Cruises with babies/kids?

[slappy magoo]

Hey there, hi there ho there WDW Magic-keteers...

Slappette and I are thinking about taking a cruise, probably the Magic as it's closest to us. Now we figure it's a safe bet that DCL ships do more to cater to kids than most cruise lines. My questions are more about things families can do together. Our main concern is that our oldest, who is shy, will only want to do things with one of us, and as a result, we'll always be split up during the trip, one of us with the older one, one of us with the baby. We also want to make sure there are enough things for babies to do with parents - I know the day care centers have "family hours" but I don't know how often the hours are, and if it will be enough to give our youngest the time to stretch and explore without just being in the room or "on the loose." To that end, is there an issue if we, say, wanted to bring a pack-n-play poolside, or elsewhere on the deck so we can all be close to each other, my wife and I "tagging out" with the older one, while the baby isn't always having to be in our arms when she'd rather be with her toys? Those kinds of things. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance,

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I wish I could be more help here but as I'm sure you know our boys are just a tad older than your little ones. I can try my best for ya. I saw lots of parents with strollers out on deck. I'v never seen a pack-n-play so not sure if it's a no-no due to space issues or if it's just something nobody's ever thought to do. Not that I have so much experience but I'm certain I've spotted Jack-Jack's Diaper Dash on some of the Navigators because I recall thinking it'd be fun to go watch even if we've been done with diapers for over a decade now. There's tons of character meets that the entire family can do together. If you Google "Disney Cruise Navigator" you should turn up some links to the daily activity schedules so you can get a better idea of the offerings. One thing hat stood out to me on our last cruise was a couple in front of us who had a baby in their laps. We have bad luck frequently in public places with seriously miffed little ones nearby. When they first sat down in those seats I thought, "Oh noooo" but didn't want to jump up & move lest they think I didn't want to sit near them (which I didn't but I don't want to upset anyone). Well, when the show started that baby was captivated right along with the rest of us! The only peeps we heard were laughter which made the show that much more enjoyable for us. I totally applaud the parents for being willing to bring the baby with the 5-6 yro sibling and make it a family occasion. It was wonderful to see. I'm sure there's things I don't know about or just not thinking of. I think all-in-all the Disney cruises are amazing for family vacations with children of all ages. I would've loved it when mine were babies because being so close to our room/quiet respite would've made staying with the boys' schedules super-convenient while still offering non-stop discoveries and fun for all of us. I know for us, when we traveled with the boys when they were babies, not over-doing it was always something we were conscious of. If they got cranky & miserable it wasn't fun.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Hi Slappy! Sweetpee gave you some good tips. If you're only going on one cruise your entire life, then yes I'd wait until everyone is 3 or older. But assuming this will not be your last cruise, it will still be an amazing experience. It's kind of like Disney World. I've had a different experience at each phase of my kids life. When they were little, our days always included a nap in the middle of the day, a slower touring pace, and a slight fear of characters at times. When they got a little older, the character meals and Magic Kingdom were a priority. As teenagers, the thrill rides are at the top of the list and Epcot is their favorite park now. All different kinds of trips, but I wouldn't trade a single one of them. All of them gave us wonderful memories.

We've had little ones in our group before. On our first cruise my niece was 1 so she ended up hanging out with us most of the time. We found we loved deck 4 where we could lounge in the deck chairs, some of the older kids could come play shuffleboard and my niece toddled around and crawled on us. She went into flounders a couple of times so we could all eat in Palo together. Msy sister or her husband (or a grandparent) went back to the room with her every afternoon for a nap. There's a curtain that separates the stateroom in half which makes it easy for one person to be in the other side reading or something else without the little one being able to see them. And the long hallways are a great place to let her crawl until her hearts content.

My niece loved the shows, and on another cruise with 2 year old twins, I was amazed at how well the shows kept their attention. As a general rule, the dining servers love the little ones and will throw in some fun things at dinner to keep them entertained.

The open houses are at least a couple of hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. Those would be perfect for your family though.

A pack and play up on deck might be a space issue. There is a little splash area right next to the little kids pool, so you could certainly tag out with each other there. As sweetpee mentioned, you may find some acitivies that all four of you will like onboard together too.

I think you'll find even with a little one, it will be something all 4 of you can enjoy and probably love!

 

[tracyandalex]

Slappy there will be plenty of family activities for you guys! DD3 was about 18 months for her first cruise and she loved Flounder's Nursery, the "mickey splash zone" (she still calls it that btw), the shows, the character greetings, running up and down the long halls, and the family dance parties at night (she still loves these too). Don't worry you will be able to find plenty to do. A tip - bring the stroller, it was a blessing for us and DD still falls asleep in it and saves us from having to carry her or go back to the room.

 

[ncstate7991]

I am glad someone started this thread. We are going on the Dream for 3 nights in early December. We will have DD4 and DD2, another family is going with us they have DD6 and DD1. Needless to say we are looking forward to our princesses having a wonderful time! Here are some questions we have:

*This one is going to make us sound paranoid, but has anyone experienced any children becoming sick during or after the cruise? We are going to WDW for 7 nights after our cruise. During our last trip to WDW our then 3 year old daughter developed strep throat on the second day and was sick for 3+ of our 6 days there. I know it happens and we really tried to keep our chin-up, but when you spend that kind of money for a trip and one of your children is so sick for more than half of it ... it stinks. So I guess our concern is with the childcare area, how clean it is, and if there are any consistent issues. Our pediatrician tells us toddlers and preschool children are in one of three stages: sick, getting better, or getting sick. As a general rule, our children are pretty healthy during the warm months. However, once things cool off in November it seems like one of them is either sick or getting better.

*Our 2 year old is starting to potty train, and our 4 year old can only hold it a few minutes after she realizes she needs to go potty. We will be taking Disney transportation from PC to WDW, is it always bus transportation with a toilet? If not, we may just put pull-ups on both of them.

*What time are the theatre shows and Pirate Party when you have main/early dining? Just trying to figure out if the youngest can make it.

*Do they provide bedrails for the couch and bunk bed? If so, how sufficient are they? Even though our oldest has not fallen out of bed in 6+ months I am worried she is going to come crashing down from the top bunk.

*What else should we be asking? We have non-Disney cruised many times before without the children, so we understand cruising in general.

Thank you for your answers and assistance!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I am glad someone started this thread. We are going on the Dream for 3 nights in early December. We will have DD4 and DD2, another family is going with us they have DD6 and DD1. Needless to say we are looking forward to our princesses having a wonderful time! Here are some questions we have:

*This one is going to make us sound paranoid, but has anyone experienced any children becoming sick during or after the cruise? We are going to WDW for 7 nights after our cruise. During our last trip to WDW our then 3 year old daughter developed strep throat on the second day and was sick for 3+ of our 6 days there. I know it happens and we really tried to keep our chin-up, but when you spend that kind of money for a trip and one of your children is so sick for more than half of it ... it stinks. So I guess our concern is with the childcare area, how clean it is, and if there are any consistent issues. Our pediatrician tells us toddlers and preschool children are in one of three stages: sick, getting better, or getting sick. As a general rule, our children are pretty healthy during the warm months. However, once things cool off in November it seems like one of them is either sick or getting better.

*Our 2 year old is starting to potty train, and our 4 year old can only hold it a few minutes after she realizes she needs to go potty. We will be taking Disney transportation from PC to WDW, is it always bus transportation with a toilet? If not, we may just put pull-ups on both of them.

*What time are the theatre shows and Pirate Party when you have main/early dining? Just trying to figure out if the youngest can make it.

*Do they provide bedrails for the couch and bunk bed? If so, how sufficient are they? Even though our oldest has not fallen out of bed in 6+ months I am worried she is going to come crashing down from the top bunk.

*What else should we be asking? We have non-Disney cruised many times before without the children, so we understand cruising in general.

Thank you for your answers and assistance!

There are no consistant issues of illness on the ships. Disney is crazy careful about hygiene. You'll get wipes for your hands everytime you enter a restaurant, and the kids clubs have the most amazing hand washers that everyone uses before entering. Seriously they are genius.

If anyone is showing signs of illness at boarding, they can (and are) be denied boarding. If the cast members are aware of any illness in your party onboard, the ships doctor will confine you to your stateroom.

My daughter threw up in our room on the last night of one of our cruises. They came to the room to help us in the middle of the night, and the next morning when we opened our stateroom door to leave, they were standing outside our room with a brand new mattress.

They take illness very very seriously.

The Disney buses do have bathrooms.

When you have early dining the shows are around 8 and last one hour. Pirate night goes late, until after 10 usually.

They do provide bed rails. They're good ones I think .

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I am glad someone started this thread. We are going on the Dream for 3 nights in early December. We will have DD4 and DD2, another family is going with us they have DD6 and DD1. Needless to say we are looking forward to our princesses having a wonderful time! Here are some questions we have:

*This one is going to make us sound paranoid, but has anyone experienced any children becoming sick during or after the cruise? We are going to WDW for 7 nights after our cruise. During our last trip to WDW our then 3 year old daughter developed strep throat on the second day and was sick for 3+ of our 6 days there. I know it happens and we really tried to keep our chin-up, but when you spend that kind of money for a trip and one of your children is so sick for more than half of it ... it stinks. So I guess our concern is with the childcare area, how clean it is, and if there are any consistent issues. Our pediatrician tells us toddlers and preschool children are in one of three stages: sick, getting better, or getting sick. As a general rule, our children are pretty healthy during the warm months. However, once things cool off in November it seems like one of them is either sick or getting better.

*Our 2 year old is starting to potty train, and our 4 year old can only hold it a few minutes after she realizes she needs to go potty. We will be taking Disney transportation from PC to WDW, is it always bus transportation with a toilet? If not, we may just put pull-ups on both of them.

*What time are the theatre shows and Pirate Party when you have main/early dining? Just trying to figure out if the youngest can make it.

*Do they provide bedrails for the couch and bunk bed? If so, how sufficient are they? Even though our oldest has not fallen out of bed in 6+ months I am worried she is going to come crashing down from the top bunk.

*What else should we be asking? We have non-Disney cruised many times before without the children, so we understand cruising in general.

Thank you for your answers and assistance!

I really noticed how cleaning was such a big deal on both our cruises. It was like you couldn't walk anywhere without seeing at least 1 CM wiping surfaces. I'm surprised the nice handrails inside stay in such great shape for so long. You'd think all the constant wiping all day every day would wear 'em down, right? If your DD2 is like my boys were at that age she'll touch anything in her reach at least in your stateroom. One thing you can do if it would help make you feel better would be to bring Lysol spray & maybe some Clorox wipes. When you first get in your stateroom, before you let her go to town give the room from her reach a spray-n-wipe. Again, the ship is kept so clean I don't really think it's needed but if it brings you peace of mind to make that extra effort, go for it! Won't hurt, right? Even the big rooms aren't that big so it's not like you'll be spending an hour cleaning on vacation. Also, bring wipes along or hit the wipe canisters near the food service areas throughout the day for a quick hand wipe. Again, just a little extra effort if it brings you peace of mind.

Last cruise we had a 1-bedroom suite and the front bathroom toilet went flush-nutty pouring clear water all over the floor then out onto the stateroom carpet and into the hallway outside our door. Maintenance was there within minutes of our reporting the issue to fix it. Housekeeping was right on their tails to clean. When I say clean, they brought in some heavy-duty artillary to disinfect the carpeting and surrounding areas. We received half a dozen phone calls from various upper-levels (& our concierge since we were concierge level) apologizing, making sure we were okay, and offering to move us. We assured them we were fine & would stay where we were since it was repaired and disinfected. It was a nice gesture, tho. Truly.

If I were you I'd probably do the Pull-Ups on the bus even if there are facilities onboard. My boys were deathly afraid of such strange facilities. Plus, I can't imagine trying to take one potty on an airplane much less a bus. And, OMG! What if there happened to be a dreaded accident??? How to manage ~that~ on a moving bus??? I'd have just gone with the sure-thing: Pull-Ups. That's just me, tho. I was also so afraid of what could go wrong that for at least a few years after they were born I wouldn't go anywhere in the public alone with both of them. I just couldn't fathom if something went wrong how I'd manage it. LOL!

Stateroom bedrails. Not sure. I'll bet there's pics somewhere, tho. Try Googling Disney Cruise Line & bedrails. Or your ship's name and bedrails. You should turn up something useful to give you a better idea what to expect.

Have fun!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Bed rail on the upper pull-down berth:

http://www.magical-cruise-ships.com/murphy-bed.html

That's got to be the Dream or Fantasy since it's a newer ship with the virtual porthole.

HTHs!