Stroller for a 3 year old?

[ae2009]

We are going on the Carnival Fantasy in Nov. My husband and I have sailed many times but this is the first time that our children will sail. Should I take an umbrella stroller for our daughter?

[Ashland]

We are going on the Carnival Fantasy in Nov. My husband and I have sailed many times but this is the first time that our children will sail. Should I take an umbrella stroller for our daughter?

 

You know your child best....go with that instinct on the possible need for a stroller...My thought is to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it when it comes to traveling with little's ;)

[cb at sea]

If you need one at home, you WILL need it on a ship...lots of walking...and in ports, where it's hot...you don't want to be carrying a hot child....bring the stroller!

[kitkat343]

We took one on our Baltic cruise for our then 3.5 year old son. He's very athletic and could walk very well when he wanted to, but there was no way I was going to drag him through the Hermitage when he got tired. A stroller's usefulness will depend on your kid and the kind of excursions you are taking. If you are doing a city tour with private transportation, then a stroller might be really useful in museums and you can leave it behind in the car on the stops where it isn't allowed. For the stops where we were relying on public transportation, we left the stroller on the ship since we didn't want to lug it on subways. I'm not sure a stroller would be all that helpful on an excursion to the beach. It was also helpful on the ship to get him to the kids club and through the line at the buffet.

[WeddNcruise]

I'm definitely taking a stroller for our 2 year old, I can't decide between a cheapo umbrella stroller or our city mini which also folds very easy but is def heavier than the umbrella stroller...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[gymbomb]

Yes, I would bring one even if you rarely use it at home. We took both a toddler carrier and a stroller (umbrella style, but with some recline/shade) when we cruised with our 2 year old and used both even though he also walked a lot. I remember cruising with my extended family a few years ago and my sister in law wished she had brought one for her newly 5 year old even though they hadn't used one at home in some time.

 

You will probably not need it on the ship unless your child will sleep in it. If so, bring any stroller he/she will sleep in!! But it will probably be useful for getting on and off the ship and for walking around in ports.

[moqui_girl]

I'm definitely taking a stroller for our 2 year old, I can't decide between a cheapo umbrella stroller or our city mini which also folds very easy but is def heavier than the umbrella stroller...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

We've got a city mini which I love but it's pretty wide and think that it's too wide for the cabin doors. It's folds small but the corridors and lifts are narrow so don't want to take up any extra room! It's causing me a bit of a dilemma as my daughter is really too small for other strollers....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited September 2, 2016 by moqui_girl

[mdjohn5]

Bring a stroller. period. end of sentence.

 

There is a lot of walking and standing on vacation....and 3 year olds have short legs! Nothing worse than having your arms full of travel stuff, and the kiddo decides their done walking :)

 

at 2-4 yo, I like to have them in the stroller in busy places like the airport, ports, etc so they don't get away from me.

 

We bought a "vacation" umbrella stroller at a garage sale for $5 with the intention of just throwing it away if it was ever too much of a hassle on vacation...we have had that thing for 6 plus years now.

 

Also, if you are flying it is nice to have the cheap stroller in the airport. In a lot of airports, having the kid in a stroller is what gets you moved to the family lines at security...

[sivichoney]

Piggybacking on this topic. We'll be cruising with a 2.5 yr old and 14 month old. We do plan on bringing a stroller but not sure if we should bring a double or get 2 separate umbrella strollers. Looking for recommendations! Thanks all!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[WeddNcruise]

Piggybacking on this topic. We'll be cruising with a 2.5 yr old and 14 month old. We do plan on bringing a stroller but not sure if we should bring a double or get 2 separate umbrella strollers. Looking for recommendations! Thanks all!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

From everything I've read I def wouldn't bring a double stroller cuz you'd have trouble storing it and navigating it in the narrow hallways.

Prob best to stick to 2 umbrella strollers

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[WeddNcruise]

We've got a city mini which I love but it's pretty wide and think that it's too wide for the cabin doors. It's folds small but the corridors and lifts are narrow so don't want to take up any extra room! It's causing me a bit of a dilemma as my daughter is really too small for other strollers....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

My problem is that my 2 year old is getting big and I wouldn't want the umbrella stroller breaking down on us, not to mention you can't hang anything on one so more stuff to carry...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[moqui_girl]

My problem is that my 2 year old is getting big and I wouldn't want the umbrella stroller breaking down on us, not to mention you can't hang anything on one so more stuff to carry...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

I'm having the same issue as I meant she's too BIG for other strollers! [emoji53]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited September 3, 2016 by moqui_girl

[gymbomb]

Piggybacking on this topic. We'll be cruising with a 2.5 yr old and 14 month old. We do plan on bringing a stroller but not sure if we should bring a double or get 2 separate umbrella strollers. Looking for recommendations! Thanks all!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

If you take a double, take a tandem one not a side by side. We used a Chicco Echo from Target for our 2 year old. It folds umbrella style pretty compactly, but has a basket, a shade canopy, and reclining seat that will easily hold an average sized 2-3 year old. Personally I would take a single stroller and a baby carrier u less you plan to walk a ton on excursions. Then one kid can ride and you can either let the toddler walk or carry one of them in the carrier. I used our Tula almost as much as our stroller when my son was 2 and a few months, and much more than the stroller when he cruised at 10 mo the.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[lucyddr]

We are cruising in a week and have decided not to take a stroller for our 3.75 year old twins. I looked at Zoe strollers, which are super light and easy to manage...but I'm not spending $250 on a flimsy umbrella stroller for two. And frankly, I don't want to carry a stroller than weighs over 15 pounds.

 

 

My only concern is bringing tired children back to port after a beach day, but we can manage those 3 moments of a 9 day trip better than we can deal with a double stroller or two strollers.

 

If it's a huge mistake, I'll be sure to report back!

[Ashland]

The "Mountain Buggy Nano" is what's worked well for us....great light weight stroller that has a lot of the features we needed and has it's own carry case...looks like a small carry on and actually fit's easily in the overhead bin of an airline.

[WeddNcruise]

We are cruising in a week and have decided not to take a stroller for our 3.75 year old twins. I looked at Zoe strollers, which are super light and easy to manage...but I'm not spending $250 on a flimsy umbrella stroller for two. And frankly, I don't want to carry a stroller than weighs over 15 pounds.

 

 

 

 

 

My only concern is bringing tired children back to port after a beach day, but we can manage those 3 moments of a 9 day trip better than we can deal with a double stroller or two strollers.

 

 

 

If it's a huge mistake, I'll be sure to report back!

 

 

When do you sail? I'd love to get feedback.

We sail in 2 weeks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[lucyddr]

When do you sail? I'd love to get feedback.

We sail in 2 weeks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

September 11-18. Our kids easily walk around small theme parks all day without a stroller and refuse to ride in theirs at the zoo, so we are taking a gamble. We recently sold our Bumbleride Indie Twin, which was way too much of a beast to take on a ship anyway. I'll try to report back as soon as I'm able.

 

I keep going back and forth, but I just don't feel like dealing with it! One of our twins is massively underweight, so she's only 25lbs to carry. Our son is 35lbs, so we can get him up and down the port if we need to...he isn't that huge.

[sivichoney]

@gymbomb - Thanks! Great suggestion. We may just go that route. Our little one is still easy enough to take around in the baby carrier and our 2.5 year old will likely need the stroller if/when he gets tired. This setup will likely be easiest so we don't have to carry around 2 strollers.

 

@lucyddr - yes, please keep us posted with how things go! (with or without stroller)

[Californiacruizers]

I highly recommend an umbrella stroller. I bought a cheap one for our last cruise my daughter was 2.5 then.

 

Granted she was able to walk most of the time; there were times when we had to stand in lines to get on and off the ship.

 

Many ports have long walk ways to the actual town and not to mention it is often hot and humid. We used the stroller while in port and even in the Buffet(it was easier to keep her contained while getting food).

 

The stroller also came in handy as she was able to nap pool side in the stroller(it reclined) or nap in the stroller in port.

 

Lastly it's much easier to navigate though a group of people quickly with a stroller vs. a slow moving toddler both on the cruise and in the airport.

[WeddNcruise]

I think I'm going to go ahead and take our city mini along with us. I was hoping to take the cheap super light umbrella stroller so we could carry the stroller if she decides to walk.

But after pushing her in it for 20 min the other day to try it out we were so fed up.

It's horrible on even slightly uneven surfaces (beaches, Mexico) and my husband who is TALL has a hard time pushing it comfortably and I don't want to be stuck with stroller duty the entire time

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sivichoney]

@WeddNcruise - when do you sail? Would love to hear how well it works out for you. We also have a city mini which we love and it would be nice not to have to purchase yet another stroller, but as mentioned in a previous post, it's quite wide and I'm a bit concerned with the size and taking it around when not in use.

[WeddNcruise]

@WeddNcruise - when do you sail? Would love to hear how well it works out for you. We also have a city mini which we love and it would be nice not to have to purchase yet another stroller, but as mentioned in a previous post, it's quite wide and I'm a bit concerned with the size and taking it around when not in use.

 

 

We sail on the 18th! 10 more days left! [emoji322]

When do you sail?

I come back on the 25th, if u haven't sailed by then I'll be sure to post how it went.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sivichoney]

Woohoo! Exciting! :D We don't sail until January 2017.

[Californiacruizers]

@WeddNcruise - when do you sail? Would love to hear how well it works out for you. We also have a city mini which we love and it would be nice not to have to purchase yet another stroller, but as mentioned in a previous post, it's quite wide and I'm a bit concerned with the size and taking it around when not in use.

 

Not sure how wide a City Mini is however on our last cruise there were people with the standard size travel systems(with the infant carrier attached) on board. I was able to fold my stroller which is a little larger than an umbrella and store it in the closet in our room.

[lucyddr]

We just returned from a 7 day cruise and a pre-cruise day in New Orleans with our 3.5 year old toddlers. I decided not to bring a stroller as I didn't want the hassle, though I was nervous about my decision.

 

It was fine! Our kids easily walked 7000-10,000 steps a day without issues. We carried a sleeping child once or twice for less than 10 minutes, but that was it.

 

I realize all children are different, but for us...a stroller would have been a nightmare to deal with on our cruise in terms of navigating the decks and storing in the stateroom. I think our stroller days are over.