Overnight ferry and long drive with little kids - what are your top tips?

[EldonAve]

We are taking the overnight ferry to Denmark and then driving with DC 5y, 3y and 3mths

Not done a ferry or a big drive with kids before so looking for any advice on what to take/ not take etc

alcohol and then some more

Overnight ferry is fab - as long as you've booked a cabin! You can also prebook a travel cot for the 3m old.

Definitely get them to stretch their legs, eat, use the loo whilst waiting in the very long queue to board - no point being cooped up in the car. They each need a toy that will genuinely entertain.

Once the meal is over and they've had a quick play they'll be more than ready for sleep I'd have thought.

Some friends swear by those dual DVD players you strap to the back of headrests.

Watching with interest as we're driving to italy in a few weeks with a nearly 3 year old and a 9 month old.

We have a cabin but you can't book a travel cot so we will probably cosleep or force the older 2 to share a bunk

Should I expect them to get travel sick on the boat?

Mine didn't get seasick on the ferry, in fact we went up on deck and it certainly blew away the cobwebs! They did feel queasy on the seacat which we took on the outward journey but it was very crowded, a rough crossing and lots of ppl were ill - lovely!

If you're early like we were checking in to the cabins we were just offered a travel cot when they saw ds - but did hear another family complaining about the lack of them when we went back after dinner.

Thanks

Definitely the DVD players for the car. They have been fantastic for us on long trips.

I've just done a 24 hour ferry with my three children and it was great. Very relaxing in comparison to all the time we spent in the car! We had a cabin for four and a travel cot but we didn't use the travel cot. If you can, get a cabin with a window.

Regarding the car journey, my dd1 gets travel sick which means that we can't use portable DVDs or colouring books in the car. We did have several CDs of stories and music to keep us all entertained.

And leave yourself loads of time - we ended up with a day's delay due to a flat tyre - fortunately we planned loads of time and got to the boat on time.

belgo - did you book the cot or take your own?

what will we need overnight? I assume you can't access the car once you are on board

no you cannot access your car once on board.

We went with Brittany ferries and the cot came with the cabin.

I took a small suitcase packed with:

pjs and toothbrushes;
nappies and wipes;
towel (but towels were provided anyway)
sling to carry ds (a big pram is a bit of a hassle when you have to wait for the lift - so much easier to carry the baby and use the stairs)
one spare pair of clothes for everyone.
Colouring books and a small game.
There was a boat on board so we took swimming stuff, and used it.

Plenty of water to drink and a few snacks.

We took bread - enough for one meal as it can get expensive buying several meals on the boat.

I am a minimalist when it comes to packing; there were people carrying far more stuff then us.

Most things you can probably buy on board if you forget.

oh and the camera!

Err don't take the kids (on the ferry not the holiday). I drive out with the car loaded to the brim. Family follows on by ryanair/easy jet. As I only need a single cabin on the boat the cost of the flights is only slightly more than the money saved ny having one person on the ferry.

I have a nice peaceful journey, the kids have a nice short journey and we can take much more away with us.

I consider the ferry to be part of the holiday - my children love travelling on the boat!

Saves on the carbon footprint, not to mention the cost, of flights as well.

DadInsteadofMum - we looked at that option but DH didn't fancy taking the freight boat

As a single parent your option wouldn't work for me Dadinsteadofmum!! I regularly take my 2 dc abroad on ferries - recently done Duinrell (NL) with Stena Line and agree with an outside cabin being the best option - depending on cost though as my dc loved lookin out the window!! Stena Line had tvs in the cabin which was fab!! We love the ferry and it is part of our holiday. For hte drive my dd is usually tavel sick but is fine with the in car dvd. The DVDs are essential!!! And DS's - mine are plugged in electronically for he whole journey but it is far less stressful for me and them!!

Leslaki - I am also a single parent, we holiday with another family and they all fly over together.

not sure if the cabins have tv - I think we can pay for DVDs but the selection was a bit duff

quick bump for any further advice

give them travel sickness pills regardless of whether they have been ill before - they will be a bit more sleepy and being seasick is miserable, esp if you're not expecting it.

we have one of these travel cots. it is light enough and portable enough to actually consider taking it travelling.

we have also been known to pack the individual components separately and use a thermarest instead of the mattress that comes with it (which is obviously not recommended, but we risked it) to make it even smaller and lighter, but we go on holiday using rucksacks and trains, it's possibly less necessary if you are going by car.

I have read the ferry co website further and it appears travel cots are banned so I guess we'll be cosleeping

Is it the Harwich-Esbjerg ferry you're doing?

We go on it twice a year to visit my parents etc in England, have been doing so for the past couple of years now, DS is now 3. Next time we go (December) we'll have a 3 month old as well.

We have one of the dvd players that go on the back of the headrests in the car, which is fab, certainly saves our sanity in the car, and also on the ferry as it also plugs in (they use danish plugs on board so remember your adaptors for anything electrical), so DS can watch his dvds there as well.

We always pay for the tv in the cabin, the films aren't bad at all, they have ones for adults and kids (and have had Happy Feet every single time we went!)

We don't bother with the food on board, dinner is expensive and we found it quite stressful, it is nice food though. We take a picnic on board so we can eat in the cabin. If you do eat on board you need to book, don't forget they use danish time on board so all tables bookings will be in that.
We also don't have breakfast any more, we take a multipack of cereal,some long life milk and some juice (and plastic bowls and cups, and cutlery) as we found breakfast expensive for what it was, and I suffer from sea sickness so it's always a bit hit and miss as to whether I'll be able to go down for breakfast at all!

DS gets his own suitcase when we go which he can fill with whatever toys he likes, there's quite a bit of room in the cabins for them to play on the floor.

They do offer travel cots, but we've never used them as we co slept anyway- bit of a squish as they're only single beds but it's only for 1 night.

They also do a kids club sort of thing, there's a treasure hunt, which your 5YO will definitely be able to do, it's in English and Danish.

We always enjoy our trips over, the staff are fantastic and can't do enough to help you, and everyone on board can speak English and Danish so never a problem getting someone to help you if you need it.

Sorry this is so long, hope some of it was helpful! Hope you enjoy your trip

Thanks for the tips but we are already here! It was indeed the Esberg ferry and it was fine

Can I ask you a question about Denmark? Will any shops be open on Sunday or anywhere where we can get our "pant" deposit back on beers etc?

We had a cabin with a tv (this was Brittany Ferries to Spain though) It cost a bit more but it was worth it as we couldn't go and wander about with DS too late at night and we would have gone stir crazy without it.