lrowe70

What a sweet friend you are! :)

Not gonna lie. I have ordered off the kids menu a few times. I love their chicken nuggets, burgers, fries and Mac n Cheese. I like all of the food in the MDR too. But every now and then I like the basics.

Haven't tried it, but I hear the banana split is quite good. :)

So once they are on board guest services will just change their rooms and change keys and charge account without any problem? They won't care that their granddaughter is under 21.

Yes, People do this all the time, often with much younger kids.

Glad you made it here to the family board!

Is your daughter normally sickly and catching things?

If no, then you have nothing to worry about. Take the same precautions on the ship that you take at home.

Have noticed no difference in service in any cabin on any line. It's always been really good across the board.

 

Finally I would really consider leaving the child with relatives and go for a much needed getaway. At 6 months only you will remember the child's first cruise.

Nothing says family vacation like leaving your family home. :rolleyes:

OP, check out the family boards to get more positive advice about the decision you've already made and paid for.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Pillows pack easily with one of those space saver bags.

My dad used to bring his pillow, blanket and robe on trips. With space bags he'd suck the air out until those items were the size of a pair of pants!

Be sure if you bring this sort of thing, that they are not white. It's possible the cabin steward will mistake it for the ships and send it off to laundry.

Virtually all the large mainstream lines will have what you are looking for. Pick a date and port of departure and see what pops up.

I'd suggest Carnival, NCL, RC or Princess. If you're interested in the children's clubs, Carnival is the only one that will offer it for the 2-year-old.

We saw no smoking on our Celebrity cruise.

On Carnival we had a spa cabin where they do not allow smoking.

Regardless, the smoking policies have been enforced on every line we've been on.

I use umbrellas more in the sun than the rain. Since there isn't always shade, I bring my own. :D

Your best defense against the sun is to stay out of it!

1. Are we nuts?!? Lol... Seriously wondering if 14 days is just crazy with a 9 month old.

No, have a good time.

2. Overall, are cruise ships (HAL in particular) accommodating with babies? Will my son be allowed in main dining room, etc?

yes, and yes

3. Should we bring pack and play for sleeping in room?

They have cribs, but if you feel your child will do better with your own pnp then bring it.

4. Should we bring car seat for cabs for any excursions we would want to do? We live in LA and trip is RT out of Ft. Lauderdale so we may need car seat for airport travel...

Many of the transports will not be able to accommodate a car seat. This is quite the great debate here, you'll need to use your own judgement on if having your own car seat is worth it.

5. Is it true that baby gear flies for free??

You can gate check carseats and strollers

6. Any advice on cleaning bottles and baby food supplies on board?

We're not germaphobic and sailed with a 6 month old. Didn't do anything more than a quick wash/rinse in the sink. Our child was and is very healthy.

7. Any brilliant words of wisdom? I'm very excited and also a bit scared. Any tips are sooooo appreciated!!!! Thank you!!!!!

You're going to have a great time. :)

Our best family memories are cruising with our child.

When was the last time you heard/read of a child falling overboard from a balcony...It's the drunk adults :eek::D

There are no documented cases of anyone accidently falling overboard(anyone have a link to this RC story?).

The very few man overboard situations all involve drunks, murders, and/or suicides.

We took our dog once on the Alaska ferry from Washington state to near Anchorage. Took our car and a bunch of camping gear as well. :)

Best. cruise. tour. ever.

I would not pay to take a pet on any other cruise. I believe the fee on the ferry was about $30.

Short cruises, especially those during school breaks, are generally party crowds.

Are they able to go on a longer cruise or a different time of year? If they wait 1-2 more weeks or go 1-2 weeks earlier, the partying college kids will be in class.

Sangria can be made from red or white. White is usually more "tropical" and a summer like drink with apples and citrus fruits.

Red is heavier and often made with berries. We add brandy to ours too.

However most any fruit and any wine will work. Other items such as fruit juice, ginger ale, club soda, liquors can be added as well.

Any pitcher or bucket like vessel will do for soaking and mixing.

Enjoy

Wow Cuba, how fun. Wish we could go but we're Americans.

Let us know how it goes :)

A year ago we did the Hotel Maya for $99 with the code. The Queen Mary also had a code for the same price.

We booked the Courtyard Marriott just across the pier for $95 this time through an online hotel website.

Depending on line, time of year, location and duration there may be few children on board.

We've never had any issues with unruly kids on our cruises:

-We did a 2 week with Star Clippers which had a 5 year old, an 11 year old, and a 16 year old. Everyone else was a legal adult.

-Windstar openly discourages children, I think the youngest person I saw was maybe 14?

-Later we did Carnival, yes Carnival, in January. There were 80 children on board(our of over 2000) with 40 of those being under the age of 5. I felt bad for the youth staff; they looked so bored.

-We also did Celebrity to Alaska at the beginning of the season. I can't remember the number of kids they told me. I'd guess it was under 100 on a ship built for around 2000 guests. Not sure it was even that many, perhaps only 50.

If you stay away from NCL, Carnival, and RC during breaks as well as very short cruises you really shouldn't have any issues. Stay away from Disney! :D

Thank you thank you thank you!

This was one of the best photo reviews I've ever seen.

We did Spa deck 11 on Splendor.

It was fine, and we may book it again, but it would not make or break a cruise either way.

We didn't really like being on such a high deck or so far forward. Though we fell in love with the heated lounge chairs.

We have never cruised with a carseat. Either we take busses or shuttles(can't accommodate car seats) or we get a taxi with one. If you use the taxi route, you may have a long wait or if you call ahead be sure to specify you need a seat.

We did deck 11 spa on Splendor. It was the furthest front room and we didn't like that the balcony had no cover. I wanted shade and my husband said it was windy.

The spa is very nice though. If we were to do it again we'd do deck 10 and as far back as spa rooms go(which isn't far, still forward rooms). We liked the heated lounge chairs best.

This thread is great, thanks for all the info.

Just want to add my 2 cents:

Our last Carnival cruise we stayed at the Hotel Maya. It was a great place and we were able to walk to the ship. Also using the code we got a rate of under $100. Some friends of ours stayed at the Queen Mary using a code as well and got the same rate. They liked that hotel/ship as well.

This time I went through the list posted above and got an even cheaper rate at the Courtyard Marriott! Wow, thanks

Agree about sticking to certain areas. Parts of Long Beach can be sketchy. We found this out on the last cruise when someone told us to go to a Wal Mart to get our sodas and odds and ends before boarding. Eek!

I'm confused? Denali is McKinley.

Regardless, Fairbanks is more expensive because it's farther away. I prefer Anchorage-but I live here. :)

Thank goodness.

I hope this means they put a better ship in Long Beach.