Suggestions for cruising with an infant?

[atlantamom]

We will be going on the Carnival Celebration in May with a 6-month-old and a 3 yo. Since we've never cruised with children before (and that young!!), does anyone have any suggestions on what we need to make sure that we bring with us and what we should use on the ship? I am nervous that we are going to forget something really important. I have heard that we need to make sure that we bring a blow up bathtub, and that we should bring the infant carrier for onboard ship. We need help! I want to make sure that it will be a fun trip for everyone!! We are also going with grandparents and the kids' aunt and uncle...:)

[kclcruise]

When are you going? I am going with an 8 month old and a 4 year old on May 5th:)

[atlantamom]

May 14th-19th...that's too bad. They are so close in age! Have you done this before? I'm very excited about going, but also nervous to take the kids!

[deemk]

i too am interested in hearing someone's experiences with this. our baby will be 7 months old, and we'll have 3 other kids with us ages 4, 9, and 10. as i've looked at shore excursions, i'm wondering what we can even do with the baby. we're headed to costa maya, grand cayman, and ocho rios. has anyone tried stuff in these places with an infant and found it not to be enjoyable? or vice versa? would LOVE some advice on this!

[arf2005]

We took my 7 month old granddaughter last year and found that when it was time for excursions, there was always someone in the group who wasn't participating and could be in charge of her. You can rent strollers on the ship. Make sure you stop at all of the picture areas - we were able to get some of the best pixs!

It's always more of a hassle taking children (and especially infants) anywhere. However, the benefits of taking trips such as these as a family far outweigh the hassles.

[atlantamom]

And what do you do about taxis? do you take your car seat and base with you?? or do you just avoid activities where you need to take a car and just walk?

[kitty9]

In many ports, a child seat is useless. The taxis are old and don't have what you need to attach a car seat.

[bmgaritty]

In many ports, a child seat is useless. The taxis are old and don't have what you need to attach a car seat.


Most Caribbean islands do require car seats. Yes, there are seat belts, you must look for them, since they are usually down in the seat. Most people don't even look for the seat belts. Having traveled to the USVI, BVI, Caymans, Jamaica, Bahamas, the ABC's, I can tell you with certainty that 90% taxi's will have seat belts. You may have to wait for a second taxi, but what's a few minutes when you are considering the safety of your child?

To the OP: You will not need your car seat base. The carrier will buckle in with a seat belt, check your manual. You chould also buy a seat on the plane and buckle your infant in their car seat on the plane.

Have a great trip!

[lucitemomma]

The best item I brought was a Sun-Veil sling (mine was from tentoes.com, but there are quite a few online who make slings with the SunVeil fabric). I was able to carry him everywhere I went and just draped the tail of the sling over him when we were outside so no worries about sunscreen either. It was also handy as a nursing cover-up. But he was still tiny, less than 10 lbs.

When we go this year (baby is now 1 and too big for a sling) I am bringing a 'Cosmo' stroller from Combi. It folds up a bit shorter than an umbrella stroller, but it also reclines, so baby will sleep a little more soundly. It only weighs 11 or 12 lbs. It'll be nice to have at the airport as well. I'm bringing the sling as well to drape over the stroller to keep the sun off.

I'm not sure about the ships providing strollers... it may be a good idea to call your line. Ours is providing us with a pack and play but they didn't try to offer anything else.

I wish I'd known to bring an inflatable tub. I had to 'sponge' bathe him last year.

[deemk]

is the stroller for on the ship? or on the shore? it's our first cruise and i seem to have SO MANY questions! i guess i imagined shore areas with ground that wasn't conducive to using a stroller (i.e. sand, or uneven pavement). and what shore excursions has anyone taken with an infant? we're stopping at costa maya, grand cayman, and ocho rios. it's been recommended to do mayan ruins, stingrays, and dunns falls. but i'm worried that we can't do these with a 7 month old. anyone have any experience with this?

[Onessa]

If baby is too big for a sling or front pack - consider a backpack carrier our DD loved (and now her 8MO cousin loves) the backpack carrier - they are up high and can really see all around. Most have removeable sun covers. I always use pacifier teathers to fasten a couple of toys to the carrier.

Bring formula, diapers, snackage on board (either ship it down or buy it in your port city). Bring a good variety of OTC meds (for fever, teething pain, stomache upset, etc.). Don't assume that the items you are accustom to buying at home will be available in other countires (or even other parts of this country!) or that there will be any stores close enough to the piers to frequent.

On-deck can get breezy and many lines over-air condition some of their public spaces - so a nice variety of sweaters and sweatshirts will proove valuable.

Plan with spouse, DGM, DGF, auntie and uncle who will be primary overseer of each child at any one point in time. With the exended family it should be easy to always have a one-to-one relationship between an adult and a child.

Lines seem to be inevitable - be certain to have water and toys to keep both kids occupied.

HAVE FUN! This is a great time to vacation with your kids.

[shellie100]

The ease of traveling with little ones depends alot on how they're being raised. For example, we breastfeed, co-sleep, carry the baby in a sling carrier, don't adhere closely to a "schedule", etc. So, when it was time to travel, my babies hardly even knew that we weren't at home. And I didn't have too much extra crap to drag along. On my last cruise, my little one was 3-months (my oldest was 3 years). Since I generally carry the baby, she was able to eat when she was hungry, sleep when she was tired, and was just generally content. We did all water excursions...beach days, sailing, etc. In my opinion, port days are way more fun than the sea days, with little ones, so plan in advance and take advantage of every moment!

As far as necessities, I brought a stroller, sling, some little toys, lots of clothes, diapers and wipes, burp rags, baby blankets, nail clippers, baby motrin, kids sunscreen, a small bottle of laundry detergent, a small bottle of dish soap (the detergent and dish soap are really important!).

For your 3-yr-old, don't forget sippy cups (if you use them), benedry (in case of sea sickness), some familiar snacks, a DVD player (especially for downtime in the cabin, or when you are getting ready or feeding the baby), life vest for water-based excursions, and beach toys.

Personally, I am not too much into the shows and stuff after dinner (I think most of the shows are over-rated but people feel like they're "supposed" to go). So, after dinner I generally just walked around alittle, sat on my balcony feeding the baby, laid her down to sleep and then read or relaxed on my balcony and called it a night by 10pm or so. Then, I was usually up and relaxing (and enjoying coffee) on my balcony early before anyone else was up. THAT was my special time every day. Then, we'd get room service breakfast on the balcony and then run ourselves ragged having too much fun all day and then do it all over again. It was important that I get plenty of rest and relaxation in order to chase kids at the ocean and pool all day.

One more thing...the reason that I even attemped the 2-kid cruise was, during my first cruise while I was running crazy after my 20-month-old, I was talking to a mom with an 8-month-old and a 3-1/2-yr-old and she said that she was having the most wonderful cruise ever. It seems that those ages are particularly well suited for travel. Well, 2 years later, it was me with a 3-mo-old and a 3-1/2-year-old and I have to say she was right! So, I hope you have good luck with those ages as well!!!

[arf2005]

Carnival has strollers, but I would double check before you go to make sure you can reserve one. Last year it was a $100 deposit and you got $75 of that back. You can use them both on and off the ship. We were in Costa Maya and went to a private resort where we could lay on the beach, snorkle, kayak, etc. Drinks were included, and there was a pool and covered area. Very nice.

[deemk]

wow, shellie100 - you sound just like us! course we have a lot more kids than that. we have 4 total and one is 7 months old. and except for the co-sleeping :-). we're pretty adventurous, so i was just worried about taking her on the shore excursions while trying to climb a waterfall in ocho rios for instance. i worried we'd need both our hands for climbing and then how would we carry the baby?? do you mind if i ask what ports you ended up in with your kids, and what shore excursions you chose to do with them?

[atlantamom]

Thank you all for all the great advice. Our DD will just be 6 onths when we leave on the cruise, so hpefully breastfeeding will still be going well. That will make meal times much easier! And I already have a sling, so I plan on using that. I'm just most concerned with dinner time. Can you bring a stroller into the dining room, or is that too distracting and cumbersome for other passengers?

[atlantamom]

Thank you all for all the great advice. Our DD will just be 6 onths when we leave on the cruise, so hpefully breastfeeding will still be going well. That will make meal times much easier! And I already have a sling, so I plan on using that. I'm just most concerned with dinner time. Can you bring a stroller into the dining room, or is that too distracting and cumbersome for other passengers?

[atlantamom]

Thank you all for all the great advice. Our DD will just be 6 onths when we leave on the cruise, so hpefully breastfeeding will still be going well. That will make meal times much easier! And I already have a sling, so I plan on using that. I'm just most concerned with dinner time. Can you bring a stroller into the dining room, or is that too distracting and cumbersome for other passengers?

[arf2005]

We took the stroller into the dining room without any problems.

[shellie100]

Thank you all for all the great advice. Our DD will just be 6 onths when we leave on the cruise, so hpefully breastfeeding will still be going well. That will make meal times much easier! And I already have a sling, so I plan on using that. I'm just most concerned with dinner time. Can you bring a stroller into the dining room, or is that too distracting and cumbersome for other passengers?

I haven't, BUT people do bring in wheelchairs, so I don't see the problem with a stroller.

[shellie100]

wow, shellie100 - you sound just like us! course we have a lot more kids than that. we have 4 total and one is 7 months old. and except for the co-sleeping :-). we're pretty adventurous, so i was just worried about taking her on the shore excursions while trying to climb a waterfall in ocho rios for instance. i worried we'd need both our hands for climbing and then how would we carry the baby?? do you mind if i ask what ports you ended up in with your kids, and what shore excursions you chose to do with them?
OK, prepare for a very long post here to answer your question :)

Dawn Princess (with 20-month-old)

St. Thomas – Winifred sailing/snorkeling (private excursion).
Barbados – Silvermoom sailing/snorkeling (private excursion).
Curacao – Beach day, can’t remember the name of the beach.
Dominica – Emerald Pools/Island Tour (private excursion) (Great excursion, but TOO much bus time, would not bring a toddler again on this type of excursion)

Celebrity Century (with 2-1/2-yr-old)

Panama Canal – Ship excursion through canal. NOT exciting for a toddler but, hey, when am I going to get back to the canal, right?
Costa Rica – Private tour of rainforests, canals, animal rescue farm (lots of bus time, but Tommy was OK with it)
Aruba – Catamaran snorkeling excursion (private excursion). I think Tommy went in the water alittle (wearing the life vest) and then we took turns watching him on the catamaran while each of us snorkeled. We hung out at the beach after and that was tons of fun too. Very family friendly island, in my opinion!
Jamaica – Dunns River Falls/snorkeling excursion (private excursion).

RC Grandeur of the Seas (with 3-yr-old)

Grand Cayman – Swam with sting rays, then snorkeled (private excursion)
Cozumel – Hubby went SCUBA Diving, Tommy and I did a ship snorkeling/beach excursion. Very fun and they did not charge for Tommy! Tablemates went to Paradise Beach with their 18-mo-old and had a blast.
Aruba – Couldn’t resist going back. Did a very private (just the three of us) snorkeling excursion and then spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Celebrity Mercury (with 3-mo-old and 3-1/2-yr-old)

Cabo – Took water taxi to beach (near “office”)
Mazatlan – Randi’s Happy Horses horseback riding (Daddy and Grandma watched baby while Tommy and I rode horses) (private excursion)
Puerto Vallarta – Ship excursion to Las Caletas Hideaway/beach day
Manzanillo – Took taxi to Las Hadas Resort and spent the day at their private beach
Ixtapa/Zijuatenajo – Just got off and ate and then got back on the ship – too hot - should have gone to the beach like everyone else, haha!
Acapulco – CICI water park during the day and then, in the evening, went to see the cliff divers (left 3-yr-old on the ship)

WHEW, that’s a lot of excursions. With the exception of spending too much time on the bus in Dominica, I would probably do any of these again with little kids. All of the beach or sailing ones were my favorites.

Regarding Dunns River Falls…I carried my 2-1/2-yr-old up the falls. Yes, it was a bit challenging, but anyone with a toddler is probably pretty physically fit! If I were to do it again I would have brought the sling so that I would have had both hands free (just FYI the sling will get wet!). As it was, I only had one hand free because I carried him on my hip, but had no problems climbing, though the guides did give me some special treatment (I tipped them well for their attention). There is also a beach at the bottom, so I actually could have just played at the bottom with my son while everyone else went, but I’m really glad that I did go up! I actually thought he would climb (HA!) but about 3 minutes into it he wanted to be held. So, for the rest of the cruise I was that lady who carried her kid up the falls :D

[deemk]

OK, prepare for a very long post here to answer your question :)

Dawn Princess (with 20-month-old)

St. Thomas – Winifred sailing/snorkeling (private excursion).
Barbados – Silvermoom sailing/snorkeling (private excursion).
Curacao – Beach day, can’t remember the name of the beach.
Dominica – Emerald Pools/Island Tour (private excursion) (Great excursion, but TOO much bus time, would not bring a toddler again on this type of excursion)

Celebrity Century (with 2-1/2-yr-old)

Panama Canal – Ship excursion through canal. NOT exciting for a toddler but, hey, when am I going to get back to the canal, right?
Costa Rica – Private tour of rainforests, canals, animal rescue farm (lots of bus time, but Tommy was OK with it)
Aruba – Catamaran snorkeling excursion (private excursion). I think Tommy went in the water alittle (wearing the life vest) and then we took turns watching him on the catamaran while each of us snorkeled. We hung out at the beach after and that was tons of fun too. Very family friendly island, in my opinion!
Jamaica – Dunns River Falls/snorkeling excursion (private excursion).

RC Grandeur of the Seas (with 3-yr-old)

Grand Cayman – Swam with sting rays, then snorkeled (private excursion)
Cozumel – Hubby went SCUBA Diving, Tommy and I did a ship snorkeling/beach excursion. Very fun and they did not charge for Tommy! Tablemates went to Paradise Beach with their 18-mo-old and had a blast.
Aruba – Couldn’t resist going back. Did a very private (just the three of us) snorkeling excursion and then spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Celebrity Mercury (with 3-mo-old and 3-1/2-yr-old)

Cabo – Took water taxi to beach (near “office”)
Mazatlan – Randi’s Happy Horses horseback riding (Daddy and Grandma watched baby while Tommy and I rode horses) (private excursion)
Puerto Vallarta – Ship excursion to Las Caletas Hideaway/beach day
Manzanillo – Took taxi to Las Hadas Resort and spent the day at their private beach
Ixtapa/Zijuatenajo – Just got off and ate and then got back on the ship – too hot - should have gone to the beach like everyone else, haha!
Acapulco – CICI water park during the day and then, in the evening, went to see the cliff divers (left 3-yr-old on the ship)

WHEW, that’s a lot of excursions. With the exception of spending too much time on the bus in Dominica, I would probably do any of these again with little kids. All of the beach or sailing ones were my favorites.

Regarding Dunns River Falls…I carried my 2-1/2-yr-old up the falls. Yes, it was a bit challenging, but anyone with a toddler is probably pretty physically fit! If I were to do it again I would have brought the sling so that I would have had both hands free (just FYI the sling will get wet!). As it was, I only had one hand free because I carried him on my hip, but had no problems climbing, though the guides did give me some special treatment (I tipped them well for their attention). There is also a beach at the bottom, so I actually could have just played at the bottom with my son while everyone else went, but I’m really glad that I did go up! I actually thought he would climb (HA!) but about 3 minutes into it he wanted to be held. So, for the rest of the cruise I was that lady who carried her kid up the falls :D
thanks so much for the info! i would love to email you privately about specific things, but not quite sure how to do that ... anyway... thanks for all the info. that was definitely helpful. i'm wondering if we got one of those backpack things that she could sit in that and my husband could put that on his back and climb up the falls that way. And it looks like you did a lot of private excursions. Did you worry that with the extra time it takes to do things with kids, that you would miss getting back to the ship on time? And I've been told not to do the stingrays with the infant. But if it's safe for us, why wouldn't it be safe for her? Did you have any kid problems with that excursion?

Thanks so much!!!

[Timtammi]

I just wanted to say I admire your adventurousness (is that a word?) in doing all of those things with your very young kids!

For the OP I would have to say that I did Dunns River Falls a few years ago and I now have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and I'm pretty sure I couldnt make it up there with her as well! Now I'm probably pretty unfit and I'm also quite short and I found some areas where even I needed a fair bit of help from the guides let alone how I would go with a little one in tow.

I'm not trying to put you off, just letting you know my experience - YMMV. Shellie obviously managed it! :)

Cheers

Timmi

[atlantamom]

Where can I get life vests for my 6 month old DD and 3 yo DS?? Anywhere? I guess that I have never looked for them before...:)

[atlantamom]

Where can I get life vests for my kids? It does seem like they would be very important to have...

[MechTeach]

Where can I get life vests for my kids? It does seem like they would be very important to have...

We were able to get ours at Dick's Sporting Goods and Dunham's. When I lived in Atlanta, neither of those had outposts there, but they might now. I've also seen them at REI.

(We are cruising with our 3 yo and 5 1/2 mo in just a few more days - I can't wait!)

[deemk]

We were able to get ours at Dick's Sporting Goods and Dunham's. When I lived in Atlanta, neither of those had outposts there, but they might now. I've also seen them at REI.

(We are cruising with our 3 yo and 5 1/2 mo in just a few more days - I can't wait!)
do we need to bring our own life vests for the kids? i was under the impression that when you book a shore excursion, they provide that for you...

[deemk]

We were able to get ours at Dick's Sporting Goods and Dunham's. When I lived in Atlanta, neither of those had outposts there, but they might now. I've also seen them at REI.

(We are cruising with our 3 yo and 5 1/2 mo in just a few more days - I can't wait!)
do we need to bring our own life vests for the kids? i was under the impression that when you book a shore excursion, they provide that for you...

[bmgaritty]

do we need to bring our own life vests for the kids? i was under the impression that when you book a shore excursion, they provide that for you...

Not necessarily. The shore excursion may have only adult life jackets. Call ahead to find out. Life vests are great at the beach and not too difficult to pack. I purchased my daughters at Sports Authority.

[shellie100]

do we need to bring our own life vests for the kids? i was under the impression that when you book a shore excursion, they provide that for you...
I would never assume that there will be appropriately sized life vests for the kids. I didn't bring one for the baby, but I brought one for my 3-yr-old. I made him wear it on tenders, water taxis, small boats, and while playing in the ocean. So, in many of these cases, we weren't on an "excursion" and so there wouldn't have been anyone to provide a vest, anyway. I wasn't worried about the baby. Obviously she was in my arms and not running around like my boy was. Besides, that would have been very uncomfortable for her.

To the other poster. I actually got my son's life vest at Costco. It has pirates on it, so he loved it! But I think all the major sporting goods stores sell them.

[shellie100]

thanks so much for the info! i would love to email you privately about specific things, but not quite sure how to do that ... anyway... thanks for all the info. that was definitely helpful. i'm wondering if we got one of those backpack things that she could sit in that and my husband could put that on his back and climb up the falls that way. And it looks like you did a lot of private excursions. Did you worry that with the extra time it takes to do things with kids, that you would miss getting back to the ship on time? And I've been told not to do the stingrays with the infant. But if it's safe for us, why wouldn't it be safe for her? Did you have any kid problems with that excursion?

Thanks so much!!!
No, I didn't worry about the extra travel time with kids. In fact, I found that the private excursions are much more accomodating with the kids and that we actually get MORE water time, snorkeling time, beach time, whatever. We are very careful about getting back on time, though, but most of these private operators know that their business depends on them getting people back to their ships on time. I only choose people that are recommended on the cruise critic boards for that specific location.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't bring an infant to the sting rays. You obviously would be holding her the whole time (you can stand easily in the water). And you can simply get back on the boat whenever you've had enough. You'll probably be holding the 4-yr-old, too, so your hands will be full, hahaha! Get ahold of nativeway and book with them, they'll take care of you! Take the all day one if you have time!
http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html

I think your husband carrying the baby on his back on the falls would be fine. He should practice wearing it first though. I guess I'm probably younger than alot of the posters here (I'm 31) but I would do it!

You can email me at shellie100 at cox dot net.

Shellie

[shellie100]

thanks so much for the info! i would love to email you privately about specific things, but not quite sure how to do that ... anyway... thanks for all the info. that was definitely helpful. i'm wondering if we got one of those backpack things that she could sit in that and my husband could put that on his back and climb up the falls that way. And it looks like you did a lot of private excursions. Did you worry that with the extra time it takes to do things with kids, that you would miss getting back to the ship on time? And I've been told not to do the stingrays with the infant. But if it's safe for us, why wouldn't it be safe for her? Did you have any kid problems with that excursion?

Thanks so much!!!
No, I didn't worry about the extra travel time with kids. In fact, I found that the private excursions are much more accomodating with the kids and that we actually get MORE water time, snorkeling time, beach time, whatever. We are very careful about getting back on time, though, but most of these private operators know that their business depends on them getting people back to their ships on time. I only choose people that are recommended on the cruise critic boards for that specific location.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't bring an infant to the sting rays. You obviously would be holding her the whole time (you can stand easily in the water). And you can simply get back on the boat whenever you've had enough. You'll probably be holding the 4-yr-old, too, so your hands will be full, hahaha! Get ahold of nativeway and book with them, they'll take care of you! Take the all day one if you have time!
http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html

I think your husband carrying the baby on his back on the falls would be fine. He should practice wearing it first though. I guess I'm probably younger than alot of the posters here (I'm 31) but I would do it!

You can email me at shellie100 at cox dot net.

Shellie

[aadaneboy]

We are cruising with our 6 mo daughter next month. Was concerned about infant life vests for some of our excursions (booked independantly). I started looking online for infant life vests, and found one very inexpensive on iboats.com. When I went to pay for it, it was free shipping too!.....13.00 is pretty good to order and ship it I thought. Anyway, just did that yesterday, and according to the site we should get it in 5-7 days.

Can't wait to go cruising with our daughter.....And thanks to everyone for the other good advice.......

[CWNNP]

just wanted to comment that it is nice to come across a thread where no one is bashing anyone else's choices or lifestyle and instead helping others with useful information!!!!!!! :D

( i just had to say that after having read through that entire thread that should have never been moved to this family forum, the one about all kinds of usupervised kids causing problems on a particular cruise and moved on to bashing parents who take their kids out of school to vacation.... you know the thread i am talking about!:eek: )

To the OP:
DH and I have travelled each year since our first child was a newborn ( we have 3 kids now)-sometimes cruises and sometimes other vacations- and although it is totally different from travelling without kids, we have always loved travelling as a family. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!!!