cruising with 2 year old

[csunshine860]

Hi,

Trying to plan/ decide what ship to cruise with 2 1/2 year old in Dec from MIA or FLL. This will be our first cruise. Wondering how camp Carnival is for that age group and I assume he would be paying full fare. Suggestions greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

[Tapi]

More than the ship, look at itineraries. Selecting an itinerary that avoids tender ports and that has plenty of things to do within close proximity to the port (thus eliminating the need for taxis, car seats, etc) will make your cruise THAT much more enjoyable.

 

Our first cruise with kids was to Key West and Nassau. Second one was to Cozumel, Labadee and Falmouth, third one was to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan and Belize. Of all of these, Belize and Falmouth were the least kid friendly (although Belize was wonderful). Cozumel and Costa Maya required very short cab rides. All the others had plenty to do within walking distance. Enjoy!

 

PS. DONT OVERPACK!

Edited February 16, 2015 by Tapi

[lizziez00]

I second the "Don't overpack!"

 

I had done 6 cruises with my 18,19,26 yo kids.

 

In January, I took my 4 yr old grandson on the Dream. We brought a booster car seat..stroller...sand toys...tons of clothes...pack of pull ups...wayyy more than we ever would have without him and it was crazy!!

 

pack, and then weed through it a few times....do laundry on board...

 

It was a lot of fun to have him with us, but it did change the whole way we cruised!

 

I am taking him on the Elation in June and will cut what we bring in about half!

Edited February 16, 2015 by lizziez00

[slim501]

We are taking our 3 year old on his 5th cruise in April. I agree with looking at the ports vs the ship. When my son was newly 2, he didn't want to go to Camp Carnival. When he was almost 3, he would have stayed there the whole time if we let him.

 

With a 2 year old, you are limited on what you can do in the ports. Definitely research the ports.

[Lerin]

He will pay 3rd passenger fare.

 

Disagree with some of the advice given above, pick whichever cruise best pleases you. Toddlers are just happy to be with mom and dad. Also think you should consider tender ports as many of them will be beach days which is perfect for family fun. HMC is a great option if it is available on the cruises you look at.

 

One tip: if your child is not yet potty trained, start now. That way he will be able to use the pools. :)

 

Agree with don't overpack! Tons of clothes, toys and car seat(usually) you don't need.

 

There is a family board here at CC with other suggestions from parents who are currently cruising with little ones.

[lucy200683]

we took our (then 2) year old on his first cruise in August. He is now 3 and going on his next cruise in 12 days!

 

best advise.. BE FLEXIBLE! try not to over plan and over think. you can plan to do all these great things... use the kids clubs... etc... and then they get in a mood and boom.. plans change..lol

 

we used the kids club some on our last trip.. he was potty trained so we were able to use the pools some but research the water b/c we found most pools had salt water and he didn't like it. we found one small kiddy pool on the elation (our last ship) that had reg water and we spent ALOT of time there.

 

we planned to eat elegant night alone just the 2 of us and got a call midway through dinner that he was crying.. lol kinda ruined our dinner.. but an hour later he was happy again and wanted to go back so we were able to catch one of the comedy shows!

 

just be able to roll with the punches and feel it out and you will be fine!

 

i will say we were pleased with the dining staff... i assumed we would be eating LIDO all the time since the kids wouldn't sit still but they really did a good job getting their drinks and food out fast.. spending time talking to them.. and really just making it enjoyable for the kids too! we were so grateful for that aspect!

[The_Geek]

We will be taking our 2 year old on her first cruise this December too. She will be 2 yrs 2 months at the time of the cruise.

We decided not to leave from Florida but rather Baltimore. Did not want to fly down with her, so we chose a shorter drive from Toronto.

 

We will be taking her to Atlantis, so we will have to haul a car seat with us.

[ProfCruise]

I wrote a detailed review of the cruise we took with my almost 2 year old on the Freedom out of FLL (has been replaced with the Conquest, but they are the same class). There is a link to the review in my signature. It was a great itinerary for a toddler -- no tender ports and stuff to do right off the boat at 3 out of 4 of them.

[A&Jfamily]

Hi,

Trying to plan/ decide what ship to cruise with 2 1/2 year old in Dec from MIA or FLL. This will be our first cruise. Wondering how camp Carnival is for that age group and I assume he would be paying full fare. Suggestions greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

A lot depends on your child...does the child travel well? Go with the flow? Enjoy the beach? Does he need a nap at X time or melts down? The easier the child, the easier to travel with and the more you can do.

 

We did Western when my son was 2.5; we had 2 tender ports (Grand Cayman and Belize) and he loved the boat ride on both. If you read the family boards, you can easily find family friendly things from island tours to beaches to the Zoo in Belize. I would stay away from the Bahamas, unless it is Half Moon Caye, which is a beach day.

 

He loved camp. They do tons of age appropriate things from games to dancing to art to reading to free play.

 

And you usually can find deals where 3rd and 4th passenger in a room pay a reduced rate - but age matters not.

[Tapi]

Disagree with some of the advice given above....

 

Also think you should consider tender ports as many of them will be beach days which is perfect for family fun.

 

 

I'm sure everybody's experience is different, but the only times when we said "this sucks" was when we had to tender ashore with a stroller and extra supplies for our kids in tow (and all we had was a compact umbrella stroller and an extra bag with supplies). When you're juggling extra gear plus toddler aged kids, it makes the tender ride a hassle.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Tapi

[Crusin Hogs]

Remember the walls between cabins are thin , so people on both sides can be bothered with a crying child. Also in ports ,you will not find seat belts very often in taxi's ect , so a car seat may not be needed. The islands do hot have the laws the US does. In fact at 2 he could buy his on beer in a lot of ports !

[Tapi]

We will be taking her to Atlantis, so we will have to haul a car seat with us.

 

 

Don't bother with a car seat just to go to Atlantis.

There's a boat/water taxi that drops you off within a short walking distance from the Atlantis. No car seat needed.

[cruisecraze96]

The Dream class ships have the Deluxe Ocean Views with the 2 bathrooms, one with a small circle tub plus extra closet space. If you can potty train those have the waterworks for the kids and my little one loved it.

 

I took my now 5 year old on her first cruise last March and she loved camp and all I had to do was mention the big boat before the trip and she would be good :) heck even finished potty training, but I know if my oldest now 12 went then she would have cried and hated camp and would have rather stayed with mom. Each child is different, but also ditto the try not to overpack thing :)

[RTRMom]

Don't bother with a car seat just to go to Atlantis.

There's a boat/water taxi that drops you off within a short walking distance from the Atlantis. No car seat needed.

 

Ditto this. We took the boat ride over to Atlantis with my child, who was 9 months old at the time. Took the stroller with us and all of us loaded on the boat and took a very short ride over there. The cost was only $6 round trip per person.

[letiha]

Hi

 

I think it really depends on your child, we will be going on 2 cruises in April as part of 4 weeks in the US and mexico with our then 16 month old

 

We are doing at lot and generally not letting her stop us...even cave tubing in Belize.

 

We take her with is everywhere in Australia, out for dinner and breakfast a couple times a week and a lot of outings and beaches.

[kelly.campbell]

If your two year old is not potty trained yet... Pack extra diapers and wipes. I can't count the number of diapers I gave away to children who were too big or too small for the size I was carrying... Desperate times/Desperate measures.

 

We had a blast. No crying, no fussing, but she rarely made it through dinner before falling asleep (and we had early dining.) Enjoy your cruise!