Cruising with a 3.5 yr old

[steveyjc81]

Hi All,

Just want some opinions regarding cruising with my 3.5-year-old.

We last cruised when my daughter was 17 months, and to be honest, it was a bit of a disaster. She seemed very unsettled, wasn't eating great etc. She did go to Small World Nursery, and things seemed ok there (Though they may not tell you otherwise).

We're considering it again for next year - My wife and I love cruising and especially loved DCL. Making my daughter approx 3.5. She currently goes to day care and has no issues.

What are everyone's experiences with kids this age? She seems very strong minded and grown up compared to her friends of the same age. Just wondering what people think, and now that she could go to the kid's clubs, would this be different? Will she want to go etc?

Just not sure how to play it...

Thanks, Stevey

 

[wanderlust7]

My DD was 3.5 when we cruised...or 3 years 9 months to be exact.

I'll share our experience. But every kid is different!

She didn't like the kids' club that much. She'll go if we asked her to with minimal complaint (like when we went to Palo), but if I ask her if she wants to go, it was always no. One time I picked her up and she was all by herself in the middle of the open floor space looking very bored.

At that point, she had been going to half day preschool for about 3 months and before that she had been going to a parent and me type place with grandma. I think the leaving her part of it was okay, but it was the making new friends in a new place that wasn't there yet. She's 5.5 now and we're going again soon. I hope she'll like it more now!

Everything else was great though. She loved the shows (when she could stay awake through them), the princesses, Castaway Cay, and all that ice cream!

 

[bbel]

At that age it maybe best to send her for specific activities: dress up fun, story time with belle, puzzle playtime, little Einsteins, heffalump hunting - these activities are aimed at the younger kids and it's programmes where kids naturally seem to end up interacting with each other even if they didn't know each other before.
Maybe avoid things like gaga ball as the space gets loud and busy at times like that.

They also do preschool fun now, when it's just for 3-5 year olds, usually early on in the cruise. It's a quieter time for them to get used to the space and Counselors with only fellow little people with them.

 

[steveyjc81]

Thank-you both for your replies. Very useful information.
That is good to know about pre-school fun. I think if she got to know the club space then she would be happy there - in small doses, it is a family trip.

It's just so hard to know, especially as it would be in about a years time, and an expensive mistake if you get it wrong (as we found out last time!)

 

[elvispursley]

I agree, with pp--it depends on each child. My kids were older, 8 and 10, and they went twice, for about 30 minutes, and couldn't stand it. I thought they might be more interested in the kids club when they were older, even getting permission for youngest DS to join older DS when he went to Edge (youngest was 10.5) but nope--because oldest wouldn't go with the younger one, the younger DS refused to go by himself. Maybe it would've been different if we started them when they were younger, like your DD, but I doubt it for my older DS--he just isn't the type (which is perfectly ok). I think @bbel has great suggestions for taking her when they have specific activities lined up (and that might have been my mistake the first go around). But I'm sure she will have an excellent cruise however it works out!

 

[gotomu212]

When you say it was a bit of a disaster, what do you consider bad? To me a bit of a disaster would be baby cried all night long or we never got through a dinner without someone having to take her back to the room or I spent the whole trip in the room because that's the only place she'd nap. Other than that the changes in behavior I chalk up to kids (and adults) act a lot different on vacation and we need more flexibility.

I only ask to gauge if my advise with our son is helpful- no judgement at all. Our son at 3 wasn't crazy about the clubs but would go for short stretches. He loved the pool and could use it by then. He also liked the shows but didn't want to sit through one every night so we alternated. We also found that at this age late dining worked better since we did dine and play and it helped him wind down at the end of the day. We did better on more casual beach excursions too.

Hope that helps!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My question would be how she does with disruptions to routine. Doing well at preschool/daycare is not the same as being able to do well at a Kids' Club, as there is a daily routine in daycare, and familiar faces every day, whereas a Kids' Club is all new people, and it's not the familiar run of the day seen at a preschool.

If the reason for issues the first time was "disruption to routine," doing well in those (routine) settings is not an indicator that this trip will be better.

My son was great at routine disruption from day one. My daughter? Oh god. She's gotten better with some age, but at toddler/preschool ages changes in routine were a nightmare.

 

[lorimay]

Our grandson loved the club at 3 and we had a hard time getting him to come out, he is 9 now and still loves it.
Our granddaughter on the other hand only likes it in small doses. She is more of just wanting to go for certain activities then be picked up. She is 7 now.

 

[o&smom]

Our daughter has cruised with us at 3 mos., 15 mos., just under 3, 3 1/2, 4, 4 1/2, 5, and 6 yrs of age. Each cruise has been a different experience. We were concerned about her wanting to spend time in the clubs when she was old enough, especially since we like to eat at Palo or Remy. We lucked out and she was more than happy to spend time there without us. Now we can hardly get her out of there to see characters or eat! She was not in daycare or preschool at the time, and I do think it helped a little that her brother was in the club next door. He was too cool to spend much time in the baby club. We all went as a family after boarding and lunch so that she could explore all of the fun areas. She also really bonded with some of the counselors during craft time. Hopefully, your daughter's time in daycare will payoff and she will just see it as time to play with new friends. Happy cruising!

 

[wendydarling33]

Our son loved the clubs at 3.5. Like he would cry and throw a fit EVERY single time we tried to pick him. So definitely every kids is different.

 

[steveyjc81]

gotomu212 - Yeah dining was an absolute disaster. We literally had to take the different courses of the meals in turns, with the other parent walking around outside the dining room.

Things have obviously changed a lot in the year since then, and no doubt will change even more in the next year until we (maybe) cruise again.

It's weird just how wrong we predicted things. We were worried about the 9hr flight to the US (from Ireland) - she was absolutely fine. Thought the heat would be a big problem - she was absolutely fine. Though a different car seat and most parts of the cruise were painful.

 

[bbel]

gotomu212 - Yeah dining was an absolute disaster. We literally had to take the different courses of the meals in turns, with the other parent walking around outside the dining room.

Things have obviously changed a lot in the year since then, and no doubt will change even more in the next year until we (maybe) cruise again.

It's weird just how wrong we predicted things. We were worried about the 9hr flight to the US (from Ireland) - she was absolutely fine. Thought the heat would be a big problem - she was absolutely fine. Though a different car seat and most parts of the cruise were painful.

So you already know to expect not to expect anything then lol.
When I was a CM it was one big bit of advice I had for parents. If you've never cruised disney then you have no idea how your kids are going to react because no kids has ever been in an environment like the club and lab.
Ive have parents assure me their kids were gonna hate it and would call to be picked up in five minutes, after their Palo or whatever they'd come rushing down panicking because they hadn't heard anything, but their kid was absolutely loving life and wouldn't want to leave.
I've had parent tell me their kids are gonna love it and want to leave and not go back after a few minutes.
I've had families avoid it because it's not their thing but they check it out on the last day and they're gutted they didn't use it before.
Just don't take it personally if your kids love or hate the clubs. They're not for everyone, just like a lot of adults aren't a fan of some of the adult only areas and won't use them. But given a chance, the majority of kids come in and have a good time.

 

[stephmarty]

We've cruised with all three of our daughters at that age, and we'll be taking our 3yo son next month. All did great. Luckily, my wife likes to take a nap and take some downtime in the afternoon. So that works well for the kids at that age. Dinner can be a bit long, so we usually take the kids to the buffet before our dinner so they can skip out and go to the kids' club if they want. I've left the dinner table many times to take them to the club, then I come back. No big deal.

What might work to our advantage on a cruise is that we really don't stress about keeping the kids on a schedule at home, other than bedtime which isn't super-strict. We are kind of a take-it-as-it-comes kind of family, so vacations don't do much to mess up their schedules. If they're cooperating, great. If not, we just do something else. And if the 3yo has an all-out meltdown, one of us will take him so that everyone doesn't have to drop what we're doing. Divide and conquer!

 

[RedStars]

My youngest was 3.5 when we cruised last time. It was a great age: he was able to enjoy everything. I was glad that he was out of diapers and he didn't nap any more so it made it easy. We had 2nd seating and he did great.

The only thing I didn't like: I felt he was too young for the kids club. We put him in there (with his older brother and cousins) and I feel like it was too overwhelming and unstructured for him/me. The kids club CM aren't very hands on so I would pick him up and he'd be hungry and thirsty. The CM said they'd announce dinner etc but kids were on their own to go to get it etc. 3.5 was too young for that.

We're going in Nov and he'll be 6.5y this time: I'm looking forward to more kids club time. Lol

 

[cadien]

We cruised NCL when our son was 3.5. He loved it. I believe the kids clubs are completely different so can't speak to that. We mostly did simple beach excursions instead of anything ambitious there.

 

[Lynne M]

Have you tried taking her on short overnight trips near home? Say, a long weekend in a hotel? Does she do OK in those situations?

Some kids just aren't happy travelers. I had a friend with a son like that. He was calm and easygoing - as long as he was sleeping in his own bed with his own toys and eating all the foods he was used to, at home. Take him for a long weekend in a relative's home, and it was a three-day non-stop meltdown. Take him to an unfamiliar restaurant - meltdown. Stay overnight in a hotel - yikes.

Before you invest in the cruise, try a weekend in a hotel close to home. Also try taking her out to restaurants a few times, and see how she does.