MSE Parents Club Part 14

gill_81uk

Go right to the bottom of the page where there's lists with headers and it's underneath "swagbucks"

chopsticks

BrunoM wrote: »

Choppy, very impressed with your cruise OH is keen on one but we both believe(d) it would be impractical/bad with an active toddler. Sounds like your experience contradicts that - would love to hear more, and/or which cruise line it was with, we can go away and net research a bit more?

SugarSpun wrote: »

I would also like to know more about the cruise

jillie1974 wrote: »

choppy- sounds like you had an amazing time! i have copied your post and saved it to 'learn it' for work. what cruise line was it? such a positive experience to have on a cruise with a toddler and a big massive YAY for walking

I thought I'd save this for a post of it's own

We went with P & O and went on Ventura, which is one of their family-friendly ships.
DH and I went on a weekend cruise a few years ago (pre-baby) and that was an adult-only cruise (also P & O). The level of service we received on this cruise was no different at all. Everything (apart from the weather) was faultless.

Some more random information...

The waiters love young children (many of them have children at home whom they don't see for weeks on end) and are always talking to them, waving to them, etc.

The milk on board is UHT and although they will bring you as much as you want, whenever you want (and warm it) to your cabin, I thought Caitlin might be a bit fussy as it tastes different. So, we took a couple of large bottles of Cravendale to keep in our fridge in the cabin and just used that each morning and night.

They have a baby listening service, where you put your child to sleep in your cabin as usual and switch your cabin phone on to speaker phone. You then go off and do your thing and use any of the ships phones (there are lots dotted around) to dial in and listen to your cabin. Personally, we didn't use it and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving Caitlin but the option is there for those who do want to use it.

We saw lots of 3-5 year olds who loved the kids' clubs so much they didn't want to leave. I heard one little girl say to her mum that she didn't have time for tea, she needed to get back to the club! Although under two's can't be left unattended in the clubs, you can take them to any of the older childrens' activities. We did a Noddy trek (Noddy and Mr Bump characters make the occasional appearance) around one of the decks on Friday night. Felt a bit of an idiot pushing Caitlin in her pushchair and singing Old MacDonald with Noddy by one of the posh bars, but never mind!

There aren't many excursions suitable for young children, but we found we didn't need them. For the ports that are a little distance from the main town, P & O provide free shuttle buses so you just hop on and then do your own thing. Most people did do their own thing and those we spoke to that did excursions said they were OK but not always worth the money.

I haven't taken Caitlin on an aeroplane so I can't compare it to that, but I would imagine that for an active toddler a cruise would perhaps be easier - no toddler on your lap for several hours, no toddler wanting to crawl/walk around the plane.

If you've got any specific questions, feel free to ask.

ladybirdintheuk

Thanks Gill. It doens't want to let me win anything tonight. Stupid internet.

jillie1974

me and DH have been playing 'guess which cruise line' you went on Choppy...

we can be geeky when its work related

i won!! DH said it was Independence of the Seas (another fantastic ship for kids)

how was the cabin size? and what deck were you on?

gill_81uk

ladybirdintheuk wrote: »

Thanks Gill. It doens't want to let me win anything tonight. Stupid internet.

I've had one of those days too! with swagbucks and the stupid bingo! Hopefully it'll be back to normal tomorrow

chopsticks

3onitsway wrote: »

Choppy she's a bit better that for the last few nights she's stayed asleep until 6.30-7am. It's just the initial getting to sleep bit now!

Heading in the right direction then :D:D

Mazcabs wrote: »

We only had four plants too and they had loads on..sometimes we let them grow oversized and my mate has them..We've had to take all our tomatos off the plants as they are so heavy with fruit. They'll just have to ripen on the windowsill now - still loads for tomato soup now!!

Someone told me they were difficult to grow, but I didn't find that at all. Maybe I just had beginner's luck. I think our tomato plants will be going in the bin in the next week or so. The plants are starting to die off, so I need to bring in the green tomatoes to ripen.

Do you have a tomato soup recipe that you could share? I usually make my leftovers into pasta sauce bases but soup would be good too.

jillie1974

off to eat my take away
chat tomorrow!!

workinmummy

Lovely, a nice bit of Enrique to brighten up a carp day. Yum!:D

tarajayne

I just weighed the Bumbo, 1.8kg, limit is 2kg so if Post Office scales are pants it wil go over and I'll be out of pocket. If I print my own postage label will I get away with it?

tarajayne

And Robbie!

Night Jillie. X