Cruise with 2 & 4 year olds

[travelmomma]

I'm thinking about taking a 4-night Disney Cruise with our 2 year old and 4 year old. The programming looks fantastic for our 4 year old. But, I'm not sure about the 2 year old. Any experience with a 2-year old Disney? How does the Nursery work out? Are there any shows in the afternoon for little kids who are going to fall asleep after a 6pm dinner instead of taking in a show? I heard there was a deck party in the afternoon on the Nassau Day, any details. The evening deck party looks fun, but my kids aren't going to last, so we'll all be in our cabin. I'm trying to figure out what the experience will be with a 2-year old. Please advise. Thanks.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Hi,

A 2 year old is a challenge. We had a 18 month old grandson with us one time. The Mickey pool has one ear that has water jets that are intended with little kids who are not potty trained to play in. They MUST have swim diapers on. Flounders nursery is very good with the kids. It was $6 per hour, a 2 hour minamum. You must reserve time ahead of time because they dont want too many kids for the amount of counselors they have. There are 2 small windows you can peek in at the kids where they cant see you so you can check in at anytime you want. They will give you a beeper where they will call you if your needed. They have lots of toys for kids 3 and under in there. sometimes they take the toddlers to the kids club to play when the kids are out of the club doing something else, which is great fun. The shows are in the evening at 6:30 and 8:30 I believe. One possibility would be to have late dining for you and your husband, feed th ekids early from room service or from food places around the pools, then take them to the early show and then to the kids club or nursery where they do have matts for kids to sleep on while you go and enjoy a quiet dinner with your husband. There are other family activites during the day you can do together, such as the Mickey 22 or Mr. Toads wild race where with a parents help even toddlers participate. If you were on the Magic they have an outdoor movie screen where they play disney movies and cartoons in the afternoon, but the Wonder doesnt have a outdoor screen yet. Hopefully they will put one on the ship when it goes into drydock this October. Hope this helps alittle. Our grandson had a blast just walking around the ship, the mickey ear, early shows and dancing to the music in the promenade lounge in his PJ'S. For us it was worth it our memories are priceless.

mom x4,grandma x4

[travelmomma]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I kind of want to go this year before our daughter is in kindergarden b/c we won't be constrained by the school schedule. But, I wonder if we are better off waiting until our son is old enough for kids programming and staying up past 7:30pm.

[crooooze]

Our first Disney cruise was with our 2 1/2 year old - We had the same concerns. It didn't stop us from staying out late at the deck parties - we let her fall asleep and we just took turns carrying her about. She had a great time!

[mruhaak]

We just got off the Disney Wonder last Thursday. We had our 2.5DS with us. It wasn't the best experience.

 

I think it depends on your child. Our son was very overwhelmed by everything and became very needy. He did not want to stay in Flounders. This is unusual for him as he goes to daycare and normally likes to play with other kids. Flounders wasn't geared towards his age group. I had read posts concerning this beforehand and would have to agree that this was true. We didn't want him to stay there long... just long enough for 2 of the dinners. We only made it through one dinner uninterrupted.

 

Since I am 18 weeks pregnant it was hard work for me to carry him around so much. And he wanted to be carryed a lot. I definitely want to do another Disney cruise when our children are at least both over 3 and potty trained. So we will have to wait 4 more years I guess!