Experienced traveler Newbie Cruiser with small children

[DavidSodapop]

We are traveling 19 November 2016 out of Venice on Vision for a week. I booked the Royal Family Suite (4 year old twins need space) and we do find ourselves eating room service in hotels about half of any trip we are on because their mood is never predictable. I have a million questions but the first is about advanced planning: how long in advance do I need to book excursions? I will have already been in Europe for about ten days prior to departure, but I wonder if my kids will just get toured-out after a while. Do most people get off in every port? Is a tour necessary if we know our kids only have an hour or two of patience anyway (maximum). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance

[Matt]

Welcome!

 

You can start booking excursions pretty early on, but it's not really necessary to book them in advance unless you are dead-set on a particular excursion and do not want to risk it selling out (which is somewhat rare). The other advantage of booking an excursion early is it breaks up the total cost of your cruise.

 

Not all excursions are many hours long.  You can certainly look into the shorter options, as well as consider doing things on your own.  European ports are very conducive to exploring on your own, so a tour may not be necessary, but that depends on your comfort level with doing an excursion on your own.

 

Most guests get off the ship, but there will be some guests that stay onboard.

[DocLC]

You have a couple of options with kids regarding tours.  As Matt suggested, you can simply book shorter tours.  Another option, especially if the ship docks close to town, is to simply explore on your own as the ship will be nearby if your twins run out of patience.  You could also consider leaving your twins in Adventure Ocean when selecting the tours that might not be to their liking.  This isn't something we initially did, but after many excursions of my son asking if Adventure Ocean was open and if he could go back, we have made allowances on some occasions, especially in cases where we know the excursion might not be to his liking.  Still another option is to join a roll call and to find out if there are other families sailing with kids around the ages of your twins.  We found that when we hooked up with families for tours that had similar aged kids, the experience was better all around.

 

Room service is always an option on the ship.  You will find more variety in the buffet, however.  You might also consider using Adventure Ocean so that you can enjoy a quiet dinner on your own.  My son has been on 15 sailings to date, he's currently 9, and loves the kids programming on them.  We alternate nights between him eating with us in the dining room and then feeding him in the buffet on the other nights so that he can enjoy more time with the other kids by his request.

[DavidSodapop]

Thank you both for the suggestions its appreciated! 

[bcarney]

Not all excursions are many hours long. 

On my first cruise,we, foolishly, booked one excursion in the morning, and one in the afternoon.  After the first three ports we were exhausted!  So my advice: don't do this.

[Christie]

Also, in Europe it's very common to have transit times of 1-2 hours each way in port. Many excursions are 10-12 hours long. There are usually not many sea days to recoup either. All things to think about when looking at excursions.

 

Many of the ports have uneven terrain that might make navigating with 2 smaller ones difficult. A double wide stroller won't fit in the door of a standard room, although the suite may have bigger doors. It won't fit down the hallways when the cleaning carts are out. Even my standard single stroller wouldn't fit. We have a smaller stroller we use for cruising (mountain buggy nano) that just barely fits past the cleaning carts when they are out.

 

All fun things to think about! I'm sure you guys will have a blast.

[DavidSodapop]

Thank you for additional replies: the stroller issue is something we had been debating I hadn't thought about the size of the hallways being more narrow---I appreciate the recommendation for one that works. And the doubling up on excursions---hahaha we would do that so that is good to hear. I can't say how great it is to discover this blog I find myself reading all the entries. I'm so intrigued how KEEN everyone is on cruising--and so helpful and detailed in their answers. I am chief deployment officer in our family for travel so I like everything to go off without a hitch so these answers are really helpful. Thanks for replying.

[firegal2539]

I have a small piece of advice, I don't know whether you have heard of Hop On Hop Off buses, most large cities have them, Rome, London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice,Copenhagen, Edinburg, Athens, etc. You can find them on Google under Hop On Hop Off buses in Europe or under City Sightseeing buses. I find them to be the easiest way to see a city, most buses have 20 or more stops, it is entertaining, and it is only about two hours long and you can get on and off all over the city, that way if the kids are not happy, get off, get something to drink and get right back on. They will let you bring a stroller too! Many times the cruise lines offer the HOHOs.

 

I would highly recommend the Adventure Ocean for you girls, it keeps them occupied and give you and hubby some free time on the ship. I always brought my child there and he would rather be there than with me.

 

Candie

[DocLC]

I have a small piece of advice, I don't know whether you have heard of Hop On Hop Off buses, most large cities have them, Rome, London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice,Copenhagen, Edinburg, Athens, etc. You can find them on Google under Hop On Hop Off buses in Europe or under City Sightseeing buses. I find them to be the easiest way to see a city, most buses have 20 or more stops, it is entertaining, and it is only about two hours long and you can get on and off all over the city, that way if the kids are not happy, get off, get something to drink and get right back on. They will let you bring a stroller too! Many times the cruise lines offer the HOHOs.

 

I would highly recommend the Adventure Ocean for you girls, it keeps them occupied and give you and hubby some free time on the ship. I always brought my child there and he would rather be there than with me.

 

Candie

Very good advice, Candie.  These are all over the Baltic and other Northern European ports as well.  Plus, at 4 years old, the kids will likely be free and most of the bus companies offer discounts if you use their company in additional ports.  The other advantage is that they don't need to be prebooked.  You can simply walk onboard and pay there.

[Christie]

I totally feel you on the chief deployment officer... I plan traveling with our daughter down to the smallest detail because I love it. I'm a sucker for baby gear for travel too. We've done Europe via cruising too (and planning another for next summer), so feel free to shoot me a PM!

[DavidSodapop]

Thanks Candie Christie and Doc. I have read about those HOHO buses in Paris and was thinking of doing that, yes sometimes they are keen on something and then 3 minutes later not so much....and I plan to utilize the many bakeries in Paris for treats (and I might have one or two). I am concerned about Adventure Ocean as we are a little bit freaked out about leaving them with strangers but everyone on here seems to recommend it so that is helpful...having an actual vacation (versus taking a trip with the kids) was never in my mind for this trip...fun to think we might do it.

Thanks again all it's soooo appreciated.

David

[DocLC]

Thanks Candie Christie and Doc. I have read about those HOHO buses in Paris and was thinking of doing that, yes sometimes they are keen on something and then 3 minutes later not so much....and I plan to utilize the many bakeries in Paris for treats (and I might have one or two). I am concerned about Adventure Ocean as we are a little bit freaked out about leaving them with strangers but everyone on here seems to recommend it so that is helpful...having an actual vacation (versus taking a trip with the kids) was never in my mind for this trip...fun to think we might do it.

Thanks again all it's soooo appreciated.

David

I understand your hesitation regarding Adventure Ocean and I may even be extra cautious as I use to work for Child Protective Services and my wife still does.  However, I have complete confidence in the program and in the safety of the children.

 

I'll admit that it did take my son some time to warm up to the kids programs on other ships.  He was older by the time we came back to Royal, so it wasn't an issue then.  It just took him time to realize what he was missing out on and now that's the only place he wants to be.  The key is to make sure you take them on the first day to the open house where they can explore the facility with you and then check them into the program the first night so that they make friends.  It's connecting with other kids that really makes the program desirous.  And if they don't end up liking it, there's no loss since it's a complimentary program.

[Matt]

 I am concerned about Adventure Ocean as we are a little bit freaked out about leaving them with strangers but everyone on here seems to recommend it so that is helpful...having an actual vacation (versus taking a trip with the kids) was never in my mind for this trip...fun to think we might do it.

You should definitely do it. For the kids, it's an opportunity to do fun things with kids their age.  My kids relish their time on AO because of the great programming, and the staff is top notch and well trained.

 

Plus, that frees you up for some time to enjoy relaxing, in the casino, at a show, etc.

[klc317]

Our daughter, who is now 4 years old has been on a couple cruises with us, generally 4-5 night variety so she doesn't get burnt out.  We've been successful each time (much to my concern prior to the first time) and she has seemed to have fun on each.  We generally try to do simplified nearby tours or excursions where we know she will have interesting things to see and do to keep her from getting bored as well as having a short distance to travel back to the ship (in the earlier days) in case she decided it was time for an afternoon nap.   The hop on/hop off type tours are ideal as mentioned previously.

 

As far as the childrens area on the ship, Adventure Ocean, we usually took her there every evening for about an hour or two after dinner.  She enjoyed the other children and playing with some toys and other activities they do was good for her and gave us a little bit of alone time to go to the casino, see a show, spend some "adult" time together, etc.   The staff seemed very friendly and are quite thorough about being able to contact you and other safety measures if the need were to arise.  

 

When she was younger we brought a compact/lightweight type stroller with us....wasn't much of a hassle and had no problems moving around the ship (when we used it) except for the normal bunch of elevator stampede people you run into on every cruise as soon as the door opens...haha.  In fact it came in really handy for us even to pack around towels, shopping bags, etc when she wasn't using it.  No matter what you bring, bags, stroller, her toys, etc off the ship and into a beach setting you can expect to find sand in it forever.