine going without her either. There is something so magical about seeing vacation through the eyes of a child.

[LrgPizza]

We took our son twice when he was a toddler. I agree with the others though-- as grandparents, it would depend on a lot of different factors.

 

 

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[Sparkygirl]

My advice really depends on the ship, DD is 3 and has been on 2.5 cruises. We love NCL and even with our 1/2 a cruise due to her injury we can't wait to sail again. Are you looking at a smaller ship or large ship. Breakaway is a very different experience.

 

 

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[lisakoivu]

I just gotta say, I think there's a difference between taking YOUR three year old and someone else's. When it's your own kid, you know when they're really stressed/tired/hungry/unhappy and you know when to tell them just to suck it up. I feel like you'd end up falling all over yourselves making sure she was happy all the time, and let's face it, 3 year olds don't work that way.

 

I've taken my kids on cruises over the years and don't remember it being stressful, sign em up for the kids club, create meeting places. Last week I took my nephew and I was a ball of stress most of the time - he's 13 but I worried about him more/differently than my own kids and was constantly worried not only for his well being but "was he having a good time". I would never take a kid that wasn't my own again - he was good and a good time, but a completely different experience.