Review: Just cruised with 11 month old

Hello,

We just returned from a 10 day cruise with 11 month old. (Turned 11 months on cruise).

We sailed on RCCL's Jewel of the Sea. I am jotting down a few things that I found helpful, but feel free to email me with any questions! jai313 (at) gmail.com

Food: The staff was friendly and helpful. Every night at dinner they had a bowl of pureed veggies, fruit plate, fruit soup and hard roll ready for him. I hadn't asked for this, but the head waiter suggested it on our first night. Our son is still on formula and we used the ship water which he had no reaction to. We filled a thermos with the hot water at the coffee/tea station for when we went off ship. My son was also happy to eat the pasta, cut up fruit, cheerios and frozen yogurt from the windjammer, but I was thankfull that I did bring my Stage 2 and Stage 3 fruits and veggies, as he still isn't sold on table foods.

Stuff I couldn't have done without:

1) the $12.99 blow up tub from toys r us. It was our pool during the day and tub at night (put on the floor outside the shower). My son doesn't do well in the shower, so this was a life saver! We had brought a pail and shovel for him to play with and used that to fill the pool during the day. (we filled directly from the kids pool). Also, the sports center let us use their pump to blow up the pool.

2) disposable bibs. He's messy and I would have hated to have to keep washing and drying out the bibs. We got some cheap ones at target and loved how we could just throw them out!

3) our own sheets for the pack and play. Not sure what sheets they provide, but we brought our own quilted sheet and regular sheet for the pack and play. My sons skin tends to be sensitive so at least I knew these sheets were washed with dreft. I also brought 2 extras to cover for accidents which I did use!

4) More than enough pjs and onesies! My husband and I are hot people - so we had the A/C running, so sleeping in onesies wasn't really an option. With the new environment and excitement - expect that there may be some upset stomachs! We were lucky and our son adjusted well - but other parents on board weren't so lucky and needed the extra pjs! also, our boy tends to leak through during the night - so we went through lots of pjs!

stuff we did that helped!

1) every morning we went up to the Vortex lounge before breakfast and let him crawl around. it was usually empty and had lots of cool places to investigate for him! (Yes, you have to overlook that the floors aren't spotless - but it was really the best place for him to crawl).

2) booked a balcony (upgraded at the last minute). This way during nap time I was able to grab a drink and read on the balcony - and it didn't feel so boring on the early to bed nights - as my husband and I could sit out there with our drinks and not have to be silent!

Also the balcony rooms have a curtain that pulls across between the bed and sitting area (not all other rooms have a real curtain)- which was great because we could shut it so our son couldn't see us!

3) alternate nights out. We were with a group - so instead of both of us being stuck in the room as of 8pm, a few nights we alternated staying in. it worked out great (not exactly romantic) but helped us not be stir crazy!

4) walked him around deck 5 to get him to sleep! Deck 5 (on Jewel) is where the lifeboats are - it was always quiet, empty and one part had the hum of the engine! One of us would do a few laps with him in the carraige to get him to take a nap during the day. He usually isn't a carraige sleeper - but this worked out great!

5) borrowed fisher price toys from Ocean Adventure half way through the trip - a new round of toys added excitement!

6) Infant motrin! He's teething. Enough said.

Item we wish we remembered: Dish soap for the bottles!

Sea sickness - We hit a storm leaving boston and I'd say 1/2 the ship was sick. It was pretty rough. My husband and a good part of our group were out of commission. My son didn't feel a thing! It was a joke on the ship how he was able to get around with his crawling better than anyone on the ship. Not sure if he was just lucky or it if is because he is generally so low to the ground - but I was very thankful!! Our only issue was that it got so rocky that he was rolling around in his pack and play. he did not like that - so our first night we gave in around 2 am and had him in with us. Thankfully that was the only night!

That's the gist of things, but feel free to email me with q's.

Great review! Sorry about the dish soap. I remember the time we forgot ours too. ;)

Another way to deal with the formula. If you get bottled water and pre measured formula packs, you can carry the seal water in your diaper bag until you need it.

I used disposable bottle liners that prepared in a bottle before we left.

So if we were on an excursion, I just popped open the clean bottle, added the premeasured formula, then filled it up with the bottle water (which was at a warm temp since we were in the caribbean) :D

So what excursions did you do? Where did you go? Any activities on shore that you would recomend for people with infants?

Great advice! I am cruising with my daughter in March and she will be 11 1/2 mos. I am glad that they were very helpful in the dinning room. I was a little worried about the food. Hopefully Disney will be the same. She is 7 1/2 mos. now and is eating mostly soft solids, cheerios and the like. With some stage 3 food. (She already has 10 teeth. Crazy, I know!) I am thinking she will probably be on all solids by then, but you never know.

The formula packs are awesome. I always use them when we are out and about. I am not sure if I am going to have her on milk by then or not. I was given the ok by the doctor to take her off formula at 10 mos. But if I opt not to do that, I guarantee I will be bringing along the packs.

Did he manage to make it through dinner each night? That is one thing I am a little nervous about.

Thanks for the review and tips!

Thanks for the great review!!

We're taking an 8 1/2 month old in a couple of weeks (wow, is she 8 months already?) and I appreciate the feedback. I've added that blowup pool to my shopping list, it sounds like a lot easier to deal with than showering with her, which is what I usually do when we travel.

I love the fact that you suggested getting hot water out of the hot tea machine! What a GREAT idea!

Everyone is always asking "is the tap water hot enough?" and/or "is the tap water drinkable?" in reference to making bottles.

Now we can mention the tea maker in the WJ and even suggest that they bring a thermal mug so they can transport it to the room.

I'm not a tea drinker...I would have never thought!

Thank you for the review. We are cruising next month with our daughter, she will be 9 month old, the part that bother the most about it is her eating in the dining room she can be pretty messy and sometime have accidents(vomiting) like every infant I'm guessing. I'm scared of disturbing the other passengers.

I cruised the first time with a 9-month-old and the second time with a 3.5-year-old and an 18-month-old. I did really well relying on packing lists that people have posted here. The one mistake I made was in packing up the night before disembarkation - when you have to put together a small pack for until the next morning, when you are reunited with your luggage. (You generally have to have your bags outside your cabin for pickup by 10pm or so.)

My little one got sick in the night and went through ALL his diapers and clothes and diaper wipes intended for the day of travel home! (It may have been a slight case of Norwalk. A few other kids in our group also had the same stomach bug.) And since I decided I could just sleep in my shirt for the next day, he soiled the top of my only outfit too.

So next time, I will make sure to overpack a little for the last night on board/the next morning on the ship: more diapers, wipes, clothing changes than you think you might need. And *definitely* extra plastic bags/ziplocks in case you need to transport soiled clothing in your carry-on!