Roya Caribbean & Babies

[Woodmnky]

I figured that I would reach out to the experts with my list of baby/RCI questions.

 

Does Royal have pack & plays or cribs?

 

I know that the official policy for RCI is no food or drink may be brought on board, however, will they make exception for babyfood, juice & water for DS? Will they puree any foods for him should we ask?

 

Do we need to make any baby requests ahead of time?

 

Now to the subjective question. We will be staying in a Promenade Family Stateroom, which we were blessed to be able to book for our family of 3 cheaper than we could a balcony. There is a walk in closet in the room that looks big enough for a pack & play to fit in (picture linked below) - would I be a horrible mom if I put my son to sleep in the closet? He's used to sleeping in the dark and by himself, so that is not an issue.

 

Thanks for the input.

Marcia

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2174719460093946015fctjSV

[Camlott]

Does Royal have pack & plays or cribs?

Pack-n-plays

 

I know that the official policy for RCI is no food or drink may be brought on board, however, will they make exception for babyfood, juice & water for DS? Will they puree any foods for him should we ask?

This is one of those "your mileage may vary" areas. I will tell you our experience when we went in April. We brought juice pouches, jars of baby food, dry formula and a thermos with warm water to make a bottle while waiting in the terminal prior to boarding.

 

They pulled us aside because of the thermos and the juice. But, we had split the juice pouches into several of our carry on bags and they only asked us to discard them from one of our bags. And an EXTREMELY apologetic female security guard escorted my wife to the bathroom to discard our warm water from the thermos. She said it would be ok for us to immediately refill it in the bathroom but she couldn't let us keep what we had brought. Unfortunately there was only cold water in the bathroom :(.

 

They don't care about food items at all, they are strictly looking for beverages. Our checked luggage had a small number of juice as well and made it just fine.

Do we need to make any baby requests ahead of time?

Not unless you have some special needs. Check your reservation, they automatically listed our room with a "crib" based on our youngest daughter's age.

 

Now to the subjective question. We will be staying in a Promenade Family Stateroom, which we were blessed to be able to book for our family of 3 cheaper than we could a balcony. There is a walk in closet in the room that looks big enough for a pack & play to fit in (picture linked below) - would I be a horrible mom if I put my son to sleep in the closet? He's used to sleeping in the dark and by himself, so that is not an issue.

Many people book Junior Suites on RCI for this very reason (and for a bath tub with little ones)!!! You can bet we would have put the pack-n-play in the closet if it had been an option. That being said, there is a curtain in the family promenade rooms that can be pulled across making it two separate rooms (see RCI's website) but I believe you room will have a small separate room with a set of bunk beds in it as an option too at least on the freedom class ships there are!

 

Thanks for the input.

Marcia

[Woodmnky]

They pulled us aside because of the thermos and the juice. But, we had split the juice pouches into several of our carry on bags and they only asked us to discard them from one of our bags. And an EXTREMELY apologetic female security guard escorted my wife to the bathroom to discard our warm water from the thermos. She said it would be ok for us to immediately refill it in the bathroom but she couldn't let us keep what we had brought. Unfortunately there was only cold water in the bathroom :(.

All I can say is that sucks. I had better luck getting liquids on a plane in Feb.

I guess I'd better mix up a bottle for DS before going through security and hope it doesn't take too long to get on board.

Also frustrating that although little ones will not be eating much if all of RCI's food, that RCI would be so picky about bringing a little juice on board.

[Camlott]

They pulled us aside because of the thermos and the juice. But, we had split the juice pouches into several of our carry on bags and they only asked us to discard them from one of our bags. And an EXTREMELY apologetic female security guard escorted my wife to the bathroom to discard our warm water from the thermos. She said it would be ok for us to immediately refill it in the bathroom but she couldn't let us keep what we had brought. Unfortunately there was only cold water in the bathroom :(.

All I can say is that sucks. I had better luck getting liquids on a plane in Feb.

I guess I'd better mix up a bottle for DS before going through security and hope it doesn't take too long to get on board.

Also frustrating that although little ones will not be eating much if all of RCI's food, that RCI would be so picky about bringing a little juice on board.

 

I would definitely say mix a bottle before and give it to him prior to the metal detectors.

 

Our waiting time took longer than normal, we later found out that a crew member on the ship had a heart attack just prior to them opening the ship for boarding. Needless to say, that obviously took priority over letting passengers onboard before noon!

 

All the dockside staff clearly didn't care for the new push to strictly enforce the rules. They seemed just as annoyed about it as the passengers, so we didn't give them a hard time and knew going in that it was a strong possibility that all of it could be confiscated.

 

They will log it in for you and give you your things back at the end of the cruise if you would like (so long as it is unopened, opened beverages go in trash). I just laughed when they wanted me to fill out all our information and wait in line 5-10 minutes if we wished to have two juice pouches returned. Needless to say, I told them to trash them!!!! Wasn't worth my time!!!!!!!!!

[ChrisandJen]

We put our 10 month old in the pack-n-play in the closet and it worked out really well. It was like having an extra room. We could watch tv quietly and leave the closet door opened a few inches so it was nice and dark for him. It worked out perfect, and we just left it up all day and it was out of the way.

[sherry7]

They have Pack & Plays, but be sure to request them ahead of time, especially if it's a time of year that a lot of children on going to be onboard (holidays, summer, etc). They use a regular flat sheet to make them up, which can be a SIDS hazard for a baby. So, bring a couple of your own fitted P n' P sheets if you prefer that. Also, being a small blanket, since all RCCL has are the regular sized ones.

 

We cruised last December, and our daughter was 8.5 months old at the time. We brought 2 cases of bottled water, and just put cruise line luggage tags on them. I brought a small amount of jarred baby food as well. A few weeks beforehand, I emailed RCCL to request pureed food at dinner time. (I think it was the special needs department?) Anyway, our head waiter would come each night and show me the following nights dinner menu. I would pick what I wanted, and they would have it pureed for the following night. Keep in mind, that it's the regular food off the menu, complete with the same spices and seasonings. So, if your baby is used to a typical bland diet, he/she may not eat it or react well to it. During the course of the cruise, my daughter ate sirloin steak, prime rib, lamb, duck, chicken, fish, etc all pureed with vegetables.

 

For breakfast and lunch, we typically ate at the Windjammer. I was always able to find her something like cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, Cheerios, etc for those meals. During breakfast, you'll see the little boxes of Cheerios. I always grabbed an extra one to keep in the diaper bag during the day.

 

[newbiecruiser09]

We used a pack n play in a walk in closet for our daughter (not on a cruise-at a condo) when she was about a year or so old. The only thing to keep in mind is to not close the door--there is usually no ventilation in a closet so be careful.

[TravelGal68508]

They pulled us aside because of the thermos and the juice. But, we had split the juice pouches into several of our carry on bags and they only asked us to discard them from one of our bags. And an EXTREMELY apologetic female security guard escorted my wife to the bathroom to discard our warm water from the thermos. She said it would be ok for us to immediately refill it in the bathroom but she couldn't let us keep what we had brought. Unfortunately there was only cold water in the bathroom :(.

All I can say is that sucks. I had better luck getting liquids on a plane in Feb.

I guess I'd better mix up a bottle for DS before going through security and hope it doesn't take too long to get on board.

Also frustrating that although little ones will not be eating much if all of RCI's food, that RCI would be so picky about bringing a little juice on board.

 

The issue with the warm water is that it was not in original, sealed container...you can take some pre-packaged liquid formula as long as original container's seal is still in-tact. They are trying to prevent "smuggling" of alcohol, so any open container without a safety-seal is suspect. And other liquids like juice or water or sodas can be packed in your checked luggage. Again, they might pull your bag for screening if it looks like a bottle of booze...but my bag was screened and they let me keep my 2 liter bottle of Sprite, but removed a bottle of Bacardi. (sorry, Mom)

[Woodmnky]

The issue with the warm water is that it was not in original, sealed container...you can take some pre-packaged liquid formula as long as original container's seal is still in-tact. They are trying to prevent "smuggling" of alcohol, so any open container without a safety-seal is suspect. And other liquids like juice or water or sodas can be packed in your checked luggage. Again, they might pull your bag for screening if it looks like a bottle of booze...but my bag was screened and they let me keep my 2 liter bottle of Sprite, but removed a bottle of Bacardi. (sorry, Mom)

I was thinking the same thing. DS will not drink the pre-mixed ready to eat formula, but does drink his formula cold or room temp so I will probably bring one bottle of formula that is mixed up already for easy access to feeding and then another with just powder and an unopened bottle of water.

I called RCI and was told that I would not be allowed to bring any liquids (ie juice, pedialyte, or water) other than formula on board; however, I emailed customer service and asked the same question and specifically included juice, pedialyte and water in the email and was assured that I would be allowed to board with all of this. For what it's worth, I plan on printing the email and including it in the suitcase in which I will pack all of this as well as bringing another copy onboard with me.

[maui_zaui]

We booked a junior suite (Mariner of the Seas) which was supposed to have a huge closet, but in reality, it was too small for the pack n play. Fortunately, we brought velcro tape, so we used a sheet and made a little area for her. It was great and she slept better than she ever did at home.