Back from Conquest with 11-month old

[J's Gal]

We’re back from our Carnival Conquest cruise with our 11-month old daughter and we had an amazing time. This was mine and DH 3rd cruise and our DD’s first. The staff was great: our room steward would clean our room 1st in the evening so that when we returned from dinner (early seating) we could put DD to bed and our waiters and the dining room hostess went out of their way to make sure DD had plenty to eat.

Some of the things I did that made the trip easier (many ideas from this board)…Packed diapers, swimmers, wipes, etc…in diaper box and put luggage tag on it. I made zip lock bags with a bib, spoon, placemat, and antibacterial wipe (all disposable) for each meal. It was very easy to grab one bag and go. I also put individual outfits in gallon size zip locks and labeled them, very easy to find out instead of digging through all the small pieces. The clear over the door shoe holder was so useful, a must for everyone in my opinion. We also brought a small inflatable pool for our balcony.

 

 

 

Our ports of call were Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. In Montego Bay, we did the Beaches Negril excursion (booked through the cruise line) and we absolutely loved it. There was a very nice pool with a swim up bar, 2 water slides, a lazy river, plenty of gorgeous beach with or without shade, and 3 restaurants to choose from-all included in the price.

 

 

 

Grand Cayman we shopped.

 

In Cozumel, we did the Playa Mia Beach Break Deluxe(booked through the cruise line). We were very disappointed. It was extremely crowded; the ugliest beach I’ve ever seen in Cozumel, only one small pool, and the food was NOT good at all. DD still had a good time, just totally not worth the money!

 

It was definitely a different cruise experience with a baby, but one that we absolutely loved and cannot wait to do it again! If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer the best I can.

 

Here are a few of our pics from the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Carolin]

I love the picture of her in the little pool. She looks like she's having a great time. :D

[nybumpkin]

What beautiful photos - thanks for sharing! Your daughter is adorable.:)

[DALSAL]

Thank you so much for your tips and pics! We are taking this cruise in September with a 10 month old! I will be entertaining my dgd most of the time, so it was great to see your pictures! Ive just been reading about bringing her duck to put in the shower for her bath. She loves bath time, and I bought her a little blow up pool the other day, so this looks like a great idea for the balcony. I think she would enjoy the pool because of having more room that the duck while using it on the balcony.

 

Im sure we will come up with some questions for you before September. If you think of any thing else to add, please do! I was wondering about taking her to the dining room. Believe it or not, on all of the cruises Ive taken, I cant remember anything about little ones. Now that we have one, I have all kinds of questions. Do they have high chairs. We are 4 adults going with her. It might be nice to try a lunch or dinner. Thanks for your help!

[J's Gal]

Thank you so much for your tips and pics! We are taking this cruise in September with a 10 month old! I will be entertaining my dgd most of the time, so it was great to see your pictures! Ive just been reading about bringing her duck to put in the shower for her bath. She loves bath time, and I bought her a little blow up pool the other day, so this looks like a great idea for the balcony. I think she would enjoy the pool because of having more room that the duck while using it on the balcony.

 

Im sure we will come up with some questions for you before September. If you think of any thing else to add, please do! I was wondering about taking her to the dining room. Believe it or not, on all of the cruises Ive taken, I cant remember anything about little ones. Now that we have one, I have all kinds of questions. Do they have high chairs. We are 4 adults going with her. It might be nice to try a lunch or dinner. Thanks for your help!

 

Our daughter did great in the dining room. It was just the 3 of us traveling, so they had us at a table of our own. I was thankful for that, so the meal would move a little quicker. Yes, they have high chairs. The very first night, they had her high chair waiting for her. We would always discuss what we wanted for her the next night and they would bring it as soon as we sat down.

 

We went to the Lido for breakfast each morning and had no problem finding a high chair there either.

 

She loved her pool on the balcony. We did not bring the duck tub. I just showered with her, using the removeable shower head and then passed her to her daddy. It worked well for us.

 

The first 24 hours of the cruise were the worst, just trying to find our rhythm, but after that it was great! We tried our best to stick to LOs routine and just go with the flow. Can't wait to take her again!