Cruising with Babies.....Any tips?

[SHE'SACRUISER]

Does anyone know if Carnival does anything special for babies. We will be traveling with our daughter and her family ( including a 10 month old baby) in March. They have booked a stateroom that sleeps 5 but will Carnival provide a cot or should they bring their own? How about food options? Has anyone any tips for cruising with babies? Although we are all experienced cruisers this is the first time we have cruised with a baby.

[Lerin]

Yes, they have cribs provided. I'm told they also rent strollers.

 

There are tons of foods that a 10 month old can eat(rice, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, berries, cereals, yogurt, beans, breads, pastas...), though they may want to bring some crackers or purees if their child is a very picky eater or needs snacks in ports. Also they'll want to bring their own bottles or sippy cups. A few toys, dolls or books as well.

 

Cruising with a baby is great fun. Different from without of course, but a very enjoyable family vacation.

 

Check out the family board for a wealth of information.

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

[sailingwithfriends]

We sailed with our 9 month old grandson a couple of years ago. One thing that really was helpful was a blow up bathtub. It is like a small wading pool. We found it at a Baby Superstore. Just put the tub in the shower floor. Another thing was to have an umbrella stroller. We took him all over the ship in it. A nightlight is needed if he will sleep in an inside cabin. Lots of baby sunscreen. If possible, have everyone in your group pack extra diapers in their luggage. You do not want to have to purchase diapers on the ship. They are very expensive. We also bought disposable paper bibs for all the meals. It is much easier to just throw them away. If you plan to go to a beach, take a blow up baby inner tube. Hope you have a great time.

[sailingwithfriends]

I thought of another thing. If your grandchild is still on formula, I recommend purchasing ready made formula. They have the type where you just screw on a nipple. You will also need to take dish soap to wash up the nipples (or bottles if you bring your own.)

[Tapi]

We've been cruising with infants and toddlers since 2010, when we took our (then) 12 month old son on a 5 night cruise on the Fascination. He has now complete 4 cruises, including a cruise to Alaska on Holland America (which was also our 15 month old daughter's first cruise) :D

 

As someone mentioned above, cruising with infants and toddler is a blessing, but you need to go with VERY realistic expectations about what you can expect. When we took the Fascination in 2010, we did so as an experiment. We just didn't know how our son would react to cruising so we chose this short cruise, out of our closest "drive to" port, and stopping at 2 easy ports of call that didn't require tenders or shore excursions to sightsee (Key West and Nassau). Also, cruising close to the US coast line and to two ports with airline service gave us an added peace of mind in case our infant got sick (1st time parents at the time :o)

 

I would be lying if I said that we didn't have our moments of "what have we done???" or "I think we'll need to get off the ship and fly home. This is crazy". But we learned from our rookie mistakes and adjusted accordingly on subsequent cruises.

 

In a nutshell:

 

• pack lightly
  
• leave the big stroller at home. An umbrella stroller will be just fine.
  
• yes, the cruise line provides a crib
  
• Carnival doesn't do ANYTHING special for babies, you're pretty much on your own.
  

 

The most important thing that we have learned from our cruises with infants is that some cruise lines are NOT the right choice for infants. Unfortunately, Carnival is one of those. While Carnival offers absolutely NOTHING for infants, other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Disney offer an absolutely amazing program for infants as young as 6 months of age. NCL and Celebrity offer an array of things for infants and toddlers as well, although not as comprehensive as Royal or Disney. Our second cruise with an infant was aboard the Allure of the Seas. The difference between Carnival and Royal was like night and day.

 

The Royal Babies and Toddlers program was absolutely WONDERFUL! They have a dedicated nursery available all day long, beginning at 8:00am and ending at midnight. In addition, they had a free play area where parents can watch their kids play. There are also activities sponsored by Fisher Price and Crayola where infants can participate with or without their parents present. Also (and this is a BIG one), Carnival does NOT allow babies in pools. On Royal, there's a dedicated Baby H20 Zone, with temperature controlled and specially treated water, as well as separately filtrated pools and splash areas. This allows babies in diapers to enjoy their time in the water. Toddler sized pool loungers are arranged around the Baby H20 Zone as well. Finally, there's a dedicated Fisher Price in-cabin TV channel, where infants and toddlers can watch age appropriate cartoons 24 hours a day. This channel proved to be a blessing when we'd go back to the cabin and our son would still be a bit restless.

 

So, if I knew then what I know now, I would've avoided Carnival until our kids turned 2. But nonetheless, I'm VERY glad that we introduced our kids to cruising at such a young age. :)

Edited January 4, 2014 by Tapi

[Memaw 114]

Purchase insurance ! Babies can get sick in a very short time and if they are not able to handle the illness, they will want to 'ship' them off quickly.

[Muumuu]

Carnival has nothing on board for infants. No baby food. No diapers. No formula.

However, if your child eats regular food they will grill or steam food. Also for warm milk at bedtime the coffee bar will steam up some milk for you but it closes at 9pm.

We did fine with granddaughter when she was six months and again at 18 months.

We brought our pack and play.

There is a lot of info on the family boards.

Enjoy

[bearette]

Check out the family boards as they have a lot of helpful tips and tricks.

 

I have twins and their first cruise was on Carnival at 9 months. While they do not have a lot of things geared toward babies if you are booked and it is too late you can still have an enjoyable time. They will not make up baby food for you ( i asked). They will only bring mashed potatoes. Of course you can get times they already have as well such as chicken, vegetable etc... They will not puree it for you. You would have to mash it up on your own. Mine were mostly on breast milk at the time so I brought my own baby cereal and spoons and just used them. At 12 months when they ate more foods I took jars with me ( but that was on rCCL so I only used them in port as they were happy to puree food for us.)

 

They have cribs and I recommend using them as they are smaller then traditional ones so they fit better in the room. If worried you can bring your own sheet, but I found them fine.

 

Take a few toys, but they will find their own entertainment.

 

The umbrella strollers and a back pack work best as a diaper bag ( so you can keep your hands free). The larger strollers will fit, But storage in your room is harder.

 

If you want/ need a fridge in your room- ask. The ones they have are "coolers" so if the temperature isn't right for keeping milk etc request one or demand a cooler fridge.

 

Get you child used to room temperature milk so you don't have to find a place to get it warmed. Also on the same note, take ziplock baggies to keep ice so you can keep items ( like milk) cool in 90 degree temperatures. If they will drink milk cold even better.

 

Diapers- there will not be a changing room anywhere on the ship. It was usually easier to go back to my room to change them. The best place to dispose of diapers was in the trash cans in the bathrooms, but in my room i didn't want a smelly diaper so i would put them in the can near the elevators. Also utilize the deodorizer bags ( at target and baby stores) to hold onto diapers and other trash when a good place isn't available on shore. They also keep the smell out like a diaper genie. Take a changing mat because sometimes the floor somewhere will be your only option. And keep hand sanitizer with you and lots of wipes for this same purpose.

 

 

Take half the stuff out you pack for your child out as my first trip with them i way over packed! Though i do second bringing extra diapers. This is a time when over packing is ok.

 

Have fun. My kids were the talk of the ship and you will have a great time!

[Hatch54]

We cruised on the conquest with our daughter who was 13 months at the time last January and she did fine. We had my parents along with us in a seperate cabin and we both requested a crib and she spent some nights with them which was nice so we each could have nights out. I would reccomend bringing your own pack and play over the provided crib if possible because it was one of the old school cribs with the metal bars. We had no issues but were worried about her pulling herself up and falling back against the bars, my mom even requested extra towels and padded up the inside of the one in their cabin.

[SHE'SACRUISER]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Our daughter is a very easy going mum and takes everything in her stride and I am sure she and the baby will be fine. This holiday is a last fling before her maternity leave ends so we hope everyone has a great time.

[Quueen124]

Hello. We cruised on the Spirit in Aug of 2010, the day dd turned one. She was a very fussy eater and came to adult food later then others. After the first evening we asked to speak to the maitre d in the mdr in the morning. We were directed to someone else. This woman would take an order for what we wanted for dinner for dd, have it puréed or prepared and delivered to our room before dinner in evening. We would transfer it to small child sized dishes with lids that we brought & would take it to the mdr with us. During dinner she would come over and we would place our order for the following evening. She was more than happy to purée or steam anything we requested. Only bad thing was they sent adult sized portions, even after told it was for a toddler, so some food was wasted. Good luck! Happy cruising!

[SteelerCruiser]

we have been cruising with my Son since he was 2......he is now 8......one of the best things we ever would take was one of those Umbrella Style strollers. Great for use in Ports as well as moving about the ship. Plus if he was sleepy then he would be able to sit and rest while we went about our day.

 

Go with the flow!!!

[webzila]

Our first cruise was on Disney with then a 9 month old. It was great since there is babysitting and activities for kids all ages. In 2 weeks we are going on Carnival with our baby again who is now 20 month old and I am kind of nervous since Carnival doesn't provide anything but cribs.

 

I am not worried about supplies, etc...Problem is that they have no baby sitting. Thats the biggest problem.

 

I don't understand why Carnival doesn't offer anything for kids younger than 2 while their competitors do. They are supposed to be a family friendly line...