Infant on Freedom March 2019

[NannyKimby]

I'm traveling with a 9 month old on the Freedom the end of this month.

1) do kids get their own ship card.

 

2) if they don't, how would a non parent (aka not someone who will be in the same room kiddo is staying but someone who does have a notarized care letter to take on and off the boat) be able to get the kid on and off the boat without a ship card or in the kiddo's room? Can we request an extra room card for this purpose?

 

3) anyone know what time the kids pool or splash zone open?

 

4) we've read a few places that the adventure ocean offers a special time once per day (or a few times a week?) for kids 0-3 to basically come and play with their adult in tow, does anyone have any details? where? when?

 

5) has anyone asked for a crib to be provided? we have it in the requests. but wondering what they end up looking like if they are decent or if we should just bring our travel crib.

 

6) trying to figure out the best way to make bottles, room temp or warm just can't be cold. If the tap water is safe (assuming it is) that's just fine just not sure the best route for this, would prefer not to lug a weeks worth of bottled water on board.

 

Any other information would be super helpful! thank you!

[Clarea]

Everyone on the ship (including infants) gets their own ship card.

 

You can get an extra key for a stateroom, but there is only one card issued for identification that will get a person on or off the ship.

[cello56]

The pack and play that RCI provided for our Granddaughter on Oasis was in perfect condition. The only thing is they don't provide fitted sheets, so you might want to bring your own one of them. 

[GarlicBread]

8 hours ago, NannyKimby said:

I'm traveling with a 9 month old on the Freedom the end of this month.

1) do kids get their own ship card.

 

2) if they don't, how would a non parent (aka not someone who will be in the same room kiddo is staying but someone who does have a notarized care letter to take on and off the boat) be able to get the kid on and off the boat without a ship card or in the kiddo's room? Can we request an extra room card for this purpose?

 

3) anyone know what time the kids pool or splash zone open?

 

4) we've read a few places that the adventure ocean offers a special time once per day (or a few times a week?) for kids 0-3 to basically come and play with their adult in tow, does anyone have any details? where? when?

 

5) has anyone asked for a crib to be provided? we have it in the requests. but wondering what they end up looking like if they are decent or if we should just bring our travel crib.

 

6) trying to figure out the best way to make bottles, room temp or warm just can't be cold. If the tap water is safe (assuming it is) that's just fine just not sure the best route for this, would prefer not to lug a weeks worth of bottled water on board.

 

Any other information would be super helpful! thank you!

 

1. Yes 

 

3. Your child will only be allowed in the baby splash area as no swim diapers are allowed in the pool or splash away bay and kids have to be fully potty trained to use it. Times will probably vary between port days and sea days but the times will be on the daily compass.

 

4. There will be a nursery open play, probably every day in the teen centre from around 9-5. Stop by the nursery for a babies and tots compass for the week that will give you all the info for that. Open play, you have to stay with your kids. The nursery is drop off that you have to pay for. You can also check out bags of toys from the nursery if you dont want to pack a load. 

 

5. Usually a small pack n play. 

 

6. Yes tap water is safe. But you can also buy bottled water onboard if you dont want to carry it on. If you have a drinks package, bottled water is included in that. 

 

 

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, cello56 said:

The pack and play that RCI provided for our Granddaughter on Oasis was in perfect condition. The only thing is they don't provide fitted sheets, so you might want to bring your own one of them. 

Agree, Daughter always brings couple sets sheets for her Daughter

Edited March 12, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[gerif]

You didn’t ask but unless you are in a suite with a bathtub, you might want to bring a small blow up tub for bathing the baby. 

[NannyKimby]

1 hour ago, gerif said:

You didn’t ask but unless you are in a suite with a bathtub, you might want to bring a small blow up tub for bathing the baby. 

Thanks! little man kicks butt with the shower so this pretty much the only thing we aren't worried about 🙂

2 hours ago, GarlicBread said:

 

1. Yes 

 

3. Your child will only be allowed in the baby splash area as no swim diapers are allowed in the pool or splash away bay and kids have to be fully potty trained to use it. Times will probably vary between port days and sea days but the times will be on the daily compass.

 

4. There will be a nursery open play, probably every day in the teen centre from around 9-5. Stop by the nursery for a babies and tots compass for the week that will give you all the info for that. Open play, you have to stay with your kids. The nursery is drop off that you have to pay for. You can also check out bags of toys from the nursery if you dont want to pack a load. 

 

5. Usually a small pack n play. 

 

6. Yes tap water is safe. But you can also buy bottled water onboard if you dont want to carry it on. If you have a drinks package, bottled water is included in that. 

 

 

I knew about the swim diapers, I know there's suppose to be 2 water areas they are allowed. We've had such conflicting info on what areas but guess this is something we will have to know when we get there. Also there's a babies and tots compass?!?!!? that's perfect! Is it available to grab on the day we board? is the nursery the same location as adventure ocean? thank you!!!!!

[GarlicBread]

2 hours ago, NannyKimby said:

Thanks! little man kicks butt with the shower so this pretty much the only thing we aren't worried about 🙂

I knew about the swim diapers, I know there's suppose to be 2 water areas they are allowed. We've had such conflicting info on what areas but guess this is something we will have to know when we get there. Also there's a babies and tots compass?!?!!? that's perfect! Is it available to grab on the day we board? is the nursery the same location as adventure ocean? thank you!!!!!

 

For swim diapers, theres just one area, the baby splash area, right next to splash away bay. 

 

Yes theres a royal babies and tots compass (more just a page of information) if you dont see one in the terminal before you board you can pick one up at the nursery. 

The nursery is in same area as adventure ocean, if you can't find it some one in AO will direct you/answer the questions you have/ should have the compass there too (you'll only really need the nursery if you want to book hours or take out toys)...

[rimmit]

There as the above poster mentioned there is only one baby friendly area.   Depending on how mobile your child is,   They are gonna keep trying to go to the other area and it just turns into an endless game of redirection.   Most babies are not entertained for long in the baby splash area,  but you may be a lucky one with a baby that can entertain themselves for a while in it.   Neither of my two kids when they were babies were big on the baby splash area.  My daughter was also nine months old when we went on the freedom and she was not too excited about the splash area.  If you bring some water toys that may help.  

 

The baby cruise compass is a compass that has all the information for entire trip.  It is not a daily compass like AO gets.   It will have the hours for the nursery for both sea and port days along with the play date hours.  We loved the nursery and both my kids when they were younger used it

extensively.

 

If you are interested in the nursery just be aware it gets busier as the cruise goes on. Most parents are a little tentative to use it at first but after a couple days on a ship with a baby we have noticed many find the temptation of the nursery too great and it starts to get pretty full toward the end of the cruise.  We have met many parents who swore at the begining of the cruise they would not use the nursery only to see them dropping off their baby at the end of the cruise.   They limit the number of hours you can book initially, and typically make it wide open after the second day.  It is really a great asset to have on a ship.

 

We also just used tap water for formula.

[jbr5049]

Cruised with our son @ 6 months, 12 months and 14 months and learned a lot along the way:

 

If your child hasn't started teething yet, be sure to have Un-Dyed Infants Tylenol with you. Our son started teething on his first cruise and we had cherry red Tylenol that made a huge mess (our first time giving Tylenol).

 

Bring antibacterial wipes to clean the pack and play, RCL does a great job of cleaning them, but for peace of mind we took the extra step to clean ours. 

 

Do the math on diapers and wipes, the last thing you want to do is to have to buy them onboard. Carry a slight surplus. 

 

Bring a baby monitor with you if you have a balcony or a room very close to the elevators. The elevators have seating near them so while the baby settles you can still hear them but they won't hear you. Make sure where you are sitting or standing still has reception, everything is metal on the ship so your range will be drastically cut.

 

Try and bring a narrow profile stroller, a full size stroller will not fit through your stateroom door which means you will have to collapse it every time you go in or out of the room. 

 

Some ships let you check out toys for children.

 

Bring a travel size bottle of dawn and a bottle brush to clean your bottles, you can most likely get away with only having 2. 

 

Letting the baby sleep in the stroller for a mid afternoon nap while you sit at vintages or another quiet bar is an excellent way to relax.

 

Baby swim shoes are worthwhile in the splash zones to protect their feet and keep them stable. 

 

Try and keep your schedule as best as possible, it is tempting to keep the little one out well past their bed time, but you might pay for it the rest of your sailing. 

 

A lot of the crew have young families at home, don't be surprised if you get a lot of friendly hello's or extra attention since you have a little one. These are hard working people that miss their kids, we have always had a great experience sailing RCCL with our little one, the crew really make a difference. 

 

Have fun, it's your vacation too!

[NKLCRUISES]

We have taken our 7 month old daughter on a cruise last year (NCL Escape). Now she is going on another end of April at 18 months (IndyOS).

 

JBR covered a lot of useful information. I would suggest an over the door shoe holder to hold all of the baby lotions (sunscreen/skin), pastes (diaper rash), medications (infant Motrin/tylenol pedialyte, gas drops), odds and ends to save space in the cabin.

 

They provided a pack and play to use as a crib. Bring bedtime books and toys. Try to make bedtime similar to home.

We also brought infant ear protection headphones for the muster drill horn. 

[ian09]

Thanks for the great tips, we are on Adventure of Seas in May on a 12 day cruise and these will all be useful.  Our daughter will be 13 months old at the time of sailing and is extreamly mobile for her age.  I was curious if anyone brought them to a show and if so did you pack protective ear ware? I’m assuming she won’t get through the entire show, but she might enjoy a bit of them so we can sit near an exit.  Also how was dinner in the main dining room or did you dine upstairs most nights?  

[rimmit]

6 minutes ago, ian09 said:

Thanks for the great tips, we are on Adventure of Seas in May on a 12 day cruise and these will all be useful.  Our daughter will be 13 months old at the time of sailing and is extreamly mobile for her age.  I was curious if anyone brought them to a show and if so did you pack protective ear ware? I’m assuming she won’t get through the entire show, but she might enjoy a bit of them so we can sit near an exit.  Also how was dinner in the main dining room or did you dine upstairs most nights?  

 

When our son was 15 months old we brough him to the MDR every night.  The waiters loved playing with him as did the surrounding guests.  The MDR staff is incredibly accommodating.  Once we had a second child we only went to the MDR a handful of times a cruise.  Logistics of managing two kids in the MDR for dinner is tough.   I will say that breakfast in the MDR with babies and toddlers is incredibly efficient and much easier than windjammer.  Based on the ship there is a buffet AND table service.  So you can get the best of both worlds.  Extra sets of hands to bring things AND quick food for the kids while you are waiting on your meal.  It is actually less stressful than the buffet imo as strange as that sounds.

 

we brought him to the shows.  He did not require earphones,  but every baby is different, so bring them if you feel yours may need headphones.  He was often sleeping in the stroller at that point anyway.

 

Our son was an energizer bunny and never requires any routine on a cruise ship.  No naps or anything.

 

Our daughter was totally different and we either put her in the nursery for nap time or stayed in the cabin for a nap.

 

Like others have stated,  bringing a large stroller makes life very difficult.  Bring an umbrella stroller if at all possiblé.  Cabins are small.   

 

In my profile there is a link to our non monetized ad free travel blog with several articles on traveling with babies.  Feel free to read them.  We haven’t updated it in sometime as we just don’t have time but we have some decent baby traveling articles.