Please answer only if you have cruised with a little one.

[katondeck]

I am looking to see if any of you have cruised with a 1-2 year old on Princess and if you were happy with the experience? What was good and what was bad. I have cruised on Carnival and Princess. My Princess cruise was without my DH and I would like for him to try out the line as I was happier with my experience on Princess than Carnival.

 

Please do not reply if your answer is to leave my baby behind. I am looking to take a family vacation. Thank you!

[Toto2Kansas]

We took our granddaughter on a cruise and had a ball, but she was 5 when took her. The one problem you will find on Princess is that a 1-2 year old is not old enough for any of the child care/activity programs. And Princess does not provide in cabin babysitting.

So if you are prepared to spend all of your time with your child, then go for it.

 

Not much can be said about how Princess handles children of that age as they really don't do a lot to accomodate children that young. Sorry!

[ahracer]

I have cruised with little ones on Carnival and Costa but not on Princess. We had a great time, it is a different experience when travelling with little ones but that doesn't mean it still isn't fun.....I think it really depends on your kids. Do you think they will handle the environment well or be fussy?? Only you know the answer on how they typically behave in public environments. Do they behave if you go out to dinner? If you have children that can be a handful then you may be setting yorself up for a stressful vacation.

 

Scott

[CruisingMommy]

We have taken our eldest daughter when she was only 18 months and then again at 2.5 years old on the Grand Princess. She had a ball and we enjoyed it as well. We traveled with other family both times so we were able to take at least one night for ourselves. The kids pool area with playhouse was fantasic for a child that age and we spent most of our sea days there. We had early seating and she did pretty well at dinner time - would get a bit antsy by the time desert came. She slept great in the port-a-crib that they provided - the sea air really knocks them out! We even took her to a couple shows and she loved them. Every afternoon cookies would magically appear in our cabin for her (I don't know if they still do that but it was a huge hit).

 

Now that she is 5 she will be taking her 5th cruise along with her twin sisters who are 20 months on the Caribbean Princess in a few weeks. We have booked 2 cabins (mini-suite with inside across) and my husband and I will be splitting up with the kids for the sleeping arrangements. Some would say we were insane but we love to cruise and want our children to experience it as well. This time we are travelling with friends and their kids. We are planning on having most of our dinner meals in the Caribe Cafe so we don't have to be stuck in the dining room with the kids for a long dinner. I think its a great family vacation - no cooking, cleaning and laundry for one whole week and good quality time together. The kids area on the Caribbean Princess looks like it will be fun for the kids. We will write a review when we get back.

 

Angela

[krds]

We cruised on the Dawn Princess with a 2 1/2 year old. The experience overall was excellent. While she was unable to participant in the childrens program, the staff allowed access, as long as we accompanied her. Additionally, the whole staff was extremely hospitable, be it on deck, in the restaurant, cabin area etc, I cannot say this is a policy and repeatable; but I can say it was genuine and given freely by the staff and crew. I would not hesitate to recommend you not be concerned, and in fact we are returning to Princess, with Grand Daughter, for another cruise.

[jennb]

I've sailed with my daughter the past two summers - age 2 and now age 3. Found that Personal choice dining worked great for us - got a small table for our family every night. The kid's menu in the dining room is fine - alphabet soup, fruit salad, spaghetti, chicken fingers/fries, burgers, ice cream, cookies. My daughter had apple juice with dinner and milk, which we sometimes took back to the cabin in sippy cups. Boosters and high chairs are available.

 

I found the crew to be very nice to my daughter. During the trip while she was 2, we found a letter in our cabin stating that she could not go to the kids' club unattended, but she was welcome if a parent stayed with her. We ended up playing on the playground on Princess Cays and the counselors actually were very accommodating (but made sure I knew to stay).

 

This last trip, she was able to go to the kids' club - she had separation issues - again handled very nicely by the counselors, who beeped me immediately.

 

I enjoy cruising with my daughter and hubby - its not the same as if you were alone - but you get good quality time together. I would recommend getting a mini-suite if you can manage it - the couch turns into a pull out bed, leaving lots of room to play along with an extra tv and a bathtub!

[Ethel5]

Thanks for all the positive responses!!!! I posted a while ago about traveling with a 2.95 year old and got a bunch of "leave the kid at home" responses. It is nice to see that you have had really good experiences with the toddler set. :) We are going with my daughter and her DH and my granddaughter. At first the DD didn't want to burden me with babysitting on my vacation but I managed to convince her that we would do just fine. I just want this to be a great family memory for all of us.

As you can see, my children are older (the baby is near 32) and the things they remember most are NOT the nice house, clothes, toys, cars etc, but the vacations we took with them.

Enjoy!!!!

[Water Princess]

Thanks for starting this post....will be traveling with our 18 month old grand-daughter in January and were wondering the same! I am relieved others have done it and enjoyed. We are taking 2 balcony rooms side by side . TA has said Princess will open divider between decks - so that at night she can go to sleep and whom ever is staying with her can go into our stateroom, relax and watch a movie - maybe even get room service ! We will do Personal Choice!

Thanks for the info!

[katondeck]

Thank you very much for the nice and informative responses. Thank you everyone else who wanted to tell me to leave my child at home, for not saying it :). One of the biggest reasons I want to do Princess again is for the personal choice dining. Right now I have a 5 1/2 month old very happy easy going baby. If she gets upset she needs something. She has been absolutely wonderful. I have 9 nieces and a nephew and several friends with multiple children - I know I have it good.

 

Thank you again.

[Gaynors]

We took our son when he was 23 months (two weeks shy of 2) on the Norweigan Star to Hawaii. It was a very different experience cruising with a small child than what I was used too. But it was wonderful, the main problem was the HUGE time change from GA to Hawaii that was very, very hard on our son. So, take a cruise in the same time zone or at least one only a few hours different.

 

I would highly recommend cruising with small children, either that or I am crazy as we are taking my now 3 1/2 year old son and 17 month old daughter on 2 cruises in the next 3 months!!! :D :D

 

After December my son will have sailed on three different cruise lines all before his 4th birthday!!

 

I would recommend considering NCL mainly for the fact that they don't charge for children under 2, only port charges and taxes. That way you can spend the extra money to get a nice room for you. :cool: P.S. NCL has freestyle dining which is pretty much the same as PC, they however, don't offer traditional only freestyle.

 

Enjoy your kids, and your vacation!!! ;)

[stoneharborlady]

Trying hard to get my sister and her family to cruise with her baby in 2006, when he is two. If anyone has a negative story to share, please dont. At least not until she is booked!! Thank you, Karen :D