What to bring? First Cruise with 14 month old?

[hollyad]

Our family is taking our first cruise post-baby. We are booked on the Royal Caribbean - Mariner for the Mexican Riviera. I'm wondering about what to bring? Our daughter will be 14 months old at the time of the cruise. Not sure what food she will be on at the time since she is now only 6 months old. I planned on bringing her travel stroller, diapers, bottles with inserts, clothes, etc. I've cruised on Royal many times, but never with any infants/kids. Do they provide any special food/accomodations. Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Holly

[NYreadytogo]

I just came back from a Royal Caribbean Cruise with a 18 month old, and we were on a NCL cruise when he was 13 months, a HAL cruise when he was 9 months old, and an RCI when he was 3 months old. Each time we had to bring less and less stuff along. In each case we could drive to the ship, so we could bring along things like his co-sleeper, his mattress, organic milk, his favorite treats, his yogurts, etc.

 

However, RCI does provide a pack-n-play (though just with the hard bottom, no padding- which is why we brought his mattress), has plenty of high chairs everywhere, has a pretty good kid's menu and will accomodate requests for things like boiled vegetables or fruit. They also have plenty of whole milk (though we only made use of it after we ran out of our own organic milk). An umbrella stroller is a definite must to cruising, and obviously diapers will be needed. Beyond that, it's too early to know what she may need at the time. For example, my son still needed a lot of things pureed at 13 months, and we really wished we'd brought a hand-held blender along. But by 15 months (and certainly by 18 months) he was entirely on adult table food.

 

In any case, crusing with a tiny tot is nothing like cruising pre-baby, but we still managed to have fun. Though, I must say that he was toughest at 18 months and easiest at 9 months to cruise with.

[Tggrtoes]

I think I've seen some packing lists on this board somewhere, but we just went last month with our 15 month old. since he's a picky eater, I brought along quite a few snacks (packaged things), but the dining room was very accommodating and there was always things on the buffet that we could grab for him (yogurt, cheese, fruit, etc.) and by 14 months, i'd think he'll be eating small bits of chicken strips, etc. Since strawberries are his favorite, we asked our server the first night for a bowl of cut-up strawberries, and they were there every night after that. YUM. As an aside, they did also offer to puree any food we needed, but DS only wants things he can feed himself. :D

 

Will second the umbrella stroller. We bought a McClaren just for our cruise and so glad we did. Our regular stroller would never have fit through most of the walkways and I'm glad we had something that reclined well for naps/bedtime and had a nice shade.

 

Swim diapers, a few small toys for dining room and/or on plane (our portable DVD player helped at dining time), sunblock, hat for shade, RUNNING SHOES for you lol, all the baby medications (tylenol, motrin, mylecon, teething tabs, etc.), baby shampoo/wash, sippy cups, bottles, diapers, favorite blanky or stuffed animal, binkies if he uses them, sheets for crib, monitor if you have a balcony and want to hear him (although I just cracked the door and it worked fine... never even plugged mine in). Baby spoon if it helps him (we just used regular table spoon)

[SimplyAddicted]

I am also interested in everyone's opinion as I leave March 1st for my 1st cruise with my daugher (who will be 11 1/2 mos when we sail). I would imagine that by 14 mos. most children are eating table food and off of formula/breastmilk so that should make it easier on you, but all babies are so different.

 

Fortunately, my daughter got teeth early and will now not eat anything that is pureed or have the texture of babyfood. So I don't have to worry about bringing food. Also, they typically have mini boxes of cheerios at breakfast. I plan on grabbing some of them for snacks throughout the day and onshore.

 

Any other tips, would be greatly appreciated!

[calikak]

We sailed with our son when he was 16 months old (although, he was 13 months corrected age, since he was 3 months premature). We brought along a few snack bars for him to munch on but mostly he ate stuff from the buffet. We were on an NCL ship and it had a milk machine in the buffet that had whole milk available 24-7, so that made getting milk for bottles easy for us. The big things that he liked were pastas, cooked veggies, yogurt, bread, and of course the amazing array of fresh fruit, especially bananas, which are his favorite. Cheerios seemed to be in high demand on the ship and it was often hard to find a box in the buffet at breakfast, so go early and snag them when you find them. Raisin Bran, on the other hand, was plentiful.

 

In terms of what to pack, laundry soap would go on my list. Even if there's not a self-serve laundry onboard, you can do a little washing in the sink in your bathroom and often cabins have a clothes line in/near the shower. We also brought his favorite blanket and a stuffed animal; a few small toys that could be strewn around the cabin or popped in a bag for the beach; and, in a fit of paranoia, our own life vest. We thought we'd use it in the pools at resorts we'd go to in Mexico, but, in reality it wasn't like we were going to just toss him in the pool and stand around watching to make sure he floated--we were in there with him holding him the whole time. And, they had a life vest on the ship in case of emergency. So, that was something we could have done without on this trip.

 

Pack a ton of diapers and wipes--the wipes will come in VERY handy.

 

Ditto about the umbrella stroller, you'll use that all over the place. You want something that the two of you can pick up and carry up the stairs when the wait for the elevator is too long.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Kim4]

DH and I took DD into the dining room each morning for breakfast and ordered her plain oatmeal (no brown sugar or raisins or anything) and a whole banana. She was around 7 months then, and it was perfect for us.

[rebeccalouise]

14 month olds are eating solid foods and should be drinking whole milk from a sippy cup (although I must confess my kids had bottles until they were 2). So life is a little easier as far as food goes. They are extremely active at this age. Picture a teenager who just got their drivers license. They are on the go testing out their new wheels. So bring your running shoes.