15 Expert Tips for Cruising with Kids

Are you thinking of cruising with kids? You’re not alone. Every year, more than 8 million passengers hop on cruises from Florida. Families with kids make up a healthy portion of those 8 million people. With multiple ports of call, all-you-can-eat food options, and exciting entertainment, cruising is one of the most cost-effective vacation ideas for families.

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If you’re new to cruising with children but not new to cruising, you’ll find that it entails a different kind of planning and prepping than taking an adult cruise. From comfort to safety, there are many factors to consider when taking a cruise with kids. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the main things you need to know about cruising with kids. With these family cruise tips, you can decide if adding a cruise to your next Florida trip is the right choice for you and your family.

1. Let the Kids Help with Planning

Planning is one of the most exciting parts of vacationing. When planning a cruise, we love to peruse the deck plans, see photos of the dining rooms, and plan which shore excursions we want to take. Including kids in this planning phase helps them understand what to expect and feel the excitement of the upcoming adventure. For me, including my son in the planning has enabled him to voice his preferences about where we eat and what we do, allowing him to feel as if he’s part of the experience from start to finish and not just coming along for the ride.

2. Use a Travel Agent

To be honest, we rarely use a travel agent when planning our travel, except cruises. Our cruising travel expert always finds us the best deals and add-ons. For instance, she has gotten us increased onboard credits, free dining packages, free wi-fi, and reduced prices on our cabins. She has also booked us last minute on cruises that showed fully booked and with extras that should have expired months earlier.

3. Take a Shorter Cruise the First Time

This was my mom’s advice for our first cruise, primarily because we didn’t know if Nick would get sick (he gets seasick on a powerboat, but not a sailboat) and be miserable, or if he’d get bored and make the rest of us miserable. When cruising with kids, a good rule of thumb is “age equals days”. Try not to exceed in number of days the age of your child. Cruises from Florida run as short as 2 days and 3 nights. Nick’s first cruise lasted 3 days and 4 nights. It was the perfect length to gauge how he would handle food, confinement, and sea travel.

4. Discuss Expectations

Before taking kids on a cruise, sit down with them and discuss expectations. Things to discuss include safety (stay back from railings, don’t sit on them), what to do if separated, to keep the ship’s ID bracelet on at all times, expected behavior, and any alone time (aka, kids going to the kids club) you plan to have while on board. Depending on the children’s ages, expectations might include no electronics (or limited use of such) and being responsible for their own bag(s) and ticket on embarkation day.

5. Children Need Passports

Babies, toddlers, children, and teens need passports to enter and leave other countries. If shore excursions are on your itinerary, be sure to apply for passports for children well in advance of your departure date. For children under 16, both parents need to be present to obtain a passport.

As a divorced parent, I had to get a certified letter from Nick’s father stating that I was allowed to 1) obtain a passport for him, and 2) take him out of the country. As an extra precaution, I brought that letter and his birth certificate with us on cruises. If you’re a divorced parent, be prepared to jump through a few extra hoops to be able to cruise with your child.

6. Check Restrictions for Babies

Different cruise lines have different restrictions for babies. Many don’t allow babies to use swim diapers in their pools. Others don’t offer babysitting or kids clubs for children under two years old. While some cruise lines are geared towards families (Disney Cruise Lines, for example), others are not as well organized where children cruisers are concerned. Check restrictions prior to booking the cruise so that there are no surprises once on board.

7. Choose the Right Itinerary

Short cruises – two or three days – don’t offer much variety in their itineraries, usually a day at sea, a day at a port, and a day on a private island. Longer cruises vary a great deal and require some careful consideration.

On Nick’s second cruise, I choose a seven-day which had at-sea days on the first and last days sandwiching four ports of call. I chose this itinerary so that he would have a day to explore and enjoy the ship (day 1) and a day to recuperate and rest from the ports (day 7).

Even for me, back-to-back days at sea can get boring. For some children, several days at ports might prove overly tiring. Choose an itinerary based on what fits best with your family.

8. Pack Properly

Packing for a cruise with kids could be an entire article in itself. When researching how to cruise with kids, it’s important to also learn as much as possible about packing properly for a cruise. These are a few of my favorite tips.

• Pack more than you think you’ll need. It’s much easier to bring more than you need than to try to find something you didn’t pack once on board.
• Pack snacks if your kids are picky or bring baggies or Tupperware to pack snacks from the all-day buffet.
• Pack silicone place mats to use in high chairs.
• Pack a portable travel night light.
• Pack magnetic hooks. The walls of most cabins are metal. Magnetic hooks provide excellent places to hang swimsuits, bags, and other items.
• Pack medication you might need, including Dramamine, baby or children’s Tylenol, vitamins, etc.

9. Arrive a Day Early

Plan to arrive early and spend the night at a nearby hotel in the port from which the cruise ship embarks. Taking kids on a cruise, especially young kids, often requires slower travel and greater planning. Being in town a day early allows you to make sure you have everything you need. Forgot baby Tylenol? Run to the pharmacy and grab some. Need more diapers? Stock up the night before the cruise. It’s a great opportunity to relax and triple check that you have everything you need. And even a few things you might not have considered taking at first.

10. Board Early and Explore

We always try to board as early as possible. This gives us a chance to settle in to the cabin, unpack our clothes, and explore a little of the ship. If cruising with toddlers, take the opportunity to secure a crib, if needed, and take a nap. Older children often enjoy exploring the ship to find the arcade, water slides, and other fun amenities. Many cruise ships also lay out an extensive buffet to enjoy while waiting for the ship’s departure time. We take advantage of the buffet for lunch then explore more. And if possible, we snag a prime position on the rail to watch the port slide past as the ship sails out to sea.

11. Avoid Seasickness

Few things are worse than seeing your child miserable from feeling unwell. Though most kids don’t get seasick on cruises, some do, and you just don’t know if yours will until you’re aboard. The best way to combat seasickness if it affects your child is Dramamine for Kids. Pack some, just in case. Non-sedating allergy medicines once worked well for avoiding seasickness; however, they are less effective now. Dramamine for Kids works great. Alternatively, some small studies show that ginger might work also.

12. Choose Shore Excursions Wisely

Sailing and snorkeling sound like fun? How about an underground river adventure or a tour of historic sites? The shore excursions which might sound like grand adventures to you, the parent, might not appeal to kids. Instead, plan for beach days, exploring by e-bike, or animal excursions.

In Roatan, we found an excursion which combined several of these – animals, beach, and a tour of the island’s best views. And in Belize, we went cave tubing. On the other hand, in the Bahamas, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman, we disembarked and simply walked until we found something interesting, such as snorkeling and the beach.

Involve the kids in this part of the planning, too, and they’ll be just as excited about the shore excursions as you are.

13. Consider the Kid’s Club Options

Should you spring for Kid’s Club or not? That’s a decision each family cruising with kids has to make for themselves. As a single parent with a single child, I usually opted to skip paying for the Kid’s Club. We took nightly walks, played games, or watched one of the shows instead.

For a larger family, the Kid’s Club offers a great option for watching the kids while the parents take a break alone. Check restrictions though. As stated early, some don’t accept children under two years of age.

14. Get a Crib

Need a crib for the baby? Most cruise lines will provide a crib free of charge. Though you can wait until you embark to request one, you can also request one in advance so that it’s already set up in your cabin when you arrive. Having the crib there early helps on that first day, too, when the baby needs to take a nap. Make the crib more comfortable and like home with items from your home’s crib.

15. Make It Fun AND Educational

Yes, cruising with kids should be fun. But learning can be fun, too, right? If you hail from a non-coastal location, chances are the kids will love everything about being at the beach and in the water – the sand, the little critters, the sunsets. Cruise ships offer great learning opportunities, too.

We always enjoy watching the crew work on the decks, especially when arriving at a port or anchoring. Likewise, so many aspects of the ports offer opportunities to learn and explore, such as the bright architecture and culture of Caribbean islands or natural features such as cenotes.