Topic: Independance of the Seas Med Cruise - Suitable for a 3 year old?

We're thinking of going on Indepenance of the Seas to cruise the Med with our daughter who will be just over 3 when and if we go. Has anyone done this with a 3 year old - is there enough to do and what is there to do? are rooms with balconies safe for kids? What are the kids clubs like? Any advice and or info would be greatly appreciated. :o

Thanks

QUOTE:

We're thinking of going on Indepenance of the Seas to cruise the Med with our daughter who will be just over 3 when and if we go. Has anyone done this with a 3 year old - is there enough to do and what is there to do? are rooms with balconies safe for kids? What are the kids clubs like? Any advice and or info would be greatly appreciated. :o

Thanks

Hi Firegirl and welcome to the forum.

I've cruised three times on IOTS with my son. When we go in September it will be his forth cruise and he will be 4 in December.

There are pro's and con's, like with everything else, to cruising with a young child. It is not especially easy to keep them fully occupied but generally speaking there is plenty to do.

This will be the first time we will actively try and use the kids clubs, but until we try it for ourselves we are a little unsure if this will work for us. Some commentators have indicated that there is no option for you to enter the club to ensure your little one settles before you leave. I'm not sure that will work for us, but we will give it a try.

Outside the clubs, the pool area offers a fun environment for young children is they are fully toilet trained. Bright colours, plenty of shade, shallow water and plenty of interactive water activities. My sone enjoyed this when he was 21 months old, so we expect he will enjoy it all the more now.

Food can also be quite a chanllenge, but with some much on offer around the ship, there was always something to suit our son.

This time we are also trying for the first time 'My Family Time Dining'. This facility is run in conjunction with the Adventure Ocean Team. Basically we will be in the MDR on 1st Sitting. Our son's meal will be turned around in 45 minutes so allow us to meet the Adventure Ocean Team at the dining room entrance at 6.45. Our meal will be served at a normal pace. Again, until we try it, we don't know if this will work for us.

I have to say that we have never had a problem cruising with our son. He enjoys it also. This year we gave him the choice and had loads of brochures for 'beach' style holidays. He told us he only wanted to go on a 'boat' and could we make sure it was a 'big boat'. Hence we booked another cruise.

Our experience is limited to RCI and therefore I have no knowledge of the main alternative which is P&O. Other on here will tell you that P&O's product offering for children is better than RCI. Like I say, I have no experience of P&O and therefore they may well be worth exploring as a possibility also.

Hope this helps.

Vinny

Hi Vinny

Thanks for this, it's been reallt helpful. How did you get on with the sleeping arrangments in your cabin?

Thanks

QUOTE:

Hi Vinny

Thanks for this, it's been reallt helpful. How did you get on with the sleeping arrangments in your cabin?

Thanks

On previous cruises Oliver has used either the RCI provided travel cot or he has simply slept in our bed. At home he tends to get in our bed at about 4am anyway, so we are used to it. This year we looked at all the options sofa bed, pullman etc but in the end we came to the conclusion that he will probably get in with us, so we opted for the cheapest inside cabin. It cost us £2678 for the three of us which we thought was good value for 14 nights 11/9/10.

QUOTE:

On previous cruises Oliver has used either the RCI provided travel cot or he has simply slept in our bed. At home he tends to get in our bed at about 4am anyway, so we are used to it. This year we looked at all the options sofa bed, pullman etc but in the end we came to the conclusion that he will probably get in with us, so we opted for the cheapest inside cabin. It cost us £2678 for the three of us which we thought was good value for 14 nights 11/9/10.

Vinny is there room for a ready bed in IOTS cabins? If you got Oliver used to it at home beforehand he might be happy to sleep in that rather than get in with you?
(PS. I'm biased as I can't sleep at all if either of mine get in with me!)

QUOTE:

We're thinking of going on Indepenance of the Seas to cruise the Med with our daughter who will be just over 3 when and if we go. Has anyone done this with a 3 year old - is there enough to do and what is there to do? are rooms with balconies safe for kids? What are the kids clubs like? Any advice and or info would be greatly appreciated. :o

Thanks

Hi Firegirl. We did a Med cruise 2 years ago on Voyager of the Seas (another Royal Caribbean vessel) when our youngest daughter was 3 years old. She had a great time and when we told her we were doing another cruise this year she was overjoyed. She still talks about the cruise even now 2 years later. She went to the kids club and enjoyed it although to be fair she wasn't always keen to go because she was the only English-speaking kid in her age group (we sailed from Barcelona). You won't have that problem! Please be aware that in order to use the pools or the kids clubs your daughter will need to be properly toilet trained - no nappies allowed.

The Adventure Ocean staff were great however and took them for lunch or dinner if you weren't around. Sometimes they'd have 2 lunches (another with us) and 2 dinners (one in the Windjammer with the staff, one in the Main Dining Room with us!). In general the staff onboard were great with the kids and really made them feel special especially Harry our Waiter who would perform magic tricks at dinner for them. They loved coming back to the cabin from dinner to find all the different towel animals as well. Trouble is, our kids are now hooked on cruising and nothing else will do!! :D

Justin

QUOTE:

Vinny is there room for a ready bed in IOTS cabins? If you got Oliver used to it at home beforehand he might be happy to sleep in that rather than get in with you?
(PS. I'm biased as I can't sleep at all if either of mine get in with me!)

Hi Britchic,

What fits depends on the room type. We have had Prom View in the past and these can fit a travel cot quite well. For this years cruise we looked at lots of different options. The best option was a sofa bed but the minimum grade to achieve this was quite pricey. On an inside room with Pullman bed, one of the adults should use the pullman. There is some age restriction on their use apparently although I'm not sure what the minimum is, just knew that Oliver was too young. But this option gave us a good price. At home he always go to bed at 8ish and is a good sleeper in the main. Some mornings he comes into our room at 4ish some days its 6ish. We don't see it as a problem and when he does get into our bed, he immediately falls fast asleep.
Last years cruise we actually had 2 prom rooms booked inter connecting. One was booked for my wife and I and the other for Oliver and the Mother-in-law. It worked out cheaper this way. Oliver simply slept in our bed and we chilled out with a glass of wine in the adjacent room. This year, for an inside stateroom, for 14 nights for the three of us we achieved a price of £2678 which we thought was not to bad.

Vinny

hi

i am having my ist cruise on the independence of the seas, there is my wife and i and our three kids aged 6 14 & 16 we have booked the family promenade stateroom and i am wondering if anyone has stayed in one of these rooms before and can let me know the layout of the room and if the room is big enough as two of my kids are 14 & 16

These are twice the size of the standard promenade cabins. As well as the regular double/twin bed, they have a double sofa bed in the same room as well as a curtained off section with two bunks. There is a walk in closet/dressing area. More than ample room, lots of floor space.