Must Haves with Kids

[jenafish]

My husband and I have cruised a few times before but we’ll be taking our first cruise with our kids this April. We have a 4 year old and 1 year old and will be sailing out of Bayonne on the Anthem of the Seas to Bermuda and Boston. 

 

Any must-have items that I should pack? Any tips or tricks??

 

TIA!

[Clarea]

Also check out the Family Cruising forum:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/

[jenafish]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

Also check out the Family Cruising forum:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/

Thanks! I will!

[wwcruisers]

4 hours ago, jenafish said:

My husband and I have cruised a few times before but we’ll be taking our first cruise with our kids this April. We have a 4 year old and 1 year old and will be sailing out of Bayonne on the Anthem of the Seas to Bermuda and Boston. 

 

Any must-have items that I should pack? Any tips or tricks??

 

TIA!

Having just taken our DGD (nearly 3) on Independence of the Seas, one thing that you will definitely need is a good, fold-up umbrella stroller. My DS/DIL had a very nice 'jogging stroller', but I knew that it would be too big for the narrow hallways onboard. So, we got them a nice little stroller, with a sunshade, and some areas to stow small items. They all (including my DGD) loved it!

Also, something that you might not have observed on your previous cruises, is the general lack of baby supplies. Maybe now on the larger ships you can find things like diapers -- but there wouldn't be much selection. Just to be on the safe side, I'd pack anything baby-related that I thought I might need. Your one-year-old probably won't be too impressed, but your 4-year-old should have a ball! Royal puts out a good product, when it comes to family cruises. I think that Disney might be the only line that has them beat.

[MicCanberra]

Money and patience.

[mjkacmom]

Maybe a blow up bathtub for the shower.

[cabin4three]

toddler reins/harness - ships are  exciting and dangerous for toddler,  other passengers don't always look down to see a small person

more nappies (diapers) than you think you will ever need

extra underwear for the older child

few extra clothes/bibs  than you think you will need

medicine such as  pain relief, teething gel etc as it wont be available on board

spare sippy cup for 1 year old and extra feeding spoons, snack box (for taking snacks ashore)

small toy/book/finger puppet/colouring crayons etc or  something to entertain the kids whilst waiting for muster drill/food/queuing to get off etc  

 

and as MicCabberra  says above - patience! 

[wwcruisers]

1 hour ago, cabin4three said:

 snack box (for taking snacks ashore)

 

Do be careful about those snacks. You are generally prohibited from taking any fresh food ashore. I do believe that factory-sealed, pre-packaged snacks (like dry cereal) are OK in most places, but it might vary. Definitely nothing like fresh fruit from the salad bar, or anything like that. My DGD was munching on a freshly-baked oatmeal cookie, as we were getting ready to set off for our day in Cozumel. She had to finish it, before we could disembark the ship.

[cabin4three]

6 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

Do be careful about those snacks. You are generally prohibited from taking any fresh food ashore. I do believe that factory-sealed, pre-packaged snacks (like dry cereal) are OK in most places, but it might vary. Definitely nothing like fresh fruit from the salad bar, or anything like that. My DGD was munching on a freshly-baked oatmeal cookie, as we were getting ready to set off for our day in Cozumel. She had to finish it, before we could disembark the ship.

very good point,  should have been clearer

[Extra Kim]

This is a copy and paste of old post I have done before, keep that in mind when you read them. We have since then done two more cruises, in May we will board our daughter's fifth cruise. She will be 16 months by then.

 

This is my experience, your baby will be in the center of attention. You might not want to let a lot of people thouching your babys hands since they put them in the mouth all the time. Before you go on the cruise, get your baby used to noisy environments like resturants and shopping malls. This will help the baby to get used to a lot of people. Breastfeed your baby, then you always have the food ready and your baby have a protection from the milk and aren't affected by germs from food. Bring a lot of nappies, we had 330 with us for our cruise. We keept score of how many nappies we used the weeks before the cruise, 15 - 21 each day... We did have 100 + nappies when the cruise was over, but better safe then sorry. Meraviglia have very nice public restrooms with changing tables for babies but when you are in your cabin you will need something to put your baby on when it's time to change the nappy. We bought a blow up thing from IKEA and it worked very vell. Ikea Skötsam. And for public places we used Libero Mats to put on the changing tables. MSC did a wonderful job making it easier for us. Priority boarding, opened up a office for my wife to breast feed our baby on embarktion day when our cabin wasn't ready. Helped us with the stroller when we got on the ship or when we got off. Bring a smaller stroller that can have the seat folded down completly. We used a Baby Throne / Yo-yo stroller. Don't have a lot of plans for the ports of call, traveling with a baby is VERY time consuming. Bring a pair of Peltor Kid hearing protection with you and keep it in the stroller, now and then your baby will need it.

 

After the first cruise we bought a Graco stroller that can fit a baby seat and a Stokke PramPack, both are great! We have a very similar stroller as this one, but not exactly the same:

Stokke PramPack  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB6QACpqU9w

Edited April 2, 2019 by Extra Kim

[mjkacmom]

Ok I’m always wondering why women are advised to breastfeed their babies when it’s clearly impossible to start if they haven’t been breastfeeding all along. The OP has a toddler who is most likely drinking milk, which is easy to find.

[Extra Kim]

4 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Ok I’m always wondering why women are advised to breastfeed their babies when it’s clearly impossible to start if they haven’t been breastfeeding all along. The OP has a toddler who is most likely drinking milk, which is easy to find.

Did you read what I wrote? "This is a copy and paste of old post I have done before, keep that in mind when you read them."

Our daughter was 3.5 months old when she boarded her first cruise.

[wwcruisers]

2 hours ago, cabin4three said:

very good point,  should have been clearer

No problem, and you offered some VERY good advice! 🙂

[jenafish]

Thank you everyone for your advice!!