Princess Fun Zone - What if my son is not potty trained?

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

Researching my cruising options for next year. I was reading through all the cruising w/ kids info from Cruisinmama (Thanks by the way - very helpful!!!).

 

In the "Pelican Presses" and saw a note about parents would get beeped if child needs a diaper change. While I definitely hope my will-be 3 year old will be potty trained on our next cruise, if I knew it wasn't going to be a deal breaker if he is not fully potty trained I think I'd be inclined to go ahead and book early. At 2, he's very laid back yet strong willed so I think potty training may be quite the adventure. :D

 

Oh... and I'm looking at the Carribbean Princess 9 day from NY if anyone has advice specific to that cruise!

 

Many thanks!

[Kerry's Girls]

Though I've been dying to try RCCL, since they require kids to be potty trained in the kids clubs, I've been sticking with Princess until I know for sure I won't have accidents - I don't want to be on board and have my kid tossed out of the program with half the cruise to go. I have 3 year old twins and one was trained just short of 3 and the other is still just thinking about it, so I booked Princess for our cruise in August since they do allow kids in diapers in the program.

 

Best,

Mia

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

Thanks!!!

 

I want to do a 9 day out of NY/NJ so my only other option is RCCL and I was warned about their stance stance towards potty training.

[notentirelynormal]

My 3 YO GS (turned 3 on the first day of the cruise) got potty trained litterly the weeks before the cruise. We were worried about accidents. The counselors were great though. The rule is they can't "wipe" them - or touch them in that area, therefore you are given a pager to come and do it. So, even though he went potty by himself, my DD was still paged to come and help him wipe and pull up his pants properly. I think he had an accident or two as well and they were fine. Mom just had to come and change him and take care of the problem.

[GwenyP]

Fwiw, Carnival does change diapers. I believe they're the only cruiseline to do that. My daughter has special needs and is not yet potty trained, so not having to worry about that with Carnival was a big help. Plus, she was able to enjoy the kids club on port days and we didn't have to worry about being there for the diaper change. The counselors were great with her.

 

Something to think about if you're worried about the potty issue.

[maritimecruiser]

I too am looking at booking a cruise on Princess next year and my daughter will have just turned three. Obviously I'm not certain she'll be potty trained. The last cruise we went on we took only our oldest who was 3.5 yrs old. I booked the cruise when she had just turned three and was at that time potty trained for number one not number two. I figured there would be no problem by the time we left. Well there was. She still wasn't fully trained and we were on RCCL. So each day I had to wait for her to have her bowel movement and then take her, sometimes it was afternoon and she bugged us and bugged us all morning to go. What a disaster that was. We had a good time but would have been more relaxing if we didn't always have to worry about that. This time we want to take our youngest as well and don't want to run into that problem. I thought Carnival would be our only choice. I really would like to go on Princess though as I have in the past and loved it. I am confused with the comments that I just read as this is what they post on their website:

 

Children under 3 are not permitted in the Youth Center unless accompanied by a parent at all times. Youth Center staff cannot administer medication, bottle-feed, change diapers, or provide meal service.* Private in-cabin babysitting is not available on any Princess ship. All children must be potty-trained.

 

Am I just reading this wrong?

 

Thanks!!

 

p.s. FYI my oldest took a whole year to finally be fully potty trained! Guess its true, you just can't hurry it along:)

[Kerry's Girls]

I really would like to go on Princess though as I have in the past and loved it. I am confused with the comments that I just read as this is what they post on their website:

 

Children under 3 are not permitted in the Youth Center unless accompanied by a parent at all times. Youth Center staff cannot administer medication, bottle-feed, change diapers, or provide meal service.* Private in-cabin babysitting is not available on any Princess ship. All children must be potty-trained.

 

Am I just reading this wrong?

 

Princess allows non-potty trained children. They do not change diapers though the way Carnival will. It means you get a beeper and will get beeped if your child needs a diaper change.

 

Best,

Mia

[Yungs]

We cruised on Princess with our 3 yr old who was potty trained but still having the occasional accident when he plays too much and forgets to go. As luck would have it, he did have an accident and they paged us but we were in the show and didn't hear it (music was loud!). We'd been told that the beepers would vibrate as well as beep, but apparently not all of them were set to do both. By the time we went to pick him up, they had paged us 8 times and I was mortified! Had to apologize millions of times. Thereafter I checked religiously to make sure that the beeper was set to vibrate. Just something to keep in mind!

 

They were quite nice about the incident, they didn't kick him out or anything.