Cruising with a 1-year old

[zerooveride]

This has probably already been discussed in the past, but seeing as things in the world are different after the C-word, I thought I'd simply ask my question.

 

Me and my wife enjoy cruising, with our last cruise being on the Encore to Alaska in August 2021. This summer we welcomed our first child and are considering either a cruise in the summer of 2023 or 2024.

 

He will be a hair under 1 if we do one in summer of 2023. Has anyone done this with such a young child. We live in New York and are the same distance to either the New York or Boston cruise ports and and would drive to one of them.

 

I know that my son would be too young for any of the kids clubs but I have heard about babysitting services and such. Also, are cribs available?

 

Any insights would be appreciated. 

[Harratine]

Congratulations on your newest cruiser!

 

Our daughter was 20 months when we first returned to cruising.  Check NCL terms of service would be my first recommendation.  It’s tough with a little adventurer in terms of pool time as you need to be potty trained.  Staff will help a lot with removing diapers.  Our daughter didn’t quite get the cruise thing to start, by end of the week she was lining up for kids crew.  We planned excursions to where she would be able to engage (Disney World and hotel pool day).  The Disney is one of our favorites.  
 

A lot may have changed since we first went as that toddler who rode on top of my shoulders all day at Disney is now a sophomore in college and Platinum with NCL.  Babysitting may be tough to find, though the bright lights and people on the ship can be entertaining.  Beach days were easy days.  We also planned the first cruise with minimum ages so she could attend kids club.  The crew was wonderful with helping on food, even finding a chafing dish of macaroni and cheese when she was having a day.

 

Both Boston and New York are readily accessible by car (park near or on the pier depending).  

[rjm11]

check out the family board too- they will have lots of tips and suggestions. It's a real bonus that you drive to a port- that will make so many things easier! My advice to consider taking a family member- we paid for an adult cousin to come along once when the kids were young- we were in a 2 bedroom family suite in the Haven and she had the living room sofa bed- and the kids had the small bedroom. In exchange for her trip, she watched them a couple of nights so we could go to dinner... it was nice having her, and with the 3, 4, 5 person sailing free often as a promo it didn't add very much to the overall cost (port taxes, some specialty dining/drinks, and in our case airfare).

 

Speaking of Haven, that's another great option when you have little kids because they can have a quiet space with the second bedroom, and you can have room service delivered from any restaurant on board the ship (even specialty ones) to your room after they go to sleep- your butler will set everything up. If you go that route though bring a baby monitor- it can be hard to hear what goes on in that small bedroom in the suite because it's pretty well insulated!

Edited October 31, 2022 by rjm11

[dandelpino]

19 hours ago, zerooveride said:

He will be a hair under 1

 

He will need to be at least 12 months old to sail on a 7 day sailing. Shorter sailings only require him to be at least 6 months old. 

 

19 hours ago, zerooveride said:

I have heard about babysitting services and such

 

There are no babysitting services offered by NCL at this time. Even before covid they only offered group babysitting on a single ship. No private/in-cabin babysitting at all. I am not holding my breath on that coming back.

 

19 hours ago, zerooveride said:

Also, are cribs available?

 

They offer pack-n-play portable cribs that are set up by your room steward.

 

We first cruised with our daughter this year and she was 17-months old at the time. We brought our own babysitting service in the form of grandparents. This was crucial so my wife and I could go out in the evenings. I would also highly recommend bringing a friend or family member along as a babysitter if you can swing it.

 

In general, there's really not much for a baby or small toddler to do onboard. Most (of the bigger) ships have a Guppies area that is a play area for small kids but with parental supervision but it's not a drop off service. That's about it because kids in diapers can't go in the pools, even the kids pools. We were in a Haven 2-bedroom and I can't tell you how great that was for the reasons listed by @rjm11.

 

We have another cruise next month without the grandparents. I'll let you know how well it goes...

 

Let  me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you.

 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, dandelpino said:

He will need to be at least 12 months old to sail on a 7 day sailing. Shorter sailings only require him to be at least 6 months old. 

 

Age Requirements for Travel

Note: These terms are effective at the time of boarding.

Traveling with Infants:

• At least six (6) months of age on the day of boarding
• At least twelve (12) months of age on the day of boarding if your cruise has 3 or more consecutive days at sea.

[BenDover]

😮

[GeezerCouple]

We traveled with an 18 month old grand several years ago.

We were on a suite, and they were in a smaller cabin.

 

We requested a Pack N Play for each place, and they were all set up and waiting when we arrived.

 

However, we brought our own little sheets/etc., so we'd know that the detergent and such wasn't going to be a problem.

 

GC

[rjm11]

Another tip for traveling with littles is to make sure you bring all the pediatric medications you might need- they don't have much for pediatric strength for purchase onboard so make sure you bring a variety. We also brought those little packets of pedialyte you mix with water in case there were GI issues.

[thatjoeguy]

3 hours ago, rjm11 said:

Another tip for traveling with littles is to make sure you bring all the pediatric medications you might need- they don't have much for pediatric strength for purchase onboard so make sure you bring a variety. We also brought those little packets of pedialyte you mix with water in case there were GI issues.

This is great advice! On our first cruise with a kiddo, we packed ibuprofen, but not Motrin. Luckily, we were traveling with some other parents so we were able to borrow some to stagger doses. We overpack meds now. 

 

Also be sure to pack enough diapers. We've always just packed the sleeves right in our suitcase, and used that extra space for souvenirs or less folded clothes on the way home. 

 

Advise for dirty diapers - we always packed a roll of the diaper genie inserts to make disposal easier for us. 

[dandelpino]

2 hours ago, thatjoeguy said:

Advise for dirty diapers - we always packed a roll of the diaper genie inserts to make disposal easier for us. 

 

We asked our cabin steward for a bunch of sea sickness bags. The ship has thousands of them readily available and often they are put out by the stairs in rougher seas. They seal up pretty good and are waterproof. It's one less thing to pack. 

[zerooveride]

Thanks!

Great information so far . . . keep it coming!

 

We're not 100% sure what we plan to do yet. Maybe this summer at 11-months old or at 23-months old the following summer

[WeehawkenCruiser]

We have cruised quite a bit with kids of that age. My daughter sailed with us at 12 months and 18 months in 2016/2017 and then my younger daughter just sailed with us in July of this year at 7 months and we are sailing again on the Gem in January (she will be a few days shy of a year old then). 

 

We also live close to the NYC port and love that we can drive to the ship (so much easier with a baby). As others have mentioned, bring meds/diapers/wipes. (NCL actually offers you to be able to have diapers delievered to your stateroom which saves luggage space if you would like. 

 

At that age the staff is so great with the kids. They can not go to any kids club activities but there are times when you can do things with them in the kids area. Depending on the ship there are splash areas they can go in as well. On our last cruise we brought a little blow up pool and filled it and she had a blast on the pool deck lol  

[mjkacmom]

29 minutes ago, WeehawkenCruiser said:

We have cruised quite a bit with kids of that age. My daughter sailed with us at 12 months and 18 months in 2016/2017 and then my younger daughter just sailed with us in July of this year at 7 months and we are sailing again on the Gem in January (she will be a few days shy of a year old then). 

 

We also live close to the NYC port and love that we can drive to the ship (so much easier with a baby). As others have mentioned, bring meds/diapers/wipes. (NCL actually offers you to be able to have diapers delievered to your stateroom which saves luggage space if you would like. 

 

At that age the staff is so great with the kids. They can not go to any kids club activities but there are times when you can do things with them in the kids area. Depending on the ship there are splash areas they can go in as well. On our last cruise we brought a little blow up pool and filled it and she had a blast on the pool deck lol  

No NCL ships have splash areas for diapered kids.

[WeehawkenCruiser]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

No NCL ships have splash areas for diapered kids.

The Gem has a kids pool area next to the toddler activity room on the pool deck. The water is about an inch or 2 deep and kids can put their feet in it. No butts lol 

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, WeehawkenCruiser said:

The Gem has a kids pool area next to the toddler activity room on the pool deck. The water is about an inch or 2 deep and kids can put their feet in it. No butts lol 

Kids in diapers can not even put their feet in it, although it looks like a kiddy pool on land, the rules are different and that little splash area does not have the proper filtration system to be approved for swim diapers (unlike DCL splash areas and some RCL splash areas). Currently NCL has no ships with swim diaper approved splash pads. Splash pads approved for swim diapers have no standing water.

[zerooveride]

We are seriously considering going this summer when he is about 10-11 months old. I like the idea of bringing a babysitter. Maybe i'll ask my mother and take care of her fare. 

 

Thanks everyone for the insights.

 

As for the pool/splash pads: I have no intention of letting the little one use them. The only thing we will need is a room with a tub.

Edited November 6, 2022 by zerooveride
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