Tips for Taking your Kids on a Cruise

My husband and I had been on several cruises in the past but we had never even thought about taking our children until recently.

In September, we decided to bite the bullet and take them on their very first cruise with Carnival.

A few people thought we were crazy! Why would we want to take our 3 kids on a big boat? A cruise is not a family vacation?

All I have to say is that you MUST take your family on a cruise. It was one of the best vacations ever. We had so much fun and made many memories!

There are a few tips that I think helped make the trip go a little bit smoother with the kiddos and I want to share those with you!

 

1. Snacks- Bring a few of their favorite snacks on board.  This helped with my 5 year old the most. Sometimes he just wanted his peanut butter crackers.

2. Electronics that does not require internet – We brought the kids their Nintendo DS so they had something to do in down time that did not require internet. This again was great for my 5 year old who needed some downtime to relax and not be running around the ship.

3.Early Dining option– eat early. Kids can not wait until 8pm or later for a meal. Take advantage of the early dining option.

4. Take advantage of Camp Carnival– My kids LOVED going. They actually ASKED to go many times. This helped hubby and I have some alone time and the kids still had fun.

5. Walkie talkies- This is a great item to have especially with older kids. It allowed my oldest to have some freedom but still allowed us to stay in touch. It was also great when she wanted to go do one activity and the boys wanted to do another.

6.Take breaks– The ship can be busy, busy, busy. Take some downtime. To just sit and be together. To really enjoy where you were at.

7. Bubbles Program– Soda and Juices- We do not do a lot of soda at home but wanted the kids to have it on vacation as a special treat occasionally.  We put the rule in place though that for every soda it had to be followed by water that way they were still getting good quality H2O and not just drinking sugary sodas. To be honest, they did not drink a ton of sodas either. After running around the ship playing, they were asking for water but the Bubbles Program allows them to have a special treat.

8.Be prepared to forgo pictures with your amazing DSLR and snap a quick, cute, although not high quality pic with your camera phone. Kids will not sit still for long and you do not want to miss out on capturing a memory because the settings were not right on your big camera.

9. Bring a small pack of wipes for quick face clean ups!

10. Small plastic cup for the kiddos to use in the tub to rinse their hair. Our room had a bathtub which was AMAZING…but we did not have anything to scoop water up into to rinse their hair. Bring a little plastic cup with you just for this!

 

Do you have any other great tips for taking your kids on a cruise?

 

**Disclosure:This post does contain affiliate links. This means if you click and purchase said item, I get a little bit of pocket change to plan our next family vacation. It does not cost you anymore money. Also, my family and I were given the cruise package as a way to facilitate this and all reviews posted. No monetary compensation was exchanged and all opinions expressed are my own.