Clothing for kids?!

[TravelingTH]

Hello, everyone. We are planning our first family cruise with Disney.

My question is...what to pack for kids (we have two girls: 1.5 and 3.5 years old)? We are leaving in two weeks (from Port Canaveral).

My wife packed so much for them. ..."ohh...we need this in case it rains...and this in case its cold...and this in case its hot..and this too..."

I would like to get an advice from someone who traveled with kids before (October/November). I hope to get rip of one small suitcase :)

[cb at sea]

If you're headed to the Caribbean, then summer clothing is in order,. It will NOT be cold....could be chilly in Pt. Canaveral, depending where you're from, and on the weather that day. I'd bring a lightweight jacket and one pair of long pants....that's all you'll need. Outside decks (especially by the railing) can be windy....and at night, that feels cool...but I doubt the temps will ever get below 70 or so!

 

Rain is common in the islands, but it's not a cold rain....and it usually doesn't last too long!

[Anita Latte]

We have traveled a lot with DS...never on a cruise at that age though. But just based on our other experience...with kids...it is much better to overpack and not need than to skimp on packing and need.

 

And for anyone in diapers and/or recently potty trained...much better to have a decent reserve of Justin Case clothing.

 

The garments should be small enough that it isn't a big deal...but to simplify life...pack the Justin Case clothing in separate Ziploc style bags and/or packing cubes...and only access those garments if needed.

[mousey]

What Anita said...great advice. My DS used to get motion sickness when he was that age. We didn't cruise with him at that young age but if we had...I would have double up with just-in-case stuff for him. It's what I did when we traveled anywhere with him at that age. He'd just puke at the drop of a hat...yuk! Thank goodness he grew out of it and turned out to be a great little traveler at about 5 years of age.

 

I'd say mom knows what the kids needs are so let her do her thing. Better safe than sorry. As this is the girl's first cruise...you don't know how they will react to the motion of the ocean. Just say'n.

 

I hope you and your family have a great cruise!:D

[TravelingTH]

Thank you.

Last time (staying at the resort) we had a huge suitcase with just kids clothes. We used only 1/3 of it.

But i guess i'll let the mommy do her thing. The worst thing would be to hear "i knew it! ...i told you!" when we get there : )

Edited October 5, 2015 by TravelingTH

[Floridiana]

Yes, let her do her thing. She will eventually learn from it.

Packing the 'just in case' items separately is great advice!

[Anita Latte]

Yes. She will learn with each trip you take and as the clothing gets bigger in size and takes up more and more room, she will be able to cut down on what REALLY needs to go based on trips like these. :)

[KatieBug28]

One thing that may help is to remember that your kids may only wear each outfit for a few hours a day. For example, I'm only taking 2 dinner outfits for my DDs (2 and 6) for our 7-day cruise. One formal, one more casual. As long as we don't feed them spaghetti, they should be able to wear them more than once just for dinner. And if I need to, I can run a quick load of wash. Same for things like shorts, sundresses, etc. I find with the activities we do we are only in each set of clothes for a few hours, so they really are fine to wear again.

 

The same can REALLY save space for Mom and Dad! Plan to re-wear a couple of things and it will really save some space. For example, I take a clean shirt for every day, but we re-wear capris/shorts and our dinner wear.

[Queen of Oakville]

We travel in 4 rolling duffles, and we have plenty of room.

 

I pack one daytime outfit and one nighttime outfit for each child.

 

they wear the daytime outfit to breakfast, and to the kid's club. Other than that they will change into swim clothes. At night, it's (generally) formal clothes for dinner. After dinner, if going to the kid's club, they will change back into day time clothes.

 

Add

-1 or 2 pairs of jammies

-2 extra daytime outfits (just in case)

-light jacket (we usually wear this for travel)

 

 

My packing tip, is that all the clothes get laid out in the bed. A daytime outfit will be shorts, t-shirt, socks, undies, hair accessories. Everything gets folded together and placed in a ziplog bag and then tossed in the suitcase. The entire outfit stays together. In the morning, you just have to "toss" the bag at your little one and they have everything they need.

 

Shoes - runners (wear these to the ship), sandals/crocs, and formal shoes.

 

 

 

On a Disney ship ... don't forget the "costumes". My daughter took all of her princess dresses, so she wore these as her dinner outfit and also had clothes for princess gatherings, and character meets. My son took his woody costume, mr. incredible etc.

 

Also, dont' forget your pirate clothes!!!! DCL will give you a pirate bandana, and I believe eye patches. But everyone (mostly everyone) dresses up for pirate night.

 

And yes, all of these things fit in a standard rolling duffle bag within airline limits. You just have to know how to pack!