Parents of Toddlers- How did you use nursery time?

[ct7878]

Just booked our first DCL cruise in almost 10 years! We will be doing a HOTHS sailing on the Fantasy for my toddlers 2nd birthday. DH and I are avid cruisers (actually platinum on DCL although we haven’t sailed in many years!) but this will be our first cruise with our little guy.

We are hoping to use the nursery for some down time but trying to think about the best way to use this time. We will have late seating dining and wondering if it might be good to book 9-11 each night to enjoy the second half of dinner and drink after or would afternoon time be better? Curious what others have done and if anyone has recommendations- our little guy is very much a toddler and in the terrible two stage! We are so excited to sail with him but also need some down time, as well!

 

[n2mm]

My daughter booked 12-2pm (nap time) and the 2 hours at dinner. We had late dinner, so she put the baby (18 months) in the nursery and had a nice quiet dinner each night. Picked her up and put her to bed afterwards.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Is it hard to book nursery times right now? Like difficult to get the times you want? Do you book them in 2 hr blocks?

 

[Jaydee51]

Whilst we haven't been on DCL yet, we've taken 8 cruises with our son since 2016, when he was 6 months old. The RCCL equivalent - Adventure Island - is similar (and God sent!)

My advice would be to pick a slot that works for your family and book the entire week as far in advance as you are allowed to, OR at the latest, immediately after boarding.

We found the dinner slot to best the best. Gave us time to eat dinner in peace and subsequently take an evening stroll or have drink & chat. This trip is as much for you as it is for him so take time for you and your SO to connect.

Enjoy!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We used afternoons after excursions so we could get back off the ship to walk around in Alaska. I might pick dinner times if I was traveling with a toddler again but as hard as it was to keep him entertained I would have missed having him at dinner especially as it was a 3 generation cruise.

 

[Trisaratops]

We used afternoons after excursions so we could get back off the ship to walk around in Alaska. I might pick dinner times if I was traveling with a toddler again but as hard as it was to keep him entertained I would have missed having him at dinner especially as it was a 3 generation cruise.

So you CAN get off the ship with kids in nursery and club???

Do you know how do they get ahold of you if not in the US?

 

[gkrykewy]

Related question- our daughter is 3 and potty trained, so she is eligible for oceaneers club- but she could still do nursery if she ends up finding the kids club too intense for her, right? I ask because nursery is grayed out/ not able to select for our reservation.

 

[Trisaratops]

Related question- our daughter is 3 and potty trained, so she is eligible for oceaneers club- but she could still do nursery if she ends up finding the kids club too intense for her, right? I ask because nursery is grayed out/ not able to select for our reservation.

Yes! This is correct

 

[TinkLoverSam]

So you CAN get off the ship with kids in nursery and club???

Do you know how do they get ahold of you if not in the US?

I assume they would try and call you (which probably wouldn't have worked as we were in Alaska but as Canadians we had most of our cells in airplane mode) We told them we were leaving the ship. Both times we did it he ended up having a nap the whole time we were gone.

 

[Princesca]

I don't want to thread hijack but my question seems relevant here... at what time do you book the nursery? Can you book in advance or do you have to wait until you're aboard? Is it hard to get? We probably will want to book every night during the stage shows, at least.

Also, on the videos of the Wish I've seen so far, there seems to be very little in the way of toys/amusements for older toddlers. Our son will be 2.5 years old at our sailing, and is a very big kid and pretty advanced in terms of motor skills. Very active, very into climbing. I was hoping for something more along the lines of the 'Andy's Bedroom' playzone I saw, but there didn't seem to be anything like that in the nursery. Is there a lot of stuff for older toddlers to do?

TIA!

 

[Trisaratops]

I assume they would try and call you (which probably wouldn't have worked as we were in Alaska but as Canadians we had most of our cells in airplane mode) We told them we were leaving the ship. Both times we did it he ended up having a nap the whole time we were gone.

Thanks! We're so looking forward to our norwegian Fjord cruise in sep and want to step off a few times after excursions by ourselves

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Thanks! We're so looking forward to our norwegian Fjord cruise in sep and want to step off a few times after excursions by ourselves

That's what we did. The whole family (3 generations) did excursions in the am and then we put the kids in the club nursery and the adults got back off to walk around and explore some more.

 

[MomOTwins]

I hate being the Debbie Downer, but I do feel like I need to give a PSA about the fact that at Disney's nursery, if a child cries and doesn't calm down for 15 minutes or asks to be picked up, they will call you and you have to come pick up the child. Our first cruise, we had a just-turned-2 year old and booked couples massages, Palo brunch, and other activities for mom and dad and three attempts in a row, we were notified within 20 minutes to pick up our kid because he was having separation anxiety. After that the rest of our nursery bookings were cancelled and they explained to us they will only keep a child at the nursery if they are happy there and if they aren't happy, they can't go. We were not charged for any of the failed nursery sessions, but neither were we refunded for our interrupted spa/brunch activities. My son never had problems at his daycare with separation anxiety so we were really surprised, but the new environment of the ship must have just been too much for him.

The next cruise we took a different approach and didn't book anything for both parents during our scheduled nursery time, keeping one parent available "on call" if kid needed a pick up. E.g., mom booked a massage on day one while dad hung out in a bar or by the pool with the wave phone (now they use the app message system, but same concept) in case we got a call, then next day dad booked a massage while mom did arts and crafts or something else low key that I could easily walk away from without penalty. He was almost 3 at the time and did better, but we still had to pick him up early about 50% of the time.

It's great if it works for your kid, but just know it is hit or miss (every time I post this, a dozen people say "that never happened to me" and then others chime in "that happened to me too!"). Therefore I always recommend you don't commit to anything expensive or difficult to cancel until you know how your kid will handle the nursery.

 

[Calantha]

It's great if it works for your kid, but just know it is hit or miss (every time I post this, a dozen people say "that never happened to me" and then others chime in "that happened to me too!"). Therefore I always recommend you don't commit to anything expensive or difficult to cancel until you know how your kid will handle the nursery.

And I say the same thing with the Kid's Club. We made it through almost all of brunch at Palo...but DH missed dessert to go get DS (7) last month. And don't even get me started on what happened in 2019... Don't leave the ship unless you know who is picking up your child if there is a problem!!