Cruising With 2-Year-Old & 9-Month-Old... Am I Crazy?? Advice & Experiences Welcome!

[Jennnfusion]

In October, we'll be driving 8 hours to Boston and taking the Norwegian Dawn cruise to Bermuda. I've gone cruising before, but never with kids. Luckily, we'll have a huge group of 20 family members going along with us to lighten the load. I'm prepared for some challenges, but hope that the precious family memories will make it all worthwhile. I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences of how it went and what they'd recommend in hindsight.

 

1. Do you have any survival tips for the road trip and the cruise itself?

 

2. Tips for sleeping arrangements & dining with little ones?

 

3. What essentials did you pack when traveling with kids?

 

4. Was there anything you wish you hadn't bothered packing?

 

5. How bad is it in a tiny windowless stateroom? Is it worth $1500 extra to negotiate a balcony upgrade for sanity's sake?

 

6. For anyone who has been on the Norwegian Dawn - Were there any "must do's" or things you recommend skipping?

 

My 2-year-old will be a few months shy of 3 when we go. She is super active, but also loves her naps, schedules and routines. She's very intelligent, communicative and a real Mama's girl. She can be mercurial with the typical toddler tantrums. Most days are spent reading, watching PBS Kids, playing with fake food / trains / dinosaurs. (She loves swimming... although I'm not sure if she'll be fully potty trained by then, so we may need to wait for the ocean!)

 

My son will be 9 months old at the time of sailing. Thus so far, he's been super chill by comparison. He is a generally happy-go-lucky guy and will hang out with pretty much anyone. He loves the Ergo carrier and will sleep in it wherever we are, whatever we're doing.

[cb at sea]

No, you are not crazy...you are a family...it's what families do...vacation together! This is no different than going anywhere with your kids!

 

They will supply P&P or crib...highchairs are plentiful. Use the dining rooms as much as you can...much easier than dealing with buffets and kids! Bring a stroller!!! Bring any and all pediatric meds you MIGHT need...the ship carries no "baby" items!

 

I would do a balcony....it gives you someplace "to be" when the kids are napping or down early for the night!

 

Kids in diapers cannot use the pools....but do bring swimmies for beaches! A blow up tub is useful for bathing kids who don't like showers...that's all the cabins have, unless you're in a suite! It can also be used for "splashing" on the pool deck (empty into a floor drain or shower drain...not into the pool!)

 

You will be fine! Lots of memories for all!

Edited April 28, 2016 by cb at sea

[RSLeesburg]

I agree with CB, I would either spring for the balcony, or price out two connecting cabins, so you have a place to hang while little ones are napping.

 

Also Bermuda is great choice as you do not have to rush back to ship. We did our first cruise to Bermuda with our son when he was 3. It was fantastic!

[Kerry's Girls]

I'm of the other view - for that much money, I'd rather save for another getaway. I always planned to read on my kindle during naptime, and then often ended up napping myself - it was glorious. With two parents, one of you can stay with the kids during nap/bedtime and the other can have some alone time and then trade off. Or if the toddler doesn't nap at the same time, it's a great opportunity for some one-on-one time with a parent out and about on the ship.

 

My kids were able to be put in the stroller once they fell asleep at bedtime and I could go out with them until I was ready for bed myself.

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[Foxinspace]

**I pre-typed some of this to make it a general post and never got around to it. So I'll post here and make it a general post later**

 

DD was 3 years and a few weeks.

 

 

Packing

We let her pack her own backpack full of toys. She was only allowed to bring only what could fit in her back pack. A small pile of Duplo, some Fisher Price Little People and a couple stuffies is what she packed. I packed a few extra Little People to give her during the trip just to keep her toys refreshed.

For travelling I packed some mini packages of M & M's (think Halloween size) as bribes. Frankly I only used 3. 2 in the airport and 1 on an excursion. Our flight was short (only an hour), so I didn’t pack much to keep her occupied, then we got lucky and she fell asleep both coming and going. Additionally I packed a colouring book and some markers. She promptly lost the book in the MDR inside the bench on the very first night. I don't know how but it slipped down the side between the wall and INTO the bench. Thank goodness it was a dollar store purchase.

We packed bubbles, which we enjoyed during sail away. We sat on our balcony blowing bubbles.

We brought along the Bed Rail from home to use on the bed. We have one that folds flat so it was very useful. DD is accustomed to co-sleeping so we only needed the 1 for the side she slept on.

We also brought bed pads to protect the mattress in case her diaper leaked. It never did but since it has on occasion at home I thought it was best to have something just in case. (We got a big bag of them from the pharmacy and now I'll have what's left for every trip for the rest of time!)

Lastly we use a white noise machine at home, and we took this also. Depending on where your room is you might hear lots of bumps, other doors shutting or people walking passed. Better to have the white noise to buffer all the strange noises than have your little one waking up all night.

 

Random Bits of Advice

If you are doing family formal pictures try and make sure your little has eaten first. Somehow I didn't and our formal family pictures feature a particularly grumpy 3 year old. (I'll know better next time!)

Take a few moments to discuss the muster drill with your little one. We thought our little girl (who is generally very easy going) would just roll with it, but no go. The very loud siren spooked her. She did not like it at all, by the end she was convinced that the people talking on the ship speakers were Monsters and they were coming to get her. Next time I think we will warn her that there is going to be a loud siren and that there is nothing wrong. Maybe even take her out to the deck early, so she doesn’t associate the siren with our bedrooms.

On Carnival - The MDR has a children’s menu, which is actually a coloring book, so make sure you ask for one as you check in. The first few nights we didn’t even know it existed so we didn’t get one. In one instance they brought the desert cookies along with the dinner, so it became impossible to get her to eat the actual food before she ate the cookies. So there after we asked the server to not bring those until after the rest of the food!!

 

After the rough beginning on embarkation day (DD hated the muster drill, than fell asleep during dinner in the MDR) I decided to make sure our 1st morning was very slow paced. After breakfast (on the Lido) we played “Which way?”. Every time we got to a fork in the road, we asked DD “Which way?” and followed along as she led us. This starts as soon as you open your room door. “Left or Right?” Sometime, it’s “up or down?” It let our DD see the ship and explore at her pace and where she wanted to go. We spent 30 minutes wandering up and down the stairs on the 2nd floor of the theatre (during a shore excursion sales presentation!). We visited the very tip, top deck outside beside the Whales Tail, however it was so windy two of us had to hold our 3 yr old to get her back down the stairs, because she was in danger of blowing away!! Somehow our DD eventually led us to the arcade (seriously on such a big ship, how did that happen?) and that’s where we stayed. We went back again on day two and played some games, which was a great way to burn time (and money!).

 

Random bits of stuff I found funny (Mommy humour)

As soon as I had finished getting all dolled up for the 1st formal night, my DD decided to poop. So of course there I am, new manicure, freshly dolled up, in my formal wear changing a diaper!

 

At the arcade they have a game which guarantees a prize (a small rubber ducky) with every play. I walked out of the arcade carrying ducks in my pockets. Also my DD didn’t want to hold her toys once we got to the arcade so I was carrying those too. I had 12 ducks, 2 pigs and 1 sheep in my pockets!!

 

**

I hope some of this helped. As much as possible try and stick to your normal at home schedule. Pack extra sunscreen and extra wipes. Take lots of pictures and enjoy!

[Robotcake]

Just got back from our first cruise and had 3 kids under 5. We also had extended family, which helped with the toddler who refused to use the nursery and preferred to run all crazy in the main dining room. Someone was always willing to take him out to let him play outside the dining room.

 

We almost didn't pack a stroller but I am so glad that I did!!!! I packed a cheap, old umbrella stroller and both my 3-year-old and toddler napped in it on occasion- and neither of them are the type to nap outside of their beds. They really wear themselves out on vacation. At nightime, we rarely had bedtime battles because they were so stinkin tired. My 3-year-old shared the bed with me, the tot had the PNP, and my DH was on the couch as he tended to stay up later than the rest of us. (My DD is older and was in an adjoining room with family). The cabin steward gave me extra sheets to use in the PNP, but the PNP was brand-new with tags on it. I also recently started dappling in essential oils and used some oils on my kiddos to help them relax at night. Maybe it helped?

 

One thing I didn't bring that I wish'd I had brought was a watch. We were always supposed to meet family at certain times, watch the time while at port, or to keep track of ship activities. I will definitely bring one next time.

 

As for bath time, the toddler didn't like it, but we sponge bathed him. I was limited on space to pack and an inflatable tub was not necessary for us. As soon as we got home, we dunked all three kids in a long bath and I swear they still smell of sunscreen.

 

As for swimming... I saw babies in the pool. The swim diaper thing didn't seem to be enforced on my cruise (RCI). There was a toddler that did poop in one of the pools on the first day at sea, and they had to sanitize the heck out of it. It was unavailable for hours. I don't think that child was in a swim diaper. I think he straight-up pooped in there. One of my biggest parenting fears...

 

Don't worry. Don't overpack. Go with the flow. You'll have lots of support with your extended family there.

[Hypbmxgurl]

Oh this post makes me feel better. Bring a 5 year old and an almost 2 year old on our cruise in a couple weeks

[vaka08]

You are not crazy at all. My dd has been on 3 cruises (she's 2.5) and in December we will be going again this time with her sister who will be 8 months. You received some good advice here but the one thing I would suggest is to get 2 cabins or a balcony. We as the three of us have done balconies and ocean views and found it to be too cramped. The pack n play takes up a ton of room and rooms aren't really configured for them (too much furniture) we have always had to rearrange stuff to make everything fit- and often we would new all if on couches to get around.

 

We gave our daughter our phone to watch Mickey to help her get through dinner some nights.

We also found our britax stroller didn't fit through the door on some cruises so if she fell asleep outside of cabin we stayed outside and found a quiet place to relax.

 

You know best how to keep your children happy- be prepared for a ton of attention from crew and other guests. We could barely make it from one side of ship to the other without getting stopped by someone to talk to our dd.

[nimzer]

My son was 11 months when we cruised with him for the first time. I bought a blow up tub, I believe it was $15 from target. It fit in the shower to use as a tub but also during the day we had it on the sun deck with us to use as a mini pool and he loved it! Have fun!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The worst part of the trip (for me) would be the long drive to and from the ship. After that- I imagine it will feel like paradise. The kids will enjoy all the excitement of the ship. I know my two kids traveled well and loved new places to explore. Norwegian will have tons of families onboard- so you will fit in and don't have to worry about the occasional outburst. All vacations are harder on the parents than the kids. The small confines of the inside stateroom would get to me- to be honest. Kids sleep a lot and there will be no place for you to retreat to. For instance- reading or watching tv may keep the little ones awake. You may want to get a balcony cabin or see if you can get two connecting staterooms. Would be really worth it to me. There will be fewer school age kids on an October cruise to Bermuda - meaning that there may still be plenty of connecting staterooms available. Talk to the travel agent.

Edited May 10, 2016 by rebeccalouiseagain