Traveling with a toddler (will turn 3 onboard)

[Wanderlust_23]

Hi all, 

 

My husband and I will be cruising with our toddler within the next year. Our little one will turn three during our trip. Has anyone else traveled with a small child? If so, what recommendations might you have?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[FlightMedic555]

I’m on the ship now. The youngest child is probably around 12. Unfortunately most of the excursions would not work for a toddler.  There are excursions by small trucks at many ports where you basically are sitting on a bench in what may have been the bed of a small truck. No child seats and probably not very interesting for a 3 year old.  

[Leejnd4]

2 hours ago, Wanderlust_23 said:

Hi all, 

 

My husband and I will be cruising with our toddler within the next year. Our little one will turn three during our trip. Has anyone else traveled with a small child? If so, what recommendations might you have?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I agree with @FlightMedic555 - this would likely not be an enjoyable cruise for a couple with a 3-yr-old. There are a number of cruise lines that cater to young families, but this is not one of them. No activities for kids at all, no kids pool, no kids entertainment, no excursions that would be child-appropriate, no babysitting services so you wouldn't be able to go on excursions yourself either. You might also struggle to find food that your little one would like, as the dining is pretty gourmet and is not really designed to accommodate toddlers.

 

I've never seen a child so young on my PG cruises, but @Tahitianbigkahuna has been on MANY more PG cruises than I have, and he could probably tell you what he's seen in terms of young kids on board.

 

The PG is an expensive bucket-list cruise to take when you can't really fully experience it. My personal opinion is that you might consider either waiting until your child is older, leaving Jr. with a grandparent, or going on a cruise line that is designed for families. 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

1 hour ago, Leejnd4 said:

I agree with @FlightMedic555 - this would likely not be an enjoyable cruise for a couple with a 3-yr-old. There are a number of cruise lines that cater to young families, but this is not one of them. No activities for kids at all, no kids pool, no kids entertainment, no excursions that would be child-appropriate, no babysitting services so you wouldn't be able to go on excursions yourself either. You might also struggle to find food that your little one would like, as the dining is pretty gourmet and is not really designed to accommodate toddlers.

 

I've never seen a child so young on my PG cruises, but @Tahitianbigkahuna has been on MANY more PG cruises than I have, and he could probably tell you what he's seen in terms of young kids on board.

 

The PG is an expensive bucket-list cruise to take when you can't really fully experience it. My personal opinion is that you might consider either waiting until your child is older, leaving Jr. with a grandparent, or going on a cruise line that is designed for families. 

 

This really depends on the child. I've young ones do just fine and were pleasure to have around ... the youngsters often have a few dozen instant grad parents. 

With that being said I seen young ones that were a handful and took away the experience not only for the parents but others as well.

You need to ask yourself without bias  ... will your child behave or will they take away special moments from others. As a parent rarely think their little kids ever misbehave you might what to ask others you know that can perfectly honest with you if it's a good idea for your child to go.

As mentioned most consider this a trip of a lifetime in one of the most romantic places on earth ... and of course the considerable expense people lay out  ... make sure you don't take away the experience from others .... only if your are 100% sure your child will behave would I say go for it. 

[mermaid 285]

Hi Wanderlust_23,

 

we will be bringing our 8-year-old on the cruise in August.  It seems that many cruisers on here are not particularly happy to see kids on board. But at least the PG will be operating a kids activity program during the Summer and also Christmas holidays that focuses on the flora and fauna of the islands and ocean conservation. As our son is very interested in marine biology and sharks in particular, I think he should be well catered for. But these activities are only for kids aged  7+.

 

We also took our son to French Polynesia when he was 3 and stayed in hotels, which worked well for us as the butlers were happy to entertain our son and some places had kids clubs. In terms of activities, you will be more limited with a young child, but there's still plenty to enjoy.   You will still be able to go to the beaches, hire a car, take boat trips etc. Our son found the boat trips in particular very memorable and kept talking about them for a long time. The pool will also be fine, as long as your child wears swim diapers and wears a flotation device.  I have absolutely no regrets about taking a 3-year-old to this part of the world. On the Paul Gauguin you may find help with your child more limited unless of course the grand-parents are coming too and will be helping you out. As regards the food, I would reach out to Ponant, they will be able to tell you what they can offer for your child.  If you haven't booked yet and are not bringing the grand-parents, I would probably opt to stay in hotels with a toddler and leave the PG until he/she's a bit older.

 

We have cruised on the PG twice before we had our son and on both occasions came across kids aged about 7 upwards who we never saw as a problem.  In our experience the people that took away from our experience where not the kids, but large American groups on corporate incentives. For some reason whenever people travel in large groups they feel entitled to shout across the pool deck and behave like they own the whole ship/resort.

 

At the end of the day all passengers should show consideration for others not just parents with young children.

 

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Again it comes down to how behaved the kids are ... this often comes down to good parenting. I've had kids be part of the excursions (pictured) I plan and everyone loved having the kids along but all were well behaved.

I've also been around kid's on-board that were completely out of control and took away from the experience for several. 

As far as adults I've had large groups and never had issues of anyone being out of control. For the most part I find the passengers on-board knowledgeable, frequent travelers and engaging. I usually sit with tables at dinner with people I don't know  ... it's incredible to hear their stories and experiences in life ... heck, you might be sitting next to a famous author or an astronaut  ... you never know.

 

Picture taken on Fakarava at the Blue Lagoon ... kids were so well behaved ... entertained themselves as well as for us watching. Kids were from 2 families, ages 8, 6 and 4

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[FlightMedic555]

BTW, I was. It commenting on my or other people’s concerns with children on board.  It was specific to the limited activities that are available in that age group 

[Wanderlust_23]

15 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

I’m on the ship now. The youngest child is probably around 12. Unfortunately most of the excursions would not work for a toddler.  There are excursions by small trucks at many ports where you basically are sitting on a bench in what may have been the bed of a small truck. No child seats and probably not very interesting for a 3 year old.  

Thank you, @FlightMedic555! That’s good to know. Our travel agent let us know that there would be some excursions that would not be suitable. However, I am hoping to be able to find some that would work. I appreciate your insight! 

[Wanderlust_23]

7 hours ago, mermaid 285 said:

Hi Wanderlust_23,

 

we will be bringing our 8-year-old on the cruise in August.  It seems that many cruisers on here are not particularly happy to see kids on board. But at least the PG will be operating a kids activity program during the Summer and also Christmas holidays that focuses on the flora and fauna of the islands and ocean conservation. As our son is very interested in marine biology and sharks in particular, I think he should be well catered for. But these activities are only for kids aged  7+.

 

We also took our son to French Polynesia when he was 3 and stayed in hotels, which worked well for us as the butlers were happy to entertain our son and some places had kids clubs. In terms of activities, you will be more limited with a young child, but there's still plenty to enjoy.   You will still be able to go to the beaches, hire a car, take boat trips etc. Our son found the boat trips in particular very memorable and kept talking about them for a long time. The pool will also be fine, as long as your child wears swim diapers and wears a flotation device.  I have absolutely no regrets about taking a 3-year-old to this part of the world. On the Paul Gauguin you may find help with your child more limited unless of course the grand-parents are coming too and will be helping you out. As regards the food, I would reach out to Ponant, they will be able to tell you what they can offer for your child.  If you haven't booked yet and are not bringing the grand-parents, I would probably opt to stay in hotels with a toddler and leave the PG until he/she's a bit older.

 

We have cruised on the PG twice before we had our son and on both occasions came across kids aged about 7 upwards who we never saw as a problem.  In our experience the people that took away from our experience where not the kids, but large American groups on corporate incentives. For some reason whenever people travel in large groups they feel entitled to shout across the pool deck and behave like they own the whole ship/resort.

 

At the end of the day all passengers should show consideration for others not just parents with young children.

 

 

 

That’s very helpful @mermaid 285! We are traveling during Christmas and have heard that there are generally more families with children at that time. 
 

The kid’s program sounds amazing! Our travel agent let us know that we can speak with them when we board to see if we might be able to tag along. I know our little one would love to see the other kids and would be delighted to attempt the activities - with our supervision, of course. 
 

Our little one is fully potty trained, so the pool should not be an issue. We spent 90 minutes in a hotel pool today quietly reviewing numbers, letters, shapes, and the discussing the intricacies of the filtration system. 😂
 

We did book a balcony and are looking forward to having some quiet time out there before the little one wakes, during naps, and after bedtime. It’s also nice to know that we can have our evening meal out there if the little one needs to sleep early. 
 

I know that we will be limited by our toddler’s schedule and abilities in terms of excursions. However, I am hoping that we might be able to find some fun options. We’ll definitely look into the boat trips - thanks for that tip! I would love to hear more about your trip upon your return, if you would be willing to share. 
 

Thank you again! I truly appreciate your time! 

[mermaid 285]

45 minutes ago, Wanderlust_23 said:

 

That’s very helpful @mermaid 285! We are traveling during Christmas and have heard that there are generally more families with children at that time. 
 

The kid’s program sounds amazing! Our travel agent let us know that we can speak with them when we board to see if we might be able to tag along. I know our little one would love to see the other kids and would be delighted to attempt the activities - with our supervision, of course. 
 

Our little one is fully potty trained, so the pool should not be an issue. We spent 90 minutes in a hotel pool today quietly reviewing numbers, letters, shapes, and the discussing the intricacies of the filtration system. 😂
 

We did book a balcony and are looking forward to having some quiet time out there before the little one wakes, during naps, and after bedtime. It’s also nice to know that we can have our evening meal out there if the little one needs to sleep early. 
 

I know that we will be limited by our toddler’s schedule and abilities in terms of excursions. However, I am hoping that we might be able to find some fun options. We’ll definitely look into the boat trips - thanks for that tip! I would love to hear more about your trip upon your return, if you would be willing to share. 
 

Thank you again! I truly appreciate your time! 

Happy to report back about our experience upon our return and maybe come up with some more ideas of activities that would be open to you with a toddler.  I know from experience that your options are more limited while your child is so young, but that doesn't been to say you won't have a great time. As you are travelling over Christmas, there will definitely be other families on board. No matter what, I'm sure you will enjoy French Polynesia and being on the Paul Gauguin.  Happy travels!

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Typically there are about 30 kids on-board at Christmas ... all ages. And yes Santa does visit ...

 

Gosh that guy looks familiar 🙂

[Leejnd4]

1 hour ago, Wanderlust_23 said:

 

That’s very helpful @mermaid 285! We are traveling during Christmas and have heard that there are generally more families with children at that time. 

It helps to know that you will be onboard the ship at Christmas. That does make a difference. Certainly there will be more children onboard, and the ship will likely do more than it normally does to accommodate families with children. You seem to be going into this with open eyes. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time.

 

Those of us who prefer to avoid small children during our luxury vacations know to avoid cruising during Christmas. 🙂