Taking our 14 month twins on their 1st cruise!

[mcw331]

Hello to the family forum!

 

We are long time cruisers that are entering a brand new era of cruising... cruising with our brand new twin daughters. They were born last September and we skipped our usual Fall cruise last year as they were just too young.

 

We will be taking them on HAL's Eurodam this November (they will be 14 months at that time) and can't wait. We certainly appreciate all the great advice we are reading on this forum and are adjusting our usual cruise routines to accommodate our new cruisers.

 

Here are some of our planned changes to the way we usually cruise:

 

-Early Dining instead of late

-low key excursions such as beaches and cabanas with lots of shade

-remaining flexible (no tight schedules)

-NAPTIME!

 

Thanks to everyone for posting such great advice!!!

[mikesteg]

Congrats on the twins!

We have B/G toddlers, and it's an entirely different thing.

 

I would suggest that you cruise before they start walking... crawling is pretty easy, but once they start walking it's crazy. Pack your running shoes! :D

 

You weren't already taking a nap time??? But yes, you will be! ;)

[mcw331]

Thanks Mikesteg...

 

Awesome Boy/Girl twins! How old were they during the cruise that you have pics of on your webpage? Gotta show my wife the pics!

 

We have been really lucky they were 2 month premies but did great and were sleeping through the night by 2 months and 12hrs by 3 months.

 

For the cruise we are gonna have extra help (bringing our nanny) so we can have a date night or two but for the most part we are gonna just enjoy spending time with them.

[mikesteg]

Great idea to bring the nanny. DW is a SAHM though, so we don't have one. We don't even really have a babysitter. :(

 

Ours were born at 36.5 weeks, so just barely premie. They were still under 5 pounds though, so they spent some time in NICU but with no real problems. It took them a bit longer to sleep 6+ hours, but we did pretty well on that also. DS started giving us problems in Sept (~23 months) and we've just now gotten him back to a decent night's sleep. I hope you don't run into that. ;)

 

The pictures... it depends which ones.

The picture in my avatar (changed yesterday) is from Carnival Spirit in October. They had just turned 2. We held off so they could go to camp, and then DS would have nothing to do with it.

 

 

The one before that was Carnival Miracle in Nov 2010. They were 13 months:

 

 

And then, Carnival Conquest at 7 months:

 

(You can click through those to the albums on webshots.)

 

I hate to say it, but the middle cruise was the toughest. DS started walking at 11 months, and DD just before the cruise. So... they were mobile and wanted to go everywhere, but unstable and didn't listen well.

 

Of course, having a 3-on-2 advantage will allow you some rest and possibly you can use a zone defense instead of the man-to-man that we were forced to use. :D

[Kerry's Girls]

Ok - have to show my girls at 13 months.

And they had me out-numbered :). It was the best week I'd had as a twin mom - someone else doing all the cooking and cleaning and I'll I had to do was bathe and play with my kids. We haven't stopped since.

 

I do suggest eating meals in the main dining room. To me it's much easier to be served than to deal with toddlers in the buffet. Of course, it depends if your kids will sit for meals, but mine did great.

 

Best,

Mia

[mcw331]

Great pics Mikesteg! Zone defense LOL! Good football reference.

 

Kerry thanks for the tip. We are definitely gonna take them to the MDR but be ready to call an audible if one or both get too fussy. I've already read a lot of your tips in other posts. Thanks! Your girls look cute. Glad they travel well with you.

 

This is our Sophie...

http://gallery.me.com/m5mike/100559/IMG_0407/web.jpg?ver=13306977520001

 

And our Olivia...

http://gallery.me.com/m5mike/100559/IMG_0408/web.jpg?ver=13306977580001

[cruzinlisa]

Oh now you guys are all freaking me out. My DD is 13 months and we leave in less than 2 months (she will be 15 months). I recently started to worry about how we are going to keep her from wanting to be on the go and running around. Eek. Hoping for a major transformation in two months. Also hoping the stubborn little girl will finally be off the bottle by that time. (We tried and she went on strike for two weeks, finally the pediatrician made me cave).

[kimfrazee]

We are leaving on April 2nd for a 5 day cruise with our 15 month old and 7 year old. I'm going in with the acceptance that I will be chasing him ALL OVER THE CRUISE SHIP!!! LOL

 

We have also decided that if he decides to throw his fit at dinner time that one of us will go ahead and take him out of dining room. I don't want to ruin anyone else's dining experience because of my little wild red head.

 

As I countdown the days.... I find myself getting more nervous and thinking "what in the world were we thinking?" lol

[mcw331]

cruzinlisa & kimfrazee,

 

You all should be just fine.

 

Like Mia points out you will have someone to cook and clean for you... so you can just chase & enjoy the little ones.

 

Please do report back once you return with any additional tips or advice. Btw which cruise line boats are you all going on?

[mjkacmom]

Oh now you guys are all freaking me out. My DD is 13 months and we leave in less than 2 months (she will be 15 months). I recently started to worry about how we are going to keep her from wanting to be on the go and running around. Eek. Hoping for a major transformation in two months. Also hoping the stubborn little girl will finally be off the bottle by that time. (We tried and she went on strike for two weeks, finally the pediatrician made me cave).

 

One of my kids refused milk in anything but the bottle at 16 months. My pediatrician suggested to only serve him milk to drink, and only in sippy cups. Thirst made him give in the first day, and it was no longer an issue. Toddlers can get calcium and vitamin D from many sources. My oldest stoppped drinking milk when she was a toddler, and was fine.

[kimfrazee]

We will be on the Carnival Elation.

[cruzinlisa]

One of my kids refused milk in anything but the bottle at 16 months. My pediatrician suggested to only serve him milk to drink, and only in sippy cups. Thirst made him give in the first day, and it was no longer an issue. Toddlers can get calcium and vitamin D from many sources. My oldest stoppped drinking milk when she was a toddler, and was fine.

 

 

I wish thirst made her give in. She is getting better with the cup now and less dependent on the bottle. Sometimes doesn't even act like she cares whether its the cup or bottle. I honestly think she was just not ready (emotionally) at 12 months to give it up. Hopefully by next month she will have given it up, because of all things, I don't really want to have to worry about washing bottles and all their parts and sippy cups.

 

mcw331- We are going on Carnival Conquest April 29 out of NOLA.