should one year old twins be on ships?

[bill turcotte]

Should you take your one year old on ships ?

 

We took are Twin girls on the Galaxy in Jan . Our girls were 15 months and walking . We got 2 inside rooms with a connectting door .We did inside rooms becuase they are Cheaper . We got two rooms so at night we could talk or watch T.V. while the girls were a sleep .

 

Here's some good and bad points

 

1) We took one of the beds out so the room would fit both Pack and plays . You do not get cribs . you get Pack and plays . We brought our own sheets .Pillows ect.. So they would feel like they were sleeping at home . The two rooms worked out great . One bad thing was we had to paid for 4 people instead of 2 grown ups and 2 kids .

 

2) We emptied one of the mini bars and ever night out cabin steward brought us 6 milks so we could make milk in the middle of the night . he also washed our bottles ever night . Our Cabin steward was great . He really made the rooms work . We tipped him an extra $ 100 .

 

3) One nice thing about being on a ship . At night I would read while the girls slept and my partner would go out on deck ,then we switch the next night . You could not do that in a hotel .

 

4) We could not eat in the main dinning room . Our girls could not sit for 1 1/2 and be happy . We tried it once and it was no fun for the girls or the people around us . I would not ruin other people nice dinner with active kids near them . So eat ate in the cusual dinning .The food was not as good but the serive was great . Plus we could eat in 20 mins . I think this was the thing we missed the most . Not having very good dinners .

 

5) One nice about a ship - We take the girls to a show . After ten mins they get bored or nosiey so we run them down to the dance floor to dance 2 songs and leave .

 

6) Pools - No kids under 3 in the pools . But on the sea days the kids club set up a little pool for us . Then you also have all the beaches . You can not stay long due to the sun . and it takes 20 mins to get to the beach . So the beaches really did not work for us .

 

7) Overall it was a lot of work with the girls . They had a great time . We had good time . I was tried all the time .Being at home is easier in a lot of ways but I needed to get away . We would do a Cruise again . I do not think people on the ship were uncomfortable with the girls around but we also made sure they were not getting in peoples way .

 

8) One thing with twins you both have to be with the girls all the time . The ship is not child proofed . thier are railing they can fall through . The out side stairs are unsafe for kids . Doors open hard and heavy . We never got to sit down and just relaxx , unless we were in our room .

 

9 ) feel free to ask me anything else . I hope this was helpful

[crusinmama06]

Some points that would have made it easier for you.

 

You were on Celebrity. They aren't known as having the best family friendly cruises. If you were on Carnival or RCCL, you could have had babysitting for the children during dinner times or at night.

 

And other cruiselines do have cribs.

 

You could have taken a blow up pool (we discuss it all the time here). It's actually not "no kids under 3"...it's no non-potty trained children in the pools. I have a 2 year old who is potty trained so we get to use the pools. :D

 

Another idea that could have helped you was to book a balcony cabin. You could have put the girls down to bed and go out on the deck with your partner for a little alone time under the stars. ;)

 

I hope you do choose to cruise with them again. And I am glad that all in all, you had a great time.

[crusinmama06]

Oh and I also had to add how awesome it was for your cabin steward to wash out the bottles!

 

When my kids were the bottle age, I would pack disposable bottle liners so I wouldn't have to stress about washing the entire bottle, just the nipple and the lid. :)

 

So that was very nice.

[lexxity]

Try Cunard next time, their child programme starts at 1yo. They do group babysitting in the evening. I cannot reccomend them highly enough. We had a fabulous time and are looking forward to next time!

[Eclipsepearl]

That was actually very encourging. We are taking the exact same ship this summer in the Med. We purposely waited until our youngest turned 3 to book so that she could go to the kids' club. She's only semi-PT'd but she should be fine in another five months.

 

We thought about taking one of the more "kid-friendly" companies, and I can't say that we wont in the future but my dh is really into good food and so I kind of wanted to cover this point. We're first-timers so it was hard to pick what was most important. Their "Fun Factory" seems to be well reviewed so that was also a big plus.

 

We also don't do "kid-friendly" stuff too well. Our trip to Disneyland Paris last fall wasn't a huge success. On vacation, dh likes to relax, and I like to run around and sightsee. I'm really hoping cruising is The Answer to our vacation woes. If Celebrity isn't a good "match", I'm willing to try out someone else.

 

My oldest and youngest are very active. If we only had the middle child, we could go anywhere. She stays right by my side and is good (in public). The other two are just too wired and need a lot of stimulation, as well as surveillance. I totally agree when parents say "...it depends on the child"

 

I don't know how you did it but you were honest about what it involved!

[rebeccalouise]

you will have a wonderful time on Celebrity. I have done five cruises with them on four different ships and LOVED them. My son has been on all five with me. He is now 6. The first one he was six months and I was with a group so life was really easy. The second he was 13 months- not so much fun. The third he was nearly 4 on Galaxy- thought I died and went to heaven. He loved the Fun Factory. Then Millenium even better and Constellation- the best yet.

One thing you will read is that passengers say they don't see kids on Celebrity. They are there- but they are so involved with the kids programs that you don't see them very often around the ship. In fact, some sweet grandmotherly type ladies said "There's a child" - because they hadn't seen any. On that particular sailing there were 300 kids.

 

Celebrity IMO is great for kids because they get a lot of individualized attention and they really only need to make one buddy to have a great time. There have always been at least 10 kids my son's age on board.

 

I think for teens Celebrity might not have as much to offer as some of the other lines.

[Eclipsepearl]

you will have a wonderful time on Celebrity. I have done five cruises with them on four different ships and LOVED them. My son has been on all five with me. He is now 6. The first one he was six months and I was with a group so life was really easy. The second he was 13 months- not so much fun. The third he was nearly 4 on Galaxy- thought I died and went to heaven. He loved the Fun Factory. Then Millenium even better and Constellation- the best yet.

One thing you will read is that passengers say they don't see kids on Celebrity. They are there- but they are so involved with the kids programs that you don't see them very often around the ship. In fact, some sweet grandmotherly type ladies said "There's a child" - because they hadn't seen any. On that particular sailing there were 300 kids.

 

Whoa! :eek: We're going at the height of summer so there will be a lot of kids onboard, even on Celebrity.

 

Celebrity IMO is great for kids because they get a lot of individualized attention and they really only need to make one buddy to have a great time. There have always been at least 10 kids my son's age on board.

 

I think for teens Celebrity might not have as much to offer as some of the other lines.

 

Our friends have a 13 year old but she doesn't speak English so it'll be iffy already. Maybe a quieter program will pay better attention to a young girl with language issues. Her mom, btw, is thrilled that she'll be doing "total immersion" in English. I will be contactable by phone if a translation is necessary (probably with her mom or they can reach me on my cell which has worldwide service). We'll have to see.

 

Rebecca, perhaps you can help me on the other thread I started about Med ports-of-call, even if you weren't in the Med on any of those. We're first-timers (except me to Anarctica but that's not really comparable is it??)

 

Thanks for more good news. I'm really looking forward to this!

[bill turcotte]

1st Crusinmama06 - Your advise was great . I wish idid bring a small blow up pool not only for play but I would of turned it into a kids bathtub also . we could only afford the inside cabins since we got 2 . I would of loved to see the stars . Our next cruise will be on NCL or RC .

Eclipsepearl - I want to tell you the kids club was great . Thier were not many kids on the ship so they let our kids play in the kids club as long as we were thier . the staff was so friendly .

I watch them interact with the kids 3 and up . the childred did not want to go with the parents . I think your child is old enough now where your trip is going to be great .

[Sale Away]

You were on Celebrity. They aren't known as having the best family friendly cruises. If you were on Carnival or RCCL, you could have had babysitting for the children during dinner times or at night.

 

Unless things have changed tremendously, DD's first cruise at 20 months old was on the Galaxy 9 years ago and we did have babysitting by the staff available in the evenings. And they were great with her. The gal who sat with her took her down to the crew quarters to show her off one night. After that, she was greeted constantly by crew members who had met her but not us! :p We were on Celebrity again 4 years ago and really enjoyed it. We've never felt it to be family unfriendly.

[rebeccalouise]

Crew members love kids. That seems to be evident on every line I have traveled. Kids are enthusiastic- unlike many of the dour looking people you see on board. I get great service traveling with a kid. They enjoy talking with us.

 

On Millenium, Marc (then 4) was in the front row of the magic/comedy show on one of the first nights of a 14 day cruise. He was called up on stage and helped out with the tricks. He was famous from that point on. Everywhere we went on the ship, people would say "Marc!" There were only 30 kids, including teens, on that passage and we both had a fantastic time. There is a real comradery on a Transatlantic voyage. I highly recommend one- especially with small kids. Even when we disembarked in Barcelona, people from the ship spotted Marc on the street and you would hear someone call "Marc!". it was great.