cruising with a baby - princess

Hey everyone!

My husband and I will be travelling with our 8 month old daughter, Grandma is coming to watch her for us. Does anyone have any experience travell8ng with a baby on Princess. We would love to know the ins and outs, how food works out and any tips anyone may have for travelling with an infant. We will be in the Caribbean. She is a sudden addition to our cruise as things were not working out for leaving her at home (she is not weaning well). Any advice and tips are welcome!

Thanks!

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Princess will allow your baby to visit the kid zone with adult supervision. She might like playing with some of the toys in the 3-5 year room.

I would bring anything the baby may need such as medicine, bottles, liquid detergent, baby spoons, diapers. Don't depend on the ship's store to have these items.

If you're flying to your embarkation port, go at least a day ahead (I recommend this for anyone) and plan for a trip to a store to stock up on things you didn't want to schlep on the plane.

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Bring your own sheets, blankets and sleep toys. They are softer and smell like home. You can pre-order baby food if she has started on food. A small umbrella stroller or baby back pack holder. Unless you are in a mini suite or higher you will only have a shower. Some people bring little blow up pools to both bathe and let them play in. No babies in the pools - period. With a baby always remember that if she gets fussy to leave the MDR or events where she will diminish the enjoyment of others. Yes, I have sailed with a 6 MO, a 1 YO and up.

The staff will love the baby. They have family they miss at home. When my DGS was around 3 my SIL comes into the restaurant and my DH and I are sitting eating breakfast alone. He says, Ummmm, where is DGS? Oh, one of the waiters came by and grabbed him. I think he's in the kitchen. We were fine with it but he was a tad annoyed. Dad got over it when he saw the attention DGS was getting from staff for the rest of the cruise. He says, wow, everyone knows him.

If you have booked less than a balcony room you might have some sleeping issues. The benefit of a balcony is you can sit out and visit or read or whatever while baby is napping or down for the night.

In addition to the umbrella stroller, I suggest your bring a baby carrier for walking around on on port days, this would give your little one a different point of view and a break from the stroller. I also suggest you bring a small insulated bottle bag which you can store water in for your little one on port days. I did not bring one when sailing with our 2 year old last April to the Bahamas it was very hot an humid and although I packed plenty of sippy cups I forgot to pack something that would keep juice and water cool. Also bring a receving blanket to and carry it around with on you the ship, so that you have lie her on the changing tables in the restroom vs. having to go back to your room for diaper changes. Speaking of diaper changes don't forget disposable bag to place dirty diapers in.

In addition to the umbrella stroller, I suggest your bring a baby carrier for walking around on on port days, this would give your little one a different point of view and a break from the stroller. I also suggest you bring a small insulated bottle bag which you can store water in for your little one on port days. I did not bring one when sailing with our 2 year old last April to the Bahamas it was very hot an humid and although I packed plenty of sippy cups I forgot to pack something that would keep juice and water cool. Also bring a receving blanket to and carry it around with on you the ship, so that you have lie her on the changing tables in the restroom vs. having to go back to your room for diaper changes. Speaking of diaper changes don't forget disposable bag to place dirty diapers in.

I'm not sure the public bathrooms have baby changing stations. I think you'll end up going back to your room to change her. In the scope of it, it is almost us much work to find a public restroom as it is to just go back to the cabin. BabiesRUs has a thing you can buy for disposing diapers that keeps them contained and smell free. I would definitely bring something to put down in public restrooms/areas on shore though. Yuck! I've used some of those and :eek: well yuck.

Christmas Island, Captain Cook Hotel - the main hotel. Think hooker hotel by the hour and lower your expectations. Now you need to use the public bathroom. I would have rather peed my pants than lower my pants in that area. Washing your hands didn't even look safe. That said, wonderful people. I'd love to go back there again just to hear the kids sing.

I think Princess emailed me a form to fill out to order baby food. (you order a quantity of meats, vegetables, fruits, etc). Then once onboard, you still need to call room service and order the baby food. I guess the form is really so that they have enough baby food onboard. When you call room service to order, you can either order for that specific day or for the whole cruise. I suggest ordering for the whole cruise because as the week goes on, the availability & variety is less. Plus, then you only have to tip the room service person once. Also, onboard you can be a little more specific & they will try to honor the requests (ie. we want green beans & peas, but no carrots). The baby food is Gerber. Some in jars, some in those little plastic containers.

We cruised with our dd when she was 8 months on the royal princess with my in lawas. It was an amazing trip! She was one of only 3 babies on the ship, the staff loved her. She was eating some solids and they would puree anything you wanted in the mdr. After we told our waiter she loved carrots, we had pureed carrots waiting every night.

A tip: I looked at the menu early each day and told my husband what to order and arrived 20 mins after the start time so that food was waiting for me and dd, it made dinner a little easier and shorter for a little one.

Have a great time!

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It's no different than being on land...except you'll need to bring lots of STUFF....that's the only difference!!!