Just off Oasis with 11month old

Ask away. I'm not going to do a full review as I am on an iPad and typing is not the easiest. But I will tell you some of the little tricks that worked for us. A little background: DS is a crawler/cruizer (he stood for the first time unassisted on the ship. I'm a proud momma), we were on deck 8 balcony, room 8560 (loved it rebooked same room for Allure next year), early seating, sailed with my parents, brother and his friend and us.

1. I think this is a biggie as it is a safety issue. Bring your own pack and play sheet!!!!! They do not have specific crib sheets and just fold a large sheet multiple times and place it in the PnP. Major SIDS/strangulation risk (I will be writing RCCL about this). Also if your LO uses a blanket bring one as we were not given one. This was not an issue as Jack does not use one.

2. If you are in a balcony try and get one with the bed next to the balcony. The couch is smaller in these rooms and you can move the couch just a bit so it is next to the bed and the PnP fits perfectly between the couch and closet. My mother had a room with the opposite setup and there is no good place to put the PnP.

3. Dinner which seems to be a trouble spot for some was pretty easy. The one thing that really worked for us was ordering Jacks dinner the night before so when we got there Jack had food within 5-10 min. All of the wait room staff was great with him they were always playing with him and half the time they would pick him up and dance around the dining room with him. He was in heaven. I did have to take him out one night before dessert because he was getting fussy but one night out of seven is pretty darn good in my book. The table behind us had a 18 month old that loved to have a major meltdown through dinner EVERY night. And they just let her. I hope I don't get flamed for this but: please take your children out of the MDR if they are having a meltdown it ruins everyone's meal that is within ear shot.

4. I only used the royal tots and babies once it was pretty good. They were very friendly but did not use the sea phone they gave me when they needed to get ahold of me. Jack puked all over himself and I did not give them extra cloths. So they dressed him in some very cute RCCL clothing but I would have liked to know that my son was ill.

5. In Haiti we got a cabana. It was a lifesaver for us. The day we were in port it was hot as You know what and the cabana had a fan and was in the shade which is hard to come by. Jack was able to take a nice two hour nap. Without the cabana he would have either been woken up by the heat or the noise from other people. The one thing I didn't like is that the water play area for the little ones is in direct sunlight. Not a tree or any shade structure anywhere near it. So some of the water features got VERY hot and being the crazy mom I am I was reapplying sunscreen what felt like a million times.

6. One of the reasons I loved the stateroom we were in was location. We were just steps from Central Park. This is great for strolling at 6 am when a little guy I know doesn't understand that vacation means sleeping in. The Park cafe is right there as well and IMO is leaps and bounds better than Windjammer.

7. Baby splash pool was great. Not only did jack have fun interacting with all of the babies but I also got to meet other moms and dads. A great time was had by all. The only very small down side is that at time older children would start to overtake this pool as it is the only one that is heated and it has some fun fountains. Another mother talked to a staff member about it and we never had anymore problems. They stayed on top of keeping the older ones out.

Things we brought that were must haves:

Disposable bibs, no cleaning necessary

Disposable floor mats, great for under high chair. the staff works hard enough they don't want to be picking up the massive amounts of food that doesn't make into Jacks mouth.

Sanitizing hand wipes, great for after crawling around on public floors

Tylenol, you never know. Jack decided to cut 6 teeth and it was a real life saver.

It was a great vacation! We all had a lot of fun and Jack was a trooper.

I do not have any baby and tot compasses as they were never given to us (grrrr). If you have any questions ask away I will do my best to tell you what I can or give my opinion on things.

Thanks for the report!

Thanks so much! I totally didn't think about asking about the bed/balcony set up for our room I am going to (and if not we have 2 more booked we can just switch the reservation if one works better). And I probably wouldn't have thought to get a cabana but I think after what you said, it makes the most sense.

Did you make a packing list for baby? If so would you mind sharing?

Did you bring a fold up bathtub? Did you find it useful if you did? If not how did you hand that?

I have a packing list and I will post it when I get a sec. As far as the inflatable tub goes no I didn't bring one. I really don't think it is necessary. Oasis has a baby splash zone so he had fun in the water and he has been showering with us since he was born and I didn't find it any more difficult than it is at home. Yes the showers are small but not so small that I couldn't do it. I think bringing an inflatable tub would be more of a PITA than just jumping in the spaceship shower with LO.

Glad to read this, as this is our plan for our oasis cruise next month!

How was the children's menu in the MDR?

Children's menu is a little bit of a let down as it is the same every night. This did not affect us as my little jack was quite content eating grilled chicken and steamed veggies every night. Here is what I remember.

Grilled chicken

Turkey burger

Spaghetti and meatballs

Burger

Some sort of steak dish

Fish

Pizza

Mac and cheese

Chix fingers

I do not know the appetizers as I never ordered any for Jack and desserts were pretty boring I would say let your kids order off the adult dessert menu.

All meals are served with French fries if not otherwise specified so I would recommend telling your waiter to bring steamed veggies with every meal so it is not a fight every night if you LO is older.

Thanks!

I know that one of the appetizers was a grilled cheese & tomato sandwich don't remember the rest, it looks like all RC ships have the same kids menu as that is basically the menu on LOS as well (I had a look at it one night last week LOL)

Thank you for this post! We will be on a different ship, but our son will be 11.5 months when we set sail.

Great tips about the disposable bibs and mats for under the high chair!

We were on Oasis with our 11 month old last year and had a great time! This year we are taking her on an 8 day Carnival Breeze cruise. Our kiddo did great at dinners. Our waiter always had mashed potatoes ready for her to eat when we got there. She then ate what we ate instead of off the kid's menu. They serve a cold fruit soup every night. We put that in her sippy cup and it was her favorite thing of the cruise! We used the Royal babies and tots program about four times during dinner or a show and they were great. I also sent a bag that contained everything she needed. She was fed snacks and there was a lot more staff then there were kids there. We did the toy lending program and switched toys every two days. The best thing we did was go to the morning play groups. We really got to know a lot of the other parents and we now have great friends from Australia that we plan to try to coordinate another family cruise with next year. There is an open play area outside the kid program rooms. The area has tons of toys, padded mats, and is open all day for you to take your LO to burn off energy. Baby splash area was plenty enough for us too. It was a perfect vacation!:D

Thank you for your full report. I will be traveling on the Oasis on 7/27 for the 1st time with my son. He will be 7.5 months then.

I'm also interested in that packing list when you have a chance.

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