Which cruiseline with a 2 year old?

[sherry7]

DH and I have taken several cruises already, all on Royal Caribbean. We have a toddler now, who will be 2 years old later this spring. I'm getting the cruise itch - badly! I know that Royal Caribbean doesn't allow children in the kid's club until age 3 (and fully potty trained). We have a long way to go until then! Someone told me that Carnival accepts age 2 in the kid's club. Is that dependent on potty training?

 

I'm not looking to leave her in the kid's club for countless hours, but at least a couple of hours a day while the hubby and I can relax a little. I know that Royal Caribbean has a Royal Tots program, but when we took a cruise last year when she was 8 months old, I found that pretty disappointing.

 

Any suggestions for me please? Thanks. :)

[cb at sea]

Yes...Carnival will accept 2 year olds in diapers!

 

On RCI, Allure and Oasis have Royal Babies, for the under 3 crowds....diapers and all. It won't have "activities" as such...more of a babysitting thing.

[sherry7]

Yes...Carnival will accept 2 year olds in diapers!

 

On RCI, Allure and Oasis have Royal Babies, for the under 3 crowds....diapers and all. It won't have "activities" as such...more of a babysitting thing.

 

Thanks CB. :)

 

Other than Carnival, are there any other cruise lines that will accept a 2 year old (not potty trained) in the regular kids club.

[YOWmom]

Norwegian does in theory, but according to another thread on the family board, they are in the process of changing their programs, and it seems like there's a lot of confusion. Sounds like they may be going in the direction of a nursery for 6 mos to 2 years, but it's not entirely clear. While I generally prefer RCCL, we sailed on Carnival over New Years for exactly that reason - DD was not quite 3 and not yet potty trained (though she is now - woo hoo!) and we had a great vacation. She went to Camp Carnival for about 2 hours each day and it was just enough that she didn't get tired of it, and was happy to go, and we got to enjoy a bit of fun in the pool with our 7 YO, so it worked out well. We will be heading back to RCCL for our next family cruise, but in your situation, I would not hesitate to recommend Carnival...

[sherry7]

Norwegian does in theory, but according to another thread on the family board, they are in the process of changing their programs, and it seems like there's a lot of confusion. Sounds like they may be going in the direction of a nursery for 6 mos to 2 years, but it's not entirely clear. While I generally prefer RCCL, we sailed on Carnival over New Years for exactly that reason - DD was not quite 3 and not yet potty trained (though she is now - woo hoo!) and we had a great vacation. She went to Camp Carnival for about 2 hours each day and it was just enough that she didn't get tired of it, and was happy to go, and we got to enjoy a bit of fun in the pool with our 7 YO, so it worked out well. We will be heading back to RCCL for our next family cruise, but in your situation, I would not hesitate to recommend Carnival...

 

Thanks for the reply. So, I'm assuming that the nursery on NCL would be charged by the hour?

 

Is Carnival the only cruise line that will accept a 2 year old in the kid's club?

[mymollysue]

I would pick a line that has a nursery on board. They range from $6-$8 an hour but it will allow you to have a dinner out or an afternoon by the pool. Those lines with a dedicated nursery are RCL and Disney. Not all RCL boats have a nursery so if you pick RCL, make sure there is a nursery on board ahead of time. I have posted a review on here of RCL's Liberty of the Seas Nursery. Once nice thing about RCL and Disney is that there is a baby pool/splash zone dedicated for those still in diapers. I think that is important as well. Good luck!

[MYRN1]

I don't know about all the cruise lines as we are new to cruising. We got engaged 12 years ago on The Inspiration and never went back until this year. We have a 7 year old and a 2 year old, both boys. We had it narrowed down to Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Carnival. In the end, we chose Carnival, and we all had a fantastic vacation.

 

I had no complaints about Camp Carnival...well I wish we had known about the 'Fun Times' for camp with their schedule. Some people got them in their staterooms, we never did. We didn't even find out about them until day 5. But, that isn't really a complaint, they were at the door, I just didn't realize it was important, lol, duh!!

[jonathansburden]

Camp Carnival is FANTASTIC for the 2-3 crowd! We took our boys last year and they loved it, we were a little worried since I'm a SAHM and they've never been to daycare, but it's really more like a super fun camp than babysitting or daycare. We were only planning on leaving them there a few hours while we were at the spa or on serenity, but they loved it so much we let them go for about 6 hours every day. The councilors really made their vacation special and you could tell they all loved their jobs. I'd recommend it any day. The little "build a bear" thing they have is fantastic... I may have made a bear or 2 for myself on top of the boys!

 

You could browse the Carnival forums and look for some Camp Carnival reviews or the Fun Times schedule and see if it's something you think she'd like. :)

[TheCalicoCat]

DH and I have taken several cruises already, all on Royal Caribbean. We have a toddler now, who will be 2 years old later this spring. I'm getting the cruise itch - badly! I know that Royal Caribbean doesn't allow children in the kid's club until age 3 (and fully potty trained). We have a long way to go until then! Someone told me that Carnival accepts age 2 in the kid's club. Is that dependent on potty training?. :)

 

No, Carnival will change diapers for your 2 year old. We had no problems.