Crusing with a 3 year old - may be some daft questions

[woodmill100]

We've been looking at a holiday this year. Don't want to travel longhaul from the UK and many European holiday destinations are not us so we keep coming back to cruising.

 

Now, our son will be 3 when we plan to go in September.

 

We are going to have to look at itinerary closely as there is no way he'd be able to spend a day in somewhere like Rome. In fact we're going to struggle with any sort of city port as he will just get bored and will only sit for may be an hour in his stroller. At 3 years old he's happiest playing and swimming.

 

So, those of you who have cruised with toddlers, what do you recommend? Do you just miss out on the busy city ports and stay onboard? I know the cruiselines cater very well for young children (we are considering P&O direct from Southampton) but is there enough everday if we don't leave the ship over a 14 night cruise?

 

I am just not sure if a cruise is right at age 3 and we should may be look at a resort on the med instead.

 

Any thoughts and thanks for reading.

[onthelake]

You know your son best. We started cruising with our son when he was about 18 months. We never passed up something we wanted to do because he might not enjoy it although we did sometimes 'trade-off' so, for instance, I could go on a white water trip, etc. Certainly a port like Venice gives an opportunity to travel by vaparetto for the little one while visiting San Marco, Murano, etc. There used to be (maybe still is) a great playground just below the palace in Monte Carlo. I agree Rome is tough but you can get off the ship and walk around the port city and still enjoy the day. I don't think you need to spend all the time on the ship in order to have a good time for the whole family. But, if you are apprehensive, maybe a resort is a better choice.

[Onessa]

Our DD (now 15+YO - starting driver's ed tonight! :eek:) has been cruising / traveling with us since shortly after her birth. The cruise vacations were among the most enjoyable during the toddler years.

 

Look for itineraries where the port is near the city -- Rome, Florenence, even Athens tend to involve too long of a car/bus trip to really interest a 3YO. Our DD thoroughly enjoyed Venice when she was not quite 4YO -- there are play parks and birds and boats and gelato and all sort of interesting things. Rather than trecking all the way to Florence on that trip, we took a train to Lucca -- she liked the train ride (nice length) and enjoyed running about on top the wall. (We did Florence as part of a land trip a year later and while she had a great time there, DH and I both agreed that a bus from the port to Florence would have been way too much!). Mykonos is pretty accessible and has nice beaches. Ditto Split.

 

I would "count" on spending a bit more time on board than you may otherwise -- but there are lots of activities on board that will keep you all occupied and many benefits to being among the few to stay on board while the other pax wander off.

[queenL]

I say go for it. We took our DD to Rome when she was 3. She has been cruising with us since she was 5 mos. She loves it just as much as we do. You do know your child best but we see no problems cruising with her and prefer it to land trips. I think I prefer the Caribbean best with her. Short flights, warm weather, no vaccinations, no major time changes make it the easiest for us. However, we will go to any country with her that we feel is safe.

[Mom2B&Z]

...is try and stick to your usual routines. DS2 had just turned 3 when we cruised in January and we found he was much happier when he had his meals and naps at his usual times. This meant giving up several hours in some ports, but that's reality when cruising with a 3yo. As for travel, DS2 loved the water taxis and car rides at port, but he is used to travelling 1hr+ in the car on a regular basis.

DS2 did enjoy reading simple books about the places we were going to visit, so he had some things to look forward to and could recognize from his books. You may want to try something like that considering the rich history of the places you will be visiting.