Prima on med and an infant

[COcruise]

We have been on quite a few cruises and our infant has travelled a lot already, but looking for any tips or tricks from those that have been on NCL (Or the Prima or a Mediterranean with an infant!). She will be a little over 10 months when we board and we already requested a pack and play. Yes we know we are crazy 😂

[Pitzel]

The Prima doesn't have a ton of things geared towards young kids, though there is a "splash pad" that they could use. It is mostly a solid-surface area with some water jets and rainfall areas. Not a pool or a wading area, necessarily. SO...you might want to bring a small inflatable "tub" to give your little one a place to splash or cool down if you are going during the warmer months. You could set this out on your balcony, if you have one, or bring it up to the splash pad.

Depending on what your baby is eating by that age, think about bringing some baby food along or figuring out what you might need to request in order to keep your little one fed and happy.

[Pitzel]

Oh, and if it were me, I would leave the stroller at home or bring a collapsible umbrella stroller. A backpack or front carrier will be much easier to maneuver, both on and off the ship.

 

[mjkacmom]

55 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

The Prima doesn't have a ton of things geared towards young kids, though there is a "splash pad" that they could use. It is mostly a solid-surface area with some water jets and rainfall areas. Not a pool or a wading area, necessarily. SO...you might want to bring a small inflatable "tub" to give your little one a place to splash or cool down if you are going during the warmer months. You could set this out on your balcony, if you have one, or bring it up to the splash pad.

Depending on what your baby is eating by that age, think about bringing some baby food along or figuring out what you might need to request in order to keep your little one fed and happy.

Diapers are not allowed in splash pads,

[RD64]

To each his own, but if you are planning on dragging a toddler / infant across Southern Europe during the summer time, I think everyone will just be miserable.

[RD64]

If you plan on staying on the ship it is one thing - but excursions and independent touring are another. Good luck in a city such as Lisbon (among others) where everything is uphill in both directions on cobblestones.

[kitkat343]

4 hours ago, Pitzel said:

The Prima doesn't have a ton of things geared towards young kids, though there is a "splash pad" that they could use. It is mostly a solid-surface area with some water jets and rainfall areas. Not a pool or a wading area, necessarily. SO...you might want to bring a small inflatable "tub" to give your little one a place to splash or cool down if you are going during the warmer months. You could set this out on your balcony, if you have one, or bring it up to the splash pad.

Depending on what your baby is eating by that age, think about bringing some baby food along or figuring out what you might need to request in order to keep your little one fed and happy.

All Disney ships and some RC ships have invested in. a filtration system that makes the splash pad safe for diapered children to use.  NCL doesn't have this technology.  If the other cruises are anything like the two I've sailed, their employees do not enforce the rule stating that diapered children are not allowed in the splash pad, and there will be lots of parents who either don't know about the rule or don't care about it.

 

1 hour ago, RD64 said:

To each his own, but if you are planning on dragging a toddler / infant across Southern Europe during the summer time, I think everyone will just be miserable.

Lots of people thought I was nuts taking a 3 year old to St. Petersburg, but he actually loved our Baltic cruise.  Europe isn't out of the question for young children, but honestly I'd recommend if you are traveling in the summer and want to go to Europe to either consider a Baltic cruise or Norway.  The ports of Norway are smaller and frequent port destinations like Geiranger, Olden and Flam are very accessible for travelers with disabilities and people pushing strollers.  Just note that cabs aren't allowed to transport children without car seats so you'd need to arrange all transportation ahead of time.  The Baltics have an amazing public transportation system, so we were able to travel everywhere but St. Petersburg independently.  In Stockholm, children love the Vassa, and the open air lemur exhibit at Skansen.  Tallin is amazing for children to explore and the Tivoli Gardens is a lovely amusement park in Copenhagen.   In St. Petersburg (if it ever reopens) you'd absolutely need a private tour for just your family if you can afford it to maximize your ability to visit whatever you most care about.  We had the ability to stay longer at the places my son was fascinated by (the fountains at St. Petersburg) and stop and get him food whenever he was about to be cranky.

 

I'm not aware of Prima's exact itinerary in the Med next year, but in addition to the heat please also note that southern Europe can be a little trickier because some of the ports are harder to access (Rome isn't that close to its port, Venice has banned cruise ships leading to either a 1.5 hour tender or 2 hour bus ride from a nearby city, Santorini is absolutely beautiful but tough to access with the cable car lines and the donkey ride would not be an option with an infant).  

 

The most important recommendation I'd make to families is to stay off ship tours whenever possible so you can create an itinerary that best suits your children's needs.  But in Europe you need to be careful because many private tour operators don't offer refunds if your ship doesn't dock.  With Ncl you'd need to be especially careful about making sure either those deposits are refundable or that your trip insurance or credit card would cover the nonrefundable charges if the ship doesn't dock.  

 

 

 

Other  cruises to consider that have great ports for kids are the 10 day roundtrip Panama Canal (this is really easy to do if you are on the East coast of the US) or Alaska if you are on the west coast.  There's also  western Caribbean cruises that visit Roatan, Honduras, Belize and the Grand Cayman Island.  Those ports are all great for kids.

 

 

On the first day, you should go to the buffet and get cereal, yogurt and fruit for the room in case the kids need snacks.  You can't bring fruit off the ship, but you can bring sealed cereal cartons off the ship.   Letting kids choose their own cereal tends to avert meltdowns.  

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by kitkat343

[COcruise]

5 hours ago, Pitzel said:

The Prima doesn't have a ton of things geared towards young kids, though there is a "splash pad" that they could use. It is mostly a solid-surface area with some water jets and rainfall areas. Not a pool or a wading area, necessarily. SO...you might want to bring a small inflatable "tub" to give your little one a place to splash or cool down if you are going during the warmer months. You could set this out on your balcony, if you have one, or bring it up to the splash pad.

Depending on what your baby is eating by that age, think about bringing some baby food along or figuring out what you might need to request in order to keep your little one fed and happy.

Thank you! The pool on the balcony is a fantastic idea!!! I was under the impression that we cannot take her on the splash pad since she is not potty trained. 

 

3 hours ago, RD64 said:

If you plan on staying on the ship it is one thing - but excursions and independent touring are another. Good luck in a city such as Lisbon (among others) where everything is uphill in both directions on cobblestones.

😂 we’ll be in Lisbon prior so I will report back. We are more looking for people that have travelled abroad on a cruise with an infant. Of course most, especially US citizens, will say we will be miserable because the US is not baby friendly and tend to halt their lives with a baby. We’ve been on many trips already just not this long. We travel often and hike with her at high altitude frequently and live/train at high altitude so not worried at all about the hills…. We plan to get off daily. 

[COcruise]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

All Disney ships and some RC ships have invested in. a filtration system that makes the splash pad safe for diapered children to use.  NCL doesn't have this technology.  If the other cruises are anything like the two I've sailed, their employees do not enforce the rule stating that diapered children are not allowed in the splash pad, and there will be lots of parents who either don't know about the rule or don't care about it.

 

Lots of people thought I was nuts taking a 3 year old to St. Petersburg, but he actually loved our Baltic cruise.  Europe isn't out of the question for young children, but honestly I'd recommend if you are traveling in the summer and want to go to Europe to either consider a Baltic cruise or Norway.  The ports of Norway are smaller and frequent port destinations like Geiranger, Olden and Flam are very accessible for travelers with disabilities and people pushing strollers.  Just note that cabs aren't allowed to transport children without car seats so you'd need to arrange all transportation ahead of time.  The Baltics have an amazing public transportation system, so we were able to travel everywhere but St. Petersburg independently.  In Stockholm, children love the Vassa, and the open air lemur exhibit at Skansen.  Tallin is amazing for children to explore and the Tivoli Gardens is a lovely amusement park in Copenhagen.   In St. Petersburg (if it ever reopens) you'd absolutely need a private tour for just your family if you can afford it to maximize your ability to visit whatever you most care about.  We had the ability to stay longer at the places my son was fascinated by (the fountains at St. Petersburg) and stop and get him food whenever he was about to be cranky.

 

I'm not aware of Prima's exact itinerary in the Med next year, but in addition to the heat please also note that southern Europe can be a little trickier because some of the ports are harder to access (Rome isn't that close to its port, Venice has banned cruise ships leading to either a 1.5 hour tender or 2 hour bus ride from a nearby city, Santorini is absolutely beautiful but tough to access with the cable car lines and the donkey ride would not be an option with an infant).  

 

The most important recommendation I'd make to families is to stay off ship tours whenever possible so you can create an itinerary that best suits your children's needs.  But in Europe you need to be careful because many private tour operators don't offer refunds if your ship doesn't dock.  With Ncl you'd need to be especially careful about making sure either those deposits are refundable or that your trip insurance or credit card would cover the nonrefundable charges if the ship doesn't dock.  

 

 

 

Other  cruises to consider that have great ports for kids are the 10 day roundtrip Panama Canal (this is really easy to do if you are on the East coast of the US) or Alaska if you are on the west coast.  There's also  western Caribbean cruises that visit Roatan, Honduras, Belize and the Grand Cayman Island.  Those ports are all great for kids.

 

 

On the first day, you should go to the buffet and get cereal, yogurt and fruit for the room in case the kids need snacks.  You can't bring fruit off the ship, but you can bring sealed cereal cartons off the ship.   Letting kids choose their own cereal tends to avert meltdowns.  

 

THANK YOU! This is so, so helpful. Love the buffet idea (Hadn’t thought of that….), I will ask them to clear out the mini fridge and load up on fruit and yogurt…. We are already locked in for October - Spain, Italy and France. I think ports are Ibiza, Valencia, Provence, Palma, Cannes, Rome, Genoa, Florence/Pisa, Naples, Barcelona. I will have to read up on the tender issues. Is the tender that long due to the lines of people or due to where the ship has to dock? 

[RD64]

25 minutes ago, COcruise said:

Thank you! The pool on the balcony is a fantastic idea!!! I was under the impression that we cannot take her on the splash pad since she is not potty trained. 

 

😂 we’ll be in Lisbon prior so I will report back. We are more looking for people that have travelled abroad on a cruise with an infant. Of course most, especially US citizens, will say we will be miserable because the US is not baby friendly and tend to halt their lives with a baby. We’ve been on many trips already just not this long. We travel often and hike with her at high altitude frequently and live/train at high altitude so not worried at all about the hills…. We plan to get off daily. 

[RD64]

North America is very user friendly for infants in strollers, people in scooters, people with walkers, people with wheel chairs, etc. Europeans prefer to deny that people with disabilities exist. I will use Italy - where my relatives are from as an example. You will not see locals in wheel chairs - scooters out on the streets. In many cases, streets are not designed to accommodate these forms of transportation, let alone the lips on sidewalks. And with all due respect, you may hike with your child in high altitudes - but Lisbon - one of my favourite European cities, will give you a workout that you cannot even imagine - not to mention the extremely narrow sidewalks and hordes of tourists jostling for space.

[COcruise]

15 minutes ago, RD64 said:

North America is very user friendly for infants in strollers, people in scooters, people with walkers, people with wheel chairs, etc. Europeans prefer to deny that people with disabilities exist. I will use Italy - where my relatives are from as an example. You will not see locals in wheel chairs - scooters out on the streets. In many cases, streets are not designed to accommodate these forms of transportation, let alone the lips on sidewalks. And with all due respect, you may hike with your child in high altitudes - but Lisbon - one of my favourite European cities, will give you a workout that you cannot even imagine - not to mention the extremely narrow sidewalks and hordes of tourists jostling for space.

That is true and don’t doubt it will be a workout. Do you think walking around Lisbon is more difficult than hiking a mountain (14er+) or running a half/full marathon? Obviously different but genuinely curious… 

[Pitzel]

3 hours ago, COcruise said:

Thank you! The pool on the balcony is a fantastic idea!!! I was under the impression that we cannot take her on the splash pad since she is not potty trained. 

 

I stand corrected. I was under the assumption that it would be ok since there isn't really any standing water in the splash pad to sit or swim in (unlike on other ships that have a wading area), but alas you are right 😞

Something like this would probably be pretty portable and could work on the balcony. It could even double as a bathtub, if your cabin doesn't have one.

[Zippeedee]

1 hour ago, Pitzel said:

I stand corrected. I was under the assumption that it would be ok since there isn't really any standing water in the splash pad to sit or swim in (unlike on other ships that have a wading area), but alas you are right 😞

Something like this would probably be pretty portable and could work on the balcony. It could even double as a bathtub, if your cabin doesn't have one.

Just wondering how one fills and empties that pool on a balcony? I don’t want to be on the balcony below.

[kitkat343]

Santorini was the tender.  

5 hours ago, COcruise said:

THANK YOU! This is so, so helpful. Love the buffet idea (Hadn’t thought of that….), I will ask them to clear out the mini fridge and load up on fruit and yogurt…. We are already locked in for October - Spain, Italy and France. I think ports are Ibiza, Valencia, Provence, Palma, Cannes, Rome, Genoa, Florence/Pisa, Naples, Barcelona. I will have to read up on the tender issues. Is the tender that long due to the lines of people or due to where the ship has to dock? 

They will know more on the Med board, but Cannes might be your only tender port.  A tender port is one in which the boat is too large to dock directly at the pier, and will dock in the water and all passengers who wish to disembark use smaller tender boats to ferry them back to the pier.  You just need to allocate a little extra time getting on and off the ship because the tenders will back up at the most popular times (usually right when the ship docks.  If you leave an hour or so later there is often no line.  Tender tickets are distributed either the night before or early in the morning to help manage the lines right when tendering starts.  Priority is given to passengers on NCL tours, and to other passengers with high status with NCL.  If you are in port long enough that you can leave a little later after the crowds die down, you should be fine (you might also be fine leaving earlier depending on your and your child's tolerance for crowds.). Santorini is a special case you don't need to worry about for now, since there are slightly more complicated logistics on the ground after you tender to reach the tourist town of Oia, which is at the top of a mountain.  Santorini is absolutely gorgeous, but would be a little complicated with an infant.

 

Please note that you will need to arrange transportation from Rome to Civitavecchia because it's about 40 miles from the port, and also consider what you would like to do in Florence/Pisa (the port of Livorno where you will dock is about 15 miles from Pisa, and 48 miles from Florence).  

 

It sounds like your family is very physically fit, in which case an infant carrier might be a better choice than a stroller over cobblestone streets (totally your choice).

 

 

The family board might also have other suggestions for infant travel.

 

And thankfully you are traveling in October, not August, which hopefully will help weather wise.   NCL has a  Guppies program on the Prima, and they advertise this as parent-child activities.  On the Getaway they also had a baby todldler room that was open and filled with soft toys your kid could climb on with your supervision.   I'm not sure about Prima but hopefully they also have a similar room (they also had one on the NCL star many years ago) Hopefully the hours of guppy programs/infant room openings will be listed in the dailies; otherwise you might be able to stop by at Splash Academy's registration time and see if they also have a schedule of the times for guppy activities.  They have a schedule for children over 3, but I'm not sure if they also would have a schedule for kids under 3 (it would make a lot of sense since many families have kids eligible for splash academy and younger siblings not eligible yet).

 

 

Oh and the splash pad - on the Getway at least there the bottom of the splash pad was a 3-4 inch pool of water, so there is some recirculating water that would be an issue if a child had an accident in the splash pad (the whole splash pad would need to be closed and decontaminated)

    

Edited July 29, 2023 by kitkat343

[Pitzel]

7 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

Just wondering how one fills and empties that pool on a balcony? I don’t want to be on the balcony below.

Fill the ice bucket or a large refillable water bottle with water and bring it out to the balcony. Considering how small it is (2 feet across and only a few inches deep), a few containers worth should be more than enough. As for draining, you could either do the reverse (use the ice bucket to scoop out the water and then pour it in the sink), very carefully cary the whole pool (water and all) into the bathroom to drain it, or you could pour the water into the drain on the balcony. As long as you weren’t careless about it, the neighbors and cabins below should have no idea that there was ever a “pool” there. 

[DrUrsula]

I would skip the pool idea. Our last several late September/early October trips to your ports were not hot . Delightful temps , but not swim/splash weather.

 

You are going to have an AWESOME time. We started when ours were 2,2 and 9 months and had great adventures. Our mobility was limited due to being outnumbered, but we had a blast. Umbrella strollers for the win!! ( We hooked two together with a connector for the twins) .

 

 

[COcruise]

11 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Santorini was the tender.  

They will know more on the Med board, but Cannes might be your only tender port.  A tender port is one in which the boat is too large to dock directly at the pier, and will dock in the water and all passengers who wish to disembark use smaller tender boats to ferry them back to the pier.  You just need to allocate a little extra time getting on and off the ship because the tenders will back up at the most popular times (usually right when the ship docks.  If you leave an hour or so later there is often no line.  Tender tickets are distributed either the night before or early in the morning to help manage the lines right when tendering starts.  Priority is given to passengers on NCL tours, and to other passengers with high status with NCL.  If you are in port long enough that you can leave a little later after the crowds die down, you should be fine (you might also be fine leaving earlier depending on your and your child's tolerance for crowds.). Santorini is a special case you don't need to worry about for now, since there are slightly more complicated logistics on the ground after you tender to reach the tourist town of Oia, which is at the top of a mountain.  Santorini is absolutely gorgeous, but would be a little complicated with an infant.

 

Please note that you will need to arrange transportation from Rome to Civitavecchia because it's about 40 miles from the port, and also consider what you would like to do in Florence/Pisa (the port of Livorno where you will dock is about 15 miles from Pisa, and 48 miles from Florence).  

 

It sounds like your family is very physically fit, in which case an infant carrier might be a better choice than a stroller over cobblestone streets (totally your choice).

 

 

The family board might also have other suggestions for infant travel.

 

And thankfully you are traveling in October, not August, which hopefully will help weather wise.   NCL has a  Guppies program on the Prima, and they advertise this as parent-child activities.  On the Getaway they also had a baby todldler room that was open and filled with soft toys your kid could climb on with your supervision.   I'm not sure about Prima but hopefully they also have a similar room (they also had one on the NCL star many years ago) Hopefully the hours of guppy programs/infant room openings will be listed in the dailies; otherwise you might be able to stop by at Splash Academy's registration time and see if they also have a schedule of the times for guppy activities.  They have a schedule for children over 3, but I'm not sure if they also would have a schedule for kids under 3 (it would make a lot of sense since many families have kids eligible for splash academy and younger siblings not eligible yet).

 

 

Oh and the splash pad - on the Getway at least there the bottom of the splash pad was a 3-4 inch pool of water, so there is some recirculating water that would be an issue if a child had an accident in the splash pad (the whole splash pad would need to be closed and decontaminated)

    

THANK YOU! So much awesome info I appreciate it. Now you have my brain going and I will have to research each port and decide whether a carrier or stroller is best. Hoping to find a collapsible stroller we can carry if needed.

 

We are in the Haven and if memory serves me right we should get priority tender? I don’t think my status is quite high enough yet. We haven’t cruised since pre Covid. 

 

We have an overnight in Pisa so I will have to research that too. 

 

3 hours ago, DrUrsula said:

I would skip the pool idea. Our last several late September/early October trips to your ports were not hot . Delightful temps , but not swim/splash weather.

 

You are going to have an AWESOME time. We started when ours were 2,2 and 9 months and had great adventures. Our mobility was limited due to being outnumbered, but we had a blast. Umbrella strollers for the win!! ( We hooked two together with a connector for the twins) .

 

 

Thank you ❤️ that makes sense in the weather. Good for you for getting out there with twins and a 9 mo!!!!! Love that so much. If you have an umbrella stroller recommendation I will definitely need to research and buy one. 

[DrUrsula]

Haven will get you priority tenders and you don't have to worry about stocking up on goodies from the cafe as you can ask your butler to have fresh yogurt/cereals delivered daily. (When ours were very young it  was "pre- Haven" but I would have jumped on that !!   Would have been a nice switch from Disney and Royal!)

 

As for umbrella strollers- my kids are now 24 24 and 22 and I have no idea! But after one trip with the triple stroller and three car seats for the plane we had to downsize. Any sturdy umbrella will do, just make sure it has a canopy for precious and sensitive skin! That , along with a carrier, should do well by you. It is so much easier for traversing cobbles and navigating the small aisles in shops yet gives the little one more freedom than when in a snuggie/backpack.

We enjoyed {almost}  every second of travel with little ones and were fortunate to have excellent travelers. 

Enjoy!!!!

 

 

[JustAPilot]

Interesting enough we were debating the same thing with our infant who would have been 8 months but instead chose an all inclusive. Here are some of the considerations that we came up with, very few ports on the Med are actually in the city center.

 

“Florence” is really an industrial port you dock at and requires transportation to even get out of the port, there is nothing around there. You would need to take a cab to the train station then hop on a 40 min train ride into Florence. Rome or “civitavecchia” is also no where near “Rome” and there is nothing in Civitavecchia to see other than a none working fountain. Barcelona while in the city, the port is far from any sites and again requires transport to get to the city center. Research the actual cruise port and logistics required with an infant to transport them. You will also be limited to enjoying the shows and amenities of the ship if your baby is like ours and is in bed by 7:30 unless you plan on bringing a grand parent to stay with them. With all that we just decided to wait until he is older and out of the nap schedules ect..

[COcruise]

13 hours ago, JustAPilot said:

Interesting enough we were debating the same thing with our infant who would have been 8 months but instead chose an all inclusive. Here are some of the considerations that we came up with, very few ports on the Med are actually in the city center.

 

“Florence” is really an industrial port you dock at and requires transportation to even get out of the port, there is nothing around there. You would need to take a cab to the train station then hop on a 40 min train ride into Florence. Rome or “civitavecchia” is also no where near “Rome” and there is nothing in Civitavecchia to see other than a none working fountain. Barcelona while in the city, the port is far from any sites and again requires transport to get to the city center. Research the actual cruise port and logistics required with an infant to transport them. You will also be limited to enjoying the shows and amenities of the ship if your baby is like ours and is in bed by 7:30 unless you plan on bringing a grand parent to stay with them. With all that we just decided to wait until he is older and out of the nap schedules ect..

Thank you!! Enjoy your trip, definitely sounds more relaxing lol The more I read we are lucky to depart from Barcelona and end in Rome so at least those we don’t have to worry about returning to the ship. Thank you for the heads up on Florence, I am going to research each port one by one 😵‍💫 we have an overnight in Florence. 

 

Also, side note for anyone that runs along this post, we were struggling with the car seat issue as we don’t want to taxi at port and lug around a car seat while we see sights. our baby is a little to big to sit in the stroller with the infant car seat attachment for long periods of time as she likes to face forward… so after researching for hours after this post we splurged today a nuchfolger car seat that was recommended in some baby travel in groups for Europe (maybe works in Australia too?). It is under 5 kg and folds up into a small bag and passed crash tests and is rear facing. What a concept! Now we can bring an umbrella stroller and toss the car seat in the underneath storage 

[LauraAnneC]

Are you on the cruise leaving Barcelona on 13 October? If so, I’ll say Hi when I see you! Can’t wait! 

[phillygwm]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:57 PM, RD64 said:

To each his own, but if you are planning on dragging a toddler / infant across Southern Europe during the summer time, I think everyone will just be miserable.

This was my first thought.  I suppose if the kid is sleeping most of the time that would be one thing, though obviously she would have no recollection of the trip either way.  But from the parents' standpoint, it would seem pretty unpleasant.

 

I'd give it 2-3 years until she might have some early recollection of things.  Even then, I probably wouldn't choose Europe for first time out.  Not knowing where OP is based, I'm assuming it's a long-ish plane ride.  It's also less of a kid friendly itinerary -- not to mention considerably more costly -- than, say, Caribbean.  If my parents dragged my tail through the Sistine Chapel at a young age, I'd be either oblivious or bored to (literal) tears.  I can hear my father saying "Well, there's 10 grand out the window!"

Edited July 31, 2023 by phillygwm

[COcruise]

3 hours ago, LauraAnneC said:

Are you on the cruise leaving Barcelona on 13 October? If so, I’ll say Hi when I see you! Can’t wait! 

Yes we are!! The only people crazy enough to drag their infant to Europe 🤣 definitely say hello! We are so excited too! 

[LauraAnneC]

3 hours ago, COcruise said:

Yes we are!! The only people crazy enough to drag their infant to Europe 🤣 definitely say hello! We are so excited too! 

I don’t think you are crazy at all. My parents had 4 daughters and we were all brought on holiday to mainland Europe from the time we were very little.  See you on board!!