Best Cruise Itinerary When Bringing Two Small Children

[Chowder_17]

Looking to do a family cruise in early 2013, which will be the 1st cruise bringing the kiddos. They will be almost 4 and almost 2. I know my son will be able to participate in the camp, but my daughter will not.

 

What would be the best itinerary for brining children that small? Should we still to a shorter cruise? Which ports will be the most children friendly?

 

Thanks for the help from parents out there!

[hfweather]

I was going to suggest the 5 night Inspiration out of Tampa, however I think it will be in California by then. Anyhow the ship itself has smaller slides your children would love. My 3 year old granddaughter played on the slides and waterworks for 2 hours straight. She also loved being in Camp Carnival.

 

As far as ports go, we love taking her to Grand Cayman, she is obsessed with turtles, so the turtle farm is a big hit.

 

We also love taking her to Paradise Beach. She loves the beach and that one always works out great for us in Cozumel.

 

With children that young, we always make sure the ship we chose has waterworks. We took her on a competitor that didn't have waterworks and she kept asking me "where's the slide?" So that is a big factor in chosing our cruises from now on.

[silverado44]

Best itinerary, on a Disney cruise.

[sandy toes]

I have to agree with both earlier posters. The water works are a must for children that young if you are going to go CCL. But Disney has the very best ships for children and parents of young chhildren. You can leave your 2 yr old and have an adult day in port or even a great evening alone on ship. IF you are planning to do everything with the little ones, then I would really check out all the ships with water works and plan around them. I had heard a rumor that all ships were going to be fitted with the water works in the future. Anyone know for sure about that? IF that happens any ship would be great. Have a wonderful time with your family.

[lesleyswimcoach]

I'm trying the Sensation 4 day out of Port Canaveral. They have a splash area for the little ones. It is in Port 2 of the days and both Freeport and Nassau have things for the whole family. It is the 1st cruise for my kids( 5 and 8) and if they do get sea sick at least we won't be a sea for long periods of time.

[Chowder_17]

Thanks for all the suggestions! We love CCL and while I would love to do a Disney cruise with kids, the price difference is enough for me to wait until they're a bit old.

[scoutfinch72]

With children that young, we always make sure the ship we chose has waterworks. We took her on a competitor that didn't have waterworks and she kept asking me "where's the slide?" So that is a big factor in chosing our cruises from now on.

 

I also narrowed down my Carnival choices to ships that had Waterworks. My kids are 3 and 6 and I know that my 6 year old is going to be thrilled with Waterworks

 

I'm trying the Sensation 4 day out of Port Canaveral. They have a splash area for the little ones. It is in Port 2 of the days and both Freeport and Nassau have things for the whole family. It is the 1st cruise for my kids( 5 and 8) and if they do get sea sick at least we won't be a sea for long periods of time.

 

That was exactly my reasoning for choosing Sensation for our family! Glad to have it validated!!

 

I really would like to take our kids on DCL, but for this summer at least, the cost difference was astronomical. With only one DCL ship sailing out of PC this summer, most of the Disney Dream sailings are packed and what is left is crazy expensive. We are spending less to take our kids to WDW for 7 days and then on the Sensation for 4 days than we would have spent for a 4 night Disney Dream cruise. I know Nassau and Freeport aren't perceived to be the best ports, but all we really want is 2 good beach days, so we will be really happy there as a family.

[Tapi]

We had the same dilemma when we sailed with our toddler son for the first time in December. We chose the Fascination 5 night to Key West and Nassau f

out of Jacksonville for the following reasons:

 

- We wouldn't need to tender ashore on any port of call. We could walk right off the ship.

- Both ports of call have attractions within walking distance of the pier, eliminating the need to worry about having to take taxis, buses and having to worry about issues with transporting the baby stroller in a vehicle.

- Both ports have convenience stores and pharmacies a few blocks from the port, which was useful on restocking on baby supplies (extra diapers, snacks, etc).

- Ship had the Waterworks area. The spray area is useful for the little ones since they are not allowed in pools.

- Jacksonville was the closest port of embarkation for us, eliminating the need to fly.

- Pricing was just right. The cost per day to sail on this itinerary was the lowest of all the cruises we looked at.

 

Call me paranoid, but another reason in the back of my head to choose this itinerary was that, if something happened to our little guy that required for us to cut short our cruise, we could easily fly home on a nonstop flight from any of the ports we visited.

 

I also recommend that you get Anytime Dining. Its nice to have the flexibility of going to dinner when we were ready instead of having a fixed time.

[sandy toes]

So glad you have made a decision that will work for your family. As much as I love DCL for kids I do have to agree about the cost. You can do 2 CCL cruises for the cost of 1DCL. Have fun!

[JYeagersGrl]

I know this hasn't been touched in a few days but I stumbled upon it and wanted to give my two cents. We are planning around the same time as you and will also have an almost 2 yr old, 5 yr old and 6 yr old. We are chosing the fascination as the prices are great and they have waterworks. Also we've been to both HMC and Nassau and HMC is very small kid friendly as well as some places in Nassau. As of right now our plans our to do the beach at HMC and Blue Lagoon at Nassau. We went to Blue Lagoon this past June and the waters were perfectly calm shallow and clear perfect for the little ones to play in.