Dam cruising with a baby and preschooler?

[SandRaven]

As longtime Mariners, we are very excited to have the opportunity to travel with our baby and preschooler on HAL. However, we know that there may not be any other little ones on the ship. That's okay; our girls are great on long trips, and are very well behaved (save for a pre-nap tantrum).

 

Do you have any advice for cruising with young kids? We plan to book a suite, give them plenty of nap time, bring a gallon of sunblock, order room service on active days, and any advice would be much appreciated!

[take us away]

Definitely make use of Club Hal for the toddler, don't know if the baby can attend. You can also rent a babysitter if you want to have a dinner alone - just ask at the front desk. Maybe bring the favorite DVD's as you will have a player in your room. A double stroller may be of us for on the ship and in port. The staff love having children on board - especially babies. Our last cruise had a bunch of children and one baby became the favorite of the MDR dining supervisors. Her dad would bring her to the area by the front elevators and set up a small play area so mom could nap now and then as these elevators were not heavily used during the day.

[78232]

I have heard of people putting small inflatable pools on their balconies for small children, Several years ago when we traveled with a grandchild, beach toys were not were not readily available in Half Moon Cay and other ports so we bought some in Fort Lauderdale and left them at the last beach for others to use. I would recommend bringing over the counter meds for any illness/ injury that you can think of since the ship's clinic might not have pediatric meds.

I hope you have a great trip.

 

Marcia

[jenp123]

I travelled in November with my 6 month old niece. If it is a warm weather cruise, I would recommend a small inflatable pool. Babies and children in diapers are NOT allowed in any HAL pools. If you are on a ship with cabanas, I would recommend getting a family cabana. It was great for us. We had shade and could leave toys and supplies while we went back and forth to the room for naps. It was also nice having lunch brought to use. Bring more baby food then you think you will need. A lot seemed to be wasted without a good fridge to store it in. Bring a small umbrella stroller vs normal size. Check with ship services and they can tell u the width of the doors. Our normal one wouldn't fit through the cabin door without folding it up.

 

Any other questions, let me know.

[Hlitner]

We assume the OP is aware of the minimum age policies on HAL, where some itineraries are not permitted to any child under 12 months (with most being 6 month minimum. We have seen more then our share of babies on cruises and the babies seem to do fine...but the parents not always :). Traveling with an extended family or even a nanny can go a long way to helping parents enjoy the trip.

 

Hank

[cccole]

We cruised with our grand niece who had just turned one. We did have a pool on our balcony and it was GREAT. For some reason I am assuming you are doing a Caribbean cruise. We also purchased a life vest from a marine store so that she had a life vest that could be worn when on the tenders, at the beach, when tubing in Jamiaca, etc. This was a great purchase and her parents used it for a couple years after that. The staff absolutely loved having the young children on board and the DR manager often carried her around the dining room with him. Plan some fun excursions when in port and they will be so tired when you return to the ship that sleeping through the night will not be a problem. A ship is like Disneyland to infants and toddlers, it is total sensory overload and a fun experience to share with them. Don't forget to ask in advance for the crib for the infant and whatever special bedding you need for the toddler. And pack lots of snacks and drinks to keep them from getting hungry between meals and when off the ship. One more thing, there is sunblock with titanium dioxide and zinc that works really well for young skin. It actually is the only kind we buy any more for everyone. Have a great time. Cherie

[sail7seas]

Bring all baby supplies you expect to need and count on having none available on the ship. You could have a pleasant surprise to find something you may forget but it's best to be prepared to be self-sufficient.

[HALrunner]

Just off the Noordam today and my five year old just received his 100 day medal. We have cruised a lot with babies/toddlers/preschoolers. It seems you are seasoned mariners and planning ahead, so I am sure you will have a fantastic trip! To help you prepare, here are a few hints:

 

Sometimes highchairs can be hard to find. Make friends with a lido attendant and the DR manager early on and they will always be sure one is ready (and always completely sanitized). On the lido note- we only go if there is absolutely no other option. With little ones, parents turn into waitstaff and that is no way to spend a vacation! For us, we use the MDR for every meal it is offered and sometimes the PG or room service if needed. Which reminds me...breakfast in the PG is a fantastic perk of booking a suite.

 

We never asked, but friends have said that HAL will puree menu items and voila- homemade baby food! When ours were still on baby food, we brought a manual food mill and just mashed up steamed veggies etc from the regular menu. There is a children's menu in the MDR that is made for coloring, but it is strictly BYOC (bring your own crayons). Oh yeah, don't forget sippy cups!

 

Just in the last year or two we stopped bringing the IKEA toddler painting coverups (vinyl backwards shirt, more or less) for meals. On that note, every mom deserves the unlimited laundry package.

 

I also second the recommendations of bringing your own lifejackets, sand toys & kiddy pool. If we are on the NA or Eurodam we always get a lido cabana and can't recommend them enough. Back to the packing list....doggy doo bags (small bags sold in rolls in the pet section) for diapers. Neither you nor your cabin attendant will enjoy a soiled diaper fermenting in your (bagless) trash can! We used to bring bubbles for sail away, but sadly it seems our kids have outgrown that.

 

Hubby & I are both health care professionals and therefore keep a small, but well stocked, travel medicine chest. Everything from ginger chews to epi pens although we haven't needed either. I am sure the medical center on board will have anything you need, but when my 5 hear old had a croup attack a few nights ago, I was glad to have meds on standby in our cabin. I would at least bring a thermometer and children's tylenol or motrin.

 

Depending on the ages of your children, car seats can be tricky. We are car seat safety fanatics and despite lax local laws in many ports, our 5 & 7 year olds always use a ride safer travel vest (google it, but basically a booster alternative that is GREAT for travel). They were still in our luggage as we walked to the taxi stand at FLL, and the operator was quick to point to a sign saying something along the lines of all children 5 and under MUST have some kind of child restraint. I was glad to see someone is cracking down on this as we have never seen enforcement of this anywhere before.

 

As you mentioned, HAL does not attract a lot of families but everyone from staff to fellow passengers will want to love on your children! It sounds like your children are good little travelers like ours. Now that ours are a little older, we always have a little pep talk with them about making a good first impression the first day. Basically, good behavior brings good attention and bad behavior brings bad attention. Just thought it was worth mentioning. We also talk about germs and the more things (elevator buttons, hand rails etc) you touch the more germs you touch. Additionally, I always bring liquid hand soap for our cabin as that is what the kids are used to using.

 

I have probably given you more advice than you need or your luggage will hold! We always fly in at least a day before and pick up many of these things in port. Now that our kids are a little older and I have fine tuned our packing, we were down to one piece of checked luggage on this past 11 day cruise. For a few years though, packing lite was for the birds!