From what age can children remember a cruise?

[whitepoppy]

sounds sensible waiting for WDW with the feisty child ;)

 

it's really reassuring your son enjoyed it and can also remember - we were wanting to go in a few months but cos we wouldn't be going again until he is 10 or so I thought I should try to be patient and wait until he is older so he can have memories of it too.

[Softtop67]

Besides the debate on when a child will remember a specific trip, I can make an argument that we take our children not only for their memories but ours. Even though at 2 I don't believe my son remembers much of Disney, I can still picture the look on his face the first time Mickey shook his hand. My daughter has no recollection of her first trip to Canada as an infant but I still remember the first time she touched snow. So while their memories are treasures, yours can be just as special

[IttaBit]

Agreed...I'm sure 20 yrs from now, my kids won't remember all the trips to Disney and cruises we've taken, but I will remember the first time my oldest stood on the balcony of the Mariner of the Seas and asked me "where'd the earth go" because she couldn't see land or when my middle daughter whispered to me "See, Sleeping Beauty really is real" as we waited in line to meet her. The excitement they experience, when they are there with me makes every penny spent and every travel headache so worth it.

[Mack2]

 

She was around 18 months old in this picture.

Doesn't really remember the cruise... but she loves this picture, and we have wonderful memories from that cruise.

 

It also really depends on your child's personality... we've been lucky that they have always been really well-behaved and have had good temperments more than otherwise whenever we've taken them on a cruise.

 

Through the terrible two's and terrifying three's, my kids have been manageable on cruises.... but not all kids/parents have the same luck. I remember our last Carnival cruise... the one table next to us in the MDR...

We really started to feel bad for their waiter/busboy... the kids' behavior was horrific.

[Mack2]

Although... now that I think about it...

 

The most heartwrenching photos I have are of my eldest son when we took him on his cruises between the ages of 4, 5, and 6.

On his 7th birthday, he was diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration, also known as Stargardt's Disease.

Since then, he's become legally blind, with a visual acuity of around 20/400 (the E on an eye chart).

 

We still go on vacations, and I love the time we all have together as a family, but I sometimes look at the old photos and remember a time when he could really see and experience all the great stuff we did together.

The bright look on his face, the amazement he experienced doing things and seeing things for the first time.

 

It's harder for him to see things now... and it kills me.

 

I don't know... I'm just glad we did it then. I look forward to all the things we can do together now and in the future... but I'm just really glad we did it.

 

 

I have this crazy idea in my head that I want to take them all on a safari. During the summer, there's a wildebeest migration from Tanzania to Kenya.

Something like 2 million wildebeest crossing through the Masai Mara in Kenya. One of the two great animal migrations in the world... Plus lions, elephants, jaguar, crocodiles, rhinos, etc...

[Krystilia]

I have this crazy idea in my head that I want to take them all on a safari. During the summer, there's a wildebeest migration from Tanzania to Kenya.

Something like 2 million wildebeest crossing through the Masai Mara in Kenya. One of the two great animal migrations in the world... Plus lions, elephants, jaguar, crocodiles, rhinos, etc...

 

I'm sorry to hear about your son's disease but I'm sure he has his memories as well :-)

 

I plan to take my daughter to Africa for the migration when she's 9 or 10... something I planned to do myself right before I found out I was pregnant.

[Onessa]

If we only did things with our kids that they could "remember", we could just stick them in boxes and push bread crusts through the airholes until we let them out when they were some magical age :D. In other words, I'm not certain if "will my kid remember this" is really a valid decision point. Specific memories are fleeting, but as your kid may not specifically remember the first time they touched a hot stove, most kids will know after just that one encounter not to do so again. We are the sum of all of our experiences. So do all you can, to make those experiences meaningful.

[mickey0879]

My family took vacations my entire life and now that I am in my early 30's I can say the vacations are my earliest memories because they are the departure from the normal routine that all blends together. That being said I only have pieces of memories from three vacations we took when I was ages 4-6. After 6 I have a lot more solid memories but it was the vacation when I was 11 that I can still vividly remember most of the trip. We have been traveling with my children since they were born - family vacations are just that for us, for the whole family. My oldest went to Europe when she was 8 months old and I LOVE all the pics and love telling her about the trip but of course she has no real memories. For our up-coming cruise my oldest will be just short of 5 and I am so excited that this might be the vacation she can really hold onto some memories of for the rest of her life :D She remembers things that we did last year, maybe even a year and a half ago but I know a lot of that will fade over time. We just have to wait and see but this has never been a consideration to me when planning a trip.

[teachnh]

I literally just stopped one of my ten year old twins and asked what he remembered from his first cruise. He was four when he went on the Carnival Liberty. While he doesn't remember the whole trip he has some solid pieces of memories from that vacation. We go on a family cruise every two years. These trips are not just for the kids though, they are for my husband and I as well! I remember them all, at least so far........... :p

[chipmaster]

Remember means many things, you mean without pictures?

 

How much children remember IMHO is as much to do with age as "impression" I can remember things from events that made huge impressions of me from a very young age. If it is something they treat as everyday it becomes a blur that only pictures can keep fresh.

 

Take some good pictures and you'll capture the memories forever, but avoid the pictures of everything or you'll annoy the hell out of them :D

 

For me it has less to do with what they remember but the magical times we had togather, even they can be a blur without some pictures :D

 

I was wondering when would be the first time children would remember a cruise from? I think it would be nice to create lasting happy memories for our kids ;) I’d guess maybe 6 or 7 years old for long term memory.

 

What’s the earliest you or your kids can remember a cruise holiday?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Does it matter that they remember? I think the joy of parenting is watching the awe on your child's face. The best ages to cruise are between 3-10. After that they are in the risk taking stage and don't like being part of the organized activities as much.

[HexMermaid]

My son was 2 on his first cruise and now he's 4 and remembers everything. He even brought in his "mini ship" to preschool and did show and tell about the cruise he went on. We are going on the Allure in May and he can't wait!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I know my son has no recollection of the first six cruises we did. He only remembers bits and pieces of the cruise we did when he was 4 almost 5. They don't retain these memories- they see pictures though and they like to look at them.