First Family Cruise (Oasis Eastern) with Baby!

[LissyTx]

First Family Cruise (Oasis Eastern) with Baby!

 

Howdy! We just returned from the 5/31 sailing on the Oasis, Eastern route. Cruising with a baby was fun albeit still work. There’s not as much free time as there normally is. I’m not complaining, but just prefacing that I am attempting a review that’s longer than my previous Freedom review, but much shorter than the Live Reviews / reviews with docs uploaded etc. To be honest, our little one crinkled the papers every other day so even keeping the Compasses went out the window.

 

The cast: Myself (Melissa), my husband – both early 30s, our daughter Katie who was 7.5 months at time of sailing, and my husband’s parents aka the grandparents from here on out.

 

Staterooms:

Ours: Boardwalk Balcony 10329, the very last one on the Port side

Grandparents: Oceanview Balcony 8298, port side, halfway aft, but not too far from the elevators

 

And perhaps a first to CC, cruising from the baby’s perspective! It make take several days to get that up as Hubby has a ton of clips to go through, but we used a Go Pro video camera attached to her stroller to capture the ship from her perspective and her reactions.

 

Hope you enjoy the review, but please be patient as I write this during her naps when I’m not doing other must do items around the house.

 

Here's a recent picture of my husband, daughter and I:

 

 

Melissa

[LissyTx]

PS - Any tips for posting pictures that are larger than thumbnails and or how to post videos?

 

Thanks!

[LissyTx]

My hubby and I first cruised in Jan 2012 and fell in love with this type of vacation. We were on a two a year track until we got pregnant. ;-) We booked this cruise at the beginning of Feb in 2013 – so quite the anticipation – especially as we cancelled our cruise planned for Dec 2014 to not leave a newborn at home. We thought the last boardwalk balcony would provide great views of the ocean, boardwalk, and aqua theater. (Note: It did, except not unless you’re on the balcony. More to come on the cabin.) We also booked this cruise to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We debated whether to make this a couples trip and ask the grandparents to keep our daughter, to bring her with (and use the nursery some) or to bring both our daughter and the grandparents. We ended up going with option 3. While it was not the same type of vacation our previous cruises were, it was a very neat experience to watch our daughter experience things for the first time.

 

I read reviews on both the Oasis and family cruising to try to be as prepared as possible. Some of the ones I specifically remember were by BionicMan, HostFaith, CaneGuy, and Transam84. Thanks for all the helpful information!

 

Considering how long I like to book cruises in advance, I was quite disappointed with the pricing by the time we A) invited the grandparents to come with and B) they decided for sure to go. When we originally booked their cruise, we were going to have to pay close to $1600 pp for an oceanview balcony. However much to my surprise and delight, about a week before final payment prices on their class of cabin came down drastically so I called Royal and we saved $1100! :-D

 

Because we were travelling with a baby, I did not want to feel pressured or have to rush to make boarding so we flew in on Friday afternoon. As such I was looking for a hotel that would let us book 4 adults + 1 baby in 1 room AND have nearby shopping to pickup last minute things we’d forgotten.

 

NEXT UP: Flying with a “Lap Child” / Tips for flying with a baby and a review of our Pre-Cruise Hotel

[ravenjls]

Hubby and I, my daughter, her hubby and our 8 month grandson will be going on the Oasis in August. I cant wait to see how you made out with a baby on board! Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

[LissyTx]

Hubby and I, my daughter, her hubby and our 8 month grandson will be going on the Oasis in August. I cant wait to see how you made out with a baby on board! Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

 

Ravenjls - Thanks for your post! I will be sure to include as much info as possible in terms of what worked for us and any tips. :)

 

Cruising with a baby was different (still some work obviously - changing diapers, washing bottles at night) however, it was so nice to spend so much time with her without the distraction of work, cooking, grocery shopping, etc.

 

Please don't hesitate to ask if there are any specific questions you have.

[LissyTx]

Choosing to Fly with a Lap Child

 

I realize it might be somewhat controversial to fly with a lap child versus booking a seat to be able to utilize a car seat. However, I’d spoken with a few friends who’d flown with babies – and those that did book a seat ended up holding their baby for half to two-thirds of the flight. So it really came down to if we’re going to hold her for at least half the flight or more, and I’ve flown more than 50 times and never encountered turbulence where anyone was thrown into the ceiling, we just didn’t see paying $350 for her seat which she was likely not going to be sitting in in the unlikely event we encountered severe turbulence. I don't take her safety lightly, I just weighed the risk and didn't think it very likely. (If I was really risk averse I wouldn't have taken a 7 month old cruising. ;) )

 

TIPS for flying with a Baby:

 

AIRPORT SECURITY SCREENING:

The TSA Website is somewhat vague and says you can bring a reasonable amount of formula/milk for the child. Reasonable is not defined. We did not bring water bottles as we didn’t want them to think it was for us. So we had water pre-measured / poured into 6 of her bottles and the powered formula for each bottle in two of the portable formula containers. We knew we only needed about 3 to ensure we had enough to get us to the hotel (where we’d either have our checked luggage or be able to get to the store) but I wanted plenty of extra in case we were delayed. This worked perfectly. They did swab my hands (I guess to make sure the powder was really formula or at least not something else) and they stuck each of her bottles one by one in a machine that scanned the bottle. They also had me carry her through the x-ray machine holding her out in front of me with my arms fully extended. Overall besides getting all your stuff repacked, this was fairly easy.

You’re likely familiar with these, but they have been so helpful for being on the go:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parent-s-Choice-Powdered-Formula-Dispenser/20976700

 

STROLLERS AND CAR SEATS:

At least on American Airlines - One of the few things that is still free! You can check these (and they don’t count towards your checked baggage allowance. If your stroller weighs more than 20 pounds, you must check it at the ticket counter. We had about 5 hours to kill in the FLL airport on the return trip, so we knew having our stroller until we boarded was a must. We also did not want to take our full size travel system on the ship as we were afraid it might be difficult to traverse tight spaces. We found a sort of deluxe umbrella stroller that worked out wonderfully. In fact, I wish I’d had this all along. It is lighter (around 12 pounds) and takes up about 40% less space when folded up. It surprisingly had decent storage underneath the seat, and the seat reclines if your baby/toddler is sleeping.

The stroller: http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/chicco-reg-liteway-stroller-in-romantic/1017504371?categoryId=30540 This cost around $140. They have a $180 version that adapts to hold the Chicco key fit car seat. We ended up not getting this one as we expect her to outgrow her car seat (the Chicco KeyFit 30) in the next 3 months.

We also got these bags which were great to keep her car seat and stroller from getting dirty (the bags came out with several black marks, so very glad we did this.)

http://www.amazon.com/Childress-Gate-Check-Bag-Seats/dp/B000RRD7UG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402373896&sr=8-1&keywords=gate+check+bag

 

Short story is that we checked her car seat at the ticket counter (to avoid lugging through the airport) and her stroller at the gate.

 

ACTUAL FLIGHT WITH BABY:

Both friends and our Pediatrician suggested we feed Katie during takeoff to make sure she was sucking to help her ears pop. This worked wonderfully on the return trip, however on the flight to FLL I misjudged how long it would take us to take off (didn’t know we were plane # 5!) and she finished the bottle before takeoff. We had also gotten something called Sweet Ease from her doctor (cannot find it online or in stores – at least we couldn’t) which is a sugar water solution. Two dips of her pacifier in this and she was sucking away and crisis averted! We had learned of its magic like powers when she had to have a short procedure at the DR’s office and they used it to calm her.

We were very lucky as she soon fell asleep and slept 80% of the flights both ways! (I think having a clean diaper, having just eaten, and the lulling noise/vibration of the plane was just the right combo for a nap.) I had also packed aka hidden two of her favorite toys a few days before we flew to ensure she was excited to see them on the flight. ;) Lastly, I did NOT want to change her diaper on the plane, so we changed her in the airport right before we boarded. I did (gag) use the airport changing table – although it did look clean AND I used these wonderful disposable changing pads.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12729257&cp=&parentPage=search

If searching by product name, “Babies R Us Disposable Multi Use Pads”. At FLL the bathroom did not look quite as clean, so I used one of these disposable pads to line her stroller with and changed her in a corner.

[LissyTx]

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport North Cruise Port.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Shuttle to cruise port no longer included. We were charged $30 for this shuttle.

 

Overall I would still recommend the hotel. We had 4 adults and 1 baby and many hotels wouldn't allow you to book this many in 1 room at least through online sites. The room with taxes, shuttle and everything came to $217. Hotel included free shuttle from airport, free wi-fi and free breakfast.

 

Positives: Room was VERY clean with Comfortable beds. Nice selection of both hot and cold at breakfast (eggs, bacon, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, make your own waffles, etc.) There is a grocery store (Winn Dixie) right across the street (small street, not main road) for anything you've forgotten. It's literally a 3-4 minute walk.

 

Negatives: The area is not the nicest area. We didn't feel unsafe, but I would not have walked to the grocery store, McDonalds, etc without my husband with me. Nor would I let him do so - we always went in a group. Not being in a touristy area, there are no ship views/ nice views, etc.

 

Things nearby: McDonalds Subway Wendy's Supermarket - Winn Dixie Overall: I would stay here again, but if a smaller group, I might book one of the more touristy areas/hotels. However, quick shuttle pickup to hotel, and plentiful shuttles to cruise port in morning.

 

UP NEXT: Embarkation and lunch!

[LissyTx]

We arrived at Port Everglades and terminal 18 specifically around 11am. Even though the grandparents were on a different deck than ours, they allowed them to check in with us (which was great as we wanted everyone setup to my credit card). (Aren’t I nice?! ;) )

 

 

 

We did get misdirected to the children’s table to get an armband for my daughter (who was 7.5 months) however the children’s table indicated those bands (which help them reunite kids with parents in case of emergency) are for kids ages 3+.

 

We then were directed to the Gold seating area (and had the grandparents come with – shhh!) and proceeded to wait until 11:45 before they started boarding Suites. We wanted grandparents to board with us as I worried about them finding their way to us/lunch since we had a reservation and needed to be snappy! They finally (well seemed like finally since we sat for 45 minutes) called us to board just about 12:10. Unfortunately we boarded just in front of the forward elevators of the ship on deck 5 – so not too exciting a view.

 

We had 2 errands to quickly run before our 12:30 lunch reservation at Giovanni’s. 1st myself and Grandma went to the Nursery (Deck 14, Forward) to check out a bag of toys. DH and Grandpa went to the Card Room (Deck 14, Aft) to get two cell phones as part of the Royal Connect program. If you want the ship’s cell phones, GO EARLY! My husband had to wait in line for 30 minutes and got the last two phones.

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who recommended Giovanni’s for lunch. :) After being in crowds the past two hours (at the hotel, checking luggage with porters, and waiting to board) we were glad to have lunch in a CALM place free of a line – and somewhere we could actually sit down. We did not go up to the Windjammer, but the line OUTSIDE of the Park Café was probably 30 deep. Lunch at Giovanni’s was fantastic it was my favorite meal of the trip. Their Potato Soup (which was soup of the day) was a pleasant surprise – I stole my husband’s as I had skipped hearing this part of the menu when I took Katie for a diaper change. I had the lasagna which was fantastic, Grandpa had the 8 ounces grilled strip loin steak which he said was very tender and fantastic (which says a lot, he is a steak snob / connoisseur), DH had the Veal Meatballs (good not great) and I forgot to write down what Grandma had.

 

 

ROYAL CONNECT PHONES: In our experience, not worth it - we wouldn't do it again. They were $30 each and either DH or Grandpa often forgot their phone in the room making the other one useless.

 

CHANGING A DIAPER ON THE SHIP:

Good luck finding a changing table in public bathrooms. Of the 5 I visited, none had them. Perhaps had I thought of going up to Adventure Ocean / the Nursery I would have found one. I asked 3 different staff members who were standing around directing guests and none knew where one was. If you know, please share! My suggestion: If cabins are not open yet, change the diaper in your stroller with it laid flat using one of the disposable changing pads.

 

UP NEXT: Stateroom Review

[LissyTx]

Our Stateroom, Boardwalk Balcony 10329

Overall I liked the room, loved our stateroom attendant, but missed the Oceanview Stateroom. Our room had great views from the balcony. From inside the room, on the bed (positioned closest to the balcony) you could only see the balconies across.

 

Stateroom Attendant / Service:

Our stateroom attendant, Gede, was the best attendant we’ve ever had. He is probably one of the friendliest crew members I’ve ever met. Not only did I give him a WOW Card (not sure how much that helps them) but I raved about him in the online survey, I hope he gets some sort of recognition / reward – or least my feedback contributes to one. Not only did he clean the room which I’d expect, but he helped fold Katie’s clothes (we didn’t ask, just came back to find them folded), organized her toys, etc. He helped keep our room with a baby from looking like a tornado hit it! Additionally, whenever I was carrying Katie, he would always open our stateroom door for me. He also recognized our anniversary which was very sweet – he put a congratulations sign on the door and did the love birds towel animals. Lastly, every single time we came down the hall he greeted us happily and asked if we needed anything. He was truly amazing – Disney level of service.

 

 

Fitting a baby (and accessories) into the room:

I had worried about this but it actually worked out fine. We moved the small table under the desk and moved the couch all the way towards the closet which allowed us to put the Pack N Play beside the couch versus in front of it. The Pack N Play was originally in front of the couch, but that left a narrow walkway.

 

 

Pro’s of this stateroom:

You can view the Aqua theater shows (video hopefully coming soon) and any other activities held there from your balcony. You can also see the ocean or people watch the boardwalk from your balcony. It was nice to watch shows out there while the baby was sleeping.

View of Aqua Theater while still docked in FLL

 

 

Con’s of this stateroom:

• It was loud at times. Not so loud the baby couldn’t sleep, but if you’re a light sleeper this might bother you. Expect music etc until 11pm most nights.

• Location – it’s all the way aft so kind of a long walk to the elevators or stairs

• View – Personal preference but we really missed seeing the ocean from inside our room – our previous cruise was a promenade view on Mariner, so this just confirmed Ocean Balconies from here on out.

[Vanilla]

Melissa, great review so far! We are on board the Oasis in just 10 days (June 21) and we have the room that was above you - 11329. I have expressed the same concerns about the Ocean Balcony that you mentioned - hope I can see at least a little of the ocean from the balcony.

 

Anyway, keep up the good work - so far its very interesting!

[ravenjls]

Thank you so much for doing this review. Its hard to find info with a baby and we have already used some of your suggestions for our upcoming trip and we are only on day 1!!!!

[LissyTx]

Melissa, great review so far! We are on board the Oasis in just 10 days (June 21) and we have the room that was above you - 11329. I have expressed the same concerns about the Ocean Balcony that you mentioned - hope I can see at least a little of the ocean from the balcony.

 

Anyway, keep up the good work - so far its very interesting!

 

Hi Vanilla - Thanks for reading! No worries, you can see a good amount of the ocean from your balcony - we just couldn't see any of it from inside our room. Probably because the deck has a divider at the end between you and the rock wall. We also liked that we could see how crowded or not crowded Johnny Rockets was at breakfast. :D

[LissyTx]

Thank you so much for doing this review. Its hard to find info with a baby and we have already used some of your suggestions for our upcoming trip and we are only on day 1!!!!

 

 

Ravenjls - Thank you so much for reading. Glad it's been useful!

[LissyTx]

Carseat: We had the grandparents store this in their room since we had the Pack N Play and Stroller in our room.

 

Babies less than 1 year: Babies normal vaccination schedule does not have them get the Measles (MMR) vaccine until 1 year old. However if you're flying or travelling internationally the CDC recommends you give this to your baby early. The earliest they can receive it is 6 months old. If I remember correctly, our Doc recommended getting this at least 4 weeks prior to travelling to ensure if he/she had any reaction (usually shows up around day 10-12) it happened well before travelling and for the vaccine to be fully effective before flying.

 

(Not looking for a vaccine debate, just sharing information from my Pediatrician and the CDC)

 

NEXT UP: That's it for today more tomorrow.... specifically MDR with a baby, and Nassau.

Edited June 11, 2014 by LissyTx

[mamabears]

Enjoying your review and suggestions. We're booked on cruise number 14 but haven't gone with a baby in a long time (ten year gap between my kids). So, I'm a bit nervous about it all. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Midacomida]

Subscribed and really looking forward to the rest of this review. We are sailing on Oasis with baby in October. Thank you for taking the time to post this.

[LissyTx]

MDR and a Baby

A few suggestions:

• Count the baby when telling them table size. Often times they asked if they could seat us at a table for 4 and the few times we said okay, her stroller always seemed to get in the way.

• Most nights we ended up using both the stroller and a high chair. (Napping in the Stroller, Active in the High Chair)

• I’ve not been too germophobic with Katie, however she likes to chew on everything… so we bought one of these stroller/shopping cart covers which was great. There are several makers of these, but we like the taggies version as the tags act like an extra toy!

http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/taggies-trade-tag-39-n-go-cart-cover-trade-in-pink-hoot-trade/1041277317?Keyword=taggies+cart+cover

 

• Katie loves Puffs, so these are a great distraction as it takes her quite a bit of effort/concentration to feed herself so it uses up a good 15 minutes of dinner. ;-)

• The MDR is willing to puree fruits/veggies to make you fresh baby food if you like. We declined just because with her food I didn’t want to take any risks and felt safer using Gerber. She’s also been a finicky eater and is still on Stage 1, so felt it needed to be a really fine puree for her to eat it.

 

Nassau / Baby Splash Zone

We had planned to go to Junkanoo Beach. We had everyone ready to go with towels in hand walking off the ship when it started to pour down rain. Now I know we were going to the beach and would be getting wet anyways, but didn’t think Katie would tolerate a 15 minute downpour on the way there. We turned around and since we were all wearing swimsuits already headed up to the pool deck. (I had read that Junkanoo beach was about a 15 minute walk through touristy areas and had seen from others’ pictures that it has good views of the ships in port.)

Picture from dock after rain had subsided:

 

Once the rain changed to a drizzle, we decided to try the Baby Splash Zone. We enjoyed it more than Katie. The water was slightly warm and appeared clean (no visible color difference or junk floating in the water.) We did decide to only use this pool with her first thing in the mornings before things got crowded (i.e. before 11am). I heard at one point that the baby pool is emptied frequently, but cannot confirm for sure. The pool requires you to use a swim diaper.

 

>>BABY TIPs:

1. Our Pediatrician suggested bathing Katie any days she was in chlorine. She said it didn’t have to be immediate but to just make sure to do it that day.

2. She also recommended finding a sunscreen that was PABA free. She indicated sunscreens with PABA are more likely to cause rashes in babies. I thought this would be easy but must have looked at 15 bottles before I found one with PABA free mentioned.

 

 

NEXT UP: Character Breakfast, Best Activities for Baby, and Feeding a Baby on the Ship

Edited June 12, 2014 by LissyTx

[LissyTx]

Enjoying your review and suggestions. We're booked on cruise number 14 but haven't gone with a baby in a long time (ten year gap between my kids). So, I'm a bit nervous about it all. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Subscribed and really looking forward to the rest of this review. We are sailing on Oasis with baby in October. Thank you for taking the time to post this.

 

 

Thank you for posting mamabears and Midacomida! Glad it's helpful. I was starting to worry I was doing a review for nobody since I put "baby" in the title I was afraid it turned people off.

[helen haywood]

I'm enjoying reading your review and I don't have any children! I enjoy reading about other people who plan in advance. Your daughter will love looking at this when she is older and seeing how she was the center of your attention!

[Trend]

On Rhapsody of the Seas they have told my son the 20 mth old could not use any pool unless toilet trained even with swim diapers.

[liberiben]

There is a baby changing station in the bathroom next to the Solarium entrance.

[bearette]

On Rhapsody of the Seas they have told my son the 20 mth old could not use any pool unless toilet trained even with swim diapers.

 

Hardly any ships have baby features. Only the newer ships have them as they are new additions, and very few amenities at that ( like changing tables). Freedom and Oasis class are the only RCCL ships that have them built in. The new Quantum should as well. Rhapsody has no such built in features like the baby splash pool.

 

 

 

As for the review: everyone told me I would stop traveling when I got pregnant with twins but as you have shown so far it is doable but different with a baby ( or two :D) This age is actually the easiest to travel, once they walk it becomes very difficult so I say plan another soon! My twins are two now and they have done three cruises, including two international trips to Europe. I say make Europe your next stop so you don't have to pay too much for her flight and before she walks on her own. ;0)

[LissyTx]

There is a baby changing station in the bathroom next to the Solarium entrance.

 

 

Thank you Lauren! :) We plan to cruise Allure next year so that is good to know. If anyone else mentions any, I'll compile a list.

[LissyTx]

Videos!!!

 

Here's the view before leaving FLL from our Boardwalk Balcony, 10329:

 

(Click the picture and it should load the video)

 

Edited June 13, 2014 by LissyTx

[LissyTx]

Well what I had originally planned for "NEXT UP" ended up getting side lined as we have finally started going through videos and figuring out how to edit them to make them shorter and the file size manageable. Yeah!!!

 

Let me know your thoughts, hopefully you'll enjoy. This process is a little time consuming, so I'll probably be adding videos in now and then during the rest of the review. (I did find that viewing the video's works much better on my hubby's desktop pc w/ wired internet versus my laptop w/ wifi, however my laptop is OLD so that could be the issue.)

 

Katie, Grandpa, and I on the Carousel

 

Click the picture to begin the video.