This post, 8 Of The Best Tips For Cruising With A Toddler Series Day 3, was originally published in 2018 and has been completely updated.
Welcome!!!
This is our third of 7 days where we will dive into 8 of the best tips for cruising with a toddler!
So, you want to take a cruise with your family….. that includes a toddler.
But you’re not sure that’s a fantastic idea, let alone a good one.
And you’d really rather not go on a ‘kid’ cruise.
Well, let me share something with you.
We just got back from a 10-day, yup you heard correctly 10-day!, cruise with my 4-days-shy-of-his-3rd-birthday-year-old. It was his first, my second, and without any hoop-la, it went great and is totally worth it!!!
Oh, and just to let you know, this was not a cruise meant for kids or really even families.
And so this is what I’m going to share with you over these next few days.
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My tips and tricks for how we ‘survived’ our 10-day non-kid/family cruise and hopefully it will encourage you too!
And just in case you’d like to catch up before moving forward:
Day 1 – Being flexible.
Day 2 – Outdoor gear.
Don’t want to wait until the end for all these wonderful tips? Then grab my, for a limited time, free eBook – 8 Of The Best Tips For Cruising With A Toddler.
Now, on to our next tip.
Third Tip #3- Let them Play!
So, as I’ve mentioned, the cruise we took was not kid-focused, or for that matter family focused.
It was really meant for the older generation which meant we got/ had to be creative in terms of keeping my little guy occupied/stimulated/busy without us, or for that matter the other passengers, going crazy.
Now, to be fair, the ship did have a kids program but your child had to be at least 3 to participate.
This unfortunately knocked out my son even though he was only a few days shy of being 3!
So, I say – Let them play!!!
Where does a toddler play if not in a play area?
Well:
Stairs!
Yup, for us, the stairs and the landings were the first ‘toys’ we found.
Stairs, are not only great entertainment for a toddler but great exercise for you too!!
And this was great: I thought, oh, I’ll get in some extra exercise by always taking the stairs.
Our room was on deck (floor) 4 while the majority of the meals we were going to have were on deck 9!
Unfortunately, the novelty wore off after the first day and he discovered the elevator.
Elevator Buttons
But oh, the joy of pressing the elevator buttons! This became our next ‘toy’.
Every trip out of the room was a chance to practice reaching for either the up or down button to call the elevator.
And once in the elevator, it was time to practice learning our numbers.
Trying to figure out which one was four or nine or whatever deck we were headed to was great.
Hallways
The hallways became another great way to pass the time.
The ship was so long that getting from the bow to the stern (front to back) took time!
So whenever we were out and about we took the opportunity to walk the hallways.
Bed
The oh-so-popular bed came in handy too.
As some of you might know, our bed at home can be used as a car, boat, front loader, bridge, race track, you name it!
So a different bed on the ship didn’t faze my little guy from wanting to still play his favorite games.
The Pool
Now, this cruise ship did not have a kiddie pool, what they did have was a wide ledge on the pool.
When the pool was filled up enough we could play in the shallow area with me holding on to him constantly!
It was not ideal by any means but my little one loved playing in the shallow area, walking around the pool in the shallow area, and splashing me and his grandparents!
And in the pool area, we also discovered a ping-pong table and an oversized chessboard.
Both of them became favorites to play at and even though my little guy isn’t tall enough or coordinated enough to truly play ping-pong he did a great job hitting the ball!!! (And the other passengers got a kick out of watching him 🙂 )
So, even though the cruise was not intended for little ones we still managed to find plenty of ways to be entertained!
Don’t forget to join us tomorrow for Cruising with a Toddler Day 4!!! Two tips await you 🙂
