Will Carnival allow Baby Bullet to be brought aboard?

Does anyone know if Carnival (specifically, at the Port of Miami) will allow us to bring on board my son's Baby Bullet? (It's basically a personalized blender specific for making baby pureed foods.. it says "Baby Bullet" on it & is not a full sized blender). My son will BARELY be a year old when we go on our cruise & I want to be able to puree food for him if he has any illness or issues w/ food on board. I make most of his food now, rather than using processed stuff (personal choice to make sure I know what he's getting).. I can't find anything on their site which really specifies one way or another. Again, this is NOT a regular blender, and I guess I'm wondering if we specify it is NECESSARY for his feeding needs??? Should we put it in checked bags or carry on, or would it matter?

All five of my kids were off pureed foods by that age - you should be fine without it. Just give him small bits of what you are eating. I can't imagine having to order food, and then go back to the cabin to puree it. A fork will also work well at mashing.

Don't know if it will be allowed . . . but, honestly, I wouldn't bother with this. I think it would be a huge pain and I think you'll find plenty that a one year old can eat.

I would think just washing it would be a pain, and my children also were not eating pureed food at one year. If your child is and you want to control what he eats, have you considered just bringing on jars of organic baby food?

Won't Carnival puree food for him if you arrange for this?

Yes...carnival will puree most things, if you ask. No need to bring a grinder. There are plenty of "mashable" foods, too...just smush with a fork! At almost 1 year old, it shouldn't need to be semi-liquid.

Not sure if this is even allowed but maybe you can make his food ahead of time and bring it in the little baby bullet containers or just buy baby food jars? We have the baby bullet as well and love it.

And if you absolutely cannot bring it, there are many options that he will/can eat. We took my daughter when she was 10 months and she had lots of options. Scrambled eggs, little pieces of pancakes, yogurt, soup, cheese, macaroni and cheese, grill cheese, etc. I understand about the processed aspect but IMO, its kinda something that you have to loosen up a bit about on vacation.

Not sure if this is even allowed but maybe you can make his food ahead of time and bring it in the little baby bullet containers or just buy baby food jars? We have the baby bullet as well and love it.

 

And if you absolutely cannot bring it, there are many options that he will/can eat. We took my daughter when she was 10 months and she had lots of options. Scrambled eggs, little pieces of pancakes, yogurt, soup, cheese, macaroni and cheese, grill cheese, etc. I understand about the processed aspect but IMO, its kinda something that you have to loosen up a bit about on vacation.

Generally, I would agree on the loosening up part.... but, he is off the charts big - height & weight (30 pounds at 7 months). Based on what the doctor is saying, we may NOT be able to loosen up on what he eats. Also, his dairy is, at least at this point, restrictive and he is a picky eater.. I know, generally, they are off purees by a year old, but he has some breathing issues, which sometimes make foods other than purees not so much difficult for him to eat, but he gags, and then vomits. This might not be the case by cruise-time, but I would feel better knowing I had the option available to me if need be. :-) AND, it wouldn't hurt if we could baby-bullet him up a juice "smoothy" either now & again.. ;-)

Yes, I could bring organics along... but we are trying to reduce the amount of stuff we are hauling on board, since traveling with a baby comes with a ton of extra stuff anyway (diapers, toys, wipes, stroller, special lotions (sensitive skin), his nebulizer, etc. etc. etc.)....

And, yes, Carnival MAY puree stuff for us, but honestly, I don't want to rely upon that, because I have read mixed reviews: sometimes they do; sometimes they don't... and honestly, it's easier if I do it than having to send it back & specify what to put in, what not to, etc. Making ours ahead of time & bringing it aboard in the baby bullet containers won't work: I wouldn't want to feed him foods that were pureed - and then just refrigerated - a week earlier. (Yuck)... not to mention that I think bringing aboard "opened" fruits and vegetables might not be allowed..

I'm just wondering if anyone has actually done this & brought their baby bullet aboard and could say definitively whether they had any issues with doing so. Technically speaking, I would think there could be an argument that it is "necessary" (medically or otherwise)... But, I don't know what their stance would be.

Personally i dont see how they could tell you no. Its what you want to feed your kid, i dont see why they wouldnt allow a little blender? Or even one of those little hand held ones could work and be smaller to pack? Give carnival a call, see what they say! And just wanted to add that my mom use to make our baby food by just smushing up a banana (or strawberry or whatever soft fruit) and adding milk to it to make it the consistency you want. You could always try that too.

But, since your cruise is 5 months away, maybe he will be better with texture by then and it wont even matter :) My kids were always weird about textures too.

Personally i dont see how they could tell you no. Its what you want to feed your kid, i dont see why they wouldnt allow a little blender? Or even one of those little hand held ones could work and be smaller to pack? Give carnival a call, see what they say! And just wanted to add that my mom use to make our baby food by just smushing up a banana (or strawberry or whatever soft fruit) and adding milk to it to make it the consistency you want. You could always try that too.

 

But, since your cruise is 5 months away, maybe he will be better with texture by then and it wont even matter :) My kids were always weird about textures too.

Thanks. Yeah, I don't think his issue is so much with texture as it is a gag reflex. It's pretty strong. He is actually eating table foods now (small pieces), but he has a tendency if certain things his the back of his throat to gag - and then throw up... He may very well outgrow it by December... but it may be related to his breathing issues too (panic = choke/gag = vomit), so who knows. Mushing stuff up does help, but sometimes it's not enough to keep him from having the same problem. We'll see, though: he still has over 4 months to figure things out :-)

The baby bullet is actually REALLY small (like the size of a small thermos), so it isn't hard to pack. And, I can't imagine it would be a huge issue, but given my experience on our last cruise (there was a super rigid security woman on board who "interpreted" Carnival's rules all on her own: no irons = no flat irons (not the rule), I'd like to know what they are enforcing vs. not ahead of time. The last thing I want is the BB confiscated - those suckers are expensive!! ;-)

Technically speaking, I would think there could be an argument that it is "necessary" (medically or otherwise)... But, I don't know what their stance would be.

Though I hope that it doesn't end up being necessary by the time you cruise, if it's closer to cruise time and it looks like you'll need it, I would contact the special needs department for some kind of authorization email to show at check in.

Best,

Mia

Though I hope that it doesn't end up being necessary by the time you cruise' date=' if it's closer to cruise time and it looks like you'll need it, I would contact the special needs department for some kind of authorization email to show at check in.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

Great idea! Thanks!

And if you are concerned with port security contact the Port of Miami Customer Service at:

http://www.miamidade.gov/portofmiami/customer_service.asp

What about a hand held food mill? I have the "wean machine" that I take on road trips, just in case my picky guy needs something pureed to eat. If they confiscate it, at least it's not as expensive as a baby bullet.

http://www.theweanmachine.com/products.php

What about a hand held food mill? I have the "wean machine" that I take on road trips, just in case my picky guy needs something pureed to eat. If they confiscate it, at least it's not as expensive as a baby bullet.

 

http://www.theweanmachine.com/products.php

Honestly, we have SOOOOOOOO much baby stuff as it is; I'd prefer not to have to buy anything more to lug around :-) But, you may be right, in terms of the cost to replace if they take it...

 

The baby bullet is actually REALLY small (like the size of a small thermos), so it isn't hard to pack. And, I can't imagine it would be a huge issue, but given my experience on our last cruise (there was a super rigid security woman on board who "interpreted" Carnival's rules all on her own: no irons = no flat irons (not the rule), I'd like to know what they are enforcing vs. not ahead of time. The last thing I want is the BB confiscated - those suckers are expensive!! ;-)

The baby bullet is only marginally smaller than the magic bullet, and easily could be confused other than the color scheme. I would not assume you could get it onboard just because it's cuter.

I second Mia: contact specialneeds@carnival.com and you should probably get a pass. If you do, print the email and bring it with you. I always put the letter with our extension cord explaining that it's allowable due to my wife's CPAP.

If you could get the BB by w/o issue, post back here and I'm sure there will be 50 of them boarding ships the very next week, mostly in child-less cabins. :D

The baby bullet is only marginally smaller than the magic bullet, and easily could be confused other than the color scheme. I would not assume you could get it onboard just because it's cuter.

 

I second Mia: contact specialneeds@carnival.com and you should probably get a pass. If you do, print the email and bring it with you. I always put the letter with our extension cord explaining that it's allowable due to my wife's CPAP.

 

If you could get the BB by w/o issue, post back here and I'm sure there will be 50 of them boarding ships the very next week, mostly in child-less cabins. :D

I'm not sure of the size of the magic bullet, as we don't have one of those. But, the attachment we use for the BB (the individual serving attachment) makes it only about 6-7 inches tall & maybe 4 inches wide. It's pretty compact. The larger attachment, to make multiple servings, is a big larger - perhaps 6-7 inches tall, itself (on top of the stand) & about 5 inches wide. But, we would probably not bring that one, since we really would only be making his foods one at a time anyway.

I will do as recommended and contact the special needs department and see what they say. Do they typically just send an email confirming the okay & then the security staff is not such a pain about things? I've not tried bringing anything such as this aboard before (never traveled on a cruise with a baby before). Do you pack your CPAP/extension cord in your checked luggage & just expect to be called to the "naughty room" when they see it on x-ray, or do you leave your bags open to be checked? We have always zip-tied ours: the thought of whomever being able to go through our belongings without us being present is not settling to me. I'm thinking if we still need to bring the BB along at cruise time, I may just pack it in my carry on to avoid all the hassle... and the naughty room, of course! :D (We got called down there last time for the 5 fridge packs of diet pepsi we had in one bag ----> there were 10 of us traveling for 8 days; we consolidated... they were CONVINCED we were smuggling liquor in the boxes...they never opened them to check... ;))

Yes you can take your magic bullet. The only thing they usually don't want are travel irons.

One thing to consider is that you are going to have to keep cleaning it in the sink. If you can live without it- do so.

I get that you don't want processed foods but were you planning to pack groceries for this purpose or go to the buffet and then come back to the room to puree?

As long as you cut things up small at that age- you shouldn't need to worry. They have lots of soft foods like potatos and vegetables. Just mash them up with a fork- should be fine.

When my son was that age he loved to have food on his tray- things like bits of cheese, peas etc. They are very much into feeding themselves at that age.

Yes you can take your magic bullet. The only thing they usually don't want are travel irons.

 

One thing to consider is that you are going to have to keep cleaning it in the sink. If you can live without it- do so.

 

I get that you don't want processed foods but were you planning to pack groceries for this purpose or go to the buffet and then come back to the room to puree?

 

As long as you cut things up small at that age- you shouldn't need to worry. They have lots of soft foods like potatos and vegetables. Just mash them up with a fork- should be fine.

 

When my son was that age he loved to have food on his tray- things like bits of cheese, peas etc. They are very much into feeding themselves at that age.

It is pretty easy to clean. It pops apart easily. We will have a bottle cleaner with us anyway, so it's dual-purposed.

As for mashing food.. yes, we can do that with a lot of it. No, we won't be bringing our own foods aboard (with the exception of a few of those gerber squeeze packets for excursions).... He already eats most table foods. That really isn't the issue. The issue is that he has a breathing problem that sometimes effects him, and we will have no way of knowing whether it will be a problem then or not. When it IS a problem, he has difficulties eating even mashed foods. They really need to be pureed because he gags on them otherwise, and also will refuse to eat if he's having breathing issues. Will all probability, the thing will sit in our bag, unused... but, I want it for peace of mind just in case. As for the "processed foods" --> what I mean by that is that we try to avoid most processed foods for him to mainly because of his size (he's off the charts big).... and we are in a fine balance of what he can and can't eat. Yes, I know we are on vacation, and no, I'm not one of those completely psycho moms who watches every bite her kids eat (he eats most table foods.... it's just what is IN those foods we are acutely aware of)... Even one week with crappy food, if he has too much of it, has the potential to effect his breathing, so in that regard, I'm a little more anal retentive than I would otherwise be. I'm not saying he won't be able to enjoy an ice cream, or his birthday cake, or try various foods on board... he will. But, we have to limit what he gets (and KNOW what he gets most of the time) for his own well being. :)

We leave next Saturday for our trip and I just purchased a ton of Gerber food. We have the baby bullet and steamer but I wasn't sure how I'd take it on the ship, where I'd use it, and I just decided it would be too much of a hassle. She's had Gerber Naturals only once.

In response to them pureeing food for you I heard that they didn't like doing that since they couldn't guarantee what was used in their processors and is posed a health risk / allergies. Trust me if your son needs to have the Baby Bullet for specific health reasons I don't think they can say no. Let us know what they say!

I have 2 suggestions - 1- get a letter from your doctor saying just what you have told us.

2 - speak to the dieticion once you are onboard - they will be able to get you food that you need to process, so you can take it with you at meal time, they can be very helpful, they know what is available to help you.

That way, if you run into a problem,. they will to out of their way to help. They want you to enjoy your trip!! So do we!:)

Would not want to be the toldler that was fed mashed potatoes as a diet - no nutrients there - not even on the food lists good for kids to eat!!:eek:

Yes you can take your magic bullet. The only thing they usually don't want are travel irons.

I thought the MB has been a non-starter for awhile. Has that changed? I was under the impression that you couldn't even take an extension cord on due to "fire hazard". Certainly the MB is a much bigger hazard than an extension cord... and also more likely to aid in a lowering of Carnival's onboard revenue. :D

That really isn't the issue. The issue is that he has a breathing problem that sometimes effects him, and we will have no way of knowing whether it will be a problem then or not. When it IS a problem, he has difficulties eating even mashed foods. They really need to be pureed because he gags on them otherwise, and also will refuse to eat if he's having breathing issues.

It sounds like you really need to talk to special needs, not just for the BB. It would seem like medical and camp both need to be notified. And it wouldn't hurt for the staff/kitchen manager to be aware so if you do hit bumps they can be dealt with in a timely manner.

I thought the MB has been a non-starter for awhile. Has that changed? I was under the impression that you couldn't even take an extension cord on due to "fire hazard". Certainly the MB is a much bigger hazard than an extension cord... and also more likely to aid in a lowering of Carnival's onboard revenue. :D

Haha... yeah, I can see this being taken advantage of.... :eek:

It sounds like you really need to talk to special needs, not just for the BB. It would seem like medical and camp both need to be notified. And it wouldn't hurt for the staff/kitchen manager to be aware so if you do hit bumps they can be dealt with in a timely manner.

I emailed special needs. Got an email back saying they'd be back with me within 48 hours... I guess I need to follow up, since I have not yet heard back. Honestly, I don't trust medical on board - AT ALL! We watched an extremely disturbing situation unfold with an elderly woman who fell and had an open fracture (bleeding profusely) on the Legend a few years ago. Let's just say... no one is very certain she made it off the ship breathing due to the complete inept abilities of the WAITERS who were called to attend to her & the medical staff who after 6 emergency pages could not be located.... After that, we learned our fate is in OUR hands on board.... So, we will be bringing his nebulizer; his meds; and anything else that might be necessary for him. It's not something we are unequipped to deal with on our own and after 2 emergency room trips, and countless dr appointments, we know what to do if there are issues. As for the kitchen staff, really there's nothing they can do to help out so much either. In all likelihood, he will be a normal 12 month old who can eat the foods they are serving. I'm just looking at worst case scenario, and stuck in the middle of the ocean (or third world countries), I don't want to have to rely upon anyone other than myself to make sure he eats if he refuses solid stuff for whatever reason). :) Just covering bases ahead of time. :)

I thought the MB has been a non-starter for awhile. Has that changed? I was under the impression that you couldn't even take an extension cord on due to "fire hazard". Certainly the MB is a much bigger hazard than an extension cord... and also more likely to aid in a lowering of Carnival's onboard revenue. :D

Also, for clarification, we are wanting to bring a baby bullet. As far as I am aware, it's much smaller (with just the personal individual attachment that we would need) than would be any other type of blender or even the magic bullet. I believe you can bring an extension cord for medical reasons (i.e. CPAP machine). I would equate the BB to that, basically.... but can certainly see where there could be some confusion w/ some overly "proactive" security people.......

No need to bring an extension cord. There will be an outlet by the dressing table in any ship. That's the most practical place to use it.

This whole conversation reminds me of when when I brought my breast pump with me on vacation. My son wouldn't nurse due to a palette issue. So I would pump and feed. Well- one day in port I'm pumping with my electric pumper and the window washer comes up the side and sees me- I'm surprised the poor guy didn't lose his footing! The things we go through for our kids.

It would seem like medical and camp both need to be notified.

I SERIOUSLY need to pay better attention to my responses to avoid 3 responses to one post! haha ANYWAY..... He is too young for camp, so that's not really an issue. If we go at all, it will be with us during the supervised play time in the mornings. :)