Cruising on Disney with a 15 month old

[LCSherwin]

Has anybody out there done a Disney cruise with a child between 1 and 2 years old?

We are adopting a little girl from Guatemala who would be around 15 or 16 months old when we would like to cruise. Our older daughter is 6 years old.

We are dying to go cruising again and would love to try a Disney cruise. My wife has the "it will be fine" attitude about cruising with a baby. I tend to be a little more wired up about these things. I figure Disney would be the best way to go in this scenario.

So, I'm trying to get a feel for what other Disney cruisers opinions and experiences are.

Thanks in advance.

-- Leo

[suzsummit]

Hi, my name is Suzanne and I have cruised with a 14 month old. Sound like we should have a special meeting or something. And might I mention a very active boy 18 month old with his two older sister ages 5 and 7. And then went back and did it again a year later.

I picked Disney for the kid activities and the toddler room they had. It was sign up babysitting in a room with lots of toys -- a nice break for my husband and I. We only took the 5 and 7 year old into port. I felt safer leaving the baby on the ship.

We had what they used to call a family suite with veranda -- it was nice to have a balcony to hang out on with my husband after the kids feel asleep. We were careful not to let the baby climb the furniture and go for a swim though:eek:.

It can be done, it's fun but you have to be prepared. I think I packed a case of my kid's favorite juice boxes. Learned to pack sippy cups by the following year. I also packed a huge bag of things my kids liked to snack on like cheese-its, fruit snacks and many others. Found it nice for the middle of the day munchies and then he had food he liked. Also I ordered room service snacks about 90 minutes before dinner each night (ex:chicken fingers) so that the kids were not starving waiting for dinner. Our waiter had the kids food ready first - we had late seating- and after they got done eating I would bring them to the kids area so then we had a romantic dinner. Some nights they stayed the whole time it just depended on their moods.

I do have to say he got sick the last night of the cruise -- 101 fever. So my husband and i just played tag team parenting. When lots of kids are around lots of germs spread....

If you are planning on this cruise being a sit back read your book kind of hang out by the pool them maybe not, but if you want a delightful FAMILY vacation then go for it!

ps -- I always double check to make sure my kids shots are up to before cruising just in case. Better safe than sorry later.
Crusin again in May with my now 7, 10 and 12 year olds. 15 day Panama Canal on celebrity so it can be done:)

[LCSherwin]

Great info. Thanks Suzanne.