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My in-laws are taking us on our very first cruise ever in December. They had originally suggested that we go north, to Boston and Quebec, but we convinced them that with a 9yo, 6 yo and 2 yo, a Disney Cruise is the way to go. Without doing any research, we picked the 7 day Western Caribbean because I wanted to see the ruins in Cozumel. Now I see that excursion is recommended for ages 8 and up.Almost all the other excursions at every port that looks cool would leave out the 2 yo. My in-laws are not hands on grandparents at all, and there is almost no chance of him staying in Flounders. So it looks like we're going on this cool trip but can't go on any excursions. There is also almost no possibility of going to Palo. My in-laws would freak out at the suggestion of us leaving the dc with them for dinner, even room service. We're considering going to brunch on the last day possible so that our ds is used to his grandparents (they live in CA, we live in DC) and not letting the older ones go to Oceaneers so that they can help with him, and getting them room service for breakfast ourselves. But that's a long shot.
I'm trying not to be too disappointed. I'm trying to remember that if we enjoy this trip, we'll probably take another one with MY parents who would happily whisk all the children off and if we're lucky, they'd all show up for dinner with us.
I'm not concerned about Castaway Cay at all. I know we'll all have a great time and we're going to try to stagger the stingray thing so that one parent stays with the 2 yo while the other takes one older child, then switch.
So help me feel better... would just getting off the ship for a few hours at each port, just walking around be fine or a waste of time? What does one do when one member of the family can't participate? Sigh.
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Do they offer in-room babysitting? That way you could guilt-free go on excursions and Palo, etc.
I'm sorry for your situation... my parents aren't quite that bad, but we were never comfortable leaving our youngest with them -- they're marvellous people, but they're very A-type personalities with lots of expensive things and live in a condo on the top floor, and it was always "shhhhh, what will the neighbors downstairs think, you're so noisy, don't touch..."
Could you and DH take turns doing excursions in different ports, e.g. one of you gets to see the ruins in Cozumel while the other watches the kids, then the other of you gets to do something cool in a different port on a different day? Anyway that's what I would do.
Also I've heard that the staff at Flounders are excellent. It might be worth a try. Maybe test it out for a hour or so while you relax on the ship somewhere close by?
Good luck! And reglardless, I'm sure you will have a blast!
Welcome to the boards! I think a Disney Cruise is an excellent choice, because there are so many options for things to do together or separately.
Unfortunately, there is no in-room babysitting. However, I wouldn't be so quick to rule out Flounder's Reef for brief periods (long enough for dinner or brunch at Palo). The one time we placed our just-turned-3-yo daughter there, she was screaming when we dropped her off and we expected to be paged any minute, but she was perfectly happy when we picked her up after dinner.
We did a Western Caribbean cruise last January when our daughter was almost 4 and our son was 8. We walked around Key West ourselves -- there's an aquarium, a maritime museum, a pirate museum, and plenty else for the whole family. We did a semi-submersible excursion in Grand Cayman (which I'm pretty sure had no age limit) -- we watched from underwater as the ship passed coral reefs and shipwrecks. In Cozumel, my husband, daughter and I wandered around the area near the ship (our son wanted to stay in the Oceaneer's Club). We were underwhelmed and re-boarded before long. The pools are much less crowded on port days, and there's still plenty going on aboard ship.
It sounds like considering this circumstances that this trip would not have been the best choice since you are so limited in your agenda. Is it fair that the older children are required to miss out on Oceaneers?
Dd (now 6yo) has cruised 2x (one was back to back so in reality 3 cruises) as a toddler. My sister used to work for Carnival so we were able to cruise for very little $$. The first time she was 2.5yo and the second she was 3.5yo...both were Western Caribbean.
You definitely can do some excursions w/ your 2yo, but I agree the ruins from Cozumel aren't a good choice. We found beaches, the submarine, even Xcaret were really great. Actually, Xcaret may be a perfect option for you...lots of fun stuff to do there.
Walking around the ports at Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Key West is definitely doable. Not a lot for a kid to do but lots of great people watching and shopping.
For her first cruise we did use Carnival's kid's club so dh and I could eat in the dining room. We tried one night and she just couldn't hang for the length of time it took for dinner. She wasn't thrilled to be there...but did just fine while there and it allowed us to sit and eat. Our second trip a year later...she did great in the dining room. We gave her the option between going to the kid's club or eating w/ us and she picked eating!
I wouldn't feel bad about going now when your little one is only 2yo. You can go again...and it will be a different experience both times.
One of my favorite memories of dd's first cruise is when she would approach the automatic double doors going to the buffet... she would stand there and yell ABRE (spanish for "open"...she learned that from Dora the Explorer). She cracked everyone up for the entire trip.
Thank you all for not slapping me for whining about a free trip (even if you wanted to)!
I'm concerned about Flounders because my ds doesn't separate from me well at all. The only baby sitters he has had are people that he knows very well and sees all the time. Plus, his siblings are always with him. I cannot imagine that he'll do well with us walking out the door. I didn't know they had a one-way mirror. Maybe we could at least try it - the worst that can happen is that he hates it and then really, we're no worse off than we were before. Maybe he'll surprise us and like it!
My in-laws...well, this is literally a guilt trip! They have made some extremely poor choices in regards to our family and are now trying to make up for it with this cruise. I'm going to be as gracious as I can and allow them to try to mend fences, but that will not change who they are. They have never watched any of their 7 grandchildren, they prefer the children in small doses and to hand them back to their parents. They will enjoy eating meals with us and watching the children playing and enjoying themselves. When they are finished, they will say, OK, we're tired and leave. In all fairness to them, though, my FIL is in poor health, so much so that he'll require oxygen on the cruise. So I'm not sure how much I can ask of them or even how many excursions they themselves will be able to take. Actually, now that I'm typing this out, maybe they would much rather us do short, half day excursions without them and return to play on the ship with them in the afternoon. Hmmmm. Maybe that's a better way of thinking of it - not that we're missing excursions because of our ds, but choosing to spend more time with the grandparents. See, I feel better already.
As far as the timing of this trip, well, that can't be helped. This time last month, no one even mentioned a cruise, now it's booked and money has been put down. With my FIL's health, we can't put it off. And I didn't mean that my older children would miss out on Oceaneers entirely, just during our Palo brunch. The youngest would be happier with his siblings around and they are really great with him and would be helpful in keeping him happy.
I do like the thought of splitting up the excursions between my husband and I. We'll have to think about that.
I'm not sure why you think your son wouldn't be OK in Flounders, or that your in-laws wouldn't be interested in watching him. Have you already pursued these options? If you haven't, you may find you have more choices than you think.
We've been cruising with our son since he was four months old. There are a variety of strategies you can pursue for doing "adult" excursions. Flounder's Reef is a key part of that, of course. You're probably concerned that he won't do well - you can reserve a Flounder's session early in the trip to see how things go. You can even observe him from behind a one-way mirror. Another approach is for you and your husband to split up - one of you goes on the "big" shore excursion, the other does something that's child-friendly. During the course of a week-long cruise, there's room for each of you to equally share in the responsibilities.
You're also presuming your in-laws will not be dining at Palo (either with you, or separately), and not going on shore excursions themselves. Is this something you've discussed? In my experience, when grandparents host a family cruise they're doing it because they want to be involved with their family, especially if they don't see them frequently.
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Since you have until December, is there any way you can "practice" with a babysitter starting now? By that I mean leaving him with a sitter for short bursts of time and each time getting a bit longer. (15 min. one day, 30 the next, etc.). I teach a 2yo preschool class and while many of them cry in the beginning, usually after a few minutes, the kids are fine. (As long as you don't linger). You'd be surprised at how many "crying performances" are given for the sake of guilting their parents. I would also imagine that the CMs at Flounders are used to this. Good Luck with whatever you decide and have a great trip!
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
Since you have until December, is there any way you can "practice" with a babysitter starting now? By that I mean leaving him with a sitter for short bursts of time and each time getting a bit longer. (15 min. one day, 30 the next, etc.). I teach a 2yo preschool class and while many of them cry in the beginning, usually after a few minutes, the kids are fine. (As long as you don't linger). You'd be surprised at how many "crying performances" are given for the sake of guilting their parents. I would also imagine that the CMs at Flounders are used to this. Good Luck with whatever you decide and have a great trip!
My thoughts exactly! If this doesn't work out what's the worst scenario? You take a 7 day cruise with no excursions and no alone time for you and DH. On the positive side you get a wonderfully free trip with your own beautiful family and maybe things will end up better with your in-laws, too. This is a great cruise and it has sooooo much to do you may not even miss the excursions. You could get off the ship as a family and just take a nice walk around the port-of-call (have something to eat, shop, enjoy the scenery) or stay onboard a less crowded (not everyone does/can afford the excursions) ship and enjoy the pools and recreation areas with less people around. Everything will work out fine and you will have a wonderful time!!!!
Another idea about separate excursions for you and your DH: Find some other folks cruising at the same time as you and start talking with them about the trip NOW! By the time you set sail, you may have found some friends to do excursions with. (Surely we aren't the only couple who don't always agree on which excursion is the best?! )
I have seen threads here, on the DISboards, and CruiseCritic.com that are date specific. The thread for our Aug 19 Wonder trip on the DISboards is something like 35 pages already! I have met some very nice folks--people I would seriously consider joining on an excursion.
Another nice thing about doing some separate things on vacation is that it gives you something to talk about later, especially with the in-laws. Maybe you are a brilliant conversationalist with them (unlike me and my in-laws), but having separate stories to tell makes great conversation when you don't have a lot in common.
I haven't cruised yet, but I do have a 16 yr old DD and 12 yr old DS. I know what it's like to have one that doesn't do well with sitters.....9 times out of 10, however, if either one was upset at leaving me they were having a blast by the time they were picked up.
I second the notion at having some "trial" runs with sitters between now and the cruise.....and definitely TRY the childcare at Flounders. Sure there will be tears (and maybe fits) upon drop-off.....but once he/she is happily engaged with other young ones, they probably won't even know you're gone, and may throw a fit at having to LEAVE they're having such a good time!!
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I know each child is different, but for a while Alexander was very clingy and sometimes teary at daycare drop-off. However, his teachers always reported that he was fine as soon as we were out the door. I can't ever recall a problem at Flounder's Reef, though (well, Jennifer was a bit teary the first few times we left him there, but that's another matter. )
The Flounder's Reef staff is very experienced. Give 'em a chance, and I bet you'll spend no more than five minutes watching through that one-way mirror before you feel good about leaving him there.
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I have worked as a babysitter and in a daycare center and 19 times out of 20 the crying stops as soon as you drive away, I promise. Also, the calmer you are and the more you act like it is no big deal, in other words put him down give him a QUICK kiss and walk away, the better he will be, if you draw it out and act like you are never going to see him again, the worse it will be. I have taken videos to show parents to prove this to them and they are always
Thank you everyone for the encouragement about Flounders! We'll definitely try it out and see what happens. Now if they happen to be showing the movie "Cars" when we get there, I don't think our ds would even notice we left.
So the trick is to drop him off, quick goodbye and leave, huh? I think this is going to be harder on me than him.
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Without doing any research, we picked the 7 day Western Caribbean because I wanted to see the ruins in Cozumel. Now I see that excursion is recommended for ages 8 and up.Almost all the other excursions at every port that looks cool would leave out the 2 yo. My in-laws are not hands on grandparents at all, and there is almost no chance of him staying in Flounders. So it looks like we're going on this cool trip but can't go on any excursions. There is also almost no possibility of going to Palo. My in-laws would freak out at the suggestion of us leaving the dc with them for dinner, even room service. We're considering going to brunch on the last day possible so that our ds is used to his grandparents (they live in CA, we live in DC) and not letting the older ones go to Oceaneers so that they can help with him, and getting them room service for breakfast ourselves. But that's a long shot.
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