Back from 2 week Alaska cruise on Tahitian, with a 13 month old!

[ceilidh1]

Some of you may remember that I posted back in December asking advice on whether or not this trip was do-able. The consensus on the Alaska site was "no", while on here it was a resounding"absolutely". Well, we did it, survived it, and just got back! We had a great time and the baby was remarkably well behaved throughout! I thought I would fill you in on the basics and feel free to ask questions if you have any!

 

We researched the trip a LOT and were well prepared for the fact that there would be no children's amenities onborad, and few other kids. The other passengers were mostly older, grandparent types (not such a bad thing), two or three teens and a few youth. Ours was the only baby, and she was treated like a princess by all of the staff and most of the passengers! We also prepared ourselves for the fact that we wouldn't use the dining room, wouldn't do any of the shows, and would take it in turns to do excursions. As we knew all this from the outset, we were not disappointed at "missing out" on things. We tried the dining room a few times for breakfast and lunch, and it worked out just fine. We only tried it once for dinner and the length of time was just too much for a tired baby (we had 8PM seating), so I left with her before the entrees arrived. We ate in the buffet and found it to be just fine - the food was good, lots of choice, and the baby got to try out a bit of everything! We took her on the White Pass railway and this was fine, but the other excursions we did - floatplane, helicopter, and glacier hike were definite no-no's! We weren't at all unhappy that we missed the nighttime shows as it was quite nice to relax and be in bed by 9PM!

 

We took lots of diapers, wipes, and snacks on the ship - there was nothing available onboard. They did have milk available, but it was UHT and the baby refused to touch it! They also had baby food, but she has long since grown out of this. Luckily, there was no shortage of things that she was happy to eat. We took an umbrella stroller and our Ergo carrier. We only used the stroller twice, but found that it came in useful on the night we had very rough seas and it would have been hard to carry her or let her walk (we had problems staying upright ourselves!) One thing we were not prepared for was the fact that the baby refused to go in the crib provided by Princess. She is a great sleeper and LOVES her crib (many a night I have tried to snuggle with her in our bed, but she isn't interested). However, onboard, the second we put her in the crib, she started screaming. Luckily, she was more than happy to sleep in the middle of our bed, and losing the crib made for more space in the not so large stateroom. The downside was that if the baby slept, we slept - though after the first night, we actually looked forward to turning in early and taking midday naps! The other tough thing was the lack of a bathtub. We knew this beforehand and toyed with the idea of an inflatable one, but the room and bathroom were so small that there would not have been room and it was too cold to use the balcony. My baby is terrified of showers, so the only way to get her clean was to take her in the shower with me. For the first few nights, she clung on like a koala and cried. Then she clung on but didn't cry; gradually she loosened her grip, and be the end she was actually enjoying it. This evening, I went to put her in the tub and she got upset because the shower wasn't on!

 

The only downfall on this ship for toddlers is the lack of places to toddle. Our baby is happy to walk around and see new people/places, but there were so few places to do so on a smaller ship. We spent a LOT of time on the outside decks (thankfully we had good weather) but the inside lounges always had something going on and were not readily accepting of a toddling baby! 99.9% of passengers were so pleased to see a baby on board and fussed over her 24/7. There were a handful that shot us "looks" when we walked by, and one couple that pointedly got up and moved tables when we sat next to them in the buffet (that day, the baby was on her best behaviour, too); and another couple that commented they couldn't sit outside to eat as there was a small infant out there! Thankfully, the baby travels well and I don't think she upset anyone. She had one or two minor screaming incidents, at which point I instantly removed her and took her back to the room. Many passengers commented on how well behaved she was, some commented that they didn't even realise there was a baby on board!

 

All in all, we had a good trip and would do it again without a second thought. I don't think it was an "ideal" vacation for an infant, but it was relaxing and fun and we saw a lot of "firsts" onboard - first steps (I guess the rocky seas counterbalanced the wobbly toddler), first ice cream, first fries and pizza, first cake, but best of all was the sheer awe and wonderment when she looked out and saw the ocean, pointing and yelling "wow" - after that, we could deal with anything!

[sunquest76]

thanks for your post. we will be cruising with our 13 month old and i was wondering how do-able this is going to be. looks like it can be done. glad you had a good trip.

[crusinmama06]

One couple commented that couldn't sit outside because there "was a small infant out there" :eek: Was the baby smoking? LOL :p

 

How absurd!

 

Glad you had a nice time anyway. So where are you going next? ;)

[ceilidh1]

We are thinking of Hawaii for the next trip - she will be two by then and far more mobile, so not sure if we can handle 5 days at sea before we get there! Maybe we will look at the Disney cruises. Either way, we have to start saving first!!!

[JohannaM]

Thanks for the review. While our DH is going to be 20 mos I think a lot of what you experienced will be our experience too. We're also prepared for missing most excursions and night shows, and we'll see how he does in the dining room. I think he'll be fine actually.

 

I actually tried an experiment the other night based on information I got from here and popped on a show on my lap top while he was having dinner to see if it would entertain him - it most certainly did! He doesn't have any shows he watches, so I was trying to find one that he'd be interested in (how sad it that, searching for a tv show for my son to watch). We've settled on the Backyardigans, will borrow a portable dvd player and some dvds from some friends and I think we'll be good to go.