Rare xpcdoojk Posted June 16, 2004 #26 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Karen, you are right, but you should post your question anyway. Ignore those that want to flame you, and focus on the information you can get. There is a lot of smart people in this forum and they can help you by sharing your experiences. jc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJS Posted June 21, 2004 #27 Share Posted June 21, 2004 [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swmichigan cruiser Posted June 22, 2004 #28 Share Posted June 22, 2004 A few thoughts about the passport for children we've taken our grandson on two cruises so far and having a passport makes it real easy also if its not your own child don't forget a notarized letter from his parents or parent whose not there letting them leave the country and also allowing medical attention if needed. Our grandson was about 3 1/2 on his first cruise and a little over 4 1/2 on his last cruise neither on RCCL and spent the entire time with us and the crew members on both ship really enjoyed him I think part of it was because they miss seeing there own children so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimanjo Posted June 22, 2004 #29 Share Posted June 22, 2004 We started cruising 11 years ago when our daughter was just 6 months old. Second cruise when she was 11 months, 3rd cruise at 16 months...on and on it goes. She is a very experienced, self-sufficient traveler! The most recent cruise we did was Asia in the Legend/Seas when she was 8, and we were there for over a month. (We are WAY overdue and we will be cruising again next month!) A very big hint for you: what made the traveling easier was using a portable stroller (of course)--BUT ALSO I had a big "sling"--can't remember the brand name of the company but they must still make them) that I would put over my shoulder and carry toddler around in when her legs got tired or if we didn't want to bring the stroller. This cloth sling got us through a lot of travelling in South America. You carry the toddler on you hip so much anyway, the sling just supports the child more comfortably for you. It works for children up to age 4. I used to get really nasty messages from some people about bringing our girl. What's the problem? She was an incredibly well-behaved child, never cried (probably because she was held by mom in the hip sling so much--have you ever noticed how children don't seem to cry if they are held a lot?) and we were very considerate of other cruisers. I think some of these (almost always older) people resented the fact that when THEY were younger THIER parents never took them on a family trip! We had this cruisng thing with a toddler down to a science. We love formal dining, and so many people would ask, how could you get a toddler to sit through such a long dinner? Here's the secret: First: look over the dinner menu during the day and determine what you will order. Second: send one parent down to dining room at dinner to order for the non-present other parent and the child. Appx 15 mins later, other parent with child goes to dining room where table is already set and orders arriving from the kitchen. Third: toddler gets fidgety usually by end of main course. Solution: order dessert, and meanwhile, parent takes toddler for a "walk" outside dining room to stretch legs. Fourth: parent returns to dining room with toddler just in time for dessert! Fifth: big secret is to keep child quietly entertained. We traveled with a nice collection of portable small toys that toddler could quietly play with at table---she had a beautful set of Polly Pockets in their own-self contained cases, and they were so tiny! as well as mini Legos, a mini Etch-A-Sketch, teeny tiny animal creatures she could line up... We made a point of trying to do things our child would appreciate in each port. One thing was trying to hunt down toys in a store--a great thing in Homg Kong, not so easily done in Venezuela. Another thing we did was try to go to a Burger King or McDonalds for a Kid's Meal in each port--some of them, for example, Martinique and San Juan--are just beautiful old buildings. Third, we always looked for a grassy area or a park or plaza where she could run her little legs off...A wonderful plaza in San Juan where you can buy bags of crumbs to feed the pigeons...A carriage horse ride in Nassau...The pygmy Cuna Indians of the San Blas islands who were no bigger than she...All of these things were what she could relate to and understand. Believe me, it takes concentration and planning, but the rewards are well worth it! P.S. If you are interested in a hip sling, just go to Google and put in "hip sling toddler infant" and you will see lots of photos and samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRUZ-AHOLIC Posted June 24, 2004 #30 Share Posted June 24, 2004 kimanjo, sounds like you, as well as other posters here, are responsible parents who go the extra mile for the family. I have to congratulate all of you for that. I think the reason why a lot of people here don't like the 'youngins' on a cruise is because a good many kids don't have responsible parents like you are. Therefore you see many behaviors that make people say, 'no kids!'. I have a 13 yr old daughter. Like you, I make sure she is properly well-behaved. But there are the other kids. You know them. It's happened to all of us: - You're trying to go from Deck 2 to Deck 14, but it's an exceedingly slow process because 'someone' has pressed every button and left. - You're trying to walk down an already narrow hallway, and some kids on the loose nearly run you down trying to get past - You're trying to go upstairs/downstairs but have found it more difficult because of unsupervised young ones running up/down the stairs. - You're trying to enjoy dinner or the show but are finding it difficult because some parent does not want to take their screaming child out. THESE are the kids people remember, unfortunately. Not the well-behaved, well-looked after kids. Anyone wondering why kids are slammed on this board might do well to consider this. kimanjo, I WISH every parent were as responsible as you. But until they start thinking of their responsibilities as a parent and stop thinking of a cruise ship as a giant 'playland' for kids with the right to set them loose, this isn't likely to happen. Just my thought on the matter, Cindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted July 4, 2004 Author #31 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Just a quick update. We received our daughter's passport back in just under three weeks. It was issues two weeks to the day of when we turned it in. Not bad for the middle of the summer travel season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookit Posted July 4, 2004 #32 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Cruz Aholic, It IS the WELL BEHAVED kids I notice -- unfortunately, they "stand out"! Bookit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.