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Opinions please: Carnival or Royal Caribbean for 7 month Tubie (GTube) and 4yr old


Mybearsbaby
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A little background:

My husband and I are trying to book a last minute cruise. Our just turned four year old has been begging, almost daily to go to the "beach", which for our family, translates to cruise 99.9% of the time. :D;)

 

We went when my oldest was 8 months, and again when he was almost 3, so we have some experience cruising with one small child.

Fast forward to last July...Our new baby boy came early, was IUGR and had aspirations, requiring him to get a feeding tube in his belly. He is a happy, active just-like-other-babies little guy...he just is smaller and takes his "meals" via G tube instead of mouth.

 

We haven't done RCCL since before we had kids, so I'm really not sure how their kids program compares. I know we loved it before! A few of the questions I had are:

 

Do either of the lines offer child care (I'm sure there is a fee for under 2) for children with similar issues to him if we wanted to go to an event onboard during the day for an hour or something? And what are the rates?

 

Does either line have anyone knowledgeable about G tubes? We would never leave him with a caregiver anywhere near feed time if not to avoid any issues, and may be hesitant to leave him at all.

 

 

Which program, CCL or RCCL would you say has a better all-around kids program?

 

 

Which one has a better trained ( both medical and with kids in general) staff?

 

Will I have any hassle getting his needed supplies (button, feed tube, medicine syringe, bolus feed supplies, formula/frozen breast milk) onboard?

Does anyone else here have tips for cruising with a tubie baby? Bonus points for pics! We love meeting fellow tubie families!

 

 

Thank you all in advance for your help!

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Your drop off nursery options for a 7 month old are Disney, newer or refurbished Royal Caribbean ships or the Norwegian escape.

 

Carnival offers:

 

Under 2 time is scheduled from 8:00am-10:00am. During this time, parents have the option of leaving their child in the care of the Youth Staff (Fees Apply: $6.75 USD per hour plus a 15% gratuity, per child) – or - they can stay and use the Camp Carnival facilities at no charge. Please note that this time is designated for the use of Under 2’s and their parents only.

  • Port Days: Care for infants begins from 15 minutes before the first tour until 12:00 noon (or from 1:00pm until 5:00pm for ships arriving in port after noon time). Port Days are for drop off only. Fees Apply: $6.75 USD per hour plus a 15% gratuity, per child.

 

If no one answers here, please contact the special needs department of these lines to see how qualified the nursery staff would be to help your son. One thing I'd request if I were you (and it may be standard) is a pager so they can just beep you if your child seems hungry and you can go and see how he is doing and feed him yourself if you think he is hungry. I'd also ask the special needs department about bringing medical supplies on, although I would guess you won't have much of a problem, since many older cruisers are probably also traveling with some medical supplies, and they are probably used to that.

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  • 4 months later...

We cruised last year with my granddaughter who is seven years old and is tube fed. There was no problem bringing any of her supplies on the airplane or on the ship. She did go to the kids club just to play but of course they did not feed her. Also she is autistic so they let her stay in the cabin for the muster drill. You can arrange all of this with special needs department. This was on Royal Caribbean.

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