*Help* Potentially cruising with baby

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Long story short, need to do a cruise with in-laws and found out my parents will be out of town meaning, I am potentially taking a 10-month old baby on a March cruise, GEM, Round-Trip NY. Will book a courtyard suite with HOPES that perks, butler, concierge, etc makes it easier.

 

I will NOT a crying/screaming baby to a show, or to a nice sit-down restaurant so the plan is DW will entertain in-laws, while I handle all baby stuff in the suite and at night I get to play blackjack. (Which is nice...cheeseburgers and blackjack is what I enjoy on a cruise. I won't have to shop for magnets that say "bahamas" on them and other than DW, I'll be with the prettiest girl on the ship):D

 

ANYWAY, is this totally nuts or could it work out? Does NCL provide proper crib or do I bring one?

 

Any issues vis a vis seassickness and baby?

 

In general, any advice someone could give me about making a baby cruise smoother? Is their fridge space in suite?

 

Thank you.

[jkrislc]

I'm taking my almost two year old on the Dawn next week and I've done a lot of research and suggest that you also check out the family forum here as well. As for sea sickness, it's not likely that your baby will experience any at such a young age. However, you do need to make sure that you pack everything that you need in terms of supplies. NCL will provide a high chair and crib for the cabin. The refridgerator is rather small, but you can have it emptied if you need extra room.

 

Your choice in accomodations is a good one. I just opted to move to a suite as I had the same thoughts as you; the buttler, concierge, and perks will help with the baby. For instance, I really want to try Cagney's, but I know my child can't be expected to sit quietly for that long. Thus, we'll order Cagney's in the suite that night rather than dining in the restaurant. In addition, the early embarkation and disembarkation should help with a little one.

 

Personally, I don't think you're nuts. We chose NCL because of the flexibility that they offer in terms of dining and I believe it will be a great family vacation.

 

I'll let you know how it goes when I get back, but do consider checking out the family forum here as well: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Thanks for the response. DIdn't know about the family forum, I'll check that out today.

 

Hope you have a fun and safe trip and yes, I'd be really interested to hear how it all went.

[familyof4cruising]

Both my boys have been cruising since they've been 16 months( they have each been on about 18 cruises). They have never gotten seasick. They always went with us to all the restaurants. I think because of this they are very well behaved children in a restaurants to this day. We use to split up when we went to the shows. They actually use to fall asleep on our laps at shows some times. Freestyle is the best way for you to go , so that you can eat whenever you want and wherever (in case you do not want to go to the dining room).

 

Having the extra room in a suite will work in your favor.

[goodml]

I don't think you have to worry about seasickness with the baby. Don't forget when they're fussy we stick them in swings, we rock them, we bounce them, we pat them. They're used to lots of motion:D. It'll be fine. Have a great cruise.

[runnerandme]

Just take any over the counter meds you might need for your baby. They do not sell them onboard. We tried to buy infant Tylenol for a three year old and they do not sell it without seeing the dr,( which I agree with by the way). They will puree any food you want, just ask. THe courtyard is a wonderful area and you can book five into one CV. We booked my dd and sil into an A4 and we booked an A3 and got to keep the grandkids with us. You will not be sorry to be left behind at all.

[CanadianTwosome]

I think that if you want to spend time with your baby, you'll have a wonderful time, especially with your trade-off plan. When my daughter was 10 months old, I would have LOVED to be in a GV on a cruise ship with her! You'll have tons of space in your suite as well as plenty of public areas where she'll be welcome and able to explore and have fun. I hang out on the family board quite a bit and I've seen LOTS of discussions about babies (some are linked from other boards), and many people are under the impression that a baby will 'ruin' your cruise, but I disagree wholeheartedly! Baby or no baby, you're still on vacation!! I may think differently than others, mind you, since I actually look forward to having more free time to be with my daughter than usual - with none of the usual responsibilities to interfere - work, cooking, cleaning, shopping... The big difference for me at this point, though, is that she's big enough to ditch me for Kid's Crew. Oh well... it's her vacation too!!

[KerCar]

and other than DW, I'll be with the prettiest girl on the ship):D

 

Awww! This has to be the nicest thing I have ever read on these boards:)

 

You'll be fine! We took our kids on their first cruise when my DD was 15 months. We had a wonderful time! NCL will provide a port-a-crib if you request one prior to your cruise. Or you have the option of bringing your own. We've never had any issue with sea sickness with either of our children, but like someone else suggested be sure to pack any medicine you might need as well as PLENTY of diapers and wipes! Children must be potty trained to go in any NCL pool, so many of us bring small inflatable tubs (available at ToysRUs, Target, etc) for our little ones to splash around in. Also, the Gem should have an "under 2" room where you can bring the baby to run around and play on age appropriate toys. Be sure to bring a stroller! IMO, a mid size one works best both on the ship and in the ports.

 

Finally, like someone else said, be sure to check out the Family board. Good luck planning:)

[Ginny, not Hermione]

But- be prepared, from what I read on these boards, you will not be able to buy formula, diapers, wipes etc. on board. So stock up way more then you think you'll need for the "sea" days, you MAY be able to pick up formula and diapers in port, but you aren't gaurenteed to find the brands you need, especially in foreign ports.

[geegee1]

They'll give you a Pack N Play. You can bring your child to the specialty restaurants. None of the restaurants we went to were quiet and they'll be other kids making noise as well. The only restaurant we didn't take our 2 yo daughter was the Japanese Steakhouse - too close to the heat.

 

If you do forget something, remember you will be in Port Canaveral by Day 3 and can take a cab to a shopping area.

[kenteecruisin]

We cruised on another line with our then 8 mo. She did fine. As a matter of fact she was always the center of attention with the staff. Everyone was so kind & sweet to her. She even made it thru 7 out of 8 dinners w/o a problem. We also brought a blow up pool which we filled for her out on deck & she had a great time splashing around in it. The only difficulty we faced was at night - she would go to sleep & we'd be confined to our cabin unless a family member offered to babysit which luckily they often did. Bring lots of wipes & diapers!!!

[NoPiratesPlease]

Our oldest is almost 14 and we've been cruising since he was 10 months. You will need to bring diapers, wipes, etc. and any special food you need for the whole cruise. We would stock a suitcase just with jars of baby food and powdered formula--it's a lot lighter going home! They'll run bottles through the hottest setting on the D/W to sanitize them for you--that was never a problem.

 

Since you are in the Courtyard, you should be able to get room service from your butler from ANY specialty restaurant--and Cagney's is the easiest because it's on 13 just below the Courtyard. You could even have a whole family dinner served in the Courtyard itself to have enough room--they will fetch you breakfast from Cagney's there or in your room. Use the Courtyard as your extension living room/family room and you'll have a lot of fun and meet a lot of people. Not everybody likes babies, but most people do! In addition to the butlers for the villas, there's a special courtyard butler--recently, on the Jade (same as the Gem) he was ALWAYS happy to help as it gave him something to do.

 

The ONLY problem with taking babies to the restaurants is they take too long to serve and the kids lose patience. However, the better Maitre Ds will, at your request, have the wait staff expedite service so it doesn't take too long. There are kids EVERYWHERE on the ship, in all the restaurants. But they shouldn't go to the hibachi and Le Bistro probably isn't a good idea, either.

 

In the room, you can borrow DVDs from the ship's library (I THINK the CVs have DVD players--the GV does), but the Courtyard only has a TV in the exercise room. From the Courtyard, you can go up to the sundeck where there are lovely views and breezes and just hang out. There's no reason to stay in the cabin all day with the baby--things have changed a lot since the Courtyard became part of the Jewel/Pearl/Jade/Gem!

[MrsLeo]

I love how civilized the posters are on this thread. Very nice to see! I wanted to say that if you want to enjoy a meal from one of the speciality restuarants, you should be able to arrange it to be delivered to your CV by contacting your butler, if you're concerned about baby getting tired our restless during an extended mealtime. I have always toyed with the thought of, if the 3rd/4th person rate was minimal, taking along a teenage neighbor to babysit at times when d/h and I want to have a little time together.

[newmexicoNita]

Long story short, need to do a cruise with in-laws and found out my parents will be out of town meaning, I am potentially taking a 10-month old baby on a March cruise, GEM, Round-Trip NY. Will book a courtyard suite with HOPES that perks, butler, concierge, etc makes it easier.

 

I will NOT a crying/screaming baby to a show, or to a nice sit-down restaurant so the plan is DW will entertain in-laws, while I handle all baby stuff in the suite and at night I get to play blackjack. (Which is nice...cheeseburgers and blackjack is what I enjoy on a cruise. I won't have to shop for magnets that say "bahamas" on them and other than DW, I'll be with the prettiest girl on the ship):D

 

ANYWAY, is this totally nuts or could it work out? Does NCL provide proper crib or do I bring one?

 

Any issues vis a vis seassickness and baby?

 

In general, any advice someone could give me about making a baby cruise smoother? Is their fridge space in suite?

 

Thank you.

wow, at least you are thinking and realize traveling with a baby will be a challenge. Yes, there are refridgerators in the suite and many people do cruise nicely with little ones.

 

NCL will provide the pack and play type of crib..

 

Children seem to get seasick less than adults, I do not know why, maybe it is mind over matter, kids don't know they might get sick. I don't think I would worry, but I would check the doctor just in case.

 

One thing many people cruising with little ones do is bring along a small inflatable pool so baby can splash around while the big people are enjoying the real pool. Because it is late March and might still be on the chilly side you may not want to bother.

 

Anyway good luck to you. With grandparents to help you should enjoy yourself but it isn't quite the same as cruising with your wife only.

 

Nita

[rskalko]

We don't think you're crazy! Then again we may be crazy ourselves! We are taking the Spirit on 2/8 with our DS who is 6 months (or will be).

 

We're a little nervous about everything... not so much the impact it may have on the way we vacation, we knew that would change... doesn't everything change when you have kids? We're more worried about how we'll manage everything, and we don't want to be the people people stare at with the screaming baby...

 

My DS is a very good baby... sleeps well and for long periods at a time (12+ hours a night since he was 2 months)... we just hope the flights go well. We have to change planes at Dulles and we have only 45 minutes between flights... so it'll be a mad dash!

 

We'll be bringing everything with us... from bottles and warmer to diapers, wipes, formual and food, etc. What I'm worried about is how to have enough clothes for him! We are also bringing our own sheets for baby...

[KerCar]

We don't think you're crazy! Then again we may be crazy ourselves! We are taking the Spirit on 2/8 with our DS who is 6 months (or will be).

 

We're a little nervous about everything... not so much the impact it may have on the way we vacation, we knew that would change... doesn't everything change when you have kids? We're more worried about how we'll manage everything, and we don't want to be the people people stare at with the screaming baby...

 

My DS is a very good baby... sleeps well and for long periods at a time (12+ hours a night since he was 2 months)... we just hope the flights go well. We have to change planes at Dulles and we have only 45 minutes between flights... so it'll be a mad dash!

 

We'll be bringing everything with us... from bottles and warmer to diapers, wipes, formual and food, etc. What I'm worried about is how to have enough clothes for him! We are also bringing our own sheets for baby...

 

I've heard that traveling with a baby is a lot easier than traveling with a toddler like I did! I've done the Spirit twice with my kids. The crew went above and beyond on both cruises to make my children feel special! Sounds like you have an easy baby and a great attitude. You are going to have a great cruise!

 

Regarding not having enough clothes, keep in mind the Spirit does not have a self serve laundry facility BUT they do offer a Fill the Bag laundry deal mid-cruise. I bet you could fit A LOT of baby clothes in the bag if need be!

 

Good luck! Have a GREAT cruise:D

[rskalko]

Thanks for the words of encouragement!! We are looking so forward to this cruise... the countdown is on!

 

We will probably have to use the bag-o-laundry service with the number of potential diaper blowouts and other wardrobe malfunctions that will happen! ;)

 

We are just hoping we'll have room in our cabin (a BC) for the NCL supplied crib, our stroller, our suitcases... and us!

 

We are travelling with my parents and 10 yo. sister, as well as my brother and his financee so there will be a total of 8 of us on this cruise. My Mom is taking the "babysitting" so we can go cave tubing in Belieze!

[Ginamarie]

Like the other posters have said, don't sweat it too much. We took DD on her first cruise when she was 11 months old, on the NCL Dawn. Even in our little inside cabin, we did well. The cruise line provided a pack and play in our room. We had no problem with her during mealtimes, and even took her along to Le Bistro, where the waiters fawned over her. She fussed during a couple of the shows, but we deliberately took aisle seating, and when that happened, just got up and left the room. We actually found that we could wheel her stroller up into the balcony are if she was sleeping, and she slept through a couple of shows, or sat in the stroller and had a bottle when she would have otherwise been fussy.

 

We're crusing again this fall with DD (she'll be 3 at that point) and DS who will be 9 (almost 10) months :)

[mkad1109]

We don't think you're crazy! Then again we may be crazy ourselves! We are taking the Spirit on 2/8 with our DS who is 6 months (or will be).

 

We're a little nervous about everything... not so much the impact it may have on the way we vacation, we knew that would change... doesn't everything change when you have kids? We're more worried about how we'll manage everything, and we don't want to be the people people stare at with the screaming baby...

 

My DS is a very good baby... sleeps well and for long periods at a time (12+ hours a night since he was 2 months)... we just hope the flights go well. We have to change planes at Dulles and we have only 45 minutes between flights... so it'll be a mad dash!

 

We'll be bringing everything with us... from bottles and warmer to diapers, wipes, formual and food, etc. What I'm worried about is how to have enough clothes for him! We are also bringing our own sheets for baby...

Not sure if you have flown with an infant before so I figured I would offer a piece of advice....Try to give him a bottle (keep him somewhat hungry) upon takeoff and landing...it helps with their ears. Always did it with my kids and never had a problem....

[rskalko]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you... and that was our plan exactly. Aisle seats and at first sign of fussiness we'll be out of there...

 

Dining rooms are my biggest fear I think. We love to enjoy our meals... and we will all try to eat together most every night (although I may have to drag some of the fam into the extra charge restaurants because they are dead set against upcharges).

 

At least with freestyle we can try to figure out when to go with DS. One school of thought was to go when he's hungry and try to feed him while we eat. Another would be to go when he's full and sleepy and hope he sleeps through it...

 

Did you bring your stroller into the dining rooms? I know we're going freestyle but still... we don't want to push it too much ;)

 

We're hoping for a little grandparent relief one night so we can go to Le Bistro for a quiet dinner... my wife and I have been craving that chocolate fondue for far too long!

 

If things are really not going well we'll just hole up on our balcony and enjoy the sights and sounds.

 

Thanky you for the bottle for takeoff and landing tip. I had read that on here once before and plan to do exactly that...

[KerCar]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you... and that was our plan exactly. Aisle seats and at first sign of fussiness we'll be out of there...

 

Dining rooms are my biggest fear I think. We love to enjoy our meals... and we will all try to eat together most every night (although I may have to drag some of the fam into the extra charge restaurants because they are dead set against upcharges).

 

At least with freestyle we can try to figure out when to go with DS. One school of thought was to go when he's hungry and try to feed him while we eat. Another would be to go when he's full and sleepy and hope he sleeps through it...

 

Did you bring your stroller into the dining rooms? I know we're going freestyle but still... we don't want to push it too much ;)

 

We're hoping for a little grandparent relief one night so we can go to Le Bistro for a quiet dinner... my wife and I have been craving that chocolate fondue for far too long!

 

If things are really not going well we'll just hole up on our balcony and enjoy the sights and sounds.

 

Thanky you for the bottle for takeoff and landing tip. I had read that on here once before and plan to do exactly that...

 

Just a warning, the first night is always the hardest! You are all going to be tired from traveling and thrown off by a new routine. By day 2, things get SO much easier! You should be able to figure out a dining strategy that works best for you and baby. For us, it was eating as early as possible. When the DR opened at 5:30 it was virtually empty. This meant more attention from our waiter and more efficient service. Also, on the night DH and I wanted to eat at Cagney's we made a reservation for 5:30. My MIL and FIL watched the kids for us and then had a later dinner at Cagney's themselves.

 

If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the Family Board for lots of great tips for cruising with a baby:)

[amcess721]

Just off the NCL Gem yesterday from our 10 day southern caribbean out of NYC. We had a BLAST! And so did our 15 month old! Hopefully I can answer some of these and let you know how we handled some things...

 

They'll run bottles through the hottest setting on the D/W to sanitize them for you--that was never a problem.

 

The ONLY problem with taking babies to the restaurants is they take too long to serve and the kids lose patience. However, the better Maitre Ds will, at your request, have the wait staff expedite service so it doesn't take too long. There are kids EVERYWHERE on the ship, in all the restaurants.

Our room stewards were washing our bottles for us too. I didn't realize they would, so the first morning I left the room with two dirty bottles and they were cleaned when we got back. I didn't want them going out of their way to do it so I tried to have most of them washed before we left for the day. They did offer to wash them in the sterilizer, but I had brought a little bottle of dawn and a bottle brush and just did them by hand in our sink.

There were kids in the restaurants. We didn't eat in any of the specialty restaurants - Magenta and Grand Pacific had great food that we enjoyed. We got better service in Magenta and I think it was solely because it was a smaller place - not as busy. We only had one night that the service was really slow - waited 1 hour between apps and entree...but other than that, service each night was quick.

 

My DS is a very good baby... sleeps well and for long periods at a time (12+ hours a night since he was 2 months)...

 

We'll be bringing everything with us... from bottles and warmer to diapers, wipes, formual and food, etc. What I'm worried about is how to have enough clothes for him! We are also bringing our own sheets for baby...

Plan for a few rough nights. Our daughter has been a sleep through the night baby lately too - but she hasn't slept through since we boarded. The first night was definitely the worst - up 3 times and up for the day at 4:30am. ugh! Go to bed early yourself that first night to be prepared for an early riser.

As for clothes - we planned on two outfits for each day and one evening/dressy outfit for each night. I think we came home with 2 or 3 unworn dresses and maybe 4 unworn daytime outfits. We didn't want to have to do the laundry thing and honestly - little clothes (especially shorts and tanks) take up very little space.

 

Aisle seats and at first sign of fussiness we'll be out of there...

 

Dining rooms are my biggest fear I think. We love to enjoy our meals... and we will all try to eat together most every night (although I may have to drag some of the fam into the extra charge restaurants because they are dead set against upcharges).

 

At least with freestyle we can try to figure out when to go with DS. One school of thought was to go when he's hungry and try to feed him while we eat. Another would be to go when he's full and sleepy and hope he sleeps through it...

 

Did you bring your stroller into the dining rooms? I know we're going freestyle but still... we don't want to push it too much ;)

We never brought our stroller into the dining rooms. They provided high chairs. Also - we found that our toddler did well with sitting on a bench seat between my husband and I. She had a little room to move around but not enough room to make a ruckus.

We managed to eat as a group for each meal. We only ordered into our room once and that was when we had to be off ship at 7am for our excursion. We ended up eating all our meals with our daughter with us - but we had the thought of letting her fall asleep and taking the stroller too - if you go to a restaurant that has more space that might be okay, but depending on where you're seated in many of the rooms it could be tight.

[amcess721]

Long story short, need to do a cruise with in-laws and found out my parents will be out of town meaning, I am potentially taking a 10-month old baby on a March cruise, GEM, Round-Trip NY. Will book a courtyard suite with HOPES that perks, butler, concierge, etc makes it easier.

 

I will NOT a crying/screaming baby to a show, or to a nice sit-down restaurant so the plan is DW will entertain in-laws, while I handle all baby stuff in the suite and at night I get to play blackjack. (Which is nice...cheeseburgers and blackjack is what I enjoy on a cruise. I won't have to shop for magnets that say "bahamas" on them and other than DW, I'll be with the prettiest girl on the ship):D

 

ANYWAY, is this totally nuts or could it work out? Does NCL provide proper crib or do I bring one?

 

Any issues vis a vis seassickness and baby?

 

In general, any advice someone could give me about making a baby cruise smoother? Is their fridge space in suite?

 

Thank you.

 

Your NY trip will have a time change losing an hour on the way down (second night) and on the way back gaining an hour (ninth night). Be prepared - it can wreak havoc with baby's sleep.

They provide a very nice/clean Graco Pack-n-play. It's green. For sheets - they put a folded flat sheet in there, not a pack-n-play sheet. If the bunched up sheet is a concern (SIDS) for you - maybe take one of your own sheets. We had asked through our travel agent to have a crib in the room when we got there, but there wasn't one. We asked our room steward and there was a crib in there within 30 minutes.

Fridge space (now, we had a CC room - not a courtyard so maybe the fridge is different there) but we had plenty of room for bottles. We asked them to empty it of the liquor/beer and sodas when we arrived. It was one of the smaller square fridges - no freezer space inside it. Did have storage space on the door.

We had NO seasickness issues :) I was afraid of it for all of us, but nobody had problems.

Definitley take your own meds for you and baby. Take tylenol, ibuprofen, teething stuff etc...

Ditto what everyone said about taking formula/wipes/dipes etc - no baby stuff to be bought on board. I did see in St. Maarten in one storefront a big pack of huggies, but it definitley was not close to the port.

 

They actually use to fall asleep on our laps at shows some times.

 

Our child fell asleep at a couple of shows too - then we just carried her back to the room afterwards. One show we put her in her pj's first and took her in the stroller - stood up in the back where the wheelchair section is and about half way through the show she passed out.

[amcess721]

 

Also, the Gem should have an "under 2" room where you can bring the baby to run around and play on age appropriate toys.

 

This is not true. At least, if there was a room - we couldn't find it and no crew members knew about it. We went up to the tree tops kids club when it wasn't opened and asked about letting our child run around in there with our supervision and were told that the only time that would be allowed would be when we were docked in port, IF there were no other kids in there and IF the crew member working there at the time chose to let us in or not. We did not go back. I don't see why with no other kids in there when we went to ask - that they couldn't let our kidlet walk around on the mats.

There is a room out on the pool deck with the pink elephant pool in there - and in that room there are a few playground type "toys"... stationary ride on things and bouncy things.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the Spinnaker Lounge. Cool furniture. Bright colors. Great views - windows all around. Dance floor. Lights on the sides of the seating to keep kidlet occupied. The Bliss Lounge during the day would be an okay place to hang out too - but we liked Spinnaker better.

 

 

Don't bother asking if you can set up a little blow up pool. Just do it. I was trying to be considerate and ask before just doing it - so I went to the desk where they were handing out the towels and I explained what I wanted to do and I swear the guy there only knew two english words "towel" and "deck chair"... I just said "thanks" and went about blowing up and filling our pool. On the deck you'll find there are two showers - we set our pool up by those. We found that there were drains right near by and that usually the showers provided good shade for be little blow up tub. We took a $1 sand bucket that we'd found at Target - we used it to fill the pool/empty the pool and she loved filling it and dumping the water on herself.

 

We found all staff on board to be great with our child. Seek out MARIA LUCA...she was wonderful!!! She's from Romania. She ran trivia and Bingo a couple times and she was also greeting at the shows a few nights. I'm not sure what her exact title was though.

 

At the shows... we found that getting the front row in the balcony was the best - we could let our child walk around in front of us (like a 3-4 foot section) and it didn't bother anyone else.

 

If you are ready for dinner at 5:30 - you'll get in without having to wait - wait any longer though and you'll have typically a 20-40 minute wait. Not terrible, but just something we figured out by night two.

 

If you have any other questions - let me know and I'll try to answer them!