What is it REALLY like cruising with young kids?

[alcie]

We're taking our two DD's ages 6 and 3 on RCCL FOS in July. I know it won't be as relaxing as our last cruise pre-kids but I'm curious what it's really like on-board with kids. Do you find yourself going from one activity to another all day long or do kids tend to mellow out a little once on-board?

[cb at sea]

Both are of age to use the kid's club...you may never even SEE your kids!

 

Yes...they will get into a routine pretty quickly!

[cantw8togo]

It really depends on your kids. We have 2 DS's now 7 & 10, but have been cruising since they were 6 months old. Ours have never been fans of the kids clubs so they hang out with us; we go to the pool, play ping pong, go on the flowrider and go rock climbing, go to the arcade etc. We usually have some quiet time in the cabin in the afternoon for a couple of hours. Sometimes we pick up some lego kits before we board to give them something special to play with in the cabin. We usually try to get a balcony cabin so that we have a bit of extra space to hang out.

 

That's just us, but other families with kids that are higher energy or are more extroverted may have a completely different experience. We usually encourage our kids to check out the kids club for a short while to see if they like it, especially since we have never been on the same cruiseline twice, but they never seem that interested. Sometimes DH or I will take both kids out to do something so that the other one has some time to themselves, but it is truly family time when we cruise.

[cinanina]

I think it's great, with ir without kids club, there's always lots of activities and the ports we have been doing are amazing so the children love it as well, beach or just a stroll around a beautifull city having some ice cream and going on the merry-go-round or something. Some problems I encountered were: sometimes my son gets fed up of port strolling/culture/walking around and just wants to get back to the pool :cool: it gets a bit annoying when you're in Capri or in Mykonos to have someone around asking to go back a bit earlier... it was worst when we went with my mother in law 'cause she kind of backed him and so they just waited in some coffee-shop having ice cream while we were discovering the city and trying to hurry up so they wouldn't have to be waiting for us... not so nice... when your in Florence or in Malta and they get to the port and "check, been here, lets go back to the ship 'cause it gets tyring to walkkkk"

Another thing which I found particularly unconfortable but there I think it depends on the cruiseline you choose is beeing put waiting on port (docks) with small children in the sun with no shade or water for like hours........ it's really something I didn't expect. Small children cannot stay in the sun with 35ºC / 40ºC just waiting and waiting and once it was like 12h00 so we couldn't even try to shade them with our bodies, its terrible. I find that to be extremely dangerous and it can get a small kid to hospital, they should be more carefull about it. But when it gets chaotic and there's no one to pick you up on port, you just have to wait and wait and wait, standing up in the sun... and wathc your children nearly faint with the heat... :( not nice, I find, and there's nothing you can do about it, no crew member around, no dock staff, they just leave you in the middle of nowhere waiting for the next bus and you're on your own.

For the rest, I find it to be very relaxing, always something to do and it's an easy way to move around and see many places without too much hussle with the luggage. I find it a great option, I just think you have to be carefull with the cruiseline options, pay more but have a good organised cruise.

[IttaBit]

I personally love cruising with my kids. They get so excited seeing all the new things and I love seeing how happy and excited they get. Granted, you probably aren't going to stay out until 2am at the dance club like you may have prior to having kids, but if you're anything like me, you no longer have the energy anyway. :p As far as routines, I find it easiest to keep mealtimes, naps, and bedtimes as close to your home schedule as possible. If your 3 yo takes a nap at home, schedule some downtime around the same time on the ship. It will save headaches, meltdowns, and make the trip more enjoyable for everyone.

[jnolan3199]

Exhausting!

 

I would not vacation without my girls (2.5 year old twins), but it is honestly exhausting. We just recently got back from our first family cruise. From the packing beforehand to managing all of the small emergencies during, to getting back home, it's a lot to do. Maybe it was because it was our first cruise and I was extra anal about it, I just thought it was a lot of work. We enjoyed ourselves which is really important, but it's definitely a change from vacationing along to be the mama on a vacation. Having the kids there is a challenge, but DEFINITELY worth it.

[Cheryl H]

We took our 3 year old on a Canada/New England one. Loved it! He did not get to participate in Adventure Ocean or go swimming, but we still had a great time. We will get to participate next time though.

 

We had a family oceanview cabin so the extra square footage helped. We took our portable DVD and some favorite DVD's to play in our room. I let him take his leapster game and earphones to the main dining room. We took a whole drawer full of toys, but he never played with them. He played making soup with the ice bucket and tongs. Plus we let him buy a toy in a couple of the ports. He loved any excursion that had a motorcoach.

 

Also we let him borrow our point and shoot digital camera. He loved taking pictures.

 

He particularly liked walking around the ship with us and walking up and down the stairs.

 

There's some photos of our trip below if you'd like to see them.

 

I can't remember for sure what we did on the at sea day, but I'm sure we kept busy.

[Julienatul]

Its certainly busy but definitely enjoyable. You dont have as much free time or down time as you did pre-kids but then again when do you ever get that at home either. Your life changes. My kids age 5 and 2 LOVE cruises. They get to eat whatever they want, play all day, swim and play at the beaches and pools, go down the water slides, play putt putt golf, have dessert with dinner each evening, dance to music, dress up fancy for dinners, get to see shows each evening and best of all get quality time with mom and dad all week.

[cantw8togo]

It gets a bit annoying when you're in Capri or in Mykonos to have someone around asking to go back a bit earlier...

 

I think this is less of issue when you are on a beach type cruise in the Caribbean, but it can be frustrating when you are on a port intensive cruise that is historical, cultural or very scenic.

 

I was a bit reluctant to take our kids to Alaska when they were 5 & 8, but my MIL wanted them to come along and this trip was for her. They were a bit young to appreciate the history and beauty of the area and a couple of times they wanted to play and I wanted to stay and watch the glaciers in Glacier Bay. I explained that this area wouldn't look the same when or IF they ever get back and that if they didn't want to watch, that they were welcome to go to the kids club. That was the one trip that they spent the most time at a Kids Club. I would love to go back when they are older and I look forward to when they are old enough to appreciate the things that they would see in Europe or Alaska.

 

Another thing which I found particularly unconfortable but there I think it depends on the cruiseline you choose is beeing put waiting on port (docks) with small children in the sun with no shade or water for like hours........ it's really something I didn't expect. Small children cannot stay in the sun with 35ºC / 40ºC just waiting and waiting and once it was like 12h00 so we couldn't even try to shade them with our bodies, its terrible. I find that to be extremely dangerous and it can get a small kid to hospital, they should be more carefull about it. But when it gets chaotic and there's no one to pick you up on port, you just have to wait and wait and wait, standing up in the sun... and wathc your children nearly faint with the heat... :( not nice, I find, and there's nothing you can do about it, no crew member around, no dock staff, they just leave you in the middle of nowhere waiting for the next bus and you're on your own.

 

Cinanina, was this a ship sponsored excursion? Is this a chronic problem with a certain cruiseline or do they all encounter this problem? It's not just "not nice," but downright dangerous. If there had been a death due to heat stroke, I wonder how long they would allow those conditions to continue?

[malley]

Our son is 3 1/2 and was overwelmed the first night. We ate in the windjammer and he was alsleep by 8pm but after a good nights sleep he loved it. We stayed on VOS so it is a lot like FOS. He liked the mini golf, watching people climb rock climbing wall, eating tons and tons of pizza and just talking to people. He also loved going to Adventure Ocean everynight from 7pm-10pm. They had pirate night, super hero training night, and even a cute "camp-out" night.

He went to the ports with us but we didn't do any excursions. We did rent a Jeep in Cozumel and the company even had carseats for us!

[cinanina]

Cinanina, was this a ship sponsored excursion? Is this a chronic problem with a certain cruiseline or do they all encounter this problem? It's not just "not nice," but downright dangerous. If there had been a death due to heat stroke, I wonder how long they would allow those conditions to continue?

This is when the ship arrived on port. They would take us to a dock area, for ex, and then leave us there waiting for the transfer bus. The transfer bus would take long to arrive and when it did, there were so many people waiting and since no staff around, people would just quickly run to the bus and take all the buses. The next 100 people would keep waiting, and waiting for the next bus, then another 100 would arrive, another bus would come after 10 minutes and all the people would run, I didn't want my 9 month baby in the middle of all that running and confusion so we just kept waiting with the older folks or those like us with small children and who wouldn't want to get inside the chaotic running crowds...

Another one I remember was in Malta, beautifull gorgeous lovely wonderfull place. You arrive on port and nice, it's just next to the bus stop. Except there is no shadow, it's in a really narrow sidewalk with cars passing by and no space for the stroller and the bus would not arrive, and would not arrive, and would not arrive and would not arrive and.... no information, passengers keep coming running to the one or 2 taxis which passed by and it's not good.

You can say, it's not the fault of the cruiseline... it is, yes, because other cruiselines will keep a shade for you and organise it so you don't have to wait in the sun, keep water and fresh towels next to the entrance to the boats and will not allow for you to stay in places like that, will eg organise a special shuttle that will be waiting for you for a small amount like 5$ to take you up to town so you don't have to wait for public transport or inexistant taxis... good cruiselines will have it all figured out so children and elderly people are not put in unconfortable situations...

[cinanina]

Needless to say I do not consider that particular cruiseline an option any longer and have just booked with a different one for July... hoping it will all turn out well... we are doing another lovely itinerary and the children are older now (7 and 2). With babies it's a bit more complicated... I got more nervous and worried more but chose this type of holiday because I didn't think doing a beach holiday would be an option, since the baby shouldn't catch sun so we thought this would be a nice relaxing holiday, reading by the balcony while the baby took a nap... not really, there were some inconveniences with long lines and too much waiting in the sun which I found to be not so good for the baby. She did allright, though, I think she liked it although of course she was still just a small baby

 

Here's some pictures of my children on that trip

 

In Malta

 

 

In Florence

 

In Nice

 

 

 

Doesn't look like they were in too much suffering, does it? :)

[3onOurWay]

I think the kids club can be a good idea, but we travel usually with a helping hand. they are happy to have a free or 1/2 paid for trip and we each get a bit of break throughout the day. 1/2 the night going out, 1/2 the nights stayin in so she can go out. It costs a little more, but with a connecting room you get two bathrooms, extra beds, and extra play area for our daughter to move around... two inside connecting rooms, worlds best invenstion..

[Aelsantokie]

First cruise for us: DD 6 DS's all four of them were 3.

 

We've only done Caribbean cruise, all-inclusive and DisneyWorld trips.

 

What's it like cruising with kids for my family?

 

DH and I miss most of the night shows except for one night. It's too expensive to pay (at least for us) for after hour party for ever single night we are on a cruise but the kids really want to do one night of it so we splurge on that.

Usually when we have to pick up, we bring them back to the room, let them watch a little tv while DH and I go to the balcony enjoy some wine and chitchat out there for some privacy.

 

On the first cruise we left the boys at camp for the excursions (we haven't been on vacations in 4 1/2 years at that point) we it was a luxury just to be able to have some alone time. After the first cruise all of our excursion is based around the kids. The only time we don't take them off the ship is when they beg us to leave them. Two years ago on the Carnival Splendor, two of the kids had enough sun and didn't want to leave the ship on the last port day.

 

In summary, we don't ever do nighttime activities (shows, midnight buffet, piano bar, etc. etc.) but we aren't much of night people anyways (even before the kids) so it doesn't cramp our "style".

We've only cruised Carnival because that's where we feel comfortable with the kids. Kids prefer the cruise over all inclusive because of the entertainment of the camp, they aren't into sandy beaches, more into the pool and slide so it works out well.

[Lessum]

We went on our first evern cruise in January. We took our 15mo old and our 4.5 yo. With kids, we had been to the beach, to Disney, Orlando, Boston and other places for vacation. In all honesty, the crusie was the MOST STRESS FREE vacation I had been on with kids! It was great! My 4.5 yo loved the Kids Club and we let her go when she wanted for the most part (not much at night though to keep her on schedule) . We also used the babysitting in the morning some for the baby. We didn't get to go to any shows or enjoy any nightlife since the kids go to bed early...but we knew that going into this trip and were ok with it.

 

Go and Enjoy!