Family Cruise Success :: Essential Tips for Traveling with Children
My husband and I recently took our kids (9 & 10) on their first Carnival cruise. We’ve gone on several cruises before having children but this was our first time cruising with kids. Fellow Lafayette mom, Tori, was kind enough to share a few of her tips with me and I was so grateful.
If you are planning to take a cruise with kids, below are a few tips that helped make our cruising experience a bit smoother ::
- Sign up for early boarding when you book your cruise and bring your passports if you have them. Signing up for early boarding allowed us to board the ship as soon as boarding started, well after the VIPs of course. This allows you to bypass a lot of the boarding traffic, which is a huge help when you’re shuffling kids. Passports just make everything faster; we bypassed several long lines because we had our passports.
- Sign the kids up for the kids’ club when you book your cruise. The kids loved the kids’ club; they wanted to go every day. Parents, this will be your opportunity to spend time with your significant other. I also felt very safe dropping our kids off. Their system was safe and the kids were able to make friends on the ship that way.
- Sign up for your dining time when you book your cruise. Your spot is reserved even if you decide not to eat in the dining room every night. The kids loved eating in the dining room because the staff kept it fun and allowed families to join in on the dance party they had some nights.
- Book your excursions when you book your cruise. Everyone will want to get off the boat and experience something different when the ship docks. Going on an excursion will break up the monotony of the ship’s activities.
- Download the cruise app, follow your cruise Facebook page, and purchase a wifi package. The app has everything you’ll need to know about your cruise, including the daily itinerary and food options. The Facebook page is a great resource to meet new people and to keep up with what’s going on, on the ship, from fellow cruisers’ point of view. The internet package allowed my husband and me to text and stay in communication while on the ship. I also let our mobile carrier know we’d be cruising, which allowed us to avoid extra fees. Your mobile carrier may have a cruise internet package too so check with them because their package may be better than the cruise ship internet package.
- Pack light and bring only the necessities. Cruise cabins aren’t super spacious so you don’t want to fill your room with luggage. Bring suitcases no bigger than a carry-on; I did wear a fanny pack and my husband had a backpack that we wore daily. Be sure to pack meds, sunscreen, lanyards for key cards, neck fans, small fans with USB chargers or batteries in case you get hot at night, magnetic door hooks so that swimsuits can dry overnight, soap, shampoo, poo-pourri, pop up hamper to put dirty clothes in, hats for everyone, and a few extra hand towels/washcloths or loofahs. I did get travel bottles for all of this stuff so I didn’t have the large bottles taking up a lot of space. I also packed each of us an insulated water cup so that we’d have cold water in the room. I packed tablets and headphones for the kids when we settled in for the night. I preloaded their devices with their favorite shows so they’d have something fun to watch each night.
- Bring cash. You may want to pay for things on your excursion with cash, it helps to have cash when you want to buy things from local shops. Many local vendors didn’t have credit card machines and preferred being paid in cash. You can also tip the staff while on the ship, they are all so amazing and do such a great job.
- Lastly, try to have fun! The first time cruising with kids can be a lot, but by the second day, you’ll have it figured out.
Try to be patient with yourself and your kids because you’ll all be learning the ins and outs of what happens on the ship and where everything is located. Try to attend as many family events as possible; it’ll help to create easy and fun memories. My kids loved the towel folding class (and so did we), we enjoyed eating in the dining hall, and attending the family friendly shows. My kids said this was one of their best vacations yet; they enjoyed every minute of it.
