roxannex

I'm thinking about a May or late August cruise with my husband and our son (who turns 3 next November).

The only cruises with kids club options for 2 year olds are Carnival, NCL (won't change diapers, but maybe he'll be potty trained by then) and Cunard (which I don't think even cruises to the Caribbean at those times).

I took a Carnival cruise about 6 years ago and didn't care for it, but a travel agent at AAA told me that Carnival had changed a lot. My husband I took a cruise this summer on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. It was great, EXCEPT for the food, which we thought was pretty darn bad--enough that I don't want to do RCI again. I keep hearing that the food on Carnival is actually better than on RCI. True? Or not?

Without our son, I would really like to try Celebrity, as I've heard the food is great, the atmosphere is supposed to be a little more luxurious, and we don't need round the clock activities. But I cannot imagine that the cruise will be much of a vacation for us without some good babysitting options.

The AAA agent really recommended against Norwegian. Is that legitimate? I've noticed that AAA doesn't offer Norwegian cruises on their website either.

And of course Disney would be fun, but their kids programs don't start until 3. I've heard their nursery gets booked up very fast. I'd rather save that for when my son is a little older.

Any suggestions or thoughts? Not to leave the kiddo home! I missed him terribly this summer on our cruise and the whole time thought how much fun he would have had at the beaches and with all the activities.

Thanks!

luv2fly

Late August = HURRICANE SEASON

Have you considered Princess?

kfusto

If you thought the food on RCI was bad NCL would be a VERY bad decision.

Head over to the Family Cruising boards on cruisecritic.com for lots on info on your dilemna. It is a VERY active forum and you will find tons of info.

Celebrity does not cater to kids and babysitting will likely be an issue so I would not count on this as being a given. Many folks that like Celebrity choose it because there not normally many families traveling.

Can't speak about Princess from recent experience.

roxannex

Thanks! I did indeed post on Cruise Critic and got lots of great responses.

kaleighsgram

Stay away from Norwegian. You agent is telling it as it is. We were one Carnival's Liberty in October and thought the food was very good. It had definitely changed for the better. We too were on RCL and thought that something needed to be done about the food.
Remember, if your son is not potty trained, he may not use the children's pool. This may not sound like much until he starts crying to go in on a hot day and he can't!

roxannex

I thought I would update. We put off our cruise and decided to take a Disney cruise with our whole family next winter.

I don't think we can go wrong with a Disney cruise and a then 3 year old! Thanks!