Just Back from Liberty of the Seas with 19 month old Son

[courteliz24]

Just got back from Liberty of the Seas with our 19 month old son.. Wanted to post a summary or the trip with our toddler. First, Royal Caribbean is a great family cruise line. We have sailed Princess and Celebrity before and you can really tell that RCCL works to win over the kids as well as parents. We chose RCCL for this trip since our son is not yet potty trained and I knew the LOS had the baby splash pool our son could use.

The baby splash area was nice. It worked pretty well for my son, though I am glad we got to take him to the beach on port days. The entire H20 zone is huge and does have a few other areas were its only a few inches of water. I wish our son was allowed in the those areas too. It would have been more fun. They do have people patrolling the H2O zone to make sure babies in diapers don’t go into areas not allowed. I think they are also there to control the other kids running around as well. One person was particularly lax because I saw lots of kids wearing diapers in areas they shouldn’t have been. (mostly non-american cruisers.)However, over all the monitors did control it. There was a few instances of bigger kids jumping in the baby splash areas. If someone from RCCL saw it, they told them to get out. But, if no one saw it, they would keep running in and out. One thing I suggest about the splash zone is to bring some toys. I brought my son’s shovel and bucket. He liked using that in the water. Any little boats, balls, etc are also good for this area.

We booked a balcony state room and had a pack-n-play for our room. I’m glad we had the balcony because when my son napped or at night we could sit out on it. There is no way our son could open the balcony door. I had trouble opening the darn think. My son is big for his age too. He is the size of a 2.5 year old. Even outside he was well below the top of the rail and its all glass too. There are not bars they can fit thru or dangle over. My son did okay in the pack-n-play. Like I said, he is big for his age and really doesn’t fit too well. The two nights he did have trouble and woke up, we put him in our bid, which was plenty big. Until of course he turned sideways like toddlers always do J The room was cramped at times but it was okay as we tried to spend minimal time in there.

RCCL has the Royal Babies and Tots program for kids under 3. We went to many of the sessions offered and Julianna who ran most of them was awesome. She learned all the kids names and was really hands on. Best one was Power Wheels. Two nights they closed the basketball court and had electric cars and bikes for the kids to drive. My son loved this. Liberty is in dry dock this week. Next week, they will be back cruising and the nursery will be open. Julianna will be working in it and I asked for some info. They will have a staff of 3. The number of kids permitted each day will be based on sign-ups and the kid’s ages. The staffing ratio is like day care. If its all small kids under 1 year, with a staff of 3 only 6 babies are allowed. But, older kids like my son, one staff can take care of 6 toddlers. They are still determining hours. The other staff member told me on the Allure the nursery is open 8 AM to Midnight. I think it will be a great option for a few hours to drop your little off for some mommy and daddy time. I’m not sure how much the Royal Babies and Tots program will be modified now that they have the nursery on board.

We did use in-room babysitting 3 nights. Based on the advice I read on this site, I went to guest relations as soon as got onboard and requested my nights. I got all 3. They send 2 sitters to your room. You pay $12 and hour for only one sitter, RCCL pays the other one. You have to pay in cash to the sitters before they leave. You can give extra money if you want. The first two nights my son was awake. The girls were really nice and my son was at ease right away. They put him to bed and he slept fine for them. The last night my son was already asleep with the sitters showed up. They did bring toys with them too but he never played with them since he had his own stuff. My son is in daycare full time though and used to female caregivers. If your child has stranger anxiety, I suggest you reserve the sitters for after your child’s asleep. They do ask where you will be in case of an emergency but other than that, they seem capable to handle it.

As far as packing lists, I’ll tell you what we brought. We had my son’s lovies – his favorite stuffed animals and his blankets from his crib at home. I brought coloring books and crayons. His night time books he reads before bed. A few other new books I bought before we left. Matchbox cars and a small track we could take apart easily. The life saver was the portable DVD player. We could play his favorite cartoons from home. He mostly watched this in the cabin when we were getting ready for dinner, breakfast, etc. I did back Tylenol, Motrin, thermometer, etc just in case. I brought my own diapers, don’t forget swim diapers too. I did bring bags to put dirty diapers in as well. I also brought a sponge and small container of soap to clean sippy cups each night. I have a sit-n-stroll which is a combination car seat/stroller. This is what we used on the plane, around the ship and in port.

Our son is on table food and the buffet and pizzeria on LOS were fine for him. We could always find something for him to eat. At breakfast we would walk out with bananas and yogurt for later in the day and store in our fridge. I did buy a water and juice package in advance for our room. We didn’t use all of it. We still had bottled water left over and 2 small bottles of apple juice. We only took our son to the main dining room one night. I saw lots of other small children in there during the week. Our son did okay. They do have the children’s menu in there. I’m glad we stuck to the buffet with him most of the week. It was just easier. My parents traveled with us and we took turns watching him and going to dinner. 2 nights we had sitters, we all went to dinner together.

Only two things I was disappointed with RCCL for was that the baby splash zone was only a small section and that our son could not play in the Aquanots room even if I was with him. The 3 to 5 year old day program has a nice room with slides and a boat, Legos and computers. I asked one day if he could play if I was in there with him but they said “no”. No parents are allowed in there. They did have an area set up everyday from 9 AM to 6 PM with baby toys in another part of the ship. But, the toys were limited and my son was bored quickly. Only a few negatives and I can get over it.

We did get to see the first every Dreamworks parade on LOS. When they get out of dry dock this week, they will have movies under the stars and the Dreamworks parade will be on every cruise.

Overall, RCCL and LOS was a great cruise for our son. We look forward to going back again.

[angielane]

Thank you for this! Sounds like you had a great trip!

 

A question: How long were you able to book the babysitters? Was it just two hours? Or were they able to stay a little bit longer? Sounds like it was always at night? But I assume that you could book during the day if you wanted?

[courteliz24]

We booked at night from 8 PM to 11 PM. I can't remember if there is a time limit or not but we were able to get at least 3 hours.

 

You can request during the daytime, but I think its harder to find sitters then. The girls we had actually worked in facilities management. They do the babysitting on the side for extra money. Since most of them work during the day hours, I think its harder to find sitters but they may be available.

[angielane]

Ah, that makes sense! Thank you!

 

another question: did you bring your own pack in play crib sheet? Do you wish you would've if not? I'm contemplating buying and bringing one for our upcoming cruise.

[courteliz24]

I didn't bring a crib sheet. I thought about it but just never threw it in. I asked for an extra blanket and they give you a regular bed sheet. I put the blanket down on the mat, and then wrapped the white sheet around it. This increased the padding a little.

You could easily do the same with a crib sheet from home.