Cruise with a 2 year old - picking a ship/line

[Sk8ermaiden]

Hi, I'm starting to plan our FIRST EVER cruise for 2012. My daughter will be 2.5 - 2.75 depending on when we go.

 

We need to leave from Galveston or NOLA (Galveston being BY FAR the easier of the two), and are planning to go sometime January-May.

 

Galveston options are the Carnival Conquest, or RCCL Mariner.

 

New Orleans looks like Carnival triumph, RCCL Voyager, or Norwegian Spirit.

 

I am really actually leaning towards the Norwegian because their kids club starts at 2. That is a big, huge plus to us. We don't plan to use it extensively, but for a couple hours a day would be lovely. I am a little concerned though that it is supposedly an "older" clientele. Will she have other kids there to play with? She tends to handle daycare 100% better if there are other kids there. I know it is during the school year, but I am hoping since this is the pre-preschool age there might be more.

 

I HAVE been looking on my own, but things are staring to get jumbled. I think the spirit has a fun little kids pool with slides that should be just her speed. Is there anything else a toddler can enjoy with her parents? Bowling? Putt putt?

 

I feel like RCCL will be way better for kids over 3, but for right now where she is "too young" for everything it seems like all the cool stuff they offer might be a moot point. Plus that hike in babysitting cost is OBSCENE.

 

Any thoughts? Disney comes to Galveston in late 2012 which should be AWESOME, but I plan to be VERY pregnant or newly postpartum at that time, so we'll plan that for once #2 is 3 or 4.

 

Thanks for ANY insight you may have...

[legion3]

We are taking our 2.5 YO on a cruise this December, we also looked at all the lines you have.

 

Ultimately it came down to Carnival, NCL or Disney as the only 3 that took 2YO's in the childrens programs. All others were 3 and potty trained.

 

Well Disney is just to darn expensive for us. Might be the best but not at those prices, no thank you.

 

Carnival and NCL both take 2 year olds, the difference for us on this cruise was that Club Carnival seems to have many rave reviews through out the web world and NCL is talked about far less. Also Carnival will change diapers, whereas NCL will page the parents to come and change the child.

This child is curently in a Early Education class and gets changed now by the teachers in the class so for us this is not a big deal.

 

Also since she will have a 5yo sister and the Carnival Camp puts 2-5 YO's together we think this will benefit both kids.

 

Next year if she's fully potty trained and the family likes cruising we may look at other lines as most take 3 year olds. But for this year, the price of the cruise overall, not really thinking freestyle cruising will be for us and the mostly positive feedback about Camp Carnival, we went Carnival.

 

You tube has numerous videos about Camp Carnival and it looks top notch.

[Sk8ermaiden]

Thanks for your response! For some reason I got some vague impression that Carnival wasn't really worth looking at (Do NOT ask me why - I don't know! lol). I am looking now!

 

It looks like it is actually Carnival Magic which will be here starting this year. Their newest ship, which is usually a good thing...

[Essiesmom]

I'm not sure what schedule you are looking at for 2012, but I think the Conquest will be in NOLA, trading places with Triumph, which moves to Galveston. EM

[Sk8ermaiden]

It looks like Triumph will be doing 4 and 5 day trips out of Galveston, and Magic will be doing 7 day trips (per the Carnival site). The site I was seeing listing Conquest was just kind of an article and had apparently not been updated.

 

We are very seriously considering the Magic.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I would strongly suggest Carnival Magic! It's a brand new ship with all the bells & whistles Carnival has to offer. I haven't been on her yet since she's in Europe, but considering sailing her June 2012. I have sailed her sister ship, Dream, twice with my son (once when he was 9 months & 2 weeks ago when he was 21 months old). We had a fantastic time!! Camp Carnival begins at age 2, and they will give you a phone for emergencies or if they need to get in contact with you regarding your child. Camp Carnival (from what I've read) is fantastic, all the counselors are so great with children & really keep them busy! Your child will also probably like the splash area and mini water slides at the Water Works area on board. There is also mini golf that he may be interested in. Magic also has Deluxe Oceanview cabins which are very family friendly. I had one on the Dream 2 weeks ago & loved it. It was very spacious and has two bathrooms! One of the bathrooms have a junior tub which was great for my son.

 

Good luck on your decision! :)

[sunquest76]

Though not nearly as delux as the Magic, we did the Spirit to MR in February 2011 with our 2 year old DD. We (and she) loved Camp Carnival so much we bought a future cruise credit and are now looking to book something for 2012. Camp was MY vacation. Don't get me wrong, we spent lots of time with DD, but it was a great way to give her and us a break. HIGHLY recommend.