Our family is going on a 7 day cruise during Spring Break. I'm a little nervous about traveling on a cruise with them. We've never done it before. I am seeking some advice/suggestions from moms who have done a cruise with toddlers and any tips that you can share about making our travel as smooth as possible.
Thanks so much for the "Mamasource Mamas" who responded to my request for advice. We already had a vacation booked, I just wanted some advice on going on a cruise with toddlers. We made our cruise and it was challenging but fun! The MSC Musica is a nice ship and Greece is beautiful! I didn't care for the child's program all that much for my son, but they did have activities. We ended up keeping him with us the whole time. The cruise was pretty good. One thing that we did that was helpful was to bring our own bottled water on the ship. On European cruises, you have to pay for drinks separate from the cruise. We saved money by bringing our own water and snacks for the kids. We really wanted to go to Greece before we left Europe, so we are glad that we did the cruise. However, we decided that the next cruise will be by ourselves and the kids will be left with family until they get older! It was good, but if they were older, it would have been better.
We just went on a cruise in December with our 4 year old. I think she had the best time out of all of us. The cruise line had a great childcare program full of activities for children 2-18. Our daughter barely wanted to hang out with us since they kept them quite entertained. We also packed a few of her favorite things so when we were in our cabin she was still entertained. I hope you all have a great time on your cruise.
Hi B.,
I'm actaully looking for the same information. We live in England but want to take a Mediteranean cruise. Someone once told me that going to ITT travel and asking for child specific cruises is a way to do it. They have a website or something that shows all the cruises that are offered outside of the normal ITT support. I haven't checked it out and was halfway listening when she said it but I think its right. Anyway, please keep me posted on what you find out. If I hear of anything from my friends here I'll let you know.
Also, Vogelweh was my first living quarters as a married person and our first military assignment. I really liked Germany but found the housing situation really difficult to make friends and entertain. There wasn't much sense of community there. How do you like it? I'm also a 38 y/o mother of two but when we lived there they were both babies and we lived on the fourth floor. Very difficult.
Good luck!
Nikki
Let me preface this with the fact, I haven't been on a cruise with our little ones. But we did lots of research trying to find family friendly cruiselines: Carnival, Cunard, Disney and Royal Caribbean seem to be the most friendly. However, if your child is not potty trained apparently Disney is the only cruise line that will allow this child into the pools on deck. (The water filtration system is the same for all pools and swim diapers are not acceptable for containing wastes.) We also tried to find a cruise that provides child care for an excursion or even dinner service, and this only came with Specific Cunard, and all Disney Cruises. Nevertheless, we opted not to cruise with our 14 month old twins. I don't know if this information is helpful to you, but good luck either way, and please let me know if you have found anything different on your travels/research.
W.
Did you ever see one of those things that look like a backpack but have a lease. My mother in law said that was the best thing for young kids(21 month) on a cruise so they don't get close to the side. I got it at Walmart. Mine are too big for it. I could MPS it if you send your address. Might get there in time.
J.
