First time on NCL with infant

[craezie]

I'm bringing my 18 mo. DS on the Star for Mexican Riviera. I am wondering a few questions about the accommodations for him.

 

Does anyone know if NCL offers cribs in the cabins?

 

Are children allowed in all of the dining rooms? What about the earlier shows? I'm not sure if things will work out to take him to a nice dinner or show, but then again they don't have any kind of babysitting for children that age so I don't have any choice but to take him wherever we go.

 

Do they search and xray the strollers and diaper bags every time you go on and off? (HUGE pain at the airport)

 

What have people done about carseats in Mexican taxis or on shore excursions?

 

Thanks!

[Leafpeeper]

Our DD and SIL and their twin babies are staying in an adjoining cabin to us so Grammy & Grampa can take charge when Mommy & Daddy have dinner or go to a show. We'll take turns with the babies so everybody has time to eat and relax.

 

I always thought that every cruiseline had a babysitting service onboard. Have you looked into it?

[marley]

I'm bringing my 18 mo. DS on the Star for Mexican Riviera. I am wondering a few questions about the accommodations for him.

 

Does anyone know if NCL offers cribs in the cabins?

 

Are children allowed in all of the dining rooms? What about the earlier shows? I'm not sure if things will work out to take him to a nice dinner or show, but then again they don't have any kind of babysitting for children that age so I don't have any choice but to take him wherever we go.

 

Do they search and xray the strollers and diaper bags every time you go on and off? (HUGE pain at the airport)

 

What have people done about carseats in Mexican taxis or on shore excursions?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

I was on the Dawn last year with my 2.5 year old and my 16 month old.

Thy gave us a nice pack and play. They did provide a sheet but we brought our own.

 

You can take him in to any restaurant. We did not have any problems. Everyone was very accommodating. Did not do any of the shows but my brother did with his one year old and it went well. They were very conscience about taking him out if he made a lot of noise.

 

They did X-ray our bags and stroller every time. Yes it was a pain but again everyone was really nice.

 

Cannot answer the questions about car seats we did not go anywhere in a car.

 

Have fun!!!

[craezie]

Our DD and SIL and their twin babies are staying in an adjoining cabin to us so Grammy & Grampa can take charge when Mommy & Daddy have dinner or go to a show. We'll take turns with the babies so everybody has time to eat and relax.

 

I always thought that every cruiseline had a babysitting service onboard. Have you looked into it?

 

Yes, the have "baby"sitting, just not for anyone that can be classified as a "baby"!

 

The sitting programs start at age 2. So the rest of us are pretty much going everywhere with our dear children. Which I really don't mind -- I figure we only have a few short years of good family vacations with our children, so why not enjoy them however we can? I just dont want to be stuck at the kiddie buffet eating chicken nuggets and pizza all week either. :D

[ImpulsivePuppy]

I don't know if this still goes on but I have heard in the past of parents that got unofficial babysitting by making arrangements directly with a member of the kids crew staff. This wasn't on NCL and it was some time ago, but if you talk with the staff member and trust them, maybe that is a possibility. I dunno.

[smeyer418]

I don't know if this still goes on but I have heard in the past of parents that got unofficial babysitting by making arrangements directly with a member of the kids crew staff. This wasn't on NCL and it was some time ago, but if you talk with the staff member and trust them, maybe that is a possibility. I dunno.

NCl's insurance doesn't cover in cabin babysitting and they would fire the crew if they found out....

 

group babystitting only 2 and above. they do have the under 2 zoo where parents can take the kids under two to play together...

[ImpulsivePuppy]

NCl's insurance doesn't cover in cabin babysitting and they would fire the crew if they found out....

 

group babystitting only 2 and above. they do have the under 2 zoo where parents can take the kids under two to play together...

 

This good to know. It was quite some time ago when this occurred so I am not surprised things have changed. Probably much safer that way.

[LovesCruising]

Im a little confused. Thought Baby had to be 6 months to cruise?

[LovesCruising]

Duh!! Ignore that - what was I thinking???

[craezie]

I was on the Dawn last year with my 2.5 year old and my 16 month old.

Thy gave us a nice pack and play. They did provide a sheet but we brought our own.

 

You can take him in to any restaurant. We did not have any problems. Everyone was very accommodating. Did not do any of the shows but my brother did with his one year old and it went well. They were very conscience about taking him out if he made a lot of noise.

 

They did X-ray our bags and stroller every time. Yes it was a pain but again everyone was really nice.

 

Cannot answer the questions about car seats we did not go anywhere in a car.

 

Have fun!!!

What process do you have to go through to ensure a crib? I don't see anywhere to request on their web service.

[dyslexic pirate]

OP Quote: "I figure we only have a few short years of good family vacations with our children, so why not enjoy them however we can? "

 

Enjoy your cruise! Be careful as your "babies" may turn out to love cruising even more than you! My babies range in age from 24 to 15 years old and we have all made special concessions to cruise again as a family in Feb/March. DH and I have cruised just the two of us but it's just not the same without the whole gang!

 

I have cruised with large groups that included some infants. Never had a problem and as many of the ship workers are parents they tend to dote on the little ones.

[Arwenmark]

I would think that if you have an infant booked in the cabin they would know you need a crib. but I have not traveled with one. Hopefully you have a cabin that will accommodate one.

[jbiz]

I'm bringing my 18 mo. DS on the Star for Mexican Riviera. I am wondering a few questions about the accommodations for him.

 

Does anyone know if NCL offers cribs in the cabins?

 

Are children allowed in all of the dining rooms? What about the earlier shows? I'm not sure if things will work out to take him to a nice dinner or show, but then again they don't have any kind of babysitting for children that age so I don't have any choice but to take him wherever we go.

 

Do they search and xray the strollers and diaper bags every time you go on and off? (HUGE pain at the airport)

 

What have people done about carseats in Mexican taxis or on shore excursions?

 

Thanks!

 

We were on the Dawn (Canada/NE) a couple years ago (with my then ~20 month old DS), and the Jewel this past April - Repo to London (with my 9 month old DD and then ~3 yr old DS)..

 

as for cribs, they had 2 kinds, a standard Graco Pack & Play (which is the default they seem to give you if you ask for a Crib) or an actual Crib (pictures attached) which you can usually request onboard from you cabin steward/butler and they will switch it, but you need to be specific once onboard and tell them you want the metal folding crib... since its also a folding crib, you can have them close it up during the daytime if you need space. Either way request the crib ahead of time to be in your cabin with your TA or NCL directly as part of your reservation.

 

The crib in the pictures (not the pack & Play) dimemsions are:

 

Length: 100cm

Width: 61cm

Height: from floor 85cm

Depth: inside crib 56cm

 

in addition to two crib sheets (I dont remember if they actually provided a crib sheet or just a twin sheet, but it didnt matter since we brought our own anyway) we also brought a crib bumper with us (something like http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2396900) which worked out well for the crib.

 

as for taking him to dinner and shows, dinner is easy take him wherever you want they were always very accomodating to us in the restaurants. we even dressed them up for the "formal" nights in a tux and a dress which everyone seemed to get a kick out of.. people though my DS was a mannequin and part of some evening show!!

 

As for the shows, it depends on the child, if they are a screamer, your not going to want to go to the shows, aside from the other people, you probably wont enjoy it anyway.. I sometimes took him or her (depending on which sailing it was) and then if my DS/DD acted up I would walk them out and then stand at the back of the show watching with them so I could take them out quickly if they started making screaming, which honestly almost never happend.

 

as for strollers, they pretty much just let us push it thru after pulling out the bags that are hooked onto them or underneath and just put all the bags thru the X-ray (not the stroller itself).. it was not like the airport where you also put the stroller thru the x-ray.. I dont even think I had to pull the kids out of the stroller getting back on board ship.

 

another piece of advice i would give you is to bring any must haves for your DS on with you and not send it with your luggage at the pier.. couple of reasons for this..

 

1 - on the Dawn there was a couple with their 11 month old whos luggage got put on the wrong ship and everything (diapers, formula, clothes, EVERYTHING from the entire families stuff) got put on a carnival ship by accident and it was 4 or 5 days before they go their stuff and no ports for the first 3 days.. not as critical for some, but no formula and no clothes for their DS was a big problem.. the ship crew came around to everyone with little kids doing their best get what they could.. but still..

 

2 - the luggage doesnt always show up till the evening, so things like PJ's, crib sheet, or anything else your DS might need for bed/nap you would want to have on you.. we got one of those small folding luggage carts at Target and basically brought the kids stuff directly on board with us..

[craezie]

Thanks for your thorough reply. It seems like the folding crib is a little smaller (although I don't have a pack n play to measure) so we might just go with the playpen to give our son a little more room.

 

It sounds like everything will work out ok for us. I'm excited!

[jbiz]

Thanks for your thorough reply. It seems like the folding crib is a little smaller (although I don't have a pack n play to measure) so we might just go with the playpen to give our son a little more room.

 

It sounds like everything will work out ok for us. I'm excited!

 

everything will surely work out.. and I think you are correct, I think the pack and play is about 2 or 3 inches wider, but same length. In my case, I felt a crib and mattress w/ bumpers for 2 weeks was going to be more comfortable and "closer" to what they were used to at home.. and there was nothing worse then a child who wont sleep...

 

I am almost positive there were no pack & play sheets though, so I would definately bring a set with you.. trying to wrap a twin sheet snugly around the graco pad is a real pain.. better yet.. bring a set of both sheets and then you can always change your mind :-).. nothing like finding out in the middle of the ocean your child wont sleep in a pack & play (my kids hated them).. either way, just have your TA make sure its added to your reservation.

 

oh, I fogot to mention.. the "under 2 zoo" (at least on the Dawn when we were on it) was just a random carpeted meeting room with 5 or 6 toys scattered on the floor.. kind of useless.. sometimes there were some other under two's there, so the they got to play with others once in a while, but not really much of any value.. it was more like if my wife wanted a nap/break, there was somewhere I could take my son and have a place to sit.. so now that I think about it.. maybe not sooo useless :-)

 

enjoy your sailing!

[rskalko]

Thanks for the pics jbiz! I will send those to my wife so she will see what our DS will be sleeping on. He will be just over 6 months when we go this Feburary!

 

A question though... the was obviously a separate mattress not shown in the pictures right? It looks as though the pic shows just a sturdy board. Was the mattress just a regular vinyl infant mattress? Please let me know!

 

Thanks very much!

 

Ryan

[jbiz]

Thanks for the pics jbiz! I will send those to my wife so she will see what our DS will be sleeping on. He will be just over 6 months when we go this Feburary!

 

A question though... the was obviously a separate mattress not shown in the pictures right? It looks as though the pic shows just a sturdy board. Was the mattress just a regular vinyl infant mattress? Please let me know!

 

Thanks very much!

 

Ryan

 

yes, there was a seperate mattress (not pictured), it was like a 2 inch think vinyl mattress, like the ones that come with most portable full cribs. reminded me more of a thick bassinet mattress, then the mattress we have in my DD's crib.