Hellobee

We recently came back from a wonderful vacation, cruising with our two boys and one set of grandparents. We had a great time and made sure there were a mix of adult activities and kid activities. I think cruises are the perfect vacation with little ones! Here are some of my thoughts and tips on cruising with toddlers.

Hanging out on the pool deck waiting to dock in Kotor, Montenegro.

Why Cruise

Pre-kids, Mr. Dolphin and I had been on a couple of cruises and really enjoyed them. It’s nice that everything is included in terms of lodging, taxes and food so you don’t have to worry about those expenses. You can take care of transportation between locations while you’re in a nice comfy bed sleeping and wake up in a brand new city. The food has, generally, been excellent and there are plenty of things to do on a cruise. We have found that the cruise staff are very friendly to kids and accommodating of their needs.

Which Cruise Line 

Pre-kids, Mr. Dolphin and I used Carnival Cruise and had positive experiences. To be honest, we didn’t give much thought to which cruise line we wanted and were more focused on the locations and price. We were second-year law students doing a full-year study abroad program in London and wanted to take advantage of a two-week spring break to tour the Mediterranean. Because it was Carnival’s first year in the European market, we got a crazy good price on the cruise. The crowd on that cruise felt much older than us (we were 24 and 22-years-old), with most people probably in their 40s or older. When we took another Carnival Cruise a few years ago in the Bahamas, we felt like we were too old for that crowd (in our late 20s). The Bahamas cruise definitely felt more like a young-20s group and seemed like a party ship. However, I believe that the kids’ clubs on Carnival allow for kids as young as 2 and does not require kids be potty-trained whereas most do not take kids under 3.

The cruises we’ve gone on post-kids have been with Royal Caribbean for two reasons. First, we wanted to be able to have some time alone for ourselves and most cruise lines only have programs for kids that are over the age of 3 and out of diapers (Lion is currently 2.5 and Panda is 1). Royal Caribbean has a nursery on most of their ships, though you should verify before booking that it exists on that particular ship. The Royal Caribbean “Royal Babies and Tots” program is really awesome, with some activities on the days at sea, a toy-lending program, and a nursery for a fee. The nursery charges $6/hour per child during the day or $8/hour per child during the evening. Some people do complain about this fee since you do pay for children on the cruise, regardless of age. For us, though, the fact that they offer this service while most other cruise lines don’t plus this low fee was something we celebrated. The second reason we chose Royal Caribbean was the fact that their prices are pretty reasonable, especially with all the deals they run. Although we haven’t selected ships with character experiences, some of their cruises do have these experiences through their Dreamworks partnership. Royal Caribbean has pack-and-plays available for babies and toddlers and you are allowed to reserve one in advance. We were not allowed to request a second one until we were onboard, but despite being told that there were 20 babies on our last cruise, we had no problem getting a second one. While the rooms are fairly small, we still managed to fit both cribs into our standard-sized room.

Disney Cruise Line is another obvious choice that also has a nursery for children under 3. The price is $9/hour for the first child and $8/hour for additional members of the family. They also have some great character experiences on board, deck parties and live shows that are more family-oriented. They really do cater to young children and have things like bottle sterilizers, puree machines and more on board. I have heard that they have bed rails for younger children, larger staterooms and many have two bathrooms. However, the costs for Disney were well out of our price range (some more than double the cost of similar cruises on Royal Caribbean) and, to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure we would want to be on a boat for a week with as many children as Disney is likely to have.

Norwegian Cruise Line has one ship with a nursery for children under three, as well.

Where to Cruise

We’ve cruised in the Caribbean as well as in Europe and I must say that I greatly prefer European cruises. For me, many of the Caribbean cruises are very beach-oriented and I think I would prefer just to fly to one place and stay there if I’m mostly going to be on a beach. In Europe, I think you can really take full advantage of cruising to new ports each day. Additionally, Europe has such a great train system that it is easy to rely on public transportation to get you places rather than having to take shore excursions (which can be pricey) or taxis (also pricey).

Enjoying Corfu.

On Mr. Dolphin and my first cruise together, we went to eight different cities in Italy, Turkey and Greece, including Rome, Naples, Florence/Pisa, Athens and Istanbul. It was awesome being able to wake up in a new city each day, though many of the ports were a bit away from the city and required buses, trains or taxis to get to the heart of the city or the locations we wanted to visit.

On our second babymoon, we took Lion on a cruise out of Venice that hit up several Greek islands (Corfu, Chania and Argostoli were the ports of call), Kotor, Montenegro and Split, Croatia. I felt that this second cruise was perfect, especially with a young toddler, because nearly all of the ports had lots of activities and things to see right off the boat or a very short bus ride away. Kotor, Montenegro and Split, Croatia, in particular, were excellent ports where everything was in walking distance and I would go back to either of these ports in a heartbeat. Cruise Critic is extremely helpful in the planning process as you can figure out how much there is to do at a particular port or whether you’ll have to travel some distance to get to various attractions.

Our Bahamas cruise was very enjoyable and we went at a time where we were both feeling very burned out at work, so the beach was a huge draw for us. We visited three ports, including a private island, which seems to be fairly standard on many Caribbean cruises. I think it would have been just as enjoyable with children, but again, keep in mind that these ports are heavily beach based. Additionally, we had to take taxis to get to where we wanted to go, with the exception of the private beach day.

We also went on a cruise that went to Belize, Isla Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya. While we enjoyed it, I would note that most of what we wanted to do required at least a taxi ride. Cozumel and Costa Maya seemed very touristy to us, though the kids loved just playing on the beach. The Mayan ruins in both Belize and Cozumel require significant transportation time. Overall, it doesn’t seem like you can just walk off the boat and find things to do in the immediate vicinity for many of these ports, unlike some ports in Europe.

Lion’s highlight from Belize was seeing a spider monkey from about three feet away.

There are a number of other Caribbean cruises that still interest me, though, because they hit up a number of small islands that I might not otherwise get to (such as the various Virgin Islands) because it’s expensive to fly into each one. While many of these may also be beach-based, some have interesting eco-tourism opportunities and historical sites. I would need to do more research into these ports to see how much there is to do and see near the piers. Mr. Dolphin and I love to scuba dive, so the Caribbean does have a lot of draw for us, despite my feeling that European cruises are better for the kids.

We have heard really wonderful things about cruising in Alaska and Northern Europe, so those are at the top of my list for future cruises. Several cruise ship employees have told me that Northern European sailings are their favorite and I’m intrigued by the number of sailings that include an overnight stay in St. Petersburg. There are tons of other destinations, though, including cruises in Asia, Oceania, Latin America, Canada/New England on major cruise lines.

Where to cruise is ultimately a decision about what activities you want to do when you’re on vacation. Do you prefer to hang out at the beach? Are you more interested in seeing a lot of history? Do you want to take lots of shore excursions? Are you okay with lots of off-ship transportation?

What to Do At Each Port

Obviously, what you end up doing at each port is, in part, going to be dictated by where you sail. Pretty much all cruise lines sell shore excursions, which are guided tours (or at least transportation) of various sights. These range from snorkeling, zip-lining, swimming with dolphins, historical tours of castles, trips to ruins and more. These shore excursions have an added cost and, in our experience, are much more expensive than doing things on your own. However, they have the benefit of being guaranteed by the ship, so if your excursion runs late, you don’t have to worry about missing the ship.

Trying to get down to pigeon level in Greece.

If you don’t want to do a shore excursion through the ship, there are usually plenty of third-party operators that you can book through. The benefit of these tours (other than the lower cost), is that they usually operate much smaller groups and they try to get you to the destinations before the mass crowds from the cruise ships arrive.

Additionally, you can always do your own thing by taking public transit or taxis to your destination. I do find that at least researching the shore excursions offered gives you a pretty good idea of what there is to do at each port.

What to Do on the Ship

You will spend a not insignificant amount of time on the ship, including at least one “day at sea.” I won’t speak to cruise-ship specific activities since they vary from ship-to-ship and line-to-line, but here are some things that can be done with toddlers on just about any cruise.

– Ride the glass elevator. Lion absolutely loved the glass elevator on his first cruise and was still intrigued by it this last time. I think we probably killed several hours if you put all the time we spent in that elevator together just going up and down.

Lion signing “more” before the ride in the glass elevator was even over.

– Take advantage of open play in the nursery. The kids really liked the nursery because of the different toys they had and the fact that the television was constantly on (the kids usually get zero screen time).

– Go to live shows. Both of our kids seem to really enjoy the live shows, even if they’re not geared for young children. They love watching people sing and dance and really enjoy joining in with the applause.

– Pools. So, pools are tricky and the policy will vary from boat to boat. Generally, children who are not toilet trained are not allowed in the pools, even with swim diapers. However, I know on Royal Caribbean (and I believe Disney, as well), some of the ships have a separate splash pool for babies and toddlers. I know some people bring a small inflatable pool and put it on the deck for their kids to enjoy. Royal Caribbean offers free rentals of life vests for children, which is nice.

– Attend dance activities. Panda really enjoyed the dancing on the ship and tried to join in when we watched a session of people that were practicing for some dance competition. He would run out onto the dance floor and try to imitate some of the moves (mostly kicking his feet up in the air).

Bravely taking the dance floor on.

– Watch live music. Aside from the live shows in the lounges, there are usually a number of places to just watch some music, whether it’s a band on the pool deck or a string duo indoors.

– Get snacks. There is SO MUCH FOOD on a cruise ship and while we normally don’t advocate eating out of boredom, it’s not a terrible thing to do on a ship. I love the variety and the kids enjoy having treats that they normally don’t have at home.

Lion enjoying his very first ice cream cone.

– Run on the track. Every ship I have been on has some sort of walking/running track on the top deck and Lion loved getting out some of his energy by taking laps on the ship. It’s a great way to really enjoy some fresh air.

– “Play” shuffleboard. I was surprised when Mr. Dolphin pulled out the shuffleboard sticks and discs (clearly, I have no idea what the technical names for these things are), but they were a big hit with both kids. Lion loved pushing the discs around and Panda enjoyed “helping” Mr. Dolphin push them.

Lion absolutely loved “playing” shuffleboard.

When to Go

We prefer to travel during shoulder seasons when prices are generally lower, not only for the cruises themselves, but also for airfare to get to the port. Keep in mind hurricane season if you’re traveling in the Caribbean. I think cruising in early spring or late fall in the Caribbean is wonderful because the warm weather is a welcome change of pace, though it did rain one day on our last cruise. Our European cruises were taken in early April and early November and we had generally nice weather both times, though it was on the chillier side on the first cruise, which meant hanging out on the pool deck wasn’t really an option. Rough weather might also make the ship a bit rockier, something to keep in mind if anyone has a propensity for motion sickness.

Enjoying the beautiful weather and beaches in Costa Maya.

Traveling Frugally

It wouldn’t be a travel post from me if it didn’t include some tips on traveling frugally!

Look for cruise deals, including discounts on the costs of the stateroom or passengers and stateroom credits. We often see deals such as 60% off the second guest, 30% off all guests, included gratuities, kids sail free, or free third and fourth guests. I’ve seen free upgrades to balcony rooms on some cruises or stateroom credits ranging from $75 to $150 per stateroom, which can be used on alcoholic beverages, photos, shore excursions, nursery costs, etc. Kids sail free is what we try to look for, though you will still pay port fees and taxes for every guest. Additionally, while I generally prefer to book things myself online, if you book over the phone, you can often get extras like a bottle of champagne or a cheese platter delivered to your room. You can also book through a travel agent who might be able to offer you a few extras, but not a room reduction rate since those are set by the cruise ship.

After you book, make sure to keep an eye on the price. On Royal Caribbean, you can cancel and have your full deposit refunded up to 90 days before you sail. If the price goes down, you can always cancel your original booking and rebook. On our babymoon cruise, we booked an interior room, but close to the cruise date, the price of an outside room dropped drastically and I called to upgrade the room to an outside view room. The $100 difference was well worth it, from our perspective, especially because Lion loved looking out the window at the beautiful European ports.

Depending on when you want to cruise, you might also try to jump on a last minute deal. When we went to the Bahamas a few years ago, we booked just a few weeks before the sail date because cruise lines significantly reduce their prices to try to fill their ships.

As I mentioned above, shore excursions are really pricey and often quite crowded. Although we’ve done a couple of ship-based cruise excursions, for the most part we do our own thing. In Europe, we basically did everything on our own, taking trains or buses where we needed to go or just exploring the immediate vicinity of the ports. We took one shore excursion in Argostoli, Greece, because everything was quite far away and I wish we had either just done our own thing via taxi or stayed close to port and returned to enjoy a relatively empty ship. In the Caribbean, we’ve booked our own tours or taken taxis to places we wanted to go and paid between 30 and 50% less than the shore excursion prices. TripAdvisor is a great resource in finding reputable tours that are familiar with cruise schedules. I will note that on Royal Caribbean, children aged three and under are free on the excursions, so that does help if you choose to do one of their shore excursions.

Doing our own thing, visiting tide pools we stumbled across within walking distance of the Cozumel port.

You’re not supposed to bring food off the ship, but I’ve only seen them check for fruit. We met a lovely Australian couple on our first cruise in the middle of their year-long honeymoon around the world. They noted that they always brought peanut butter and crackers everywhere to try to save costs. While we really love to experience the food of particular regions, having some snacks (especially for the kids) on hand is nice. We picked up a couple of bagels each morning and single-use packets of almond butter to make the kids sandwiches while we were on the go, as well as small boxes of cereal for them to snack on.

We brought our own water bottles and refilled them on the ship. While there are health warnings stating that refilling of bottles is not allowed, you can fill up a cup, then pour the water from the cup to the bottle. The ship does sell bottled water, but the prices are between $4 and $7 a bottle (depending on the package you purchase).

Make sure to sign up for the loyalty clubs because you can get discounts on various things on the ship. It doesn’t take long to get the lowest tier status (one cruise was all it took for us) and once you get status you can get coupons like a buy-one-get-one-free drink, a 10% off drink coupon, discounts in the gift shop and more.

If you do want to use the Internet, try to use Internet cafes on land. The price per day (or per minute) for the Internet on board is very high.

If you’re a wine drinker and want to enjoy a glass at dinner, consider purchasing a bottle, instead. The price is much better per glass and the server will save your bottle to serve you the next day.

Climbing Mayan ruins.

Final Tips

I just wanted to share a few final tips specific to cruising with babies and toddlers. When we cruised with Lion in Europe, I had heard that you could go to the coffee shop and get warm milk for free even though the coffee shop charged extra for their items. Lion was down to a single bottle (the evening bottle) and it worked for the first two nights. On the third day, I was charged something outrageous like $5 for five ounces of warm milk and found out from another family that the same thing happened to them. The next evening, I asked our waiter in the dining room whether it was possible to get warm milk and he delivered us an entire coffee carafe of milk, which he continued to do each night for free. With Panda, we never did warm milk, but we did ask our waiter for those five ounces of milk each night at dinner.

The waiters are more than happy to expedite orders for the kids. On both cruises, we often asked for them to bring food out quickly for the kids so they could start eating almost immediately. This helped ensure they didn’t get too bored before dinner and also avoid hanger. We did “My Time Dining” and made early reservations to make sure we could get early dining times that coincided with the kids’ normal schedules. On a couple of evenings, we booked the kids in the nursery to allow them to eat there and play, then picked them up to eat dessert with us, allowing for a leisurely dinner pace. On another evening, we had them eat dinner with us first, then whisked them up to the nursery mid-dinner so they could play and we could enjoy the rest of the dinner. We’ve also skipped the seated dinner altogether and just hit up the buffet if it seemed like that was the best plan.

If you do plan to use the nursery, I would visit on the first day on board so that you can check it out and get your children registered. It will also allow you to visit with the kids and get them used to a different environment. Different ships have different policies on when you can book times for your children (Disney does it before the cruise starts, Royal Caribbean has had some ships limit the number of hours you can book on the first day before opening it up while others do it first-come-first-serve), so make sure you know that booking schedule.

I’m pretty sure Panda was more impressed by the rocks on the ground than the Mayan temples.