Cruising with infants/ toddler

[alleah913]

Has anyone cruised before on Royal caribbean or carnival with infants or toddlers? How was your experience?

I have a 16 month old son, and would like to do a 3 or 4 day bahamas cruise on either Royal or Carnival. Few quetions that comes to mind are: Did you eat dinner at the Main Dining Room or on the Deck? Can you bring a child this age to the main dining room for dinner or breakfast? Did you have to bring milk onboard or can you get that from the ship? He drinks whole milk and not formula anymore. I know i have seen babies/toddlers on my previous cruises before but never really paid attention to that since I didn't have kids then. Also, I am expecting my 2nd child and would like to do this quick getaway before the 2nd child arrives. TIA

[KerCar]

Check out the family board for lots of great tips for cruising with a baby:)

[alleah913]

Thanks Kercar. I didn't realize that board exist (crazy me). I had always used this board on the previous cruises, since I never travelled with kids before, but I guess I have to keep checking that board now since I'm going to be cruising with the little one(s).thank you so much again.

[Kudos2Fly]

On one of my husband's family cruise one of the nephews and his wife brought their year old on Legend of the Seas. They had an inside room which was very small compared to a Carnival inside room. Needless to say they were very disappointed in the size of the room. They had their stuff and the baby stuff needless to say it wasn't enough room for them...

 

They did bring the baby to the dinning room every night. He did quite well for a 1 year old at the dinning room. They were limited to what they could do on the cruise. If you have some one else traveling with you that is "willing" to take care of the child that helps.. But the word is willing, just because they are family doesn't mean they are baby people.

 

I believe they were able to get milk for their 1 year old. If it were me, I would probably pick Carnival.. Bigger rooms would be the main reason. Well good luck

[KerCar]

Thanks Kercar. I didn't realize that board exist (crazy me). I had always used this board on the previous cruises, since I never travelled with kids before, but I guess I have to keep checking that board now since I'm going to be cruising with the little one(s).thank you so much again.

 

Glad to help! Good luck planning:)

[MommaOML]

We took our son when he was 6 months on a Carnival cruise, and are going on Carnival again next month. He will be 19 months then.

 

Whole milk is usually available; just mention it to the booking agent and they will put in the request to special services.

 

You mentioned that you are currently pregnant. Carnival (and most other lines) have pretty tight restrictions on cruising while pregnant. I think you have to be less than 24 weeks at the end of your cruise. That's a pretty tight window!

 

Good luck :)

[alleah913]

Thanks for all your opinions. I am 16 weeks pregnant today and that is also part of the reason why I wanted to travel within Feb or early March. I was thinking I just needed a quick vacation before the second one arrives. Also, we are planning on going to the bahamas again. We were there two years ago and did most of the excursions I wanted to do at Nassau. so DH and I are planning on just staying in the ship or go to the beach (since my son can't go swimming yet in the pool) and have fun with the little one this time around. Just need to decide which ship to use =).

[KerCar]

Thanks for all your opinions. I am 16 weeks pregnant today and that is also part of the reason why I wanted to travel within Feb or early March. I was thinking I just needed a quick vacation before the second one arrives. Also, we are planning on going to the bahamas again. We were there two years ago and did most of the excursions I wanted to do at Nassau. so DH and I are planning on just staying in the ship or go to the beach (since my son can't go swimming yet in the pool) and have fun with the little one this time around. Just need to decide which ship to use =).

 

Congrats on your pregnancy! I took my DD on her first cruise when she was 15 months and she had an absolute blast! We kept it simple and spent our port days at the beach and it worked out really well! Good luck deciding:)

[hiwaytravel]

Hello,

 

I still believe that Carnival is the best for kids. Since they have so many kids on board, they are definately kid friendly. I send most of my clients with small children on Carnival. I myself travelled with my 18 month old last month and they were VERY UNDERSTANDING about everything. I did check the rules, Carnival will allow pregnant women UNDER 27 weeks to travel, so you should be ok, book it asap! Hope this helps.

[deppong]

we did a christmas cruise with our adult children and 17 mo old granddaughter. This was on NCL. Without bashing NCL it wasn't the best ship/cruise.The inside cabin was very small. We brought our own porta crib for the baby. She loved to run around the promanade. Very safe place for her to play. we also brought a cheap blow up pool and brought it to the pool deck. We set it up next to the windows where the drains are. We filled it with water from the pool with a bucket we brought for the beach. She had a great time and we took turns watching her. She napped in her stroller and was in bed by 9:30 after the shows. The wait staff was great with her. Very friendly. They had milk in all of the dinning rooms and the buffet. If you have any more questions ask away! Have a great trip.