What has been your best cruise ship experience with toddlers?

[Anonymous]

Pre-baby we loved to go on cruises. We now have a 2 year old and would like to try a cruise vacation this summer. Besides Disney, which is a bit too pricey for us, what has been your best cruise experience (ship and destination) with toddlers? I'm also wondering about the size of the cabin. Pre-baby when it was just the two of us, we always chose an inside cabin with no window. Now, I think we'll need a larger room, with the Pack N Play, stroller, all the gear, etc. What size cabin do families usually get when you need to fit a Pack N Play in there? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hated the disney cruise with a toddler. Total waste of 10k

[Anonymous]

I took my son on a whole bunch of Royal Caribbean cruises. At the time I researched things, they definitely had the best kids clubs for toddlers on the seas.

Important to note that they can only attend the kid's clubs if they are potty trained. A cruise before they are potty trained would probably be a waste of money. They do offer in room babysitting, but I never felt comfortable with that.

[Anonymous]

I would opt for a 4 night disney cruise to see if you enjoy cruising with a toddler. It need not cost $10k. Get a cabin with a window (not verandah) on deck 2 on a smaller ship (magic or wonder). It will be closer to $4k (maybe less).

Here's the thing about disney...especially with a 2 year old:

-you can take your kid to the shows every night. Broadway style disney shows are amazing, and your 2 year old will love it! (My youngest was 2 when we cruised, and he still talks about it.)

-you can see all the characters and have pictures taken without long lines (just cruise on a smaller ship-magic or wonder)

-the kids clubs are supposedly excellent (we kept our kids with us...everything was family friendly anyways)

-unlike some other cruises, most drinks are free (they have soda stations that are free)

-room service is free (convenient with kids)

We really didn't use our stroller on the ship (kept it folded). We didn't use a pack n play (tucked him in bed with us).

[Anonymous]

We cruised on NCL with 24-month-old. We payed more money for a suite with a 100 square foot deck. We brought a blowup pool and toys. The butler brought our meals to the deck while baby played in pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We cruised on NCL with 24-month-old. We payed more money for a suite with a 100 square foot deck. We brought a blowup pool and toys. The butler brought our meals to the deck while baby played in pool.

I cannot imagine doing this with my 2 yr old. The pool would last about a minute before toddler emptied it all out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took my son on a whole bunch of Royal Caribbean cruises. At the time I researched things, they definitely had the best kids clubs for toddlers on the seas.

Important to note that they can only attend the kid's clubs if they are potty trained. A cruise before they are potty trained would probably be a waste of money. They do offer in room babysitting, but I never felt comfortable with that.

Many royal Caribbean ships now have a Nursery so under three/ non potty trained kids haves place to go. It was I think 6 or 8 dollars an hour. Needed to make reservations but we never had trouble getting the time we wanted.
My kid went after her dinner and they put her to bed. We would pick her up no carry her back to the room in the middle of the night. She was just shy of two and never stirred while being carried thru the ship.

We had two kids with is so we booked two interconnecting inside rooms. With just one, the pack and play would go in front of the couch. Maybe get the coffee table moved out of the room?

[Anonymous]

Also wanted to add that some rccl ships have a Baby zone in the pool area so diapered kids can splash around there.