Family cruise - 6 month old & 2 yr old

[cobrakatie]

Hi there, wondering if any family cruisers can offer advice.

 

We are interested in doing a cruise later this year from Southampton when our youngest will be 6/7 months and our oldest child will be 2.

 

Can anyone offer advice on what type of room we would need. Ideally we are after a double bed for the adults, sofa bed for the 2 yr old and space for travel cot for the baby. A mini suite looks expensive but perhaps this is our only option?

 

We went on Britannia with our daughter last May to Norway when she was just over a year old and it was a great holiday. As we just had her in a travel cot we were able to book a balcony cabin.

 

If anyone has done a cruise with two children this age, I would love to hear if it worked out OK or was it stressful!?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

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[9is]

Hello, we've done a number of cruises with our children (6 year old and almost 2 year old). We didn't cruise with eldest until he was two, as he was used to going to nursery at home he loved kids club.

 

We have always had a standard inside cabin. The compromise we have made is not having a double bed so if this is important to you a super deluxe balcony cabin maybe the best option for you. This has a double bed and a sofa bed and I think enough room for a cot also.

 

Since we had the youngest we have cruised since she was 4 months,Thomson cruises allow younger babies than other cruise lines. Again we have only had inside cabins. She has never liked travel cots so we have done a few unconventional things to make the cabin work for us. On one cruise we took a double height single air bed and inflated it between the two lower bunks making one huge bed the width of the cabin, this was because the beds were fixed and couldn't be pushed together, my wife and children slept in this and I slept on a pull down bed from the roof.

 

The last two cruises we have asked the cabin steward to only make up one of the upper pull down beds (for me) and just pushed the lower beds together for my wife and children. Again this may not suit you but prices of school holiday cruises can be quite high and having the cheaper inside cabin allows us to afford to cruise.

 

We are going on Britannia in 8 weeks and have booked an obstructed balcony cabin g405. Seems to have very little obstruction. This cabin has a double bed, a sofa bed which I think is a single and a pull down bed. Study the symbols in the brochure carefully and I think you will see what I mean. I'm sure there would be room for a cot. So this could possibly work for you, single bed for 2 year old, cot and double for the adults. Hope this helps a little. Please feel free to ask me anything if I can help I will.

 

We have loved cruising with our children and find it works well for us. I like been out on deck walking around which is good when you have a baby who needs naps. Also width of pushchair for getting in and out of cabin. We have a baby jogger mini city for holidays which is too wide for the cabin doors until we quick release the back wheels off.

[cobrakatie]

This is really helpful, thanks so much. Hoping we might be able to do a September cruise when the schools are back. Like you said the super deluxe balcony may be the best option to consider. Will do some research. Enjoy your cruise!!

 

 

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[mygo1999]

Hi there, wondering if any family cruisers can offer advice.

 

We are interested in doing a cruise later this year from Southampton when our youngest will be 6/7 months and our oldest child will be 2.

 

Can anyone offer advice on what type of room we would need. Ideally we are after a double bed for the adults, sofa bed for the 2 yr old and space for travel cot for the baby. A mini suite looks expensive but perhaps this is our only option?

 

We went on Britannia with our daughter last May to Norway when she was just over a year old and it was a great holiday. As we just had her in a travel cot we were able to book a balcony cabin.

 

If anyone has done a cruise with two children this age, I would love to hear if it worked out OK or was it stressful!?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

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I was reading a thread on CC a couple of weeks ago which was discussing that most cruise lines don't allow babies under a certain age which I just checked with P&O it's six months, but some cruises are twelve months. On P&O a deluxe cabin should meet your requirements.

Hello, we've done a number of cruises with our children (6 year old and almost 2 year old). We didn't cruise with eldest until he was two, as he was used to going to nursery at home he loved kids club.

 

We have always had a standard inside cabin. The compromise we have made is not having a double bed so if this is important to you a super deluxe balcony cabin maybe the best option for you. This has a double bed and a sofa bed and I think enough room for a cot also.

 

Since we had the youngest we have cruised since she was 4 months,Thomson cruises allow younger babies than other cruise lines. Again we have only had inside cabins. She has never liked travel cots so we have done a few unconventional things to make the cabin work for us. On one cruise we took a double height single air bed and inflated it between the two lower bunks making one huge bed the width of the cabin, this was because the beds were fixed and couldn't be pushed together, my wife and children slept in this and I slept on a pull down bed from the roof.

 

The last two cruises we have asked the cabin steward to only make up one of the upper pull down beds (for me) and just pushed the lower beds together for my wife and children. Again this may not suit you but prices of school holiday cruises can be quite high and having the cheaper inside cabin allows us to afford to cruise.

 

We are going on Britannia in 8 weeks and have booked an obstructed balcony cabin g405. Seems to have very little obstruction. This cabin has a double bed, a sofa bed which I think is a single and a pull down bed. Study the symbols in the brochure carefully and I think you will see what I mean. I'm sure there would be room for a cot. So this could possibly work for you, single bed for 2 year old, cot and double for the adults. Hope this helps a little. Please feel free to ask me anything if I can help I will.

 

We have loved cruising with our children and find it works well for us. I like been out on deck walking around which is good when you have a baby who needs naps. Also width of pushchair for getting in and out of cabin. We have a baby jogger mini city for holidays which is too wide for the cabin doors until we quick release the back wheels off.

 

 

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[Thejuggler]

Deluxe cabin (called mini suites on Princess ships) will have a double and a sofa bed so room for all four inc a travel cot. As you have noticed they aren't cheap.

[cclarke12]

Hi there, wondering if any family cruisers can offer advice.

 

We are interested in doing a cruise later this year from Southampton when our youngest will be 6/7 months and our oldest child will be 2.

 

Can anyone offer advice on what type of room we would need. Ideally we are after a double bed for the adults, sofa bed for the 2 yr old and space for travel cot for the baby. A mini suite looks expensive but perhaps this is our only option?

 

We went on Britannia with our daughter last May to Norway when she was just over a year old and it was a great holiday. As we just had her in a travel cot we were able to book a balcony cabin.

 

If anyone has done a cruise with two children this age, I would love to hear if it worked out OK or was it stressful!?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

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When mine were a bit younger we had the travel cot and took an inflatable ready bed which all fitted in a standard outside or balcony cabin. No holiday with babies is easy but cruises from Southampton with P&O were pretty much all we did with kids until youngest was 2.5 as was stress free and easy. Now we prefer other cruise lines, but P&O so good with young children

[TinyDancer12]

Hi,

 

We did our first cruise last year with our almost 3yo. We booked the superior deluxe balcony room for the following reasons:

 

* separate lounge area with double sofa bed rather than a pulldown

* more space

* bath rather than just a shower (daughter doesn't like showers)

 

The canapes etc. were just an extra and to be honest we didn't need them, but we really loved the space of the cabin when you've got a child who can't keep still. :-) Also the cabin porter would like magic make the sofa bed up with a childs duvet etc. before bedtime and then magically put it all away and back to being a sofa whilst we were at breakfast every morning.

 

The balcony was great too - in the mornings we would open the door and dd3 would just walk out in her pyjamas and sunglasses and look out to sea - she loved it!

 

P&O kids club was amazing too - night nursery just great (we are hoping we might be able to use that again this year just before she turns 4 as she settled better there in her little dorm bed with curtains round than being up all night watching movies in the kids club - was still awake at 11:30pm last year)

 

You would easily be able to fit a cot in as well.