My cruise with an infant.

[soozles]

I just wanted to share some thoughts I had about cruising with an infant. I’m an experienced cruiser, but this was our first time taking along the baby, who turned 8 months the day before we left. We just got off the Celebrity Summit, 1 week cruise to Bermuda. 

 

We didn’t take any other family or babysitters, so it was just us with him the entire time. 

 

- People on cruise ships act like they’ve never seen a baby before. He got so much attention, and everyone would just love all over him, from the crew to the other guests. But most people are respectful and don’t touch the baby without asking. 

 

- if you have a boy, go on amazon and get a baby tuxedo. There is nothing more adorable than a baby in a tuxedo. Our ship doesn’t have formal nights anymore, they call it evening chic, but we still put him in his fake baby tuxedo. Along those lines, buy a sailor outfit. He’ll probably hate me for it later, but the photos of him wearing his little sailor hat are my favorite. 

 

- we got an unlimited photo package, and I do feel like it was worth it for us. We don’t usually take photos on a cruise, but with him, we wanted to. And I’m so glad we did. We have about 150 photos to take home and we don’t have to pick and choose which ones we like. 

 

- umbrella stroller was a must for us. Definitely leave the full size stroller at home. But a good umbrella stroller will be worth it. He would nap in it, and the seat reclines so it’s more comfortable. We even got to see a few shows with him. We would sit in the very back so we could make a quick escape if needed, but he would just sleep in the stroller during the show. I did bring my lillebaby carrier, but I used it once during the muster drill. It was just too hot to carry him. And it’s very convenient having the storage of the stroller. Ours has a small basket underneath where we could throw whatever we needed, and I would hang his diaper bag or whatever from the handles, so at least we didn’t have to schlep everything. Next cruise, i would probably leave the carrier at home and just use the stroller, honestly. 

 

- I took way too many diapers. At home, I probably change him 5-6 times a day? I took about 80 diapers for a 1 week cruise. I could have easily taken way less than that. But I was afraid of running out. 

 

- Total waste of space taking purées and puffs. He was absolutely fascinated by the buffet and demanded the real stuff and not the mush. He would eat the French toast and eggs and croissants at breakfast, and then I would usually give him some steamed veggies and some of whatever we were eating at dinner. They were more than willing to make a small plate of steamed veggies for him, they also said they could purée whatever we wanted, but again, my son decided to no longer eat purées. And the breadsticks were amazing for his teething. We would take a few to keep in our stroller in case he dropped the one he was eating. 

 

- Also packed way too many clothes for my son and not enough for me. I basically had enough clothes to put him in 4 outfits/day plus dinner outfits. He’s teething and spits up quite a bit so I change him often. But truthfully, he’s so drooly that if I changed him everytime he spit up on himself or drooled all over the front of his shirt, I’d never have left the room. And on the days in port when we were at the beach, he also didn’t get as many outfit changes since I left him in his swim clothes at the beach and would just change as we were heading out. 

 

- baby Pharmacy is a must. They don’t sell anything for baby on the ship. 

 

- bring toys with you. The ship has a couple hours a day where they open the kids club for “toddler time”, where they can play with the parent there. I was a little disappointed in it, truthfully. They had a couple toys but not very many. My son isn’t really mobile yet so he just kind of rolled around on the mats but that was about it. Of course, that will vary depending on the ship you’re on. 

 

- have no plans. We basically didn’t have any expectations for this trip so that way we aren’t disappointed. Babies are not going to be up for spending the day sitting at a hot beach or exploring a hot island. We kind of just took his cues and would leave when he started getting antsy. We didn’t really get to see much of the island as if it were just the 2 of us, but it’s ok. We got to take him swimming in the ocean for the first time and he absolutely loved it. 

 

- bring your own pack and play sheets. And bring extras because if your kids are anything like mine, he’ll throw up all over it at least twice during the week. Also bring whatever comfort items from home. 

 

- my son sleeps in ancrib at home. I never realized how exhausting it is to be lifting him out of the pack and play all day. My son is about 19-20 pounds, so he’s not exactly tiny, and the pack and play is low to the ground. My back is killing me. 

 

- there is nothing more fascinating for an 8 month old (corrected to 6 months cause he  was born early) than riding the elevator. I swear he could have ridden the elevator all day. The elevator had mirrored doors so he would laugh hysterically when the doors closed and he would see himself. And of course he loved all the attention

 

- similar to above, he was very happy just walking the ship. We had a daily walk in the mornings and everyone knew him and said hello. He became friends with the cruise director, the captain , the entertainers, all because he wanted to be awake bright and early. 

 

Would i I do it again? I probably would. I work long hours during the week so I really enjoyed just spending time with him and getting to see him experience new things. And I loved seeing him so happy. It wasn’t easy, and I’m glad our ship neighbors were old people with hearing aids so they didn’t hear him crying at 4 am, but it was still fun. I think as long as you can adjust your expectations and realize that it won’t be the same vacation that you’re used to, than you’ll be fine. 

[1025cruise]

Thank you for your insights.

[ck93]

Thank you so much!  We are traveling with an infant as well for the first time.  This was very helpful!