Cruising with under 3s (and Western Med excursions)

[berkeleykel]

ETA: Ignoring the below I actually went with the 7 night Western Mediterranean out of Barcelona on Wonder.  So excursion recommendations with young kids for those ports would be invaluable!  I'm also still interested in any stories about whether fussy kids were able to stick it out with the nursery.

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I'm considering a last minute booking for a 7 night in August, either Voyager out of Copenhagen or Anthem out of Southampton, with my husband and a 6 year old and nearly 2 year old.  I'm mainly concerned about whether the trip will work for our toddler.  We went on one Royal cruise previously with my oldest, but he was >3 at the time and potty-trained and it was a warm-weather cruise.

-Does anyone have recent experience with dropping kids off at the nursery on Voyager?  The website says the nursery on Voyager doesn't take drop offs, but I saw someone post here that the nursery was operating for drop offs on their cruise in May.

-My son always warms up and enjoys himself eventually, but there is zero chance there won't be tears at nursery drop off each day, and maybe even an hour or so after drop off the first day.  Anyone else have a fussy child and experience with how much patience the nurseries have before they will call us?

-The weather for these cruises will likely be fairly chilly (at least for swimming purposes), and although Anthem has an indoor pool, toddlers in nappies can't use it (and I think there are no options at all for non-potty trained kids on Voyager).  Do you think there will be enough to occupy the youngest? Also have you had issues with your kids seeing pools/slides but not being able to use them?  I'm imagining some meltdowns (maybe some from myself too!).

-Any issues pushing my son around on the ship in his stroller, particularly for things like attending game shows or trivia? I'm hoping he can sleep through some of these if he's in his stroller.

Thanks!   

[wordell1]

1 hour ago, berkeleykel said:

I'm considering a last minute booking for a 7 night in August, either Voyager out of Copenhagen or Anthem out of Southampton, with my husband and a 6 year old and nearly 2 year old.  I'm mainly concerned about whether the trip will work for our toddler.  We went on one Royal cruise previously with my oldest, but he was >3 at the time and potty-trained and it was a warm-weather cruise.

-Does anyone have recent experience with dropping kids off at the nursery on Voyager?  The website says the nursery on Voyager doesn't take drop offs, but I saw someone post here that the nursery was operating for drop offs on their cruise in May.

-My son always warms up and enjoys himself eventually, but there is zero chance there won't be tears at nursery drop off each day, and maybe even an hour or so after drop off the first day.  Anyone else have a fussy child and experience with how much patience the nurseries have before they will call us?

-The weather for these cruises will likely be fairly chilly (at least for swimming purposes), and although Anthem has an indoor pool, toddlers in nappies can't use it (and I think there are no options at all for non-potty trained kids on Voyager).  Do you think there will be enough to occupy the youngest? Also have you had issues with your kids seeing pools/slides but not being able to use them?  I'm imagining some meltdowns (maybe some from myself too!).

-Any issues pushing my son around on the ship in his stroller, particularly for things like attending game shows or trivia? I'm hoping he can sleep through some of these if he's in his stroller.

Thanks!   

I can't give specific advice for Voyager, but I would always advise that things for parents are always easier on a cruise vs at home.  All meals are made, and cleaning provided.  If Adventure Ocean doesn't work out, you are still ahead of the game.

My experience with 3 year olds is that they will use the pool regardless of weather

[xps15z]

My daughter LOVED cruising at that age, we went on Symphony however. We never dropped her off at the nursery because she could just play in the pool during the daytime. If it were free, we would've only put her in the nursery if we had to watch shows only.

We kept to her bedtime, which was 8:30 so we can have our adult time.

Even on a busy ship there was space for a stroller (we didn't use one) but I definitely think you can bring one on your boat. I would use one of those umbrella strollers though, which is what we brought for the ports. I did a lot of research when we took our daughter and a lot of parents said they saw strollers or used one themselves on the ship. Oasis class is very busy and I can honestly see a stroller still being doable, so I am sure on Voyager is doable.

You guys will have fun regardless of the season your going. He may be a bit fussy during meals but outside of that your son should have fun. My son is turning 2 in October and I think he would do fine if he went on a cruise this year.

[berkeleykel]

I couldn't quite shake my worry about toddler-friendly activities on Voyager or Anthem (and on Anthem the only cabins left were interior, and we'd be stuck there a lot with naps) so I took a different direction and booked the Western Mediterranean cruise on Wonder!  Now I have the opposite problem of feeling like there is too much to do.

I'd love any tips on excursions that are little kid friendly at any of the ports - Mallorca, Marseilles, La Spezia, Civitavecchia or Naples!  We've been to Barcelona recently so we not planning anything specific there.  We're also thinking of staying on board at one to spend some more timing relaxing on the ship.