Cruising With Kids

[redpenmama]

Any tips on cruising with kids? Is a Disney cruise worth the $, or has anyone done Royal Caribbean or any other cruise lines? We cruised a lot when we were living in Florida because it was so easy, but it was pre-kids. We normally did Carnival and did not see many kids, from what I recall. 

My oldest is turning 10 in June 2021, and we are toying with a cruise to celebrate her birthday/serve as our summer vacation that year. Our kids will be 10, 7, and 4. 

[vamoose]

I love cruising with kids. We have done two disney cruises that have been great. I would totally be open to other cruise lines, but my husband is die hard disney because of the customer service.

I wanted to throw out that I think 10 is actually a tough age for a Disney cruise specifically. The kids clubs are grouped very widely as 3-10, 11-14 and 14-17 (the youngest club is officially 3-12, but most 11 and 12 year olds go to the older club). We just cruised with a 10 year old that had previously liked the kids club but definitely felt it was just over run with little kids and had no interest this to round.

I have to run but will try to add more later!

[icedcoffee]

I haven't cruised with kids yet, but I've cruised a lot.

I'd suggest Royal Caribbean. I think it's a really good balance of kid friendly while being more affordable than Disney.

Carnival has tons of kids. Too many kids, honestly. I don't prefer Carnival. We just did one a little over a year ago and won't do Carnival again any time soon.

[estrellita]

We just got back from a Disney cruise with my 2 and 4 year old and I recommend them 10000%! Everything was absolutely amazing and worth the money IMO. We're tentatively planning another one for our 10 year anniversary in 3 years!

[luckystar2]

We went on a cruise last year with dd who was 10. It was her first cruise but we had gone on others. We went on carnival. I’ve done RC and Princess. Time, destination and price wise Carnival won out. It was around Easter which is spring break for a lot of schools so there were plenty of kids but never felt like it was too many kids. We had a great time and really liked it. Dd definitely enjoyed it. I wish the pools were bigger but I was never impressed with them on other lines either, but dd loved the water slides! Never a long wait on those either.

Personally I could never justify the cost for the Disney cruises. And it felt like they never had as many ports as other cruises and the cost was just so much more. I’d rather stop at more places. I’ve heard they are great, but by 10 my dd wasn’t super into Disney anymore. Maybe if she was younger it would have been great but I don’t think at her age it was worth it.

[hamster]

Jan 16, 2020 11:52:27 GMT -5 estrellita said:

We just got back from a Disney cruise with my 2 and 4 year old and I recommend them 10000%! Everything was absolutely amazing and worth the money IMO. We're tentatively planning another one for our 10 year anniversary in 3 years!

Did you feel like that was a good age to cruise? I really want to go on one, but we wouldn't do Disney.

[starryfish]

My dd is 3 and she has been on 5 cruises and is about to go on her 6th. I love cruising. We did disney for the first time and OMG she and we loved it. It was amazing!!! I only recommend it for younger kids tho. my nephew was 10 and didnt enjoy it as much as my dd.

We have gone Carnival and Royal as well. We usually go Carnival bc its easy and cheaper for us (we live 25 mins from Galveston).

My tips for kids is to bring a black curtain and metal hooks, you can attach the hooks and curtain to the ceiling to partition your room. Also, bring a pop up hamper. Bring a over the door organizer and more hooks to organize kids stuff, diapers, wipes, etc.

We usually bring snacks, but hardly use them. Raid the breakfast buffet for milk in the morning and stock your fridge up for the rest of the day.

[estrellita]

Jan 16, 2020 12:46:21 GMT -5 hamster said:

Jan 16, 2020 11:52:27 GMT -5 estrellita said:

We just got back from a Disney cruise with my 2 and 4 year old and I recommend them 10000%! Everything was absolutely amazing and worth the money IMO. We're tentatively planning another one for our 10 year anniversary in 3 years!

Did you feel like that was a good age to cruise? I really want to go on one, but we wouldn't do Disney.

Yes and no. I think we wouldn't have done it at these ages if my parents and sister hadn't also been there to help watch the kids. I felt E was a little young to go to the kids club "alone" and A would have needed the nursery since she's under 3 and not PTed. That said, they absolutely loved it!

[hocus2]

We've cruised with kids on Disney (outstanding IMO) and alone on RC which was great and much cheaper. I think for most folks RC is fine and the value add Disney is offer (very kid focused, always have kid options at dinner, Disney shows at night etc) may or may not be helpful depending on your kid.

We're doing Disney again this summer and we'll just see what we plan for in next few years. I really loved Disney's private island. It was much nicer than other cruise ship islands I have been too. I would totally consider their double dip cruise if the kids have fun this summer.

[larzhope]

My DD (19 months) has been on 2 cruises, 1 on MSC, 1 on Princess and we will be going on Royal next month and again in June. I personally don't have a huge interest in Disney before she is 3 and able to go to the kids club and really think it's probably not worth the extra money anyway, so take my feedback with a grain of salt. That being said, we have really enjoyed our cruises - nice to be able to just unpack once, lots of good food options for her to try things out.

melmaria - the hardest part of traveling with an infant is the sleeping situation. we all very much like our own spaces, so it's hard to have my kid in our room. I second the suggestion of bringing black out curtains and hanging them from the ceiling. We use the SnoozeShad over her pack n play instead and that has worked great! Most cruise lines don't have any sort of child care program for those under 3, so keep in mind unless you're traveling with family/friends that are willing to give you a break, you're it 24/7 for care, which means early nights in after baby is in bed. We just threw the snoozeshade on her pack n play, put the white noise machine on, then watched movies/surfed the internet on our laptops.

[buckeyegirl]

We have done a few cruises. Two Royal Caribbean when DS was 2, Royal Caribbean when DS was 3, MSC when DS1 was 5 and DS2 was 1 and we're doing another MSC in 2 months when DS1 is 7 and DS2 is 3. We have really enjoyed cruising with the kids. They have both been great with the kids and family aspect. Royal partners with Dreamworks and we had Kung Fu Panda and others on our ship. MSC partners with Lego and they have tons of Legos in the kids club. We like being able to drop the kids off in kids club for a couple hours in the evening, either during dinner or right after and have a couple hours to ourselves. The kids like playing and usually would rather be in kids club than with us. The ports can be as busy or relaxing as you want. Go on adventure with a tour, do something off ship on your own, or stay on the ship when most people are gone and enjoy it much emptier. I have looked at Disney but for the price difference I have never been able to pull the trigger when we have been very happy with the other cruise lines.

[estrellita]

Jan 16, 2020 14:14:06 GMT -5 melmaria said:

larzhope,thank you! We did buy a Slumberpod to put over a pack n play - I hope it works! And thankfully the Disney cruise lines have nurseries (for kids ages 6 months to 3 years) we can drop her off at, so we will be able to take a bit of a break here and there!

Our room on the Disney cruise was perfect - there was a curtain between our bed and the section of the room with the sofa bed and PnP (there's also a bunk that pulls down from the ceiling for older kids). We shut the curtain and barely heard a peep from them!

[lynn07]

We did a royal Caribbean cruise with our 10, 8, and 4 year old last year and we liked it a lot. So many kid friendly things to do. My older ones loved the water slides, little one loved the splash pad, and they all enjoyed the kids clubs. There was plenty of options for food that they all liked, and the ship was huge (the 2nd biggest cruise ship in the world). We got 2 connecting rooms because there was 5 of us, and that was a great set up. All the kids slept in one room, and then we left the door open in between so we could hear them.

[redpenmama]

Jan 16, 2020 11:37:00 GMT -5 vamoose said:

I love cruising with kids. We have done two disney cruises that have been great. I would totally be open to other cruise lines, but my husband is die hard disney because of the customer service.

I wanted to throw out that I think 10 is actually a tough age for a Disney cruise specifically. The kids clubs are grouped very widely as 3-10, 11-14 and 14-17 (the youngest club is officially 3-12, but most 11 and 12 year olds go to the older club). We just cruised with a 10 year old that had previously liked the kids club but definitely felt it was just over run with little kids and had no interest this to round.

I have to run but will try to add more later!

Oh, good tip! She'd be with her siblings in that group, but yeah, 3-10 is a huge range! I don't think she'd like being the oldest.

[redpenmama]

Thanks, ladies...so helpful. We are not big Disney people and my now 8-year-old is totally over all things Disney already, so I do wonder if Disney is right for us (especially given the cost difference). I will continue to do some research, but I'm glad to hear we have options!

[badgergrl]

We have cruised a ton with kids- all Royal carribean.

First someone mentioned their partnership with dream works - that ended earlier this year.

We love the oasis class ships for kids- so much to do- Ice skating, slides, rock climbing, awesome shows, escape room, mini golf etc

Our kids also like adventure ocean (their kids club) so we are able to get a break.

[dulcemariamar]

I have done Carnival, RC, Disney, HAL and Princess and everyone agrees that Princess was the best. My DD loved the kid clubs. Disney kids club was pretty bad. She just played on the computer the whole time and there was so many kids it was overwhelming for her.

[hocus2]

Jan 16, 2020 19:43:57 GMT -5 redpenmama said:

Thanks, ladies...so helpful. We are not big Disney people and my now 8-year-old is totally over all things Disney already, so I do wonder if Disney is right for us (especially given the cost difference). I will continue to do some research, but I'm glad to hear we have options!

My older kid is not into the Disney princess stuff at all. Disney has a lot under its umbrella (marvel, star wars, etc) so I wouldn't count it out for this reason alone. My kid really surprised me by getting swept up into it and even wanted to do the makeover which was totally out of character for her. 

[redpenmama]

Jan 17, 2020 9:28:35 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

Jan 16, 2020 19:43:57 GMT -5 redpenmama said:

Thanks, ladies...so helpful. We are not big Disney people and my now 8-year-old is totally over all things Disney already, so I do wonder if Disney is right for us (especially given the cost difference). I will continue to do some research, but I'm glad to hear we have options!

My older kid is not into the Disney princess stuff at all. Disney has a lot under its umbrella (marvel, star wars, etc) so I wouldn't count it out for this reason alone. My kid really surprised me by getting swept up into it and even wanted to do the makeover which was totally out of character for her. 

Good point! 

[ssmjlm]

We’ve cruised quite a bit pre-kid on Princess, but we did her first on RC over thanksgiving. She loved it. She did a mix of hanging with us and the kid club. She loved the pools and activities. Also RC’s private island is amazing.

I will say, Disney cruises are at least 30% more than other lines and I would rather go to the parks. I also am cruising for the ports and the activities, so itinerary does matter to us.

[redpenmama]

Jan 17, 2020 19:15:16 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

We’ve cruised quite a bit pre-kid on Princess, but we did her first on RC over thanksgiving. She loved it. She did a mix of hanging with us and the kid club. She loved the pools and activities. Also RC’s private island is amazing.

I will say, Disney cruises are at least 30% more than other lines and I would rather go to the parks. I also am cruising for the ports and the activities, so itinerary does matter to us.

Thanks! Given that everyone who replied said other cruise lines are good for kids, I'm going to have trouble justifying the $$$ for Disney. I'm going to look into RC first because we enjoyed that line pre-kids.

[estrellita]

Jan 18, 2020 14:16:00 GMT -5 melmaria said:

For those who have cruised with babies, for how long would you send your baby to the nursery on a given day? Disney lets you reserve nursery time in advance, and I’m wondering what is reasonable. A couple hours?

Also, is it worth bringing our own stroller? We have a city mini GT, and I’d really not rather spend the money on a smaller umbrella stroller if I don’t have to. I know at least on Disney there are strollers that you can check out and borrow, but they say online that you should bring your own because they only have a limited number.

We didn't use the nursery but I think a couple/few hours is reasonable so you can go in the pool, go to the adult beach or dinners, etc. That's what they're there for!

As for the stroller, we brought ours. We also borrowed one on Castaway Cay for E because he was sick of walking (jokes on him because they wouldn't let us take the strollers on the 5k so they had to walk 😆). We have one that folds up well enough to fit in the closet so it worked well. I liked having ours for the airport, Disney Springs, and so we didn't have to worry about it.

[buckeyegirl]

Jan 18, 2020 14:16:00 GMT -5 melmaria said:

For those who have cruised with babies, for how long would you send your baby to the nursery on a given day? Disney lets you reserve nursery time in advance, and I’m wondering what is reasonable. A couple hours?

Also, is it worth bringing our own stroller? We have a city mini GT, and I’d really not rather spend the money on a smaller umbrella stroller if I don’t have to. I know at least on Disney there are strollers that you can check out and borrow, but they say online that you should bring your own because they only have a limited number.

We booked nursery time and we would book 2-3 hours per slot.  Based on rough nap times we would book a couple hours in the morning and/or a couple hours in the evenings.  

we always brought on our own stroller.  We had a city mini and it was easy enough to fold up and store under the bed whenever we weren’t using it.  

[dcrunnergirl52]

Jan 18, 2020 14:16:00 GMT -5 melmaria said:

For those who have cruised with babies, for how long would you send your baby to the nursery on a given day? Disney lets you reserve nursery time in advance, and I’m wondering what is reasonable. A couple hours?

Also, is it worth bringing our own stroller? We have a city mini GT, and I’d really not rather spend the money on a smaller umbrella stroller if I don’t have to. I know at least on Disney there are strollers that you can check out and borrow, but they say online that you should bring your own because they only have a limited number.

We've done two Disney cruises. On the first one, DS2 was almost 2 years old, and last year DS3 was almost 1 year old. We're going again next week, and DS3 will be turning 2 on the boat. We've used the nursery a lot...typically 2-3 hours at a time, on the longer end around nap time, although we did leave DS2 in the nursery all day to on an excursion once.  We didn't make reservations before getting on the boat, and almost always were able to get the times we wanted while on the boat and/or by just walking up to the nursery.

Definitely bring a stroller. We brought our City Mini GT on our first one, and it was fine, and we were glad to have it. You brought it on the beach for DS2 to nap in, walked him around the boat if he wouldn't sleep at naptime, etc. 

You can see pics, tips, etc. from our cruise with an almost 2 year old on my family blog. 

pipeandfletch.blogspot.com/2015/05/ 

[fancynewbeesly]

We did a Disney Cruise this summer with our 8 and 1 year old. We loved it. In fact, our DD loved it more than the parks. (And she LOVES Disney). She loved the semi freedom and being able to be in the kids clubs without adults. She loved Castaway Cay and just found it more relaxing.

I think we will probably go again as a family in two years when the one year old is 3, that way we can take advantage of more kids free time since they will both be able to be in the kids club. It was definitely harder with a 1 year old, because of early bedtime and naps and everything.

[redheadbaker]

Our favorite RC ship for cruising with kids was the Oasis, but DS (4.5 at the time) wouldn't go to the Kids Club, so I can't comment on that part. But there was a TON to do with him anyway (and we went with other family members so H and I could have some time to ourselves as well). He loved the pool (and the ship provides flotation devices free of charge for the pool area). Plus the whole boardwalk area. I lost count of how many times we rode the carousel. And many of the shows are kid-friendly. There's a 9-hole mini golf course, ping pong, basketball, an arcade, ice skating ....

The wait staff in the main dining room were fantastic with him, too -- after he ordered the fruit plate for a first course on the first night, they always had a fruit plate waiting for him as soon as we sat down.

[hymen]

We cruised with our kids in September on RC’s Anthem of the Seas, 5 days to Bermuda. Our kids were 2, 5, and 8 at the time, and they loved it. We got two connecting staterooms with balconies which worked out well. Our kids actually did not take advantage of any of the Kids Club activities and still had a blast. There was so much to do on the ship for them (bumper cars, basketball, roller skating, I-fly, arcade, ping pong, swimming, movies, pools, North Star) and our 2 year old was just happy eating ice cream and swimming in the little pools for non-potty trained babies. We actually ended up with an extra sea day instead of spending 2 days in Bermuda due to potential hurricanes, and we had no trouble filling our time. We are looking to do another Royal Caribbean cruise in a few years on an Oasis Class ship. My in-laws have done a few Disney Cruises and went on the RC cruise with he and think there was more for the kids to do on our ship than on Disney’s ships, minus the characters.

[daisyduck]

I don't post much, but I'm a pretty big fan of Disney and cruises so I thought I would weigh in. I've done 11 cruises, 9 on RC and 2 on Disney. My daughter is 3 and has been on 3 cruises with us, all on RC. In those 3 years we've also spent 6 full weeks at Disney, so we are definitely Disney people.

I would not spend the extra money on a Disney cruise. We got a great deal on our two Disney cruises and did them years ago before they got so expensive. The level of service is better and the shows and entertainment are better, but the overall experience just isn't enough better to justify the cost. I've also read and have some friends that think the kids clubs on other lines are actually much better.

Since you mentioned you've done several cruises pre-kids I wanted to mention one other thing. DH and I found it somewhat hard to cruise with our daughter after being used to going by ourselves. We would spend a decent amount of time listening to musicians, doing karaoke, or other adult focused entertainment. Most of those things aren't as easy when cruising with young kids so we've have to adjust what a "normal" cruise looks like for us. I don't think I thought about that much before our first cruise with my daughter, so I wanted to throw it out there for you to consider.

[bronxgirl]

We went on a Disney cruise when my daughter was 2 and a half and it was amazing. In addition to all the fun Disney themed activities, they had a playgroup for babies toddlers that was really fun and family time in the night club which was little kids dancing to live band. My daughter LOVED that. It was her first time meeting princesses and she was in heaven.

She's 10 now and we're going to be taking our first Royal Caribbean cruise right before school starts. I think she'll want to try out the kids club, but there is so much fun stuff to do. I don't know how we're going to fit it all in.

[redpenmama]

Jan 19, 2020 21:48:45 GMT -5 daisyduck said:

Since you mentioned you've done several cruises pre-kids I wanted to mention one other thing. DH and I found it somewhat hard to cruise with our daughter after being used to going by ourselves. We would spend a decent amount of time listening to musicians, doing karaoke, or other adult focused entertainment. Most of those things aren't as easy when cruising with young kids so we've have to adjust what a "normal" cruise looks like for us. I don't think I thought about that much before our first cruise with my daughter, so I wanted to throw it out there for you to consider.

Good point! When we took our oldest on her first beach trip when she was 1, it was a bit of a rude awakening because I realized my days of lounging on the beach all day (at least for the foreseeable future...) were over. I think we are now used to the chaos that ensues with vacationing with three, but you're right -- I definitely need to shift out of my pre-kids, carefree cruising mindset.