Cruises with Young Kids?

I recommend Carnival, they are the most kid friendly, oriented.

Check on-line about the age requirements & progrmas for your children.

They also have after hours babysitting which is a plus!

My 3 year daughter at the time loved it and it was great for me to get a chance to relax :) Let me know what you find out!

Hi N.,

YES!!!! My husband and I take our children on a cruise every other year. I HIGHLY recommend doing so!! We have a son (7 years) and a daughter (6 years) and we have been going since my son was only 7 months old. The cruise line was very accomodating, I preordered a pack-n-play to be in my room, they had appropriate baby food, there was always a high chair waiting at our dinner table. You can even pre-order diapers to be there waiting for you. Just call your cruise line, and they will have it all in your stateroom when you board the ship. Now that they are older, of course, it's even easier. I recommend it, because there is always something to do for them. Are they tired? Go take a nap, do they want to see a movie? Then go! Want to swim? Sure! Hungry? Endless amounts of food!! The staff is typically assigned to a ship for 12-18 months at a time, many of whom have children at home that they haven't seen in a while and miss dearly. So they LOVE the children, and really cater to them. In fact, it's not uncommon for the staff to refer to me as "Spencer's mom," or "Fiona's mom." In the beginning, I was weary about leaving my kids in the kids club, you know, strange babysitters, strange places. But now, my kids beg to go do the activities. Anybody who has ever told me I was crazy for taking my kids on an exotic trip like that, I've always told them they were dead wrong. I would recommend it as a first choice for anybody travelling with kids. GO! ENJOY!! You won't be disappointed.

We took a cruise on Carnival 2 years ago with our three children and it was a disaster. It was basically a day care center with a few windows, and the children were not allowed to swim. They ended up with us almost all of the time .... so I wouldn't say it was relaxing! I would make sure to ask a lot of questions regarding any cruise ship's childcare program ... especially for the little ones. Good luck!

Hi N.,
I just responded to your other email.

One of the ideas that I had for you was to go on a cruise with the kids. YOu would not believe the activities that are available for children on the ship.
There are kids clubs with certified child care professionals who will keep them occupied for hours if you wanted to get a break. Or even if you wanted to spend time with them, there is alot to keep you busy and I know you will enjoy it.
I hope that helps.

N.,
That is funny you should ask this question because I was going to suggest this to your question yesterday. The first time we went cruising our son was 4 and he had a great time. We only saw him when we made him come with us. They had activities on board as well as off when were docked. We took him again when he was 7 and he loved that as well but we kept him with us for more of the off board time so he could see the site with us and let him do more of the activity that were happen while we were out to sea. He have our third cruise planned for this year and he is 9 but ready to find out what activities they have for him.

Hi N.!
Well to funny! On Sunday my husband, my DS (4 soon to be 5) and my DD (19 months) and myself are all leaving to go on a Disney Cruise. E-Mail me at ____@____.com and I'll e-mail you when I get back my experience. You can also go to websites like www.cruisecritic.com and read all types of reveiws of different cruise lines and you'll get lots of helpful info. If your looking purley at Disney go to this web-site, it was a wealth of information for me www.disboards.com. You can ask any question you want in regards to the kids, the kids program and you'll get a ton of replies :) From what I hear, Disney has the best kids program on the water, plus when they go to their private island, the kids club goes ashore!! But again, if you'd like to e-mail me (because I believe I can only respond to this request one time), I'll be glad to give you the pro's and con's when we get back :)
J. in Macomb