Best cruise in February with 2 year old?

[Jenrose]

It's been a while since we cruised, and we'll be doing our 10 year anniversary cruise in February with our son, who will be two. He's a pretty easygoing kid and adaptable, and we don't need a megaship with ninety billion kid activities on it, but they need to have decent babysitting and a program that accepts two year olds would be ideal but not strictly necessary. Our past experience was on Celebrity--we did two Western Caribbean cruises on the Zenith, one in 2004 and one in 2007. I have no problem having him with us most of the time, but we do want to have a break for part of it.

 

I have zero interest in anything Disney.

 

We cruise for the relaxation. We don't need a bunch of structured activities. I have a ton of food allergies and need a cruise line that will be attentive to them.

 

Keeping it in a reasonable budget is important.

 

Suggestions?

[RSLeesburg]

Many of the Royal Caribbean ships have Royal Tots & Nursery, which I have heard great things about. Not sure if Celebrity has something similar, but if they do, they would be a great choice too.

[cb at sea]

Only some RCI ships offer programs for under 3.....Carnival does have programs for 2.....so check that out!

[RSLeesburg]

Only some RCI ships offer programs for under 3.....Carnival does have programs for 2.....so check that out!

 

True - you do need to check the ships - Oasis, Allure, Freedom all have it. Not sure about the others that sail from FL.

 

I was not aware of the under 2 program on Carnival :).

[RSLeesburg]

It's been a while since we cruised, and we'll be doing our 10 year anniversary cruise in February with our son, who will be two. He's a pretty easygoing kid and adaptable, and we don't need a megaship with ninety billion kid activities on it, but they need to have decent babysitting and a program that accepts two year olds would be ideal but not strictly necessary. Our past experience was on Celebrity--we did two Western Caribbean cruises on the Zenith, one in 2004 and one in 2007. I have no problem having him with us most of the time, but we do want to have a break for part of it.

 

I have zero interest in anything Disney.

 

We cruise for the relaxation. We don't need a bunch of structured activities. I have a ton of food allergies and need a cruise line that will be attentive to them.

 

Keeping it in a reasonable budget is important.

 

Suggestions?

 

PS: for food allergies, when you select the cruise line you want to sail, post on their board for the best advice to deal with these - some you can contact in advance, some you speak to maitre d at start of cruise, etc. but from what I have read on RCI forum, they will work with you to meet your needs, and would assume that the other lines are just as willing to work with you.

[karl_nj]

It's been a while since we cruised, and we'll be doing our 10 year anniversary cruise in February with our son, who will be two. He's a pretty easygoing kid and adaptable, and we don't need a megaship with ninety billion kid activities on it, but they need to have decent babysitting and a program that accepts two year olds would be ideal but not strictly necessary. Our past experience was on Celebrity--we did two Western Caribbean cruises on the Zenith, one in 2004 and one in 2007. I have no problem having him with us most of the time, but we do want to have a break for part of it.

 

Keeping it in a reasonable budget is important.

 

Suggestions?

 

Carnival's kids program starts at age 2, and they change diapers. They don't have in-cabin baby sitting, but the kids program does have evening hours.

 

Cunard also starts their kids program at age 2, and will change diapers, but they only have 3 ships and probably don't have a cruise that would meet your criteria in February. All the ships are doing world cruise segments at that time.

 

Most other kids programs start at age 3, though some lines and ships either have some sort of pay-per-hour group nursery program (Disney, Royal Carribean) or in-cabin babysitting (Celebrity).

 

Your best bet is probably Carnival.

[crusinmama06]

I don't know if I could go from Celebrity to Carnival. If you are fine with keeping him with you and you are just looking for a "break" - then choose a Royal Ship that has had the "Royal Advantage Upgrade" and added a nursery. That includes many more options than just the Oasis and Freedom class. The price would be $8.00 an hour with the Royal tots program but I would say its worth it.

[lrowe70]

We've done Celebrity and Carnival as well as a few luxury lines.

Carnival, Cunard and I think MSC are the only big lines that offer childcare for the under 2 set.

We found the kids club on Carnival to be much better than the one of Celebrity. As far as other parts of the ship besides the kids' Club: as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."

Carnival is a budget cruise, but the kid club is quite good and if your goal is R&R, you will most certainly find that.

[mommaof 3]

Would be to focus on the itinerary that you want and see if a ship that you like and has the care your want goes on that route. We took our kids on one in February that included Royal Carribean's private island and it was really one of the best days ever, especially with a toddler, she was so happy. It also went to Nassau, which was "Eh", but we did a glass bottom boat tour that my kids loved and trekked up Victoria staircase to an old fort with great views. Not hot enough in Feb in the Bahamas for some people, it was in the 80s with a bit of wind, but we are originally from Seattle and that was perfect for us. It was well worth the tradeoff of not having group childcare for under 3's to us. You can always do in room child care if you want a night or two out. This was a short 4 night cruise, so we combined it with going to the Kennedy space center for 2 days, but our oldest is/was space obsessed. Your child might be more interested in LEGOLAND, SeaWorld, or the everglades. All in all it was a great family vacation and I'd recommend it. It didn't hurt that we were able to do the whole week for what I thought was a more than reasonable price.