First time cruiser with kids, tips?

[Yoshimaster55]

My husband and I have booked a 5 night Halloween cruise for next September. At that time our girls will be 1 and 4.5. Are there any specific tips that we should know? Also, is 1 too young? Thanks so much.

 

[tee11]

You will love it!!! We did the same with similar ages.
And no, 1 is not too young!
There are so many aspects... what would you like to know?

 

[fredandkell]

I think age 1 is GREAT - the child is basically free, and the hourly nursery rate is a steal - much cheaper than paying full fare when they turn 3! Just make sure to book your nursery hours ASAP when you check-in and book online activities! If you tell us which ship are you on we can give you more specific tips.
Some tips:
- bring water shoes - great for the splash pad on board (it is slippery) and also great for Castaway Cay - sometimes there can be some rocks/coral-y stuff on the bottom (but not much)
- Have the 4-yo wear her swimsuit under clothes when you board the ship - that way she can go straight to slides/pool when boarding
- get an earlier port arrival time so you can a) eat lunch on ship and b) maximize fun time on ship
- If you're on Dream/Fantasy they have built-in nightlights in the ceiling so no need to bring one - I don't think Magic/Wonder has that feature but maybe someone else can chime in
- recommend bringing bottled water and a few snacks to have in stateroom, just in case small kids don't feel like waiting on room service or leaving room to eat - also you and your spouse can bring 2 bottles of wine each on board or a six-pack of beer each
- recommend bringing a white noise machine, it really helps improve your sleeping experience, drowns out kids running by in hallway, etc. Or download white noise app on phone.
- get floats from dollar store for Castaway Cay, packs flat, can throw away w/out guilt at end of trip

 

[Yoshimaster55]

We are sailing on the Wonder. I do have a few questions..is the adult only dining (Palo?) worth the price? How much is it to park your car in the garage near the dock? Is it very cold in September? We are sailing to Mexico but I don't know how it is on the ocean? Also, has anyone ever purchased the reusable beer mug? I would love to surprise my husband and father in law.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

The ocean is going to be warm in September. The weather will be tropical then as well, though it is possible but unlikely to get a cold front in the Bahamas if you go to Castaway Cay. The reusable beer mug is something you can get with a beer purchase, so i don't know if you can surprise them, unless they sell them as pre-cruise amenities too. I always just get it with my first beer and then you can refill for a discount over the price of a regular beer. "worth it" is subjective - to many it is worth it to have a nice meal away from the kids, or a brunch on a sea-day instead of Cabanas, but it is not likely something that will blow you away if you are used to fine dining. They have excellent food and great desserts like the chocolate soufflet. Not sure if you are out of Port Canaveral or Miami (or Galveston) but the parking garages are different prices in each port. Its about $20 a day at PC and Miami from my experience.

 

[fredandkell]

We are sailing on the Wonder. I do have a few questions..is the adult only dining (Palo?) worth the price? How much is it to park your car in the garage near the dock? Is it very cold in September? We are sailing to Mexico but I don't know how it is on the ocean? Also, has anyone ever purchased the reusable beer mug? I would love to surprise my husband and father in law.

Port pricing is here for Port Canaveral: https://www.portcanaveral.com/Cruise/Directions-Parking
Some people utilize off-site parking like https://parkcruise.com/ - you save about 40%

We enjoyed Palo and felt it was worth the money. Have not done Remy, just because I don't want to devote 4 hours to a meal on a short cruise.

September is warm. Make sure you buy travel insurance - do it now (there are perks to buying within 10-20 days of first payment such as "cancel for any reason" etc.) as you are traveling during hurricane season. A LOT of us on this board had cruises canceled, interrupted, or changed this year (myself being one of them).

 

[darnheather]

With the 5 year old make plans with some input from them but don't let them plan the day. For example, ask them, "Do you want to go to the kid's club in the afternoon or the morning?", "Do you want to swim in the pool or go watch a movie?" I heard some many parents asking their 5 year olds blankly, "What do you want to do next?" It's overwhelming for me at times much less a little one!

 

[mmouse37]

I think age 1 is GREAT - the child is basically free, and the hourly nursery rate is a steal - much cheaper than paying full fare when they turn 3! Just make sure to book your nursery hours ASAP when you check-in and book online activities! If you tell us which ship are you on we can give you more specific tips.
Some tips:
- bring water shoes - great for the splash pad on board (it is slippery) and also great for Castaway Cay - sometimes there can be some rocks/coral-y stuff on the bottom (but not much)
- Have the 4-yo wear her swimsuit under clothes when you board the ship - that way she can go straight to slides/pool when boarding
- get an earlier port arrival time so you can a) eat lunch on ship and b) maximize fun time on ship
- If you're on Dream/Fantasy they have built-in nightlights in the ceiling so no need to bring one - I don't think Magic/Wonder has that feature but maybe someone else can chime in
- recommend bringing bottled water and a few snacks to have in stateroom, just in case small kids don't feel like waiting on room service or leaving room to eat - also you and your spouse can bring 2 bottles of wine each on board or a six-pack of beer each
- recommend bringing a white noise machine, it really helps improve your sleeping experience, drowns out kids running by in hallway, etc. Or download white noise app on phone.
- get floats from dollar store for Castaway Cay, packs flat, can throw away w/out guilt at end of trip

1 year olds are not basically free at all. A few years ago anyone under 3 paid only port charges but that changed. Every age pays a fare. Last year on the Fantasy our 1 year old granddaughters were about $700.00 each. Last week we took one of our granddaughters on the Magic (age 2) and we paid over $600.00 for her (plus port charges).

MJ

 

[fredandkell]

1 year olds are not basically free at all. A few years ago anyone under 3 paid only port charges but that changed. Every age pays a fare. Last year on the Fantasy our 1 year old granddaughters were about $700.00 each. Last week we took one of our granddaughters on the Magic (age 2) and we paid over $600.00 for her (plus port charges).

MJ

You are correct - I was basing on what I did in 2014. But still, I just priced it as if I had a 1-yo and a 4-yo on a cruise next year, and it was about $1750/pp adult, $1,100 for oldest child, and $600 for 1-yo, so still a decent savings. What I was getting at was I think a 3-year old is the most "iffy" age - sure, they in theory can go to the kids' clubs but some kids are too immature and it doesn't work out, so you've paid the extra money and you may not end up using the club. So while I think a lot of people have the idea that they want to wait until their child is 3 before going, I think the idea of going when they are 1 or 2 bears consideration just because you do get a cost savings and there is still supervised childcare in the nursery.

 

[asamklove]

If you’re comfortable using the ship’s baby stuff, they will provide you with a pack & play and diaper genie to make your life a bit easier
Have a blast! I agree about booking Nursery time early & grippy swim shoes for the splash pad & deck area.
️

 

[CookieRaider]

We just got off the Fantasy with our 1 year old and it was a blast. They can provide a diaper genie and pack in play in the room, just request it once you get to your stateroom. My son really loved the splash zone and just walking around the ship. He usually does well with eating out but the crew was wonderful with him during all meal periods. We usually saw at least one of our servers during breakfast and they made sure we were ok and helped us get a high chair. We also dined at Palo and liked it. The food was great but, I loved just having a nice meal with my husband. Our son was in the nursery that night and seemed to enjoy it, he didn't even look back when he went in with the crew member. They also made a note that we were dining at Palo so they would only call for an emergency. They have an open house of the kids areas on the first day. I would recommend taking them to both areas so the older child can see it with you. Also, he slept soooooo well because of the rocking of the ship which in turn we got alot of sleep. But mostly we didn't plan our day down to the hour and just went with the flow.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Loved having a diaper genie that someone else emptied for us. Didn't need a pack-n-play. Our 1yo was able to sleep on the couch/bed just fine, but then we got out of a crib and onto a mattress laying directly on the floor at an early age. If you're bottle feeding, I was a bit turned off by the concept of using ship tap water 'as-is' to mix formula. It's been MANY years since we were on a Disney Cruise, but the last time we did, the ship's tap water was a little on the yellow side (you don't notice until you fill the bathtub, then you could see a slight yellow hue). So I would recommend trying to bring along bottled water, or what I did was to bring along my camping water filter and filtered the tap water before mixing the formula.