7 day cruise with 7 month old....

[twopugs]

We just returned from a cruise on the Carnival Legend with our 7 month old son. Overall, it was a great trip and I wouldn't hesitate to travel with a young child again. I think our next trip will be land based, but that is only b/c we want to do some international trips first and maybe cruise again when he is a toddler or if a good deal comes along. Paying the 3rd pass. rate for a baby was a bit crazy to me.

He was a little more mobile than we anticipated he would be at this point (crawling and starting to walk) but we were able to adjust our plans so that he would have plenty of time and room to get out his energy.

I think he did much better on the trip than he normally does at home, even got his second tooth onboard and handled it like a champ. So many people to see and interact with and he loved all of the different accents. He didn't seem to bother the other guests and got plenty of attention. The crew loved him and were just wonderful with him. It caught us a little off guard how many guests/crew touched and asked to hold DS. I was fine with it, but just a little suprised as I have never had strangers ask to hold him.

We made it to every dinner, with the exception of one night when I was seasick. He did very well, though on two nights we had to leave before dessert. Considering that dinner was right during his normal bedtime and lasted an hour and a half...he did very good.

We took advantage of the play time offered in camp carnival. We were able to take him up to the play area and let him crawl around on the sea days. We did not use the babysitting services.

 

Things that worked great....

*I packaged each baby meal in a small ziplock and added napkins, a throw away spoon and disposable bib. I labeled each day so all we needed to do was grab and go.

*Did the same thing with a ready to go diaper pack in a gallon ziplock. For each of the four port days I filled a ziplock with diapers, a travel size wipes, travel pack of wet ones, and a disposable changing pad.

We just grabbed it and stuck a new one in the backpack each day.

*The blow up tub was a must and worked great for a mini-pool for him on our balcony.

* Brought plenty of pacis. DS doesn't normally take them but it was a great way to keep things out of his mouth (ie-water and sand)

*Sunglasses that tie (he couldn't take them off) protected his eyes from the sand he was always trying rub all over his face.

*Took a few cheap bottles and the ready to go formula packs. I breastfeed DS, but didn't know how well that would work on excursions. We ended up using one bottle for each excursion. I loved the enfamil pre-made packs...very easy.

*We booked 3 of our 4 excursions from private operators rather than going through the cruise line. This was a great choice, b/c they were much less crowded than what I saw going on with the cruise ship excursions. We took a boat to stingray city with 15 people and the cruise ship tour had near 100. It was nice not to be stuffed into boats/busses with a squirmy baby.

*Naps worked out very well just by luck. The timing of rides to locations seemd to fit perfectly with his nap routine. I would just feed him and hold him to sleep or transfer him to the stroller.

*We got a water float with a sun shade at Wal-Mart. He loved it and it worked great and folded in a backpack.

*Brought plenty of hats, rash guards, and swim shorts. Took an extra set on each excursion. Wet baby and wet clothes don't mix well.

*Boat trips and bus trips worked better than our beach day. Maybe with a more calm baby, but DS was all over the place and crawling through the sand. Our best excursions were boat to stingray city (Grand Cayman), Altun Ha Mayan Ruins (Belize) and Snorkeling at a island (Roatan)

Least favorite was the beach day in Cozumel.

*We brought a pack n play and portable swing. He has never been a good sleeper, so having the swing worked out very well. We used it for naps on sea days and to get him back to sleep when he wanted to play at 5am.

*Mixed a little pedilyte with water for the extra hot excursion days.

*Packed plenty of hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes. I came home with 5 packs, but I can never have too many.

 

 

Things that didn't work out...

*The booster seat I brought was waste. Their high chairs were very good and came with a tray. I would just wipe it down with a antibacterial wipe.

*The portable car seat (eddie bauer) was also a waste. Both the bus and cab that we took did not have the seatbelts that worked, so we were not able to use it. I was in a panic for the entire ride, so for the next trip we will buy something else.

*I took too many diapers and baby food, but I would rather have too much than not enough.

*I brought too many toys. He was quite content playing with a magazine or climbing on our suitcases.

*In retropect I would almost have rented a stroller from Carnival. We brought our own lightweigh (Combi Ex) but it appeared that they rented Maclarens for $25 for the week.

[aaklang]

Thanks for the great tips! We leave next week for a 7 day Alaskan cruise with our 11 month old. It's good to hear what did and didn't work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth trip!

[Reen G]

Yes, thank you. We leave next month with a 9 month old girl for 7 days. I know it took time for you to list everything and it is much appreciated. One question, was there a crib in your cabin?

 

Thanks again for the information.