NotQuiteChicago Posted August 15, 2006 #1 Share Posted August 15, 2006 We are planning on a B2B cruise w/our daughter who will be 3 1/2 when we go. She is a pretty easy going kid who handles being "off schedule" and she travels well. We've never been away for 14 days straight however, and definately not on a cruise for that long (even DH & I haven't done a cruise for 14 days). So I'm wondering - anyone else done this? Any advice? We plan on packing for 7 days and spending the $$ to have laundry done- well worth it IMO! But any tips/tricks for 3-4 year old cruising. This will be her 1st cruise, so her 1st time in Adventure Ocean (we'll be on RCI). She handles strangers/new things very well, so that's good at least! TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking30 Posted August 15, 2006 #2 Share Posted August 15, 2006 We did a 12 day cruise when our daughter had just turned 3. It was wonderful, I have only good things to say about it. She LOVED Adv Ocean, and it is amazing how fast they get into a "routine." We always gave her the option of staying with us or going to Adv Ocean - and of course EVERY TIME she picked Adv Ocean. I don't think they have a great concept of time at that age, she probably would have cruised forever without giving it a second thought! It was the best vacation ever. We are doing a 13 day cruise in Nov with her (now 5) and our son, who will be 14 months. I always feel like 7 days isn't enough - you just really start to relax and it is over! (not that cruising with a 14 month old will be relaxing!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellie100 Posted August 16, 2006 #3 Share Posted August 16, 2006 We are planning on a B2B cruise w/our daughter who will be 3 1/2 when we go. She is a pretty easy going kid who handles being "off schedule" and she travels well. We've never been away for 14 days straight however, and definately not on a cruise for that long (even DH & I haven't done a cruise for 14 days). So I'm wondering - anyone else done this? Any advice? We plan on packing for 7 days and spending the $$ to have laundry done- well worth it IMO! But any tips/tricks for 3-4 year old cruising. This will be her 1st cruise, so her 1st time in Adventure Ocean (we'll be on RCI). She handles strangers/new things very well, so that's good at least! TIA! I have also enjoyed my long cruises (10-day) with my son. I feel like it really gives us time to relax and to get into a routine. Like Viking, I'm at the point, where 7 days doesn't even really seem long enough. It seems that the 3-yr-old girls enjoy Adventure Ocean more than the 3-yr-old boys (this is only from what I have witnessed with my own two eyes). So, you should be good, there. My only suggestion is to bring a DVD player in case you want to enjoy some downtime in the room with her, she'll have something to do. Oh, I guess one last suggestion is to get a balcony room so you have somewhere nice to hang out and relax when she is sleeping. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotQuiteChicago Posted August 16, 2006 Author #4 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I'm glad I haven't been told I'm crazy! We have a JS so we have a decent amount of room. I can't give up the balcony. Bringing a portable DVD player is a great idea. A question - how late do the AO programs run? I know when I was on NOS the 10 yr old I was travelling with was in a group until 1 a.m., but I didn't know if it was that late for all age groups or all ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellie100 Posted August 16, 2006 #5 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I'm glad I haven't been told I'm crazy! We have a JS so we have a decent amount of room. I can't give up the balcony. Bringing a portable DVD player is a great idea. A question - how late do the AO programs run? I know when I was on NOS the 10 yr old I was travelling with was in a group until 1 a.m., but I didn't know if it was that late for all age groups or all ships. I believe that it is 1am for all age groups on all Royal Caribbean ships, but there is an hourly charge from 10pm to 1am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrleo33 Posted August 18, 2006 #6 Share Posted August 18, 2006 We did two back to back cruises an 8 day and a 5 day, so we were out to sea for 13 days with our 3 and 5 year olds. The 8 day was on the Carnival Liberty and the other was RCCL Enchantment. The kids did fine and we found the kid's club's on both ships to be wonderful and never had any complaints. However we did observe one difference between the two. On our Carnival cruises the babysitting after 10 p.m. is treated as a slumber party. The kids lay down on the floor with blankets and they have popcorn and watch movies and generally speaking they are fast asleep by the time we pick them up and that way they were not fussy and cranky from staying up too late. On the Enchantment it was a late night party that lasted until the parents came to pick them up, which I thought was great for older kids, but not practical for the younger children and was definitely not suitable for our 3 and 5 year old, since most days they are up and out of bed by 7 a.m. regardless of what time they went to sleep. We found that in cabin sitting worked much better for our young children. We called guest relations and a very sweet young lady from Poland came to our cabin. The kids loved her. She'd read stories to them and they'd lay in their bed's and watch kid shows until they fell asleep and we were able to request the same sitter night after night. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking30 Posted August 19, 2006 #7 Share Posted August 19, 2006 I don't think any of the 3-5 yr olds in Adv Ocean stayed for the "late-night." Like the pp said, it is not sleep, it is "party" like activies. We picked our 3 yr old up every night at 10pm. We were on the Brilliance and had the routine of picking her up, going to the Seaview Cafe where she would get a snack (fries, etc) then right to the room where she would literally pass out until about 8am. In-room babysitting is a great option if you want to stay up later, we used this on our first cruise with our daughter when she was 16 months old, the sitter was WONDERFUL. But honestly we were pretty wiped by 10pm also - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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