Ease of getting place in Nursery on QM2?

[gb199]

Hi all,

 

My wife & I are seriously considering going on our first cruise this year. We have a little boy who will just shy of 2 on the one we are considering. Whilst most evenings we will spend with him, we would be keen to make use on the nursery for a few evenings so we can get a nice meal and watch a show or two.

 

We would be going in August, so right in the middle of the school holidays, and I would appreciate any feedback people have of using the nurserys on the QM2 (or other ships) around this time. Is it easy to get a space? Are there really only 6 cots?? Do you need to queue for 3 hours prior to 6pm to ensure your child gets in??? Any experiences would be appreciated.

 

I did try to search for the answer to this question prior to posting, so if anyone has a link to a previous thread that covers this please let me know of the link

 

Thanks all!

Edited January 4, 2014 by gb199

[karl_nj]

My wife & I are seriously considering going on our first cruise this year. We have a little boy who will just shy of 2 on the one we are considering. Whilst most evenings we will spend with him, we would be keen to make use on the nursery for a few evenings so we can get a nice meal and watch a show or two.

 

We would be going in August, so right in the middle of the school holidays, and I would appreciate any feedback people have of using the nurserys on the QM2 (or other ships) around this time. Is it easy to get a space? Are there really only 6 cots?? Do you need to queue for 3 hours prior to 6pm to ensure your child gets in??? Any experiences would be appreciated.

 

There have been changes to the Childrens program on Cunard in the past few years, so it may be difficult to get current advice.

 

I checked the Cunard website to find out the latest info on the nursery:

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/life-on-board/night_nursery

 

Is there a Night Nursery onboard?

 

The Night Nursery is open from 6.00pm to 11.00pm. This facility is available to children aged 12 months to 23 months and operates on a first come first served basis. In order to avoid waking other children we kindly ask you to settle your children before bringing them to the Night Nursery and ensure that they are settled to sleep before leaving them.

Please ensure you sign your child both in and out with the Nursery Staff on duty and that you inform them of your whereabouts throughout the evening, you will also receive a pager should we need to contact you. This service is complimentary.

Queen Mary 2 has 6 travel cots (small beds in replacement where suitable)

 

This isn't exactly how it used to work. The root of the problem is that Cunard used to allow 1 year olds to participate in the daytime childrens program. This was changed to a minimum age of 2 a few years ago:

 

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/life-on-board/childrens_club

 

THE PLAY ZONE

 

2 - 7 year olds

The Play Zone is a permanently supervised play area, staffed by qualified early years staff, for children aged 2-7 years. These activities include arts, crafts, books, puzzles and variety of toys and computer games. The Youth Staff will undertake structured activities and supervise free play to ensure your child a fun experience on board. There is also a sheltered outdoor play area with a range of play equipment including cars and tricycles. The evening session will start with activities followed by a movie. The toys will be put away and the children will be encouraged to settle down on the cushions and bean bags.

 

When my daughter was 1, Cunard did have a daytime program for that age group. We would feed the children at 5pm at the Childrens Tea in Kings Court. Then at 6pm we would check the children in at the kids club, and go to our early seating dinner. From 6pm to 7pm they would let the kids play with the toys and do other activities, similar to what they would do during the day. Then at 7pm they would put a movie on the TV, and have all the kids lie down and watch the movie. If the 1 year olds would fall asleep during the movie, and there was space in the nursery room, then they would move them over. You didn't need to make sure your child was asleep before you checked them in.

 

Now that the minimum age for the Play Zone is 2, it's unclear if they would still handle the 1 year olds the same way. The website makes it seem like your child needs to be asleep before you can bring them to the nursery. This would make things more complicated.

 

Hopefully someone that has sailed with a 1 year old recently can give you some more current information. I would hope that they might be willing to handle things as they did in the past, but they might not be permitted to.

[gb199]

Thanks for your response. I was getting a little confused, as various websites stated that Cunard would look after toddlers under 2, but as you say the website contradicts that.

 

I'm not overly worried during the day tbh, just the night nursery. Given there is so little feedback to be found anywhere on this I'm inclined to think there is little issue getting spaces. Guess there is only one way to find out!

[SeaFlint]

The rules can change from voyage to voyage as the crew adjust for the number of children booked aboard. Not always dramatically and not always. But the plans do change when "they" go from 200 teens to 200 toddlers, etc.

 

We've been aboard with our kids 12 or 13 times and have never had any trouble getting a space. But it is one of our first priorities once we are settled. I head to the dining room to make sure no one lost our request for OUR tables. My wife heads to the Kid Zone area to get the kids logged in.

 

Funny, on our first QM2 trip our daughter was not even 5. Now she's 13-going-on-14... :-)

 

Just check the info in your stateroom as you board (they know you have kids and put the info in your stateroom) and head to the Kid Zone area to be there right when it opens. And you'll be fine. Not that there is a rush-n-crush but it always seems like we avoid the "rush" by rushing to be there when they open.

[CGreenhills]

Hi we were onboard the QE in May with our then 18 month old. The kids club was vey quiet both day and night. We were able to go in with our son and stay with him during the day while he played. We did that most days for about an hour.

 

After 6pm there was a little room just off the kids room with a couple of travel cots in. Our son was the only baby to use the room all week. Officially they are supposed to settle and sleep in there (which our son did) but I got the impression providing there were no tears they would have happily let him watch the films the other kids were watching. We got a pager every evening but never needed it.

[gb199]

Thank you both for sharing your experiences. It all sounds quite positive for getting a place so that's great news for me :)

 

Thanks again