Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas from NJ for toddler

[amusa55]

Taking my son on the Symphony of the Sea as a birthday gift (turning 6 in late August) The cruise set sail September 1 (I booked it last night and got our state room). I have few question.

 

1. My son United State passport expire this August. I'm going to try and expedite his passport (I made an appointment with the passport at the postal office next week). Just in case something happen. Can I bring his United State birth certificate to board.

2. I guess I need to call Royal Caribbean to set up some Bday for my son.    

3, Is the photo package is worth it or just purchase a coupe of memory photo's separate.

4. I'm already looking at the non-alcohol package. Mostly I'm a coffee drinker, spring water only and sometime I do sparkling water or club soda. My son will need chocolate milk, water and smoothies (prefer real fruits). Trying to see what options do I have and if it's worth it.  

 

If my son does will on his first cruise. I look into the Disney cruises in the future. 

Edited June 21 by amusa55

[Scottdalfonso]

11 minutes ago, amusa55 said:

1. My son United State passport expire this August. I'm going to try and expedite his passport (I made an appointment with the passport at the postal office next week). Just in case something happen. Can I bring his United State birth certificate to board.

Yes, an official birth certificate will be good enough to get him on if the passport doesn't get there 

2. I guess I need to call Royal Caribbean to set up some Bday for my son.    depends on what you want, you can let them know you are celebrating a birthday and they will take note, the servers may bring him a little slice of cake or something. But you can also purchase a birthday package for your room through the website, but honestly just bringing some decorations and hanging them up yourself is much cheaper

3, Is the photo package is worth it or just purchase a coupe of memory photo's separate.

I can't answer this, as we aren't big picture people and just take a few with our phones every trip. 

4. I'm already looking at the non-alcohol package. Mostly I'm a coffee drinker, spring water only and sometime I do sparkling water or club soda. My son will need chocolate milk, water and smoothies (prefer real fruits). Trying to see what options do I have and if it's worth it

I would say get the non-alcohol package for you, your son will be fine with supplied stuff- you can get milks, water and even smoothies at the buffet- water will be available all over the ship, you can also get free "continental" breakfast delivered every morning and you can have a few milks delivered.  The N\A package will allow you to get specialty coffees, san pelegrino bottles, you'll be able to get fresh fruit smoothies at the vitality spa, plus bottled waters and whatever else you may want to bring back to the room occasionally so you have something in there for night time\early mornings if you get thirsty. .  

 

Sorry- I quoted you and answered IN the quote, just expand the quote to see my answers, oops.  

Edited June 21 by Scottdalfonso

[S.A.M.J.R.]

A 5yo is a toddler? 

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

A 5yo is a toddler? 

lol I guess my usually warning of swim diapers not being allowed in pools isn’t necessary.

[zaylyn2590]

My daughter LOVES cruises. She's almost 8 and has been on cruises since she was 5. She loves the kids club and royal does a great job! 

 

You can bring his BC. It's a closed loop cruise leaving from the US. 

 

 

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, amusa55 said:

Taking my son on the Symphony of the Sea as a birthday gift (turning 6 in late August) The cruise set sail September 1 (I booked it last night and got our state room). I have few question.

 

1. My son United State passport expire this August. I'm going to try and expedite his passport (I made an appointment with the passport at the postal office next week). Just in case something happen. Can I bring his United State birth certificate to board.

2. I guess I need to call Royal Caribbean to set up some Bday for my son.    

3, Is the photo package is worth it or just purchase a coupe of memory photo's separate.

4. I'm already looking at the non-alcohol package. Mostly I'm a coffee drinker, spring water only and sometime I do sparkling water or club soda. My son will need chocolate milk, water and smoothies (prefer real fruits). Trying to see what options do I have and if it's worth it.  

 

If my son does will on his first cruise. I look into the Disney cruises in the future. 

A birth certificate will be fine if passport doesn't arrive in time.    If send out renewal request this coming week for passport you should be fine in getting it back in time.   friends of ours get their renewals back in less than 1 month.

 

If you want to have the cabin decorated for his birthday check out the cruise planner, no need to call.    

 

I personally would not buy a refreshment pkg for a 6 yr old.    chocolate milk is available in the dining room, the windjammer and maybe the cafe, pay as you go with smoothies unless he has a couple a day, not worth the daily price of pkg IMO.

 

On the cruise planner you can also order bottled water to be delivered to your cabin or you can bring your own bottled water onboard (check-in --- do not pack with your luggage).   If you do this option then you may just want the coffee card for specialty coffee or you can just get the regular coffees that are included in your cruise fare and available at several places onboard.    

 

Same goes for the photo pkg.   I would just do your own photos and if you want to buy a couple of photos done by ship photographer that is less expansive than the pkg.   

[jacobtsf]

Welcome to cruising with kids! My wife and I find it to be the best way to travel with a little one. 
 

Our daughter has been cruising since she was 2 (on one of the first cruises after the Covid Pause), and has been on 5 cruises in the last 3 years. We have been able to travel all over the world, including the British Isles (via Amsterdam), and a really cool southern Caribbean island hop that left out of Barbados and visited 7 different islands in 7 days. And next February we will be traveling to Singapore for 5 days before boarding a cruise that goes to Malaysia and Thailand. 

 

I agree with what others have said above about Refreshment package. Get it for yourself. While drink sharing is frowned upon it is slightly more understood when it is a young kid sharing with their parent. 
 

When it comes to the photo package, if you like having pictures of your family together, GET IT! We usually get one of the smaller packages, so that we can have some nice pictures of the 3 of us, and a few of our daughter (sometimes we even get one of just my wife and I).  It is a blast to get your picture taken everywhere you can, and then spend a little bit of time checking them out (and now that you can see them on the app it is super convenient). 
 

I know you didn’t mention the kids club, but Adventure Ocean is wonderful. For our first two cruises our daughter only spent a small amount of time there, and wasn’t a big fan. But since starting preschool she LOVES being with a group doing some fun activities. Our last cruise we had decided (with her) that we would drop her off for a little bit after dinner (early seating) every night. The first night we went to get her after 2 hours and she yelled at us from across the room when we walked in “GO AWAY!!! I AM PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS!” It ended up being like that most nights, and on every sea days she asked if she could spend some time there without us asking. 
 

Finally, check out the family activities that Adventure Ocean has, where parents can join the kids. They usually happen I. The late afternoon. Arts and Crafts, Science Experiments, Kid-Friendly Bingo, etc. 

 

Please feel free to ask any other questions you might have. 

Edited June 22 by jacobtsf