Has anyone traveled with infants??

[Pebbles468]

We're considering traveling with our twins in June ~ they'll be 10 months old at the time.

Can anyone who has traveled with infants on Disney Wonder before provide any information on gear the cruiseline can provide?

Do we put in a request for these items through our TA, or is it figured out by DCL based on our reservation?

These are our first children and have no clue about traveling with children ~ so any information you provide would be extremely helpful.

Also, do we need to bring car seats?? We're planning on getting a limo from the airport to the ship, so I'm not sure we'd need them in the back of a limo. Although, I don't know about these things.

[laujac]

My first cruise was when my son was 9 months old. We brought all of our own things (pack n' play, stroller, car seat etc.). I don't know how many of these things the Cruiseline provides... I do know that they have strollers at Guest Relations that you can borrow. You could call the Cruiseline and they should have this information for you.

I, myself, would not take any transportation in Florida that did not allow me to put my children in car seats. However, you could check with the limo companies to see who may have car seats in their stock. If you did not want to transport two car seats with you, the Disney bus may be a safer option. We have rented a car in the past through Budget ( you can read other threads about the ease and cost efficiency of doing it this way) and they allowed us to leave our car seat in their storage room until we returned from the ship... we were renting a car for the return to airport. This was a Godsend since we did not have to carry it on board or store it in our cabin.

On the Cruise they do have a nursery available for a fee. Sign up for this is on a first come, first served basis. So you need to go straight to the nursery upon embarkation and wait in line until the sign ups begin. When we cruised the fee was $6/hour for the first child, $5 each additional. The facilities were very clean, and the counselors were very kind.

[cruisin'kat]

I just got off the NCL Sun with my 10 month old DD - only child. We had a wonderful experience and disney is supposed to be great. We rented a car from Alamo and did not find it easy or quick to get to the ship in Miami. I will not do that again. We did not bring our own car seat because of the rental and we were taking the NCL shuttle to the airport after the cruise. Well, do to weather in New England we spent three extra days in the Fort Lauderdale area. I was less than happy about it, but my DD ended up in taxi's and shuttles in no car seat. No one even questioned it. We were lucky nothing happened.

I would request whatever you need. You may not have to, but better safe than sorry.

My IL's came with us. If you can talk someone else into coming with you it may make your life a little easier - lots of stuff to carry with one baby never mind two.

Good luck and have fun! It was wonderful traveling with my little girl!

[klancy]

I can only give you some info about cribs. Our travel agent put in a request for a crib when we made our reservation. There was a pack and play in the room when we got into our stateroom (with mickey mouse sheets, of course). So at least that is one piece of equipment that you won't have to worry about!
Enjoy your trip!
Kathy

PS. Just wait till you see the infant life jackets! Might as well just encase the child in foam. Too funny!

[SeaPA]

We took our son on the Wonder when he was 4 m/o & again at about a year. The ship can provide:

Crib (a portable crib, like a pack & play. As mentioned, this included fitted Mickey sheets.

A Diaper Genie.

We brought our own stroller; not sure if they have them available for use on the ship. They DO have some onshore at Castaway Caye.

If you worry about sterilizing bottles, I think the do NOT have a setup for this & think I remember reading that they cannot bring them to the kitchen to wash for you. So you'll need to bring something of your own. I think the same if you want a bottle warmer. We aren't "sterilizers"; we just brought a bottle brush & a small bottle of dish soap & washed the bottles in the sink.

You'd definitely want to bring your own diapers & formula. These might be available on ship or in the Bahamas, but would certainly be expensive there.

Florida has a mandatory car seat law for infants & young children. You WILL DEFINITELY need a car seat for them if you're in a car/van from the airport to the dock. I'd check with the limo company to see if they have them. If not, you will need to bring them.

We had a wonderful time with our boy both times. Child #2 is on the way in 6 months, & I'm sure we will have it on a cruise at a relatively young age.

Anything else in particular you're wondering about?

[Host Mick]

Does anyone still sterilize bottles?
I can't see it unless the baby is immunocompromized and if that's the case, a cruise is a bad place for them to be.


If you worry about sterilizing bottles, I think the do NOT have a setup for this & think I remember reading that they cannot bring them to the kitchen to wash for you. So you'll need to bring something of your own. I think the same if you want a bottle warmer. We aren't "sterilizers"; we just brought a bottle brush & a small bottle of dish soap & washed the bottles in the sink.