magicbananas

Haha. I would have been allowed to. I actually chose the bungalow (which has a similar listed requirement), and it’s true you only have to have one person book, and there wasn’t an enforced minimum. However, RCCL made an error with their sailings (supposedly) and mid cruise scheduled two ships in the same port and gave away my excursion to someone else.

We ended up with the clamshell lounger.

That's because you are selecting them. Don't. Put it in one person's name. When you get to Coco Cay they will let you have more people. But only book it for 1 person.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info! What would we do without these boards?

It's not priced per person. One person books it, up to 8 people I believe can use it. I know when you book it looks like you have to add and pay for everyone but that isn't the case.

As for not doing any excursions, with the 2 year old hanging out in a cabana by the beach might be your best bet. Also check out the beach bungalows, which are pretty similar and much cheaper.

Hmm, when I put anything in my shopping cart (bungalow, bed, whatever) it totals out to whatever the price x number of adults. Edit: unless you meant i only need to check off myself.

Hello,

We are planning our second RCCL cruise, the 9 day Bermuda/Bahamas. We did the 5 day Bermuda tour, so we can manage without an excursion on that trip (already plotted out the beaches, etc.), but with the Bahamas stops (Nassau/Coco Cay), I'm looking for recommendations.

First off, we will have our 2 year old, so excursions are limited in that sense. My specific questions (though other recommendations are welcome) are about Coco Cay. I understand it's owned by RC, drink packages apply, all of that, but:

- what are the options if I DON'T book an excursion?

- if I book a cabana, I notice it's priced per person, so is it shared?

All other advice is welcome!

I'm a mom of an almost 2 year old. We went on the 5 day Grandeur to Bermuda last summer as our first trip with our toddler. Our reasoning was that the port was a short drive from our home, so we could travel to a beautiful place without having the stress of a flight or long drive with an 18 month old.

So first off, no, you can't take the kid in the pool. We also only tried the daycare once, but no one was there... there was free play in the very small area, but a parent needed to be there. Someone did eventually show up, but we opted to just keep our child with us (just kind of felt bad leaving her, that was just our choice, she was pretty anxious at the time).

As far as things to do on the ship, there are shows in the centrum with lots of lights and music (totally awesome for the kid), walking around and exploring, food. Honestly, your child is just going to be taking in the sights with you.

Additionally, the other cruisers and staff LOVED the kids. Obviously, you won't be in the solarium with a child, but the staff will remember your kid and are super accommodating. We are actually planning to do it again, hopefully with a potty trained toddler. :-)

I have a thread about traveling with a kid around here, from when I was planning my last cruise. Not sure about your room arrangements, but we borrowed a pack and play from the ship, and someone on here had the excellent suggestion to bring a shower curtain and some magnetic hooks (bought from amazon). You can hang the curtain around the pack and play to block off that section for naps and bedtime.

I've only been on 2 so far, and this is so minor, but I love being on our balcony as we set sail. It's just exciting to me to watch our home port drift away!

Yes! I just grabbed the same price on our Adventure sailing in March! I've never seen it that low!

 

I can see why they offer these sales. I would never consider a drink package at $50+/night; but I am seriously considering it at $38. Probably helps them to test the price point tolerance of various customers sailing at different times on different ships etc . . . I'm sure there's a master algorithm for all of this somewhere . . .

True! We did a much shorter cruise last year and bought a drink package after doing the math and all of that. Plus it was nice to just have everything paid for and a low bill at the end of the trip. It was also nice to just be able to try something new without worrying about having paid for something I wouldn't like.

We have a 9 night booked for Grandeur next summer, and the deluxe package is $38!

Alright, thanks, we moved back to 7532. The only other choices were right on the centrum, or mid-ship but too far from the steps. Thanks!

Yeah, I was going to move slightly mid ship, but the availability for 3 people (we have a toddler) wasn't really there. The last time we stayed near the centrum, which was great for the most part, save a super loud show the last night, but having to navigate to the other end of the ship for food (especially if we were running to the windjammer to bring it back due to naptime) was a pain. There is more availability closer to the forward steps (so a few rooms back from 7524), but I'm wondering if it's worth it to move?

Hello! We previously sailed on Grandeur of the Seas on a shorter itinerary. We stayed mid-ship at 7598, which was quiet unless there was a show in the centrum (the last night). This time, we want something closer to the Windjammer, and so far I've booked 7524.... but is that going to be too noisy since the theater is so close? Would it be worth it to move a few cabins toward the stairs (around 7530)? We have only ever stayed mid ship so any advice is appreciated.

There is a small beach right at the Dockyard called Snorkel Park. It is a man made beach and really not one of the pretty Bermuda beaches. It is about a five minute walk from where the ships dock. There is an admission fee of, I believe, $5 per person, the baby would probably be free, but not sure. They have rental items and food and drinks and it is really close to the ship if you need to return for nap time. The admission fee is for all day. Keep the receipt and you can come and go during the day. It is a good beach for little ones since it does not get deep really fast and is protected from big waves.

Thanks so much. I think that might be good for the shorter day (ship leaves around noon) and I'll venture over to Tobacco Bay for the full day. Based on posts here and in other threads, it looks like there are a lot of facilities and even if I need a taxi, it's pretty straightforward.

I'm the shower curtain and magnetic hook mom ;)

 

We've been doing it for years now. Taking my son on his 8th cruise in a few weeks. He's 3 now. If you check out my reviews in my signature I wrote about cruising with babies/ toddlers a lot. For some ideas check out my reviews on:

 

Carnival Glory, son was 10 months.

Enchantment in 2014- he was 14 months.

Carnival Breeze 2014- he was 17 months

Brilliance- he was 19 months.

 

They are rather lengthy but I wrote about traveling with a little one because so much info was lacking on the Internet!

You are amazing! Thanks so much.

Well that certainly narrows it down a bit! To clarify, by accessible, I meant "within reasonable walking distance".

I'll look into these, thanks so much!

Wow, I've never heard of someone potty-training a 1-year-old.

Well, almost 18 months. We were just seeing if she was interested today, and she did really well, so it would be great if it worked out! ETA: When your baby is off the growth charts and is the size of a 3 year old, you start to run out of diaper size options!

We did a cruise with my son when he was a little older than 18 months. His bedtime at home was around 7, but we found that the cruise got him so tuckered out that he did a much longer afternoon nap and then wound up staying up until 8 most nights. I brought a book-light and my husband uses a Kindle, so we just read in bed until my son fell asleep. (He slept on the pull out couch with a side rail added by our steward.) Sometimes, we would watch a movie in bed after my son was asleep and sometimes one of us would wander the ship while the other stayed behind in the cabin.

 

On our land-based vacation last year, we discovered -- much like Kerry's Girl -- that we could pop our son into his stroller once he was asleep, cover the stroller with a towel or blanket -- and go out. It was nice to have the option of having an adult dinner or just a walk in the evening.

I'm definitely hoping we can do the stroller thing! I have hope that as long we have "blankie" she'll be ok to sleep anywhere.

Sounds like yours may be more wake-able' date=' but I used let mine fall asleep, then put them in the stroller with a beach towel over to hide the light and wander around the ship until my bedtime. They're so zonked by the busy vacation day, they go down hard. You could walk around on deck and have a drink/look at the stars, etc if you want to keep it quiet and dark.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

It's more the "falling asleep" that will be an issue, but I think as long as we have a visual barrier (like a curtain) we will be ok. We can always sit on the balcony until she falls asleep. I was hoping we could block off the "sitting area" so that we could sit on the bed and she could sleep in that section.

Thanks for all the responses! I didn't see them until now, for some reason. I'm worrying less, just trying to figure out my list of things to pack (of course I am, as established upthread :D).

In another post about sleeping arrangements, I saw it mentioned that I can use magnetic shower hooks and a curtain (shower curtain, I guess?) to block off some space for my child's sleeping area (she goes to sleep at 6.. yes, she sleeps 6pm to 7 or 8am, so I'm probably going to have to use the on ship/nursery or babysitting at some point). Is this something that will work to at least create some kind of barrier? We are in a balcony D1 stateroom, so I'm open to suggestions (even if they are "try to upgrade").

As an aside, I asked my husband, after reading these replies if he would say I'm a "Type A planner type", and he laughed like he couldn't believe I was serious. The answer was "Yes." :rolleyes:

Hello,

I'm traveling to Bermuda on RCI in May. I've never been, and we are traveling with a 1 year old (who will hopefully be potty trained, but possibly not). I'm looking for a good beach recommendation, accessible by ferry, and with facilities/rental accommodations.

Thanks!

Every ship I've been on they are. Our little one was 20 months and we were on Celebrity - I know RCCL has tome toddler stuff on some of there ships -

 

here is a previous post I did

 

Bath Time - We were with family that had a cabin with a bath - but the general rule of thumb that i've seen posted is that if you get a small inflatable tub/pool you can use that.

 

Changing stations - We were on celebrity - but my understanding is that most of the lines don't have changing stations - we did a couple of floor changes in the bathrooms

1) We brought diaper trash bags with us

2) We planned / timed as best we could what we were doing to do diaper changes before we left for things

 

Activities - Celebrity had "toddler" time in the kids club where the under 3 (their minimum for the kids club) could come and play with the blocks and toys with a parent

 

We did a lot of walking around / exploring the ship - and we got off in every port just to walk around and have a change of scenery

 

The biggest thing I can say is be flexible and realistic as to what your child can / will do and what their attention span is. For example at meals (regardless of the buffet or MDR) my wife and I sometimes traded off walking around with little one and eating as he wasn't going to sit through that long a meal without being very unhappy

Thank you so much, that sounds easy enough to do. I am hoping that we won't be stuck on the balcony from 6 until whenever we want to sleep. :) Her early bedtime is so convenient at home, but when I realized that we would be in such close quarters, I realized it might be more difficult.

One thing we did was to get some magnetic hooks at a dark cloth shower curtain which we put around the pack-n-play

 

It was enough to block out the light and our little one was fine with it.

 

WOW! on having little one in bed by 6. I believe RCCL offers babysitting, if in bed that early you may want to take advantage of that.

 

The biggest thing is to be flexibly and remember you are on vacation - schedule may not be 100% like at home

Thanks! So are the cabin ceilings magnetic (I assume that is where the hooks go)?

Hello,

Not my first cruise, but first with a toddler (18 months) is coming up. She goes to bed around 6, which is great at home, but I'm not sure what to do about it on the ship, so I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience with this. We are traveling on RCCL Grandeur of the Seas in a balcony cabin. I've never used this cruiseline, so I'm wondering if there is anywhere "out of the way" in the cabin that we could set her up to sleep so that we aren't constantly waking her up?

If you've ever traveled with a toddler, would you recommend trying to upgrade for space/sleeping reasons (may not be possible, we leave at the end of May)? My previous cruise was a junior suite on Carnival Pride, and there was a small vanity/closet area outside of the bathroom that would have been easy enough to put her sleeping place in (the little room, not the closet), since there was at least a door to close to provide a slight noise barrier.

I'm open to suggestions and any advice!

Thanks, all. I spoke with a travel agent at AAA who has sent a request to handle my reservation. He actually seemed to know what he was talking about (and he called me back within a few hours), and seemed annoyed that the rep I had spoken to couldn't understand that I needed to reserve a pack and play. I haven't even done much yet, since we have to wait for the reservation to be transferred to the agency, but I already feel more at ease.

Thanks again, and special shout out to PP who pointed out that I COULD switch to using an agent!

Thanks, I called and left a message with "my vacation planner". Hopefully he replies soon.

Hello! This board was recommended to me from the Royal Caribbean board (my original post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49217271#post49217271).

We are cruising in May from Baltimore to Bermuda on Grandeur. I've had a little bit of an issue with communication from RC reps, so I'm hoping that some more experienced cruisers can give me any recommendations or advice for traveling with a toddler? This is our first ever vacation as a family of three, and only my second cruise, so any and all advice is welcome.