krhardy Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 Hey y'all My husband and I cruised with our kids quite often when they were small. All of us absolutely loved it and looked forward to every cruise. I have been saying for years that I couldn't wait until my grandkids were old enough so I could take them on a cruise. Now I'm rethinking this.....today marks 12 days that we have had all 3 of them (ages 6, 3, and 11 months) while my son and daughter in law have been packing, moving, and unpacking. I'm whooped! These little people do not operate on my schedule. Trying to keep them all fed (holy cow can they eat!), keep up with the kindergarten homeschool (and I homeschooled all 3 of my kids through high school graduation, so I'm no stranger to that either), AND work is about to do me in. Let's not talk about the state of my house..... Fellow grandparents out there please reassure me that I won't die if I take them on a cruise without their parents WAAAYTOOO, Ogilthorpe, JLMoran and 7 others 7 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 The cruise has the advantage of Adventure Ocean - you won't be responsible for 100% of their entertainment, so you'll have a chance to relax (whether that's reading on your balcony, sleeping, strolling around the ship, or taking full advantage of your drink package). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 Yes, IF they’ll go. My grandson, 10, wouldn’t go to AO no matter how I tried. We hung out at the pool all day. He was happy. Hubby and I were fine. We frequently have 3-4 grands for the day, often days in a row. But it is way easier taking them places 1 at a time so we aren’t running in several directions at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimnKathy Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 Between Adventure Ocean, all meals prepared and served for you and housekeeping in the cabin, I believe you'll be able to enjoy time spent with them without most of the hassles to slow you down. PPPJJ-GCVAB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPPJJ-GCVAB Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 19 hours ago, krhardy said: Fellow grandparents out there please reassure me that I won't die if I take them on a cruise without their parents I can reassure you!! Of course at those ages it won't be a relaxing vacation but it will pack so many memories into their little brains that can never be erased...no matter how old they get. And by the time cruising is back they will already be a little older!! Our 5 grandkids continually talk about the adventures we have taken them on...it's truly heartwarming. I also worked up until a year and a half ago so had all the stresses you mention. BUT...being on a vacation is different than having them at the house and being on a cruise just seems to work! I promise you that you will never regret spending whatever time you can with them...as exhausting as it might get...because memories are worth it!! teddy, JimnKathy and DJsMrs 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryAA Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 We took our daughters on several cruises when they were 7 and 11 at the youngest. They had a great time and have great memories. We recently took one of our daughters and son-in-law with their 2 year old son. It was not the same. He did not want to go to adventure ocean, didn’t have the patience for the dining room, and was not old enough for some of the H2O zone slides. We stayed behind in ports so our daughter and SIL could go off the ship. We will do it again but only when they are 5 and older. Baked Alaska and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 Every child is different just like every adult is different. Some will go with the flow and some may become stressed by a change in routine and that stress can quickly become stressful to you I have good friends that are terrible travel mates. Every minor thing becomes a source of anguish. I won't travel with them on any sort of vacation, by cruise or by land, but they are still good friends. Some kids will travel well while others may not. You won't know until you try. My kids who are now adults have zero recollection of the cruise we went on when they were under 5. They also don't remember the theme parks we visited. We enjoyed the cruise and theme parks and seeing their reactions in the moment at the time. If it weren't for the pictures we have they would swear we never took them - zero memories. USCG Teacher and Baked Alaska 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrznTxn Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 We took each of our grand kids on a cruise when they turned 5. This was a rite of passage that they and their parents looked forward to as they approached that magic age. The reason for the single child at a time was so we could concentrate our attention on that particular one and not have to constantly move to track and entertain them all. Once we had taken all of them on their cruise we then took each of the families units separately on a cruise with us. Mom and Dad were responsible for the tracking of their kids and getting them in and out of Adventure Ocean but we did do total family events together such as the water features, shows, etc. We separated each family unit so there was not a conflict as to who got grand parents attention. Now each of our kids are planning their family vacations with cruises as well as trips to Disney, etc and each of the grand kids keep asking if we will be taking them one at a time again at an older age to repeat the great times they had when they were younger. WAAAYTOOO, Pooch, JimnKathy and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krhardy Posted February 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2021 22 hours ago, CrznTxn said: We took each of our grand kids on a cruise when they turned 5. This was a rite of passage that they and their parents looked forward to as they approached that magic age. The reason for the single child at a time was so we could concentrate our attention on that particular one and not have to constantly move to track and entertain them all. Once we had taken all of them on their cruise we then took each of the families units separately on a cruise with us. Mom and Dad were responsible for the tracking of their kids and getting them in and out of Adventure Ocean but we did do total family events together such as the water features, shows, etc. We separated each family unit so there was not a conflict as to who got grand parents attention. Now each of our kids are planning their family vacations with cruises as well as trips to Disney, etc and each of the grand kids keep asking if we will be taking them one at a time again at an older age to repeat the great times they had when they were younger. I love the idea of taking them 1 at a time...after all, that means more cruises for me HeWhoWaits, WAAAYTOOO, emmef and 1 other 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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