It’s been awhile since our last trip abroad and I was getting so itchy that we decided to book a little trip to Stockholm. We don’t have many holidays to take, so a cruise with a day in Stockholm felt like a good choice. Living on the edge of Europe, I pretty much grew up -and bored – on those boats but on our last trip I realised that the cruise itself is easy and fun with kids!
Journey2dfuture gave me the idea on focusing on the boat trip
(rather than the destination at this point) as we found out on our last trip that there are a number of free things toddlers enjoy even though the boats in general are not exactly known for “not spending too much” as their tax free shops, pubs, restaurants and night clubs are definitively tempting. But I think the highlight for many kids is the ball sea, and other toys and climbing frames in the kids section. The Moomins appear on most cruises too, and they often lead kids to dance and even have discos for older kids.The staff organises also other competitions and programmes for kids in various ages. However, to start off with just exploring the boat is fun. Plenty of places for hide-and-seek. The corridors are great to roam in. Obviously going on the deck to play in the wind or see the archipelago just before arriving in Stockholm is fun.
The facilities on the boats in general are great (I am talking SIlja Line now. In my opinion the difference between Silja and Viking Line is visible in the price and the quality. But to be honest, I haven’t been on the Viking boats for years). The last time we rolled in and all the way to our cabin with two strollers. In the cabin we had two portable cribs waiting for us (both of our kids were under 2 then). Many of the restaurants on board have a micro for families, and there are lifts and baby changing rooms – and the cabin is never too far away either.The one enjoyable and reputable part not to miss is the abundant buffet breakfast, I think it was 10e/adult and free for kids now, and definitively worth the price.
Maybe a word of warning at the end: a baby phone or an app will most likely not work, loads of walls in between and no coverage all the way. Not that I have tried, I am not comfortable with leaving our kids to sleep alone in a new place (well, not at home either 😉 ). Our solution for the times we haven’t felt like spending the evening in a cabin/ hotel room has been to take the kids along and let them sleep in strollers next to us if they’ve been tired. It has worked mostly well, and if they don’t sleep so well one evening on a trip, I don’t mind. To be honest, mostly we feel like just relaxing after a day out and about (and our days typically start pretty early) anyway, so something nice to drink, cheese and crackers is what we look forward to.
What about you, would/do you leave a kid asleep in a hotel room? At what age?
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This Cruise looks like so much fun! We always stay in the same room, all of us. How long were you in Stockholm? Will you do a post about that too?
We haven’t gone yet, booked for December and this post was based on old experiences but will definitively do a post when we’ve been there!
We book 2 room rooms when we go away or at least a loving room and bedroom so we can stay up after kids have gone to bed
2 room rooms are good, or even a place with a balcony when it’s warm! But 2 separate rooms, like they offered us in Thailand, would be sooooo boring, as we’d also split the adults, like Bronwyn said.
But have to admit that our kids sleep so deeply after they have fallen asleep that we can stay up and talk, watch TV etc even in the same room.
Good on you for taking a short trip! The boats look like great fun for kids. I have no idea when I’ll be comfortable leaving the boys at home, certainly not on a ship before 16!
…and certainly not on those ships at 16 either. I only looked at them from a family with small kids point of view now, but I should have mentioned that their nickname is “fuckboats” 😉 (=no tax on alcohol, expensive alcohol in the countries it travels between)
Ha, haa RIGHT! Then my answer is NEVER!! Lol
Oh, but have a great trip! 😀
I’m not comfortable with it. I’d probably start doing adjoining hotel rooms at some stage but not sure when – it’s a while off for us! (If we were forced to split into two rooms now we’d have to split the adults.)
16. When my son is 16 I might consider leaving him alone when he’s asleep. Maybe. There is just too much that can go wrong. The trip looks like fun!