Allure with 3-year-old twins?

[yoyoange]

Are we crazy to be considering this? Our twins will have just turned three by sailing date in March of 2018. What concerns me the most is dinnertime and whether or not they'll sit for 1.5 hour dinner. Hard to judge based on how they do now because they'll be a year older.

 

Also, does everyone recommend the kids' programs? Will I worry about their safety?

 

Hoping to go with another couple whose kids are teens. The Allure looks amazing, but is it crazy packed?

 

Thanks, everyone!

[Clarea]

Sign up for My Family Time dining. This requires you to be in traditional early dining. The children will finish dinner within 45 minutes, and the Adventure Ocean staff will come to the dining room and take them to AO. You can finish dinner at your leisure.

[yoyoange]

What! That's amazing!!!

[yoyoange]

And what's the AO?

[yoyoange]

Sorry - Adventure Ocean. Got it.

[Clarea]

Sorry - Adventure Ocean. Got it.

Name of the kid's program.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Adventure Ocean is considered a very good program. I have had friends whose kids did not want to leave. . . . others would not stay. It will really depend on the willingness of your children to be separated from you.

 

Three is the youngest age allowed for the complimentary program. One word of caution is that they must be potty trained.

[Jem 12]

Three is the youngest age allowed for the complimentary program. One word of caution is that they must be potty trained. Not only potty trained but able to go to the toilet completely unaided.

 

 

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[Isaboo]

Sign up for My Family Time dining. This requires you to be in traditional early dining. The children will finish dinner within 45 minutes, and the Adventure Ocean staff will come to the dining room and take them to AO. You can finish dinner at your leisure.

 

Yes you will love it! My twins were 4 years old on their first cruise, and they really liked it. They come to the front of the dining room to get the kiddos. :)

[auburngirlie]

We have taken my newly turned 3 year old on 3 different cruises (all over 5 days each). She can't use the potty completley unaided, so we haven't used the kids club except during open play times. She will however sit for dinner as long as she has toys/crayons or an ipad. Wouldn't worry about that as much as working on PT if you want them to go to AO. We managed without it, but would have been nice if she could have gone on this last trip. Any other questions about cruising with toddlers, I'd be glad to help ya!

[cb at sea]

The dining room, either traditional OR MTD will be the easiest with small kids. You are served. No juggling plates, and kids...or making multiple trips to get what you need.

 

You can request a table for just your family, and tell the waiter if you need to "hurry along"....otherwise, it will be fine. Lots going on in the dining room to hold a child's attention!

[Bizzie07]

Our daughter was 3 on her first cruise. This was before My Family Time Dining so we ordered her food to be served at the same time as our starter and then one of us left the Dining Room to take her to the kids club then came back and we finished our meal on our own. Other times we took her to the Windjammer early and dropped her off at the kids club before we went for our meal. We always found the waiters to be great with her and would organise food especially for her. She was fussy but not fancy - plain pasta with absolutely nothing on it, plain boiled rice. I'm sure you will all have a great time.

[jlrn366419]

It will be a week where someone else cooks and cleans and you don't have to! We have been on Allure and Oasis several times with our son starting when he was 17 months old. Dinner has never lasted more than an hour for us in the MDR. It has been a little different each cruise, but they are usually quick to get the meals out quickly for the kids/families and they often have a fresh fruit waiting on the table before you even arrive after the first night. They always seated us at our own table and last year on Allure, they put us in a section that was all families at the surrounding tables. I'm not sure if this is a new trend or it was a fluke.

 

You can check in on your twins as often as you want to when they are in the kids program. We often check in to see if our son wants to stay a bit longer or wants to leave. You can even call from your cabin or a hallway phone to check in on them.

[alisatj]

We cruised on the Oasis with just-turned 3 yo twins, too. I potty trained them about 4 months before we went. Whenever I dropped them off at AO, we stopped at the bathroom in that area. I wasn't sure they could go unassisted, but I knew they'd be okay for the 2ish hours they'd be there.

 

Having them picked up at dinner was convenient, but was actually pretty rushed. Maybe that's been resolved by moving early dining to 530.

 

We got a phone from AO whenever they were there so that they could contact us, if needed. I never worried about their safety there.

 

 

 

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[Ashland]

We (extended family) just returned from HOTS and our 3 year old grandson loved the Adventure Ocean he was in the Aquanauts ages 3-5. The evening program started at 7:00pm but we would bring him at 5:30pm for their Adventure Dining..they would take them to the WJ for dinner..this group would be seated in the opposite side of the WJ that was closed. Then this dining would just merge into the evening program. We have used the Royal Babies & Tots Nursery before when cruising but this was the first time he was eligible for the Aquanauts...Absolutely amazing !!!!

[yoyoange]

Thank you all SO much for the advice and encouragement! I suppose my other fear is that these kiddos are so darn ACTIVE that I'm worried I'll have a hard time keeping track of them on an enormous ship. Maybe by three they'll have settled down a bit.

Also - if any of you have done a balcony with toddlers, did it feel safe? No way in heck they can climb those plexiglass walls, right?!

Thanks again, everyone, what a great way to get info!

[Bizzie07]

Personally I would not trust them out there without me sitting right beside them. There is always the chance that they could pull a chair over and stand on it. In the cabin if you keep the balcony door closed there is no way they could open it (they are far to difficult for tots).

[waterbug123]

Our twins will have just turned three by sailing date in March of 2018.

 

Hoping to go with another couple whose kids are teens.

 

The part about going with another couple whose kids are teens... just be clear with yourself and your spouse as to your expectations. Your friends will be able to come and go as they please, without worrying about their kids so much, as their kids are old enough to spend a lot of time on their own. Yours are not, so either they go to the kids club or they are with one or both of you. Some kids love the kids club and can't get enough of it. Some kids don't like it all. If your kids don't end up wanting to stay in the kids club, are you going to feel disappointed or resentful that you can't enjoy extended "grown up" meals, boring (to them) visits to lounges and bars, and evening entertainment with your friends? Personally, I'd find myself rather envious of my friends the whole week and wouldn't enjoy it as much. Same during the day... While relaxing at the pool, you'll be IN the pool watching the kids every single second, worrying if they have enough sunscreen on, diffusing meltdowns, etc. If you are ok with all that, go for it, just understand that your friends are likely going to have a very different vacation experience than you and make sure you're ok with that.

[yoyoange]

The part about going with another couple whose kids are teens... just be clear with yourself and your spouse as to your expectations. Your friends will be able to come and go as they please, without worrying about their kids so much, as their kids are old enough to spend a lot of time on their own. Yours are not, so either they go to the kids club or they are with one or both of you. Some kids love the kids club and can't get enough of it. Some kids don't like it all. If your kids don't end up wanting to stay in the kids club, are you going to feel disappointed or resentful that you can't enjoy extended "grown up" meals, boring (to them) visits to lounges and bars, and evening entertainment with your friends? Personally, I'd find myself rather envious of my friends the whole week and wouldn't enjoy it as much. Same during the day... While relaxing at the pool, you'll be IN the pool watching the kids every single second, worrying if they have enough sunscreen on, diffusing meltdowns, etc. If you are ok with all that, go for it, just understand that your friends are likely going to have a very different vacation experience than you and make sure you're ok with that.

 

 

 

Yes, so true!!! Thanks for the perspective. I think that this is how my husband might feel but I don't think I will. Best case scenario is that we bring a nanny.

[yoyoange]

Personally I would not trust them out there without me sitting right beside them. There is always the chance that they could pull a chair over and stand on it. In the cabin if you keep the balcony door closed there is no way they could open it (they are far to difficult for tots).

 

 

 

Good advice...thanks!