Is Disney cruise worth it with infant & 3yr old?

[Julienatul]

I was looking into cruising next year. At that time I will have a 6 month-old and a 3.5 yr old. Is it too soon to cruise Disney?

 

We have always cruised Carnival or RCCL but DD is really into Mickey mouse now and had a blast at Disney this past summer. I also like the idea of the flounders nursery for the baby. Would it be worth the extra money or better to cruise a cheaper line and then wait a few years until both kids are older and would get more out of a Disney cruise ?

[kat89447]

flounders is a plus, but DCL can be really overwhelming for the younger (heck older lol) group. My dd was 7 when we went and most of the time she was really overwhelmed. Too many kids, too many crowds for the character meets. She is not normally shy, but it sort of scared her. Some will tell you it is a great time to go at that age, but my experience was that it intimidated my dd. Your child might take it more in stride, but for us it was not very relaxing having to avoid the large groups.

[lmg1230]

We went on our first cruise on the Disney Magic when our daughters were 9 and almost 3. We actually preferred it to Disney World with a little one b/c we found it easier to meet the characters on board than it had been when we had been to the parks with our older daughter at that age. We found the lineups weren't as long and the wait was in an air conditioned area (which was nice for those of us from the north and not used to the oppressive heat!) The other nice thing on the ship was that the same girl always played the same princess and recognized my princess loving daughter after seeing her a couple of times. One of our favourite memories was Emma running toward Snow White and seeing Snow White get down on her knees, opening her arms and calling Emma by name. We had my in-laws travelling with us as well and all three generations had a wonderful time. Neither of my children went to the kids club so I can't comment on that.

[CeleBrat]

Oh-my-gosh YES! Totally worth it for kids--even the 6 month olds!!! Disney was the first cruise both my kids ever went on, each when they were less than a year old.

 

Dancing with Snow White--check

Tea with Wendy--check

Hanging out w/Mickey on the beach--check

Wake-up call from Mickey in the morning--check

Playing on a pirate ship while onboard the ship--check

Eating Mickey waffles--check

Coolest private island ever--check

 

I could go on and on...

 

CeleBrat

[neya]

I vote yes.

 

If she did well at Disney she will do well at the cruise. Our daughter was 2 1/2 when we went last year and she had a great time. Although we didn't go to the parks first (I thought she was too little) we prepared for our trip by watching a couple of disney movies and read tons of books. She loved Cinderella, Peter Pan and Wendy. I left her for the first time (about 1 hour) ever at the "occeaner's club" and she did well little aprehensive at first but soon she was playing around and going down the slide (we watched from far away). She was already potty trained when we went (otherwise child needs to stay at the nursery). The shows were great, she loved all of them. The only one she didn't see was "hercules" (no longer showing) because was a little too grown up for her. I found the counselors at club to be very loving and polite. Everthing was very clean,safe and secure. They always checked our names, bracelets etc.. The ship was beautiful everyone chatted with her, (how is your cruise? Are you having fun? etc. Disney Castaway Key was the best private island that we ever been on (7 cruises total). The nursery was smaller than the club but with lots of toys and room for little ones to crawl around. Hope this helps.

 

Good luck!

 

Neya

[Julienatul]

Thanks, that really helps. I think we will try it if its not totally out of our budget.

[TravelMamaCLG]

It sounds like you've already made your decision but I couldn't help but give my two cents...

 

We did Disney cruise in the Mediterranean last summer with DD, then 2 & 1/2 & we LOVED it! She was not potty trained so spent some time in Flounders - usually in evening for an hour or 2 after she'd finished eating with us in the dining room but needed to burn off some energy. We were lucky b/c there weren't a lot of babies on board for the Med cruises so we were always able to just get her right into Flounders if we wanted. Not the case in the Caribbean, I've heard. This is the only cruise we've ever taken (am nervous to take our Carnival cruise this fall b/c I know it will pale in comparison). Flounders is great b/c there is a big window where you can see in to check on the little one without baby seeing you. DD cried when we told her no more Flounders, so we had to bring her by on the last night of the cruise for one last visit.

 

Have a great time! I'm jealous as there is no Flounders on board Carnival for our DS (will be 9 mos at sailing).

[crusinmama06]

Yeah I would say if the buget allows, go Disney. Especially since your 3 year old is so into Mickey this year.