1st family cruise start to stress

[daniella1279]

this will be our family cruise....i have been a 3 previous cruises and dh has been on 1. we will be bring our 2 boys 12/4 and my 2 teenage cousins 17/15.'

 

we will be sailing on the carnival pride in 6 weeks. we have balocony rooms book. I am starting stress about what to pack for clothes and other must haves.

 

I think i am most worried about my youngest one. he is = to 5 handfuls. although we travel often but never more then 2 night away at a time. he is very much into routines at bed time. bed time is always a little tough. He is also a very pickey eater. Breakfast food like pancakes, bagels, waffles, muffins. He will eat peanut butter sandwhiches, grilled cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets.

 

I am very thankful for any tips and or advice

Danielle

[cb at sea]

The food your youngest eats is avail. in great quantities...no problem!

Pack for the destinations...I'm assuming Caribbean...pack shorts and summer clothes.

 

Your cousins will amuse themselves by trying to pick up the opposite sex at the pool....that's what teens do. They'll have a great time!

 

Your kids are at the prime "kids club" age....you may very well never see them!

 

Enjoy!

[6rugrats]

IME, the crew will do whatever they can to make your child happy. He can eat Pizza all day long; my kids did!

[1025cruise]

If you aren't bringing the cousins' parents, make sure you bring a notarized permission letter.

[daniella1279]

If you aren't bringing the cousins' parents, make sure you bring a notarized permission letter.

 

thanks for the reminder....someone had posted a sample of the letter they had filled out so I printed that one out to fill in our info.

[jam82]

We've cruised with our 4 year old a lot and he is a very picky eater too. I filled out the form for the kids club and labeled him a vegetarian since it takes a small miracle for him to eat meat. This works good for me. He knows cruises are about eating cheese pizza and drinking chocolate milk. At home we try to get him to try new foods, while on vacation we give him what we know he likes.

 

A word of warning - On both Princess and Carnival the PB&J's come on toast, not bread.

[daniella1279]

jam82

 

thanks for the info on the pb&j sandwiches....I didn't know that. that is strange...I don't think my son will eat it that way.

[jam82]

My son might eat it that way, but if it comes from room service, it usually arrived on 'cold' toast which was a deal breaker for him. They will make it on bread if you can make them understand that's the way you want it. That's why we stick to pizza. It's consistent. Of course Carnival doesn't do pizza via room service, but running up to the pizza place isn't that big of deal.

 

P.S. Even though I put down he was a vegetarian on the form, when we sent him to the camp meal, they served chicken nuggets to him and then they told me he didn't eat much. ( Really? :-))

[wcurry66]

we're doing our first family cruise on the Pride, either the cruise immediately following yours or the next. As for clothes, at least 2 days will be chilly, so don't forget a sweatshirt/jeans.

 

there's a copy of the MDR kid's menu here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1140261

[crusinmama06]

You sound like you have a child like mine. :D

 

I go into every cruise with a mountain of PATIENCE. Just be prepared to be flexible and maybe -- like I did one night--had to have my formal night dinner in my cabin with my youngest because she was overstimulated at Camp Carnival.

 

It might not be the same cruise that you had when it was adults only but as long as you go into it understanding that it will be a different type of cruise, then you will be fine.

 

The menu -- that is exactly whats on the kids menu so he will be fine in that regard.