On our most recent cruise, during a wine-tasting event, I was seated next to a nice young woman from Denver. She had to be a nice young woman because she took a 2-year-old on a 14-night cruise! And her husband must be nice, too, because he stayed behind in the stateroom with the little guy.
Her name was Angela and, in the course of conversation, I asked her what it was like to be on a cruise with your 2-year-old, since our youngest was 12 when we first cruised, and any mother knows about traveling with a child who is experiencing the “terrible twos.”
“I’ll let you know what it’s like,” Angela chuckled, “at the end of the cruise.”
For the rest of the cruise, we must have passed like ships in the night, because I never saw Angela to get an update. 
So yesterday I decided to do a little research on my own, even though there are no 2-year-olds I plan to take cruising. Here’s what I found…
There are two key issues, potty training and babysitting, and since few 2-year-olds are potty trained that issue is really all about how you deal with it. While cruise lines don’t ban your 2-year-old, those having programs that start with 3-year-olds are really saying “Okay, if you really want to…” That would be Princess, Holland America and Celebrity. With all three, babysitting (for a fee) is a possibility but not guaranteed.
Toddlers on Carnival ships don’t have to be trained and parents need only to supply babysitters with the diapers or pull-ups. Disney babysitters, as long as the child is at least 12 weeks old, give parents beepers so they can come to the rescue when the babies “beep.” Disney also gives parents the option of ordering supplies in advance for delivery to their stateroom. Royal Caribbean has the one-year-old minimum for babysitting, along with diaper-changing and an “aqua” activity program for kids starting at six months. Vacations To Go has a complete list of what all the lines have to offer families with little ones.
So if you think cruise lines don’t have a lot for two-year-olds, well…maybe they also heard about the terrible. Or maybe they found Angela.
That’s it…I’m done.