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Cruising with a child under 2 years


annenic
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No pools allow swim diapers, and only a handful of ships have splash areas for diapered children (DCL and some RCL ships).

 

When I referenced "newer ships" I actually was thinking of Royal Caribbean at the time. They have quite a number of ships with baby splash zones: Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas, and Harmony of the Seas.

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Thanks all!

 

We are cruising on NCL Jewel and from the deck plans I can see that they do indeed have a splash pool. So fingers crossed he will be potty trained by then or that he is allowed in with those special swim diapers.

 

I do plan to phone NCL direct to ask some questions. I have sailed with NCL before but not on this particular ship and not with a toddler in tow.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We took our oldest on his first cruise through Carnival and left the two year old at home with grandma and grandpa. Different age range, but there was a couple next to us during evening dining that had their 3 year old with them. She was really good, except for one night where she threw a temper tantrum on the floor. The dining staff was incredible! They showed her magic tricks and managed to get her in her seat and eating quietly.

We'll be taking our now 3 year old this year on his first cruise, but we decided on Disney since there will likely be more kids his age with understanding parents. He's very active and I'm a little concerned, too.

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Thanks all!

 

We are cruising on NCL Jewel and from the deck plans I can see that they do indeed have a splash pool. So fingers crossed he will be potty trained by then or that he is allowed in with those special swim diapers.

 

I do plan to phone NCL direct to ask some questions. I have sailed with NCL before but not on this particular ship and not with a toddler in tow.

 

I'm just home from the Pearl with my 21 month old. Since they're sister ships, I think the information from the Pearl is likely to be similar. The splash pool had a sign that did not allow diapers or non-potty trained children. HOWEVER, we were in Alaska in July and it was cool enough that very few people were truly interested in the pool. By September, it's highly likely that you won't care about the pool at all.

 

They have a toddler area with age appropriate toys, but it's small. Every time we visited there were other families there and they were quite pleasant to get to know.

 

I found the main dining room to be far to slow of service for my toddler. Since we were traveling with my teen boys, we typically went to the buffet to feed all three kids and the boys would watch her later in the evening so we could have dinner solo.

 

Her favorite places to explore were climbing the stairs and the Spinnaker Lounge. All of the staff were suuuuuuuper friendly and loving towards her.

 

The swaying of the ship was great - she napped and slept normally.

 

While there were only 2 "sea" days, many of the port days were not full days. I was glad because she was great on one shorter excursion at each place.

 

Traveling with a toddler is more challenging that not traveling with a toddler, however she was no more work than we already do at home. And it was awesome having a cabin steward clean up for us twice daily. All in all, we had a blast.

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Thanks gingersvp,

 

That is great info.

 

We are cruising in December and in Australia (hot summer month!) so the splash pool could be crowded!!!

 

I was wondering about the toddler area, so thanks for filling me in - was hoping it was a big area. I have asked some questions directly with NCL and apparently there is a charge of $20 per 2 hour session in the play area. Did you have to pay this? Its not a problem that we will have to pay, but just curious. And glad to hear that they have toys - all kids enjoy playing with different toys and it means that parents won't have to bring too much with them.

Do they have trikes, slides etc in that area......or simply not big enough?

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Definitely not big enough unless the space is materially different than the Pearl. There was never a charge, but you also stayed with them. From what I understand only their megaships offer for a fee childcare for under 2. I don't know if the agent mixed up the ships or if the Pearl is really that different.

 

Not sure why I thought you were traveling Alaska in September!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would book a ship that has swim facilities where the toddler can play in swim diapers. RCI (on oasis) had a dedicated swim pool for toddlers in swim diapers.

I took my DS when he was 2 on a 10 day cruise with NCL and he was fine..they had a tiny swim pool that toddlers with swim diapers could play in.. as for meals, i would prepare to be flexible. You can definitely dine at the MDR but I would suggest choose the earliest time and have them bring your food out asap (normally they say to allow 2 hours for dining) otherwise you will be eating at the buffet most nights. My son developed Bronchitis on the boat and we ended up doing alot of room service and eating at the Buffet.

Bring toys to keep them occupied and of course a stroller. You will not be able to do much excursions so plan on doing some port shopping, exploring and beach.

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I would book a ship that has swim facilities where the toddler can play in swim diapers. RCI (on oasis) had a dedicated swim pool for toddlers in swim diapers.

I took my DS when he was 2 on a 10 day cruise with NCL and he was fine..they had a tiny swim pool that toddlers with swim diapers could play in.. as for meals, i would prepare to be flexible. You can definitely dine at the MDR but I would suggest choose the earliest time and have them bring your food out asap (normally they say to allow 2 hours for dining) otherwise you will be eating at the buffet most nights. My son developed Bronchitis on the boat and we ended up doing alot of room service and eating at the Buffet.

Bring toys to keep them occupied and of course a stroller. You will not be able to do much excursions so plan on doing some port shopping, exploring and beach.

No NCL ships have pools or splash areas for diapered kids, the one your ds swam in is for potty trained kids. There was a sign next to that pool stating this. Actally, there aren't any ships with pools for diapered kids, the areas on DCL and RCL are just splash areas with no water build up.

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No pools allow swim diapers, and only a handful of ships have splash areas for diapered children (DCL and some RCL ships).

Actually the NCL Pearl does have a small enclosed pool for babies and toddlers that specifically saythey must wear swim up diapers unless this has changed in the past 2 years as that is where my son played majority of the time with other kids club staff.

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Actually the NCL Pearl does have a small enclosed pool for babies and toddlers that specifically saythey must wear swim up diapers unless this has changed in the past 2 years as that is where my son played majority of the time with other kids club staff.

I think you misread the signage (and I don't doubt there were others in swim diapers, NCL is not known for enforcing the rules).

https://www.ncl.com/faq%2523pool-regulations

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Since the Pearl is sailing out of the US, she must follow the USPH regulations, and those for "infant only recreational water facilities" are quite strict, and requires special construction, which to my knowledge, none of the NCL ships have undergone. First, the water supply must be separate from any other water facility, it must be separated from other water facilities to prevent cross-contamination, it must have a higher turn-over rate of water filtration and chlorination, and it must have a UV sterilizer for the water as it is circulated. Operationally, there must be a crew member stationed at the splash area at all times that it is open, and there must be a changing facility near by with a supply of swim diapers provided. If any of these things are missing, the splash area is not for diapered children.

 

Note that I say "splash area", because the design of these areas, per USPH requirements is that there is no standing water, meaning it drains away immediately. Now, the newer RCI ships have gone to an infant only splash area that has 2" of water, and this was done with approval of USPH because they were finding that the kids were burning their feet on the splash area deck. This is up for review, and USPH is reviewing their construction and operations manuals at this time, so newer infant only splash areas may be allowed to have up to 2" of standing water.

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Babies, toddlers and cruise ships as you found out are an exhausting combination. I am not a child hater, I am a realistic Grandmother. I feel sorry for the babies who belong at home in there own bed and normal routine. And the poor mom who ends up being on 24/7 alert and ends up exhausted.

 

I have kept my grandchildren in several occasions so that their parents could actually enjoy a cruise. Was happy I was able to do it and remember those occasional special vacations when my Mother in Law did this for us! Folks babies and tiny people just don't belong on cruise ships, leave them with grandma and enjoy a break. JMHO :)

 

 

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You are a very fortunate Grandmother. I too am a Grandmother but apparently not in the same "boat" as you. We have custody of our Grandson who is 11 months old. Are you suggesting that we should not be traveling and hope that our "parents" should take care of him? I would love for my parents to take care of him but they have been dead for some years. We are not going to stay home and not travel. This baby will be well traveled and will experience much more of life than a child who never leaves the city or state they are born in. I will suggest that you open your closed mind and think of different situations that would require a person to take their children with them. Some people actually like being around their kids and want them to experience eating in restuarants and being around other people.

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I am sorry for your tough position, but impressed that you stepped up to take custody.

 

The reason JV got very little response is because a person who comes onto the family forum of a cruise message board, and posts that kind of sentiment, is not generally taken very seriously. They are perfectly entitled to their opinion, but preaching it here is somewhat like telling the church choir that they really ought to get drunk more often... it does not compute.

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I am sorry for your tough position, but impressed that you stepped up to take custody.

 

The reason JV got very little response is because a person who comes onto the family forum of a cruise message board, and posts that kind of sentiment, is not generally taken very seriously. They are perfectly entitled to their opinion, but preaching it here is somewhat like telling the church choir that they really ought to get drunk more often... it does not compute.

 

Exactly! The thread is filled with plenty of other families that travel with babies and small children, and enjoy doing so.

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We were on the Jewel last year with our daughter who was 22 months at the time. The toddler play room (they call it the Guppies room) was right behind the kids pool, and it was free. We went there every day to give her a place to play with toys. They swapped out a lot of the toys everyday. There are also 1 or 2 toddler play times per day in the Splash Academy (NOT in the Guppies playroom, we missed several because we were confused about this), at either 12 or 12:30pm and again at 5 or 5:30pm. Those are hosted by a Splash Academy crew member and have art or dancing activities, but still a parent has to attend. There's no sign up for those, you just show up. They'll be listed in the Freestyle Daily.

 

As for the kids pool, there were signs saying absolutely no swim diapers, but there were many kids wearing swim diapers, both in the pool and in the hot tub that's right next to it. I'm kind of a stickler for rules, so I didn't let my daughter in, but many other parents did. We brought a small inflatable pool and put it on our balcony for her to play in (we filled it up with the ice bucket).

 

We ate most of our meals in the buffet. At the front of the buffet there's a little kids area with small chairs and tables and small kid-friendly foods in a small buffet setting there, including single-serving milk cartons. We tried the main dining room once and it just took too long. We did all enjoy eating at Teppanyaki though. We didn't order anything special for my daughter, just let her eat out of our plates, and there was plenty of food. Everywhere we went the crew loved her and loved playing with her.

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Thank you Apsalar - that is VERY helpful. I guess it might not be quite the same when we sail on Jewel this December (different crew, different country etc) but that is just the sort of info I was after - someone's first hand experience.

 

 

 

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  • 5 months later...
With regards to pools/splash areas for non-potty trained children, no NCL ships have these. The only ships out there that do, are the Disney ships, and RCI's Freedom, Oasis, and Quantum class ships.

this is not a true statement, a lot of NCL ships do. Even the older Gem as a toddler pool ....Breakaway and Escape have splash pads

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I’ll be traveling with my 2 1/2 and my soon to be 10 year old. My toddler son is the poster child for terrible two but I won’t allow it to deter me from traveling. Just be realistic and have a great time.

 

 

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this is not a true statement, a lot of NCL ships do. Even the older Gem as a toddler pool ....Breakaway and Escape have splash pads

 

While the ships may have a splash pad, there is a difference between a children's splash pad and a splash pad designed to meet USPH requirements for an "baby only" recreational water facility, as defined here in the USPH/CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) Operations Manual found here, in Annex 13.7:

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj1taGo-OPYAhVEC6wKHeb-D1sQFgg7MAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fnceh%2Fvsp%2Foperationsmanual%2Fopsmanual2011.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3R9sGPSa8gudKwseUMu2SN

 

Please note the introductory paragraph:

 

"13.7 Baby-only Water Facility

 

For use by children who are in diapers or who are not completely toilet trained.

 

13.7.1 IntroductionVSP recognizes the increased desire of passengers to allow children who are indiapers or who are not completely toilet trained to use RWFs. With that in mind,the following are requirements for operating a RWF for the sole use by childrenwho are in diapers or who are not completely toilet trained. Each cruise line isrequired to submit a VARIANCE request to operate this type of facility."

 

The section goes on to describe the design, construction, and operation of these special splash areas, that make them unique from general kid's splash areas on ships, most notably the requirement for a completely separate water supply, a higher turn-over filtration rate, the installation of a UV-sterilizer system for the water, and the requirement for a full time crew member to be assigned to the baby only splash area.

 

If there is no sign at the splash area specifically allowing swim diapers (and the recommended signage is also included in the VSP Manual), then they are not allowed.

 

In addition to my previous post, a couple of ships have retrofitted baby only splash areas, but these are a couple of the RCI Vision class. NCL still does not have any splash areas where swim diapers are allowed.

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this is not a true statement, a lot of NCL ships do. Even the older Gem as a toddler pool ....Breakaway and Escape have splash pads

Absolutely untrue. No NCL ships have any water play areas for diapered children. Do some have splash pads? Yes. Do some have small little pools? Yes. Can non potty trained children use them ? No, and there are signs posted.

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I know on the ncl jewel they had a toddler area outside of the kids club and it was for little ones, my 3 year olds were potty trained but I don’t remember signs excluding swim diapers, they even had a hot tub for just the kiddos.

Yes, for little potty trained kids. And the thought of a diapered kid in any hot tub? OMG.

 

ETA, DCL and some RCCL ships have splash areas for those in swim diapers. No ships have actual pools where the diapered bottom touches the water, no cruise line.

Edited by mjkacmom
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Yes, for little potty trained kids. And the thought of a diapered kid in any hot tub? OMG.

 

ETA, DCL and some RCCL ships have splash areas for those in swim diapers. No ships have actual pools where the diapered bottom touches the water, no cruise line.

 

The original design criteria from USPH/CDC for swim diaper splash areas was that there could be no standing water, only the wet deck, and water had to drain away immediately. I have been in contact with USPH concerning this, as the Quantum class ships have swim diaper splash areas where the water is allowed to be 2" deep. USPH responded that they received a deviation request from RCI regarding this, as there were many complaints about burned feet from the hot splash pad decks, and they granted the deviation for the Quantum class ships and will be studying. The VSP manual is undergoing its periodic revision, and the new rules may reflect this allowance for standing water in the swim diaper area. The water still needs to pass a UV sterilizer (which other pools and splash pads don't), so I believe this is why the USPH granted the deviation that allows the diaper to get into the water, if the kid sits down.

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