Traveling with an almost 3 yo on Jewel of the Seas

[Choozin Croozin]

Unfortunately we should've planned this better but, grandma and grandpa booked a cruise on the Jewel and our ds, dil and almost 3 yo gd are now joining us. I am thrilled. So looking at the kids stuff on ship, Jewel appears to be lacking. Their kids club is 3-6 and no splash pad or anything. Potty trained for kids pool.  How strict are they on the age for the kids program, does anyone know? Has anyone use it if they are closed to 3?  Also looking for ideas on how to handle nap times and night times. Has anyone found a monitor that will work if you just go out in the hall? Any tips and tricks are helpful. I have done a search and gained a few. What do you do in ports to go places. Obviously car seats are not available. Thank you. 

[Essiesmom]

Cruise lines are pretty strict about the kids club ages…it has to do with their liability insurance.  The best you can hope for is the child be potty trained by then.  EM

[kitkat343]

I'm so sorry - Jewel, Adventure and Explorer do not have drop off nursery programs.  The drop off kids club sometimes has some flexibility in children moving rooms, (like a 6 year old being able to move down to the 3-5 year old group if they have a cousin/sibling there), but for insurance reasons I don't think they have any flexibility for kids even a day under 3.  

 

The do have Baby Tots program where the parents come and play with the kids, and I was recently on Adventure and they expanded the hours because there was very strong demand.  

 

There were also parent and child activities like mini golf, and scavenger hunts.

 

At breakfast buffet, get extra milks and yogurt and store them in the fridge.  The WJ isn't always open, so its a harder for parents when kids get hungry so its better if you have snacks (fruit and cereal) always in the room.  You need to be in the room for room service delivery or they won't leave it, and they don't use boxes of cereal so we found it just as easy to go up to the WJ for breakfast, but that's entirely up to you.  

 

Depending on what kind of tour you use (if you are going to lots of places) a private excursion for just your family might be better than a large ship tour where you have to wait for everyone to load and unload.  A ship tour might be fine if you are just going to a beach, although you should see if it is cheaper to just take a cab.  We used car seats but that's up to you.

Edited September 9, 2022 by kitkat343

[Choozin Croozin]

15 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

I'm so sorry - Jewel, Adventure and Explorer do not have drop off nursery programs.  The drop off kids club sometimes has some flexibility in children moving rooms, (like a 6 year old being able to move down to the 3-5 year old group if they have a cousin/sibling there), but for insurance reasons I don't think they have any flexibility for kids even a day under 3.  

 

The do have Baby Tots program where the parents come and play with the kids, and I was recently on Adventure and they expanded the hours because there was very strong demand.  

 

There were also parent and child activities like mini golf, and scavenger hunts.

 

At breakfast buffet, get extra milks and yogurt and store them in the fridge.  The WJ isn't always open, so its a harder for parents when kids get hungry so its better if you have snacks (fruit and cereal) always in the room.  You need to be in the room for room service delivery or they won't leave it, and they don't use boxes of cereal so we found it just as easy to go up to the WJ for breakfast, but that's entirely up to you.  

 

Depending on what kind of tour you use (if you are going to lots of places) a private excursion for just your family might be better than a large ship tour where you have to wait for everyone to load and unload.  A ship tour might be fine if you are just going to a beach, although you should see if it is cheaper to just take a cab.  We used car seats but that's up to you.

Oh, ok. So just brought the car seat with you and were able to put it in the vehicle? Thank you for your help. I didn't think about the liability. Had I thought this was going to happen I sure would've booked a ship more little one friendly. This was a Covid rebook, so I just grabbed something that looked ok and Jewel is the only radiance class we hadn't been on. Thank you again.

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, Choozin Croozin said:

Oh, ok. So just brought the car seat with you and were able to put it in the vehicle? Thank you for your help. I didn't think about the liability. Had I thought this was going to happen I sure would've booked a ship more little one friendly. This was a Covid rebook, so I just grabbed something that looked ok and Jewel is the only radiance class we hadn't been on. Thank you again.

There are some lines that take 2 year olds in the kids club (Carnival and Cunard), but honestly for some 2 and even 3 year olds there's no guarantee the children are going to be happy in the kids club.  The counselors have been very good on most of the ships we've sailed, but there are a lot of new kids thrown together in the kids clubs with teachers the children don't know, so some children find kids clubs too overwhelming, so there's no guarantee a nearly or barely 3 year old child will stay in the kids club.  Plus some parents aren't comfortable with drop off care at that age (sorry I'm not clear from your post if you are the parent or grandparent here).

 

In our case, we usually like to do a lot of stuff in port so we make multiple stops, and book private excursions for just our family.  So that includes a vehicle we can leave the car seat in all day.  But if you are going to just one location, you might be fine with a ship tour.  A small group private tour would be better than a ship tour, and would cost less.  I think a private tour for just your family would be more expensive than a ship tour, but I'm not certain because I haven't price compared them.  You an find private tour operators on either the destination boards or tripadvisor.  

 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by kitkat343

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 9/9/2022 at 7:44 PM, Choozin Croozin said:

Oh, ok. So just brought the car seat with you and were able to put it in the vehicle? Thank you for your help. I didn't think about the liability. Had I thought this was going to happen I sure would've booked a ship more little one friendly. This was a Covid rebook, so I just grabbed something that looked ok and Jewel is the only radiance class we hadn't been on. Thank you again.

you can look through the other threads on this subforum for more information on car seats. I know I've written quite a few posts about them lately.

You just have to remember that vehicles in other countries may not have locking seat belts like US cars and they may not have latch/isofix either. In this case, the parents should look into bringing a small seat belt locking clip and practice installing a seat at home before the cruise.

 

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOE6651373

https://www.amazon.com/Sungrace-Metal-Lock-Silver-Pack/dp/B0797KBGD5

 

or take cruise ship excursions which tend to use buses of some kind. Sure, you'll be like sardines in the bus, but at least you won't have to bring a car seat with you. For a 2 yo I'd go with an Evenflo Maestro for forward facing or Cosco Scenera NEXT for rear facing. Cosco Finale is a good option if the child is over 30# and is not overly tall if they want to use the seat for a couple more years.

[mjkacmom]

When is the cruise? Four of my five were potty trained before their 3rd birthday.

[Choozin Croozin]

On 9/12/2022 at 3:40 PM, mjkacmom said:

When is the cruise? Four of my five were potty trained before their 3rd birthday.

March 2023. I advised them that that might be a goal lol. She just turned 2 in June and doesn’t seem too interested yet. 

[Choozin Croozin]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:46 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

you can look through the other threads on this subforum for more information on car seats. I know I've written quite a few posts about them lately.

You just have to remember that vehicles in other countries may not have locking seat belts like US cars and they may not have latch/isofix either. In this case, the parents should look into bringing a small seat belt locking clip and practice installing a seat at home before the cruise.

 

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOE6651373

https://www.amazon.com/Sungrace-Metal-Lock-Silver-Pack/dp/B0797KBGD5

 

or take cruise ship excursions which tend to use buses of some kind. Sure, you'll be like sardines in the bus, but at least you won't have to bring a car seat with you. For a 2 yo I'd go with an Evenflo Maestro for forward facing or Cosco Scenera NEXT for rear facing. Cosco Finale is a good option if the child is over 30# and is not overly tall if they want to use the seat for a couple more years.

Thank you so much. You have been very helpful!!