Cruising with little kids can feel overwhelming at first—but it can be one of the easiest ways to travel as a family. From not having to unpack multiple times to stress-free port days and the magic of onboard kids’ activities, cruising takes a lot of the guesswork out of vacationing with little ones. Whether you’re sailing with family-friendly lines like Disney Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean International, there are simple strategies that can make the difference between surviving your trip and truly enjoying it.
In this post, I’m sharing what I’ve learned cruising with my three little ones—the practical family cruise tips, small mindset shifts, and must-know tricks that help make a family cruise smoother, more relaxing, and genuinely fun for everyone.
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1. Get a Balcony Room
This is one of my top family cruise tips! Young kids go to bed before you and if you don’t have a balcony, you will have no where to hang out after they are asleep. We’ve spent too many nights hiding out in the hotel bathroom (iykyk) to ever do it for a longer trip. Cruise rooms are already extremely small and the balcony room provides more space – plus the ability to get fresh air right by your room is a must. For many reasons, I would highly suggest not skipping on the balcony when going on a cruise with little kids.
2. Pack a Separate Bag For the Day Before
Usually when you’re heading on a cruise you’ll get to your port city a day ahead of time and spend at least one night in a hotel before hopping on your ship the next afternoon. If this is your situation, save yourself the hassle of partially unpacking for one night and having to repack a bunch the next morning. Bring a smaller bag with you that includes pajamas, outfits, toiletries, and meds for your one hotel night and your first day on the cruise ship. That way you don’t have to even touch or open other suitcases and it’s much easier to stay organized until you can fully unpack on the ship.
3. Lower Your Expectations
This is my number one travel tip for any trip, not just cruising. When traveling with little kids, lower your expectations. If you want to plan to hit ten different stops on a port day, great. But be mentally prepared for that to not work out and be ok with it. Expect a lot of sit down dinners to be less than smooth. Get ready for a kid to get sick and cause plans to be adjusted accordingly. Lowering your expectations when traveling with kids is really the key to a more enjoyable trip.
4. Keep a Bag With You On Embarkation Day
On embarkation day, the ship staff will bring your suitcases to your room, which can take hours. Make sure you keep necessities like medications, pajamas, diapers, swimsuits, toiletries, etc. with you when you board the ship. This way you can still take advantage of things like the pool before your bags arrive.
5. Don’t Plan Too Many Organized Excursions
This is one of my other biggest family cruise tips. Little kids want to be free, running on the beach, building sandcastles and eating ice cream. Little kids don’t really thrive in the organized tour world until they are a bit older to enjoy bigger kid activities. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan any organized tours – we definitely still do – but be mindful of how many organized tours you’re committing to.
I always suggest balancing your days as much as possible. If you’re planning two days of tour activities, add two beach days to your itinerary. I wouldn’t do more than 50% of your days as organized excursions if you can help it. Also, keep in mind that toward the end of the trip, kids will be slowing down and becoming more exhausted of all day activities. Lean toward more relaxing, beach days near the end of your itinerary, if possible.
6. Always Plan an Afternoon Chill Hour
I think this is a must when traveling with kids – cruise or otherwise. When you’re constantly on the go or in the sun, remember how tiring that is on the little ones. I love to try and build in a chill hour before dinner when kids can play, listen to a Yoto, read a book, or watch a show. This relaxing window helps them re-set and re-charge before finishing out their day. It’s honestly been a really helpful rhythm for us when traveling with kids and it’s especially great when cruising.
🎧 My Favorite Afternoon Chill Activities: Travel Yoto | Travel Magnetic Blocks | Tablet | Travel Headphones
7. Bring a Pop-Up Hamper and Magnetic Hooks to Stay Organized
Cruise ship rooms are very good at utilizing all the nooks and crannies for storage. I’m actually amazed at how much storage space they cram into those rooms. However, when it came to dirty laundry, I struggled to find a good spot to store it all – especially for five people. I ended up shoving it all onto a shelf.
When I originally saw someone suggest bringing a pop-up hamper, I honestly thought that was so unnecessary. But now I’m here to walk it back and say, actually, that’s brilliant. If you don’t want to bring a full pop up hamper, throw in a garbage bag to at least have a contained area to keep all your dirty laundry.
I also suggest throwing in some magnetic hooks to put on your room walls. Perfect for hanging extra wet items, hats, towels, etc.
8. Stick with a Hanging Toiletry Bag
In the past, I’ve never been a hanging toiletry bag kinda lady but I think I’m a full convert now. As noted above with the small room problems of a cruise, bringing a hanging toiletry bag helps keep the bathroom more organized by not having to leave anything on the *very minimal* counter space. It’s a really nice solution for a small bathroom.
9. Bring European/Multi-Port Plugs for Significantly More Outlets
Outlets in your cruise room are minimal – two regular US outlets per room on most ships. Since many ships don’t allow extension cords, it can get tricky to have enough space to charge all your gadgets. Enter, multi-port cruise plugs and European plug adapters. While rooms have two US outlets, you’ll find most (if not all) also have two European outlets as well. This means you can bring two European plug adapters and two multi-port plugs and you can consider yourself flush with outlets!
10. Pack One (or Two) Large Beach Bags For Port Days
Next on the list of top family cruise tips, make sure you bring a bag you can use for days when you’re heading off the ship. When traveling with kids, you’ll want to make sure you have a large bag for all that stuff you need to tote with you. A mesh beach bag works awesome for this since it is so lightweight and easy to throw in your checked bag. I also love using a large tote bag which I will just use as my carry-on bag for travel day and then switch it to a beach bag once on the ship.
11. Throw in Beach Toys for Hours of Entertainment
I’m all for buying things when you get to places instead of taking up precious space in your suitcase but it was so nice not having to search for beach toys in our first port. I threw these in the carseat bag that was getting checked for our flight anyway so they didn’t take up any extra space and it was amazing to already have quality beach toys with us. Since they fold down they are perfect for travel and will easily fit in your beach bag for port days. The kids really did give these guys hours of play so it was worth it to bring them.
12. Pack the Life Jackets but Leave the Towels at Home
If your kids need life jackets at the beach, be sure to bring them with you. Ships provide life jackets to use at the onboard pool; however, you are not supposed to take those life jackets on shore.
On the other hand, you are allowed to bring the cruise towels on shore so save yourself the space and leave your towels at home.
Packing Tip: If you’re bringing carseats with you on your trip, back your life jackets in the carseat bag to save space in your suitcase. My favorite carseat bag fits SO much on travel day – diapers, life jackets, beach toys, etc. Save the suitcase space!
13. Consider Leaving the Stroller at Home
Ok, I’m super torn on this one. We brought our double stroller and used it at the airport and before/after the cruise; however, we didn’t use it at all on the cruise and it took up SO MUCH SPACE in our room. It wasn’t the end of the world but in hindsight, I wish we would have brought a single stroller or left the stroller at home and just struggled through the two days we used it.
This one is obviously super dependent on the age of your kids and what you are doing on your port days but I list it here so you can think twice about bringing it. I always just default to bringing it but I think leaving it may have been the better choice.
If you have little ones that can just be in a carrier, choose that over a stroller any day. If you have bigger ones, maybe bring a smaller single stroller and have them share.
14. Tips Add Up. Plan Ahead.
Of course, tipping is a big part of cruising but it’s important to realize how much tips really add up for families. If you are traveling on large cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, they will charge daily gratuities for each person – regardless of age. This is not inclusive of additional tips you will pay on top of drink charges and tips for room service/dinner service/etc.
If you book a cruise deal (i.e. kids sail free), keep in mind how much you will actually end up paying for tips and gratuities on top of your cruise cost. For a 10 day cruise, we ended up paying almost $1,000 in automatic daily gratuities alone – yikes. Overall, cruising with a family adds up quickly. Plan ahead!
15. Grab To-Go Snacks from the Breakfast Buffet/Cafe
If you’re heading out on a port day, be sure to bring snacks with you. I mean, we’ve all lost track of the number of times when a hidden bag snack saved an earth shattering meltdown. I like to grab bananas, baked goods, and snacks from the breakfast buffet or cafe counter to bring in our beach bag. It has never failed me yet!
16. Eat Lunch By the Pool on Sea Days
Don’t subject those littles ones to another sit down meal. Grab food from the buffet and eat it pool side so you don’t have to take a break from the sun and splashing. Kids will appreciate not having to take an hour out of their afternoon to go eat lunch.
17. Do the Early Dinner
Speaking of sit down dinners, if you can secure the early dinner spot, you’ll thank yourself. It does mean you have to cut your days a bit shorter to get back in time for dinner but it sets you up for success with small ones who will likely be exhausted by the later dinner time.
If there is a day you can’t get back to the ship by the early dinner time, you can opt to do the buffet instead or try and secure a walk up table in the main dining room at a later time.
18. Rely on Black Clothes for Less Laundry
Hear me out, black clothes (or at least dark colors) on small children equals fewer stains and easier re-wear opportunities. Especially on a cruise when you can’t do your own laundry (unless you’re a dedicated sink laundry traveler), black/dark colored clothes will come in clutch. I brought a few black t-shirts and shorts for each kid and they wore them multiple times – honestly, who knew except me? Their lighter clothes were destroyed within hours of putting them on and then they were cashed for the rest of the trip (thanks chocolate ice cream). Black clothes for those under 5 year olds ok, trust me.
19. Utilize Cruise Ship Activities for Little Kids
If you’re traveling on a family friendly cruise line you will find a lot of activities for the little ones. Of course the available activities will vary by ship but some of our favorites that are pretty standard on many boats are movie night by the pool, using the walking track for letting them run out their after dinner energy, and enjoying some evening shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did you fit five people in one room?
We have always chosen to travel with grandparents on a cruise. That way we can register our oldest child in their room and we choose adjoining rooms so we have a bit more space. If you aren’t traveling with others, you can see if your ship’s suites allow five people in one room. Otherwise, you will be forced to get two connecting rooms.
What are the hidden fees of cruising with kids?
Cruising in general can have a lot of hidden fees. After you pay for your cruise you will be bombarded with additional fees including the cost of additional beverages (soda, specialty coffee, alcoholic beverages), wifi, premium meal options, daily gratuities and additional gratuities for service staff. This all adds up very quickly. As a family of five a 10 day cruise cost us almost $9,000.
Final Thoughts
Cruising with little ones is such a fun way to make a lot of memories and see new places without having to unpack. With the right expectations, a little planning, and a willingness to go with the flow, a family cruise can be one of the easiest ways to travel with young children. We hope these family cruise tips help you feel prepared for your next cruise with the kiddos. If you have any questions, drop a comment below or shoot us an email – we would love to help you plan!
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