2 year old on disney cruise? honest opinions please!

[missycj96]

Hello, I have been on cruises many times, and even did the disney wonder 4 day a few years ago before my DD was born. I want to go on a Disney cruise with my mom and DD2 in the fall. I know how great disney cruises are but is there anything for a 2 year old to do? I know that she can't go in the pool or to the kids program. We love cruising and Disney so its not like we are going just for the baby. But I am concerned that she won't have enough to do because of all the restrictions for kids in diapers. What can she do? Has anyone had experiences that they can share with me?

I know I could always wait one more year to go when she will be 3, but my mom loves to cruise and wants to go. Does the little fountain area get boring for a 2 year old who is very active and used to doing a lot? I know that all the cruise lines have strict rules about kids in diapers but I am thinking that Disney at least knows that there are a lot of families with kids and has options.

The 2 year old is in a funny situation on the cruise - for little babies, Disney ships have the nursery and probably enough to keep them happy. And for 3 and up, the world is truly their oyster. But an active 2 year old who is used to playing with older kids in day care isn't an infant, but they will not be allowed to do a lot of the kids activities. Can 2 year olds particpate in kids activities if parents stay with them?

I am really looking for some advice and specific experience that others have had on the disney ships with young kids.

Thanks!!
Missy

 

[flexsmom]

I went with my DD neary 6 at the time, and DS who was just about 2. He had a great time in the Mickey ear, and we did not have an issue with him being upset about not being able to join DD in the bigger part of the pool. He was very mobile and very verbal at a young age, but he enjoyed Flounders and it was his "club", as far as he was concerned. Whenever I'd peek in through the mirror, he was enjoying the toys, and was easily put to sleep in a rocking chair and deposited into a crib in the back area of Flounders (had about 4 cribs in a dark room) for bedtime. He loved the Deck 7 aft deck - as did we - since we could lounge on the chairs and turn him loose. I can honestly say that we had plenty of time together and plenty of time apart - and our time together was not difficult in terms of keeping him entertained. I'm sure it is child-dependent, but there is lots to do and to intrigue for all ages!

 

[FatCat]

We cruised with our 2 year old In January and are going to do it again in Sept.
Gotta get that almost free rate
I believe the right ear of Mickey pool you can be in swim pants. Also they now have a fountain area just outside the Mickey pool for kids in swim pants. The Oceaneer club let us bring her in as a guest and we hung out for some activities our 4 yr old did.

2 Year old loved the shows and Castaway Cay.
I did find it nice having the balcony for me to sit on during nap time.

I did count the 2 year old as a person when calculating the tip. I figured it was either equal to suggested amount or over if under 3 yrs are not factored into suggested amount.

I will say excursions and nap times etc have to be thought out. Good news is 4 year old does not want to do anything exciting as well.

2 Year old also enjoyed getting autographs. Looking at artwork.
We also liked being able to order snack food and other things and not care if they finished.

Some tips we did:
At breakfast or lunch we would grap cartons of whole milk and put in our cooling box so we had enough for nap and night.
Nightlight of some sort helped.
There are stollers or wagons at Castaway Cay to use.
We did grocery stop prior to cruise and brought juice boxes and mini snacks to have at the ready in room or on excursions. Also bought cheap buckets and pails for CC.

 

[lbgraves]

Remember that the Wonder now has the extra splash area for non PTd kids.

 

[MRS_RMM]

We brought our 2-year-old DD on DCL this past December and we're bringing her again in September, right before her 3rd birthday.

She LOVES the "Mickey Cruise" and still talks about it nonstop. The Wonder has a little splash area for the toddlers and she really enjoyed it. It wore her out so much that she ended up napping on a lounger by the Goofy pool while DH and I watched High School Musical on the Dumbotron. She also enjoyed meeting the characters through out the ship. We took her to the shows and she loved each one of them. I was surprised that she sat still for the entire thing (DD isn't the type to sit still for long)!! Flounders was great, there were so much toys for her to play with and by the time we picked her up after Palo, she was fast asleep in the back. We took her to the Oceaneer Club so she can play with the big kids. The CMs are ok with that, just as long as you stay with her. I'm hoping to get her into the Oceaneer club in September since it's within a month of her 3rd birthday and she's potty trained, but I made reservations at Flounders just in case. We didn't do any shore excursions, just went to the beaches and watched DD play in the sand and look for shells.

There's so much to do for a 2-year-old on DCL!! Enjoy your cruise!!

 

[mruhaak]

I think it depends on your child. It seems many people here travel with a 2 year old and have no problems. My "high maintenance" son went at 2 1/2 and he did not do well in Flounders . He goes to daycare so I thought he would be fine in Flounders, but he fussed and did not want to stay which was very uncharacteristic.

I would recommend making sure to arrive early so your child is well rested when boarding. (We kept him up too late the night before) And taking longer than a 3 night. We took a 3 night and I think it was just too much too fast for him.

We are taking him again this fall (at 4) I think it will be an entirely different story. But now we will have his brother too who will be 16 months.

 

[zanzer]

I was trying to book nursery time but was wondering when other suggest to book it for? My DD2 is a very "old" 2 1/2 year old. She's been potty trained since she was 2 in November 06. When does the nursery fill up the fastest? Any other information or suggestions would be great?

 

[Maxwell]

We sailed 2 weeks ago on the May 20 Wonder. My son will be 3 in September. He is not potty trained so we had to use Flounders. Keep in mind that no swim diapers are even allowed in the Mickey Ears any more. They have the slash area for them. My son loved that and was sad that he could not go in the Mickey pool or ears. But, that is a good thing..the pool was never closed this time due to accidents. On our prior cruise it was closed 3 or 4 times for cleaning.

The first night we got paged to pick him up in Flounders as he did not like it at all. As the cruise wore on he had a good time taking care of the babies, playing with the counselors, etc. We had a couple of relaxing nights in Diversions and a nice Bruch in Palo. The staff at Flounders are great!

 

[MRS_RMM]

I was trying to book nursery time but was wondering when other suggest to book it for? My DD2 is a very "old" 2 1/2 year old. She's been potty trained since she was 2 in November 06. When does the nursery fill up the fastest? Any other information or suggestions would be great?

It never seemed crowded whenever we went. I guess they can control the crowd by requiring a reservation. We always dropped DD off in the evenings.

 

[missycj96]

Hi all,

thanks for all the advice. That's why I love the boards - everyone really shares.

So on the wonder there is a separate splash area? I would love to see some pictures. I had thought that one of the mouse ears was set aside for kids in swim diapers but now I understand that is no longer the case? How about the magic? If the baby areas are small, do they get really crowded?

Its good to know that they let 2 year olds into the older kids play areas if parents stay. I work full time so I am not looking for time alone, I am looking for fun things to do with her so that is fine by me.

Royal Caribbean's website says that for kids to even go to the kids play areas (not the pool - I mean inside), they have to be potty trained. I could see that if you want to drop the kids off so that they are not changing diapers, but it seems kind of harsh not to allow a two year old even into an indoor play area with parents (not in the pool). I am afraid to take a RCC cruise with her because there is absolutely no place for her to swim, plus she can't go into the kids areas - AND they want to charge full price for babies. No wonder that families love Disney.

At flounders is there a play area that you can take 2 year olds to, not to drop them off?

Thanks and happy cruising,

Missy

 

[zanzer]

It never seemed crowded whenever we went. I guess they can control the crowd by requiring a reservation. We always dropped DD off in the evenings.

Around what time did you drop DD off in the evening? I would like my dd to see the show and we have early seating so the shows for us would be at 8:30. I assume they last about 1 hour.

 

[NHdisneylover]

On the Magic hte not potty trained ones still haev an ear of hte Mickey pool as a play/splash area. There is not currently a bigger splash area for them as on the Wonder (I imagine they will add this when the Magic goes into drydock next fall).

We loved our first DCL cruise with our children being 2 1/2 and 10 months at the time. This was before they even had Flounders so we did not have babysitting as an option. We enjoyed taking the kids into the club to play with us (they can even do the programs in the club--not just free play if you stay, stuff like dancing with snow white, etc), dancing with them at parties, taking them to the shows and seeing characters.

On the Magic these days I also think a toddler would love the Character party breakfast (it is no longer a photo and signature style breakfast but an interactive party) and tea with Alice (both fmaily events).

I am going to give you my perspcitive on the dining times which will likely seem a bit backwards. If you have early seating you will see the shows late. If you have late seating you will see the shows early. With early seating we found the kids loved the shows, but still fell asleep half way thorugh (and were sad the next day to have missed it). So, on the next cruise (When they were just turning 2 and 4) we switched to late seating. We could feed the kids room service or from plutos before the show, they got to enjoy the show not being overly tired and then at dinner if they felt like staying awakwe they could munch some more, or they could just fall asleep in a little "bed" made from two chairs which the DCL servers are great at making (and then we had some peaceful dinners). If you have a kid who is flexible about where s/he sleeps we really feel this is the way t ogo.

 

[PatricenPete]

We just went on the 7-day Western this past March. We had DS - 2 and DD - 8 months with us. Both DH and I agree that it was probably the most fun that we have ever had on any vacation to day.

There are just so many things to do. We used Flounders a few times, but for the most part what we did, the kids did too. We made a potato car, we did animation classes, we did trivia, we played Bingo, went to shows, saw a movie - all with the kids in tow and they had a blast.

We took time each day for naps and down time and I'm sure that helped a lot. Also, you can bring your 2 year old to the kids' clubs as long as you stay with him. Our son LOVED the club - he ran around, went on the slides, played games.

We are in the process of planning a cruise for 2008 (I want to go the 7 day double dip to Costa Maya!)

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hey PrenticePete--if you book the Double Dip in September then get onto our meet thread! There are a whole bunch of us DISsers on that one! We did the double dip last September and LOVED it.

 

[Tarabra]

We took DD21mos at the time last Aug. and she loved it. I wish we could take her again soon now that she can fully communicate. She loved the 7 day and enjoyed the shows although during some of the down time w/out music she'd start to squirm. I'd sit on the outside edge so I could easily take her out to the back if needed. Also during dinners, she was good for about 1/2 hr. then wanted out. By day 3 we started bringing our DVD player w/ us. That helped immensely. It also helped to ask for her food when we got ours. They would rush it out right away which was great so I could enjoy my food after feeding her, but then she got really antsy. So I had them start bringing it out when our food came and she'd eat it herself. I've also heard people who have run their kids up to Flounders after their child ate, which I think I will try next time. An hour and 1/2 is just too long for her to sit still. Also, she was a mess when it came to napping and sleeping. She was still on a nap schedule of around 2 o'clock, but NEVER wanted to nap for fear of missing something, by evening she was cranky. Oh, and she NEVER was one of those kids that fell asleep during dinner. Darn! I'd walk her out and point to all the sleeping kids. (we had late seating) As far as the potty training...not sure exactly how old your DD is, but DD is 2.5 now and has been potty trained for quite awhile. They really can do it and you have until fall. I haven't changed a poopy diaper since she was 20 mos old. IF they have a diaper on, they will use it. Now that it's warm, put her in padded Gerber undies and let her be. She will def. NOT like the feeling of pee running down her leg. Mine would stop and say, "I peeing." and run to the bathroom. That lasted about 2 days, it's beautiful to not have to change diapers or buy them. It should be over in about a weekend. Give it a try. (I should have prefaced this by saying, I know you didn't ask for potty training advice, but I'm a huge advocate of this and that it can be done early and painlessly)

She also loved the beach and spent hours in the water. She liked seeing the characters on the ship, but was a little afraid of them close up. She also enjoyed all the dance parties. Have fun and your DD will have a ball.

 

[danicaw]

We took our DS on the first Panama Crossing in May 05 when he was 23 months.
It was our best vacation yet
He loved exploring the ship, going to the shows, riding the elevators, etc.
We used Flounders a few times and stopped by to play during family times.
I cant wait until our next cruise in 09, this time our DD will be 2.

 

[Cindi0511]

I also have cruised twice with 2-year-olds, the first time in 03 when our eldest daughter was 2.5 for a 7-day on the Magic, and this past September for 11 days on the Wonder with my next 2.5 year old and her cousin who turned 2 on the ship. Very different Flounders experiences: on the Magic, the CMs just seemed completely exhausted and each of the two times we used the nursery, they were trying to make the little ones watch movies. On the Wonder, both the toddlers loved Flounders, and we loved the staff. I couldn't imagine these workers who were used to 3 or 4 day trips making it on our 11-day without dropping over, but they were totally AWESOME! We took them treats every chance we got.

If you think your daughter likes the characters, select the late dinner seating and see the early show, as suggested above. That's what we did on the 7-day, and it worked out wonderfully. On our 11-day, we had the early dinner seating, and I missed quite a few shows with putting little ones to sleep. (We did excursions at every port, so the kids were understandably tired.) On the 7-day, the server and assistant server always had DDs food ready in minutes, no matter what it was, and she'd eat and fall asleep either in the corner on blankets on the floor or on the chairs.

We had a fantastic time on both cruises, and while I'm not too sure how much they remember at 2, they love to look at the pictures and explain to anyone who will listen what they did in St. Maarten, St. Lucia, etc. We love together time, and I personally think the only way to find out if it will work for you is to do it. There are no guarantees for tomorrow, so live today with love and excitement with your kids. You'll make fantastic memories, especially on DCL!

 

[MRS_RMM]

Around what time did you drop DD off in the evening? I would like my dd to see the show and we have early seating so the shows for us would be at 8:30. I assume they last about 1 hour.

We had late seating, so we would take our daughter to the early show, feed her dinner and then drop her off at Flounder's before heading to our dinner, around 8pm. It worked out great on the nights we used Flounder's. The other nights, DD would fall asleep in the dining room.

 

[MRS_RMM]

Here's a picture of our daughter enjoying the splash area on the Wonder.