Cruising with a 5 year old

[liberiben]

What valuable tips or items you have brought that you can share? We have cruised numerous times with just us, but we are taking her this time, so it is like being a cruise "newbie" again.

[radsailor]

Same here! We are taking our 4 and 7 year old next month. Ought to be interesting!

[luvscruising2007]

I don't have experience sailing with small children. However, there is a separate board here at CC that is dedicated to Family cruising. I understand there is a ton of information available.

Have a great cruise.

[ARCruisinNana]

Adventure Ocean is a great place for kids. Check out the open house the afternoon you get onboard. My 2 granddaughters, now ages 5 and 6, have gone to AO on every cruise and love it. AO is divided by age categories 3-5, 6-8,etc. There are great activites planned. The hours are 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10 at no charge. There is a late night zone available for $3 per hour per child 10pm-2am. There will also be several nights they can go with the AO staff for dinner, allowing for a nice leisurly adult dinner. On port days, AO opens 30 minutes before the first excursion and closes 30 minutes after the last excursion gets back. They will take the kids to WJ for lunch. Before the girls went to AO the first time, we really talked it up and they were excited to explore during the open house and could hardly wait for AO to open the first morning. They do not have to go to all the sessions to participate. The pirate parade is one of the favorites.

[The Sunset Glow]

The best tip I have is to book a cabin with a balcony. Once our kids are tucked in for the night we have a separate place to go to relax, chat, or have a glass of wine without disturbing the kids. Once they hit their teens then we will book 2 cabins but for now the balcony works great.

 

The other tip is to sign the kids up for the family time dining where the kid's meals in the MDR are sped up to only about 40 minutes. Then the Adventure Ocean staff meet the kids at the MDR entrance and take them back to AO. You finish your meal at the regular pace. However, this only works if your children want to go to AO:rolleyes: My kids LOVE AO and I can barely tear them away for meals. They also don't enjoy sitting though long suppers at the MDR so this program is a good famiily compromise - it allows us to have supper with them in the MDR but at their pace and they can get back to what they enjoy - Fun.

 

BTW my kids are now 8 & 9. Enjoy your family cruise!

[cb at sea]

I don't think you'll need to bring anything different on a cruise than you would at any vacation spot. Of course, if you child has a "comfort" item...bring it! And, any child medications that MIGHT be needed or are used on a regular basis...the ship doesn't carry much (if any!) child OTC medications! So pack nose drops, bandaids, pain or fever reliever, etc....and lots of sunscreen!!!!

Other than that, a 5 year old is the PERFECT age to love the kid's activities! She will have a great time, and take pride in showing you the things she's doing and making!

[ashmac8]

have cruised twice with my little guy. Once at 4 and once at 5. His next cruise is in less than 30 days and he is now 6.

 

Here are my tips....

 

The child may or may not like the kids club stuff. We showed him the events and he picked what he wanted to go to. He is a pool guy so was also happy hanging with us at the pool on sea days.

 

Pick excursions that aren't too adult in nature. We tried to make sure each one had something in it for each of us. For example, we took a trip from Tortola to Jost Van Dyke. I always wanted to go, it included a powerboat ride for my husband and the island had a water trampoline for my son. All of us enjoyed the day immensely.

 

Bring a DS or ipad for downtime in the room. If your child doesnt love long dinners pick based on menu. If we weren't dying for what was on the menu we occasionally ate at the buffet for dinner. Basically the same as you would a land vacation, follow their cues.

 

Hope this helps.

Ashley

[Cshgrand]

We take sticker books for the dining room. And while there is food everywhere there is not always what their favourite snack. We take a packet of biscuits for the room so there is a 'wake up' snack on hand to buy us time to get ready in the breakfast and usually some individual boxes of raisins to keep in my bag.

[liberiben]

Thanks, hopefully she will like Adventure Ocean, she is a HUGE people person, and loves to interact with others. But she also loves spending time with us, so we will see, can't wait!

[Nickynoogies]

Are you able to leave the ship if your kids are in the club? There is a 2 hr excursion I'd love to do but it is adults only

[The Sunset Glow]

Are you able to leave the ship if your kids are in the club? There is a 2 hr excursion I'd love to do but it is adults only

 

Yes, on port days Adventure Ocean is open all day (I believe it opens 30 minutes prior to the first shore excursion) to enable the adults to do their own thing. They will even take the kids to lunch at the windjammer:D

[ctcruiser1721]

I have cruised many times with kids 6 months to 18 years. You already have some great advice here.

 

One thing that is a must for me is to be at the port the day before. You don't say where you're from but if there is a flight involved, I would strongly suggest it. Having the kids (and parents) get up super-early in the morning the day of, coupled with the stresses of traveling is a recipe for disaster.

 

You're 5 y.o. will love AO. And you will love the Pirate Parade more than he or she will! Bring the camera.

[liberiben]

We plan on driving down the day of. My family lives 1.5 hrs. North of the port. We also are not telling her about it mostly because she will be asking if today is the day for the next 36 days :) Thanks again for the help, I am hoping she does well, I stay at home with her and we have a schedule we follow so this will be a huge change.

[ctcruiser1721]

Gotcha. That's not bad at all. It would be dangerous for me to be that close to the port!

 

Also, if you'd like to share which ship you'll be on, I'd be happy to tell you of any ship-specific stuff I know of if I have been on that ship or class of ship.

 

5 is really the perfect age for a family cruise IMHO. You can have some alone time without too much worry and still have an amazing family vacation.

[liberiben]

We are on the Liberty, and we live about 8hrs. from the port my brother is the one who lives in Melbourne :) Oh, I'd love to be that close too, it would be very nice.

[liberiben]

Oh, and I have seen many a pirate parade and I always think of how much I cant wait for her do get to do it. Dressed up,yelling and the center of attention, cant get much better for a little one.

[lori450]

Our first cruise was when my son was 4 years old. It was the perfect age for Adventure Ocean. He loved it so much, we had to tear him out of there at night. He even begged to stay for the late hours. This was how we got hooked on RCI. Other than that, I packed his clothes in ziplock bags (2 1/2 gal). Each outfit was in it's own bag (underwear, socks, shirt, shorts, etc.). It made it unbelievably easy while we were traveling. Now-a-days they have packing cubes which are wonderful but the zip-lock bags are cheaper. I also packed one of his lunch boxes with toys crayons and cards to keep him occupied at the table during dinner (pre-iphone days). He would go into the MDR with his little lunch box. It was so cute and worked really well. Match box cars, etc. I also went online and bought him a tux for $45. He was adorable. I still have the photos!

[ctcruiser1721]

Our most recent cruise was on the Liberty and my daughter had just turned 3. She was a little nervous so one of the "older" boys took her under his wing, holding her hand and guiding her the whole time. It was precious!

 

While I can't think of any must-do for kids specific to that ship off the top of my head, I can tell you the 3-5 AO staff was great. Though there is always some turnover, I have found that there is less with AO staff than other departments.

 

The pool area is also very nice for that age group. I wish you much sunny weather.

[foxgoodrich]

If you eat as a family in the MDR at your regular dining time, you can ask your waiter for a little plate of cheese, fruit and crackers - kind of a kid friendly hors d'oeuvres plate. After the first night, they'll bring it automatically. This made a HUGE difference for our toddler granddaughter on a family cruise - it was great! Have a great cruise!!

Judy

[MomtoCCC]

Our dd has been on 2 cruises and loves them. Make sure you go to AO the first night so they can see it, meet the staff. They will have some activities for them to do there. THis goes a long way in making them feel comfortable about going. Our dd would look at Kids' compass and decide when she wanted to go and when she wanted to hang out with us. She did go every night after dinner which made it nice for us to attend shows.

 

Bring crayons/markers or something to keep them occupied at dinner. It can take a while. I've seen kids with their DS players also. It is easy for them to get over-tired from all the activity. A afternoon break/nap even at 5 by the 3rd day or so might be needed. They will have a great time!

[ckfred]

If you bring a stuffed animal or two, you will be surprised at how your cabin attendant moves them around, when he or she makes up the cabin in the evening.

 

One night, our son's animals were all tucked in under the covers. The next, they were all looking over the railing of the bunk. The next, they were sitting, looking at the towel animal.

[liberiben]

Yes, she sleeps with her blanket we brought her home in and a wide variety of teddies :) She has a Leapster I plan on bringing and I got 2 new games I won't pull out till the cruise. We also have a portable DVD player, she is used to having to sit and be still, she did marathon training with us for 2 years straight with my hubby pushing :)

[cruisingrightalong]

Sounds like a good place to ask this question...tipping in Adventure Ocean....I know they have quite a few helpers...how do you handle tipping them?

Lou

[seashinesunshine]

If she doesn't have one, buy her a camera, it can be a cheap one. She will have so much fun taking her own photos and showing her family and friends her photos from the cruise. You will be amazed at what she decides if photo worthy. We have photos of bugs, sidewalks, along with other things. It's great fun to give a kid a camera.

[Kerry's Girls]

If you're going to the beach, we bring a blow up beach ball, and beach pails and toys. They don't take up much room and are cheap enough that we leave them on the beach each day so as to not worry about bringing sandy toys back with us. This also helps make friends on the beach by sharing toys.

 

We bring pre-packaged snacks to bring ashore for when hunger/boredom hits, and water bottles that we can fill in our cabin and take with us off the ship.

 

Best,

Mia