Best Cruise Ship For Young Toddlers?

[GoBraves95]

Hi! I hope everyone is well. My wife and I have a son who will be about 18 months at possible time of sailing. I have been trying to research what the best ships would be for kids his age, but most of what you can find is just youtube "top ten" lists from people who did little/no research and use a computer generated voice. Could you recommend a good boat for us? I am thinking the Disney boats will be a little out of the budget, unless we only go for a couple of days. Thanks in advance!

 

Edit: Just thought about this, are there covid vaccination requirements for kids this young? 

Edited May 6 by GoBraves95
additional question

[BaumD]

I do not think any major cruise line requires Covid vaccinations from their passengers at this time.

[Essiesmom]

Most cruise lines do not offer programs for children under 3, though it’s under 2 on Carnival.  They do have times when you can accompany your child and use the kids facilities.  Ask on the Royal Caribbean board about the Royal Babies and Tots programs.  There is a board here for Family Cruising, under Special Interest Cruising.  Folks there might have some advice.  EM

[Host Kat]

8 hours ago, GoBraves95 said:

Hi! I hope everyone is well. My wife and I have a son who will be about 18 months at possible time of sailing. I have been trying to research what the best ships would be for kids his age, but most of what you can find is just youtube "top ten" lists from people who did little/no research and use a computer generated voice. Could you recommend a good boat for us? I am thinking the Disney boats will be a little out of the budget, unless we only go for a couple of days. Thanks in advance!

 

Edit: Just thought about this, are there covid vaccination requirements for kids this young? 

 

Hello @GoBraves95 and welcome back to the Cruise Critic message boards! I see it has been quite a while since you have posted.

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! However, it is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. Your inquiry concerns a specific type of cruise travel and was off topic there. 

 

To help you out, your new thread has been moved to the Family Cruises forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that cruise with toddlers frequent this forum and give good feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

Also, perhaps the following Cruise Critic articles will be helpful: 

5 Best Cruise Lines for Babies and Toddlers

Best Cruises for Kids: The 6 Most Kid-Friendly Cruise Lines and Cruise Ships

Family Cruising: 11 Tips for Booking the Best Family Cruise 

Cruise Lines That Offer Free Cruises for Kids

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers, and we are so glad you are posting again! Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community categories list for the various forums. I suggest you Bookmark the page or put it in your Favorites for quick and easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka Stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

Hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

 

[kitkat343]

The most important amenity you need to consider is if you require drop off care for your child.  If so, for 18 month olds all Disney ships and most RC ships have a fee based nursery (the only RC ships without a nursery are Jewel, Adventure or Explorer of the Seas®.).  Hours are not guaranteed (but I think you can book Disney ahead of time).  Cunard has free childcare for children aged 6 months -23 months from 6 pm to 11 pm, but their website states that this service is not guaranteed on all Cunard voyages.  Please note that the Cunard kids drop off kids club starts at age 2 (along with Carnival) but Cunard allows babies from 6-23 months to attend daytime kids club sessions with parental supervision.  Precovid, Princess also allowed children under 3 to attend the kids club with parental supervision (you'd need to confirm if this is still the case).  Princess did a really good job of helping my 2 year old play and complete the daily arts and craft activities so we just needed to be in the kids club but could sit in a chair and read.  Princess has a great kids club and is a really good option to consider for families with young kids.  Older kids might miss the lack of water slides, but it's a great family line for younger children.

 

The other amenity to consider is a splash pad.  Please note that most ships do not have splash pads that children in swim diapers can safely use.  All Disney ships have splash pads.  The following RC ships have splash pads that children in diapers can use : Adventure, Allure, Anthem, Freedom, Harmony, Independence, Liberty, Oasis, Ovation, Odyssey, Quantum, Spectrum, Symphony and Wonder.  

 

The other option is to wait until your child is 24 months, and eligible for free drop off care on Cunard or Carnival or (I think P&O).  Please note that we have sailed Cunard twice with children, and it is a very formal line.  

 

I would strongly recommend booking private tours with a young child so you can control the itinerary.  Just carefully check their refund policy prior to booking, especially on NCL since there have been issues with itinerary changes after final payment so you'd need to make sure the private tours are refundable.  

 

[mjkacmom]

I’d suggest a RCCL ship with a splash pad for diapered kids, and a paid nursery.