traveling with small children

I would say it depends on your daughter and her husband as well as what temperament the kids have. My wife and I have done several "DIY" trips which we have loved. Now that we have a newborn, we plan to continue to travel that way as much as possible. Our first trip is hopefully a week in Key West - we've never been and we can stay in one place the whole time while we have travel excursions during the day. If your daughter and her husband don't like to travel that way sans kids - the only memories they will be making with kids are negative ones as they struggle to make plans, check itineraries, keep up with all the bookings, etc. If they have never traveled before perhaps a cruise or planned trip is a good "toe in the water" experience. The best idea is for them to take the trip they are comfortable with. The memories they want to make are the ones spending time with their kids, and that can happen no matter where they go. Just my opinion.

I agree with Cary that with little ones it doesn't really matter where are you go to have a memorable trip. In North America we've planned trips based on Children's Museums...your grandchildren are a great age for that. Just a word about cruises--we have friends who took their little ones on a Disney Cruise and the parents did not really enjoy it. They found meal times to be stressful as they were at designated times, often just when a child was needing the bathroom, or tired and cranky. They were exhausted after the cruise!

If your daughter and her family like Disney, and like the idea of cruising, and can afford it, then a cruise might be a good choice for them. It's nice to tour around and not have to worry about packing and unpacking. Your daughter and her husband will probably be able to put the kids in the kids' club and enjoy a meal on their own (highly unlikely if they are touring Europe on their own). There's an English speaking doctor on board if a kid gets sick (like an ear infection), and I'm sure they can find something onboard for a hungry kid to eat at any time of day.

They're in luck that Disney is sending a ship back to the Med this coming summer, there wasn't one this past summer. Barcelona is their hub port, so the family will need to get there to start/end the cruise. Depending on their time, I suggest going to Paris for a week (or Madrid or London or Rome, etc.)so they can get their feet on the ground. Jetlag is difficult to exlain to toddlers, so they can visit a city on their own time without being stuck to the ship's schedule when they aren't physically ready for it. After a week, they can head to Barcelona for a few days to see the sights, then board the cruise ready to set out on the ship's scheduled stops. Frankly, with 2 toddlers, the Disney cruise is a great idea. It's the best of quick visits to various cities in Europe for the parents combined with kids' club options while on the ship. They could even leave the kids on the ship while they tour somewhere for the day.

If your family decides to do something other than a cruise, a condo or apartment rental for several days in one city, and then move to another, might be a good alternative. There's the comfort of having a kitchen and laundry, storage for snacks, and a place to come back to for a nap without running into housekeeping cleaning the room. Friends of mine do this everywhere, from the Caribbean to Europe, and the kids are now expert travelers.

I listen to your show on NPR As you see, helen, we are a group of fellow travelers. It looks like you may think you have reached Rick Steves himself - he doesn't frequent the Helpline. If you want to speak to the company use the Contact Us button at the bottom of the page. And you notice that we are all happy to help...

At 2 and 3, the kids won't remember anything about the experience; their brains haven't matured to the point of laying down long term memories. (Of course, Mom and Dad can memories by talking about an experience later to the kids, but research shows that those apparent memories are just thatentirely dependent for detail on what is provided by the adult later.) Three years is just about the cusp for developing spotty memories, four for more adult-like recall. Having said that, even babies and toddlers are capable of enjoying or not enjoying experiences. We travel frequently and did so when our kids were babes, and believe me, we acutely noticed the difference between times they were happy and times they were not! Parks, playgrounds, chasing pigeons, paddling at the beach, and the like are fun anywhere they happen. I wouldn't bother with a Disney cruise (or Disneyland or other "kid" destination for that matter) at those ages. The kids will love them in a couple of years, whereas now at best they're experiences they'll get to see pictures of when they're older. Whatever vacation they take, they should assume that boring adult activities need to be kept to a minimum, leavened considerably with fun "kid" activities. If they decide on a cruise, there are a number of websites where people post reviews and you can ask questions. One of the most frequent is "What's it like to take little kids on XYZ cruise?"

Helen, are you asking us to chose a cruise vs a 'land trip', or to give our opinions on whether they should even consider an independent land trip since they have two little ones? They can absolutely travel independently in Europe! Have they ever traveled outside of the USA? To Europe? How much time do they have to travel? What time of year are they planning to travel? Do they have any particular interests? Traveling with the little ones will be slower and require more patience - things I don't need to tell them ;-) The day I spend a gillion dollars on a Disney cruise vacation for a 2-and 3-year old......The parents need the vacation; they choose where they want to go, and then plan activities for the kiddies. When Momma and Daddy are happy and relaxed, the kids are happy and relaxed. They could all be deliriously happy in Europe 8^D

I concur with JER and Eileen; however, when I've voiced my opinion regarding children under the age of 4 or so, i get crucified by all the lady posters. One of my daughters and one of my sons have been in this same situation. One prefers not to do cruises, the other does cruises with the in laws attached as baby-sitters.My personal experience says that generally age 4 and under don't remember the trip anyway, but can have fun doing things like playing on the beach in the sand, etc.

Sorry Jim, but I do disagree - we took our two-year-old to Disneyland in February, and she often talks about it still. Sure, she may not remember all of it, and she may forget those memories as she gets older, but she does remember parts, certainly more than I expected her to, and it was amazing being there with her. I am so glad we took her at 2. She talks about it way more than the trip to Seattle we took 5 months later, where we did so many kids' activities - children's museum, zoo, science museum, etc. I don't know how much she remembers from that. That said, I don't know if we would have taken her if we lived further away than we do and didn't have family in the greater LA area. I'm glad we went to DL. But I think, like some others posted, the destination should be determined by the goals of the vacation.

Our kids went everywhere with us. Sometimes we went on a road trip, sometimes flew to the beach in the Caribbean, sometimes we went to Europe, sometimes we went on cruises. The kids can be happy as long as they are fed, rested, and are with relaxed parents. Disneyland is more fun with older kids, but almost every cruise has pretty good kids clubs, not just Disney. The good thing about the cruises is that the scenery changes but you don't have to keep packing and moving on. I'd at least give one vote to what the parents want to do to relax and let them have a good time. Europe will still be there in a few years.