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Cruising with Kids
20 savvy tips for smooth sailing
2. Get an oceanview room with a balcony—definitely worth the extra cost. Two safety tips: If you have small kids, check to make sure that the balcony’s railing is safe (no big spaces for a child to slip through) and make sure that the lock on the balcony door is too high for your child to reach. Ours wasn’t, so we propped the door open whenever someone was outside. –Tammy from Levittown, PA 3. Ziploc bags are an essential travel accessory. When children are tiny, you can pack a complete change of their clothing in a two-gallon Ziploc bag. In case of an accident, you’ll not only have clean replacement duds but a place to put the dirties. Use Ziploc bags to pack toiletries and wet items. They’re also great for carrying fruit, bread, or other snacks in your daypack. At the beach, use a Ziploc store your shell collection and keep your beachbag sand-free. –Editor 4. When my child turned 2, I started packing a small, kid-size backpack for him to carry on his own. Inside, I put his favorite stuffed toy and small Ziploc bags containing various “activity sets”: Perhaps five crayons and a small pad of paper; two little pots of Play-Doh and two shape cutters; and inexpensive action or animal figures; a travel-size Etch-A-Sketch or magnetic sketcher. My son loved having his own bag. As he got older, he learned to pack his own travel bag with things to keep himself occupied. –Lori from Sugar Land, TX 5. I’ve discovered that a 6-foot extension cord can be very useful on a cruise. Quite often, there’s only one pair of outlets in your cabin and they’re usually not positioned in a handy spot. –Lynn from Peoria, IL
6. Let your little one chronicle your vacation from her point of view! Have her take pictures along the way. The pictures will make great keepsakes and create another busy-bee project for later: A scrapbook. –Amy from Aurora, CO 7. If you’re going on a cruise with a kid’s camp, bring a package of inexpensive, new white tee-shirts—I typically can get a 3-pack for around $11. Inevitably, the kids will wind up making tie-dye tee-shirts as an activity one day and you’ll end up paying $10 for each shirt if you buy them on the ship. –Diane from Cold Spring Harbor, NY 8. A few weeks before my family goes on vacation, I let my kids start earning their souvenir money by doing extra chores. Sometimes I match whatever they earn to double their total sum. I hold the money until the day we leave. My kids are less impulsive when it’s their own money. –Michelle from Darien, CT 9. My son just loves doing word search puzzles. Before we go on a family vacation, I make up customized word search puzzles for him to do on the plane or the ship, using words about our trip and destination. DiscoverySchool.com’s Puzzlemaker makes this simple and fast. You just type in words that you want included, and the program generates a word search puzzle that can be printed out. Easy and fun! –Kirsten from Eau Claire, WI 10. My independent 14-year-old son wanted to be out and about during the entire cruise. While this meant he made the most of the experience, it was a little nerve-wracking when it came time to find him for meals we had decided to eat together or activities planned to do together, since he constantly lost track of time. Yes, we had two-way radios but we discovered a drawback: when he was doing an activity or in a space that was very noisy, it was impossible for him to hear us calling him. Instead of allowing our trip to turn into a constant argument, I asked for two teen club schedules along with two onboard activity schedules. He used a highlighter to mark the activities we wanted to do and when. I only had to look at my copy of the schedule to know where he would be at any given time. –Jeanette from Richland, MO 11. Need a quick way to get organized before your next trip? Try IndependentTraveler.com’s handy, dandy interactive packing list. Just tick the listed items you want to bring, and you can even add some of your own. The site comes up with a printable version of your list, and will even e-mail it to you. –Editor 12. I’ve found that blue, low-tack painter’s tape is a handy take-along. This can be used to (a) child-proof electrical sockets, (b) hang up kid’s artwork in your stateroom, and (c) prevent a camera lens from opening while you travel (just place tape over the closed shutter). –Beverly from San Diego, CA 13. Inflatable toys are easy to pack and so inexpensive that you don’t mind leaving them behind after your vacation. I especially love Oriental Trading Company for its huge assortment of cheap blow-up beach gear, including beach balls and zoo animals. –Lila from Tempe, AZ 14. One of our favorite bring-alongs is those small bottles of bubbles that come in packs (the kind that kids get in goodie bags at birthday parties). Whenever we’re waiting in a long line, I blow bubbles for the kids to pop. All of the parents around us always think it’s such a great idea because it keeps everyone entertained. Their kids always call me “the bubble lady.” –Jennifer from Owassa, OK 15. I always tuck a crushable duffle bag into an outside zippered compartment on my largest suitcase, and we have yet to return home without using it. If I check my bag and it happens to be over the weight limit, I just take out the duffle and transfer some of my belongings into it so I can avoid the penalty. Other times, we use it to bring back souvenirs that we bought on vacation. –Jodi from Milford, OH 16. Instead of folding clothing items, roll them into tube shapes, then stack them. Your clothes will fit far more neatly, they’ll rarely wrinkle, you can fit far more in, and even kids can help pack with this method. –Stacy from Allendale, NJ 17. Before you go on vacation, buy a collapsible hamper at a dollar store. During your trip, use it for dirty clothes. If you have to do laundry while you’re on vacation, you’ll have something to carry it in. If not, it will keep the floor less cluttered and make packing for home easier. –Keith from Limerick, PA 18. Want to pack lighter? When my family goes on trips that are longer than three days, I always bring two key items: a Ziploc bag filled with powdered laundry detergent and a sink stopper. The laundry detergent always comes in handy for washing out favorite items of clothing, like my toddler’s beloved bear tee-shirt. I bring the sink stopper because, in my experience, so many hotels have leaky sinks and tubs. I use the stopper in the sink to wash clothes and in the tub to make sure that my kids can take a nice long bath. –Anna from Wilmette, IL 19. One of the biggest time-sinks of traveling is preparation. To make this easier for my 8-year-old daughter, I’ve designated a backpack that she uses only for traveling. The backpack is brightly-colored and durable, with cushioned straps and lots of storage. Inside, are things that are reserved for traveling and do not get unpacked when we return. For example, we keep a Ziploc bag of crayons and mini-markers, coloring and activity books, Handi-wipes, hand sanitizer, tissues, and chewing gum. When it’s time to get ready to go, my daughter already has all her “essentials” and can focus on fun items, like her camera, favorite books, Nintendo DS, and so on. Because the essentials already take up room in her backpack, with each trip she has gotten a progressively better understanding of what she can add and how much she can comfortably carry. And I don’t have to worry that she’s forgotten anything, packed too much, or packed things she doesn’t need for the trip. –Jenny from Pompano Beach, FL 20. I have always given our kids a small amount of souvenir money for them to manage on their own. I soon noticed that, very often, they gravitated toward the small, kitschy—dare I say tacky—items with logos or animal characters. A few years ago, we started recycling those Mickey Mouse keychains, 4-inch plastic replicas of Mount Rushmore, and teeny bottles of Vermont maple syrup as Christmas tree ornaments. I simply tie on a piece of ribbon, write the year of our trip on the bottom of the item, and we have a cute memento to help us remember all of our wonderful family trips through the years. It’s turned into a great family tradition, and we now always keep our eyes peeled on our travels for small items that would make good ornaments. –Marna from Fort Wayne, IN
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