A Cruise Holiday with a 1 yEAR OLD

Back in May (this year) we went on our first holiday abroad to beautiful Norway. Our little lady was 17 months old and we felt ready to head off on our adventures as the three musketeers. I am a bit of a nervous flyer (which is an understatement). My solution to avoid flying was to book a cruise holiday. I researched many of the big cruise brands, and the best value cruise for us was with P&O. Most other brands charge full price for a 1 year old (which is crazy), whereas P&O offer a huge discount! I think we paid £99 for our little lady!

I was so excited and a little nervous about the holiday as a whole, but it couldn’t have gone any better! We embarked P&O’s largest ship MV Britannia in Southampton, which was easy for us as it is only down the road. Our luggage was taken, and check in was so simple. Before we knew it we on board the most beautiful ship exploring everything it has to offer, which is a lot.

One of the reasons I love going on cruise holidays is everything is in one place and you get to go somewhere different every day. This is perfect for a busy toddler, who likes to explore. During sea days there was so much to do (as well as eat your body weight). The Britannia has an amazing play room (the reef), which offers a large soft play area, endless toys and a variety of table activities. Our little lady was in her element. The ship also offers a night nursery, we didn’t use this but spoke to other parents who said it was an amazing addition to their holiday.

The ship was child friendly, however it wasn’t solely aimed at families. I believe they have a quota for certain age groups, so the ship wasn’t overrun with children, however there were enough families so you were made to feel welcome. The staff couldn’t have done enough for our little lady, they loved her as did the passengers. She has never had so much attention (she didn’t know what to do when we got home, it was all a bit boring).   

I would highly recommend a cruise holiday with a one year old. Everything felt so easy, and we actually felt like we had, had a holiday. When you hear the word cruise, you think of luxury and pound signs. It was definitely luxurious, but it cost us less than a holiday to mainland Spain, it was great value for money!

As we disembarked the cruise and got back to our car, I looked back at the ship and a wave of emotion hit me. We had the best week, and made the most incredible memories as a family of 3. I never wanted it to end. I felt so lucky and grateful to have been able to experience something so amazing. 

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