Just returned from CCL Liberty w/a 9mo - Any Questions?

We just got back from a 7 day sailing with our 9mo DS. I wrote a review on the Carnival board, but can answer any baby related questions here if you have them!

He got sick onboard, but overall it was a good cruise. My DH isn't very... hands on, so it was good to have a big group with us to give me a bit of a break. Not sure how it would have been without them!

Welcome home!

How was it travelling with the baby?

What kind of cabin were you in?

Did you bring a stroller or a baby carrier? Any tips or recommendations regarding those?

Are you nursing? If so, did you have any problems with it on the ship? What did you do for baby food?

Did you use Carnival's crib or bring something of your own? How did you manage the space in the room with the crib?

What did you pack for the baby? Anything that wasn't necessary or that you wish you had brought?

How did you handle shore excursions? Did you use a carseat at all?

Did you make use of the playroom free time (when you can use the playroom and toys with your baby)? How was it? Or, did you end up bringing some of your own toys?

Did you eat in the main dining room? How did that go?

I know, tons of questions. I probably will have tons more but this is what I can think of right now. Thanks in advance for answering!

Hey RizzoLee!!

I was wondering how your cruise went! Glad you had a good time!

How did you do on the ports? Belize, Cozumel, Grand Caymen? I don't know what we should do with Mackenzie (she will be 8 months)

non-cruise question- Do you take your little one to any programs in Milton? We just enrolled Mackenzie in Kindermusik on Bronte.

Michelle

Was just coming on to answer q's, but DS just woke up so I'll be back later! Sorry to leave you hanging!

How was it travelling with the baby?

HARD. And easy at the same time, lol. I just found all of his stuff to be hard, and my DH isn't the easiest (for example, a 3 hour flight - he watched DVDs for 2 hours, while my 15yo cousin and myself 'dealt' with a cranky DS) or the most observant.

What kind of cabin were you in?

Balcony, 8225.

Did you bring a stroller or a baby carrier? Any tips or recommendations regarding those?

Brought both - our travel system (car seat for taxis, used it to and from the port only) and a Beco carrier. DS isn't used to being carried for long periods of time, so we minimally carried him. He lasted through the muster drill, but barely, and was okay to be walked around it in as long as it wasn't too windy.

Are you nursing? If so, did you have any problems with it on the ship? What did you do for baby food?

Yes, I EBF. I brought my pump and back-up formula just in case. DS has only had an oz of formula in his entire life, just to see if he'd take it in an emergency.

If your baby is easily distracted, you might have issues. I basically just nursed wherever, whenever. DS hates a cover, so I only used it when absolutely necessary, or else he pulls it off. I just use my shirt to cover exposed skin. I brought frozen milk in a cooler and kept it in the hotel's freezers, and it lasted a few days in the cabin's fridge. It was mostly a waste though - I'm not able to pump much anymore, but again, wanted a backup in case I got a couple hours' break (which didn't happen).

I brought a ton of pureed baby food just in case - I had read that CCL will puree plain food off the menu for you, but I wasn't taking chances. DS also has issues with textures, so I'd rather be safe than sorry. We spent 1 night in Buffalo, 2 nights in Miami before embarking. I brought 3 jars of chicken, 3 jars of beef, 2 jars each of: prunes, peaches, pears, cream corn, peas, etc. and a box of cereal. It weighed a ton, but we only came back with a jar of fruit, a jar of veggies and 2 of meat! I also brought 2 empty jars to bring cereal with us to breakfast, a bunch of bowls and spoons, bibs, etc. We picked up a small bottle of dish soap from the dollar store to wash his dishes in the cabin sink each day.

We requested DS' food be pureed at dinner, but as you can read in the review, this didn't go over very well, though I have heard of others having no issues.

Did you use Carnival's crib or bring something of your own? How did you manage the space in the room with the crib?

The stewardess had it set up for us without us even asking. I always say I'll post pics, but I never do, so I'll make an effort to post what they look like. We brought his pack and play just in case, but apparently we brought the wrong one (we have 2), and his sleep was cr@p in the hotels - there was a blip in his back. We laid him in the crib in the stateroom and he immediately started kicking like he does at home. We brought his top blankie from home as well and his sleep sacks. We simply took the blankets provided for the crib and put his blankie over top. The space was tight, but doable. We just never used the couch.

What did you pack for the baby? Anything that wasn't necessary or that you wish you had brought?

I am a notorious overpacker - I bring the entire medicine cabinet. As DS got sick (and so did I) with gastro, I'm glad I did. We almost ran out of wipes (even though I brought 2 packs), but had more than enough diapers, which I recommend in case your son gets diarrhea as well.

There's also laundry mats onboard, which we used when DS was vomiting plus the pressing service once.

Here's my list I used - good think Southwest allowed us 2 free bags each!

· Aspirator

· Baby bug spray

· Baby diarrhea medicine?

· Baby Gravol

· Baby hats (2 or 3)

· Baby lip balm w/SPF

· Baby monitor - DIDN'T USE

· Baby pool

· Baby sunscreen

· Baby Tylenol

· Baby Vicks - DIDN'T USE

· Bath towels (2)

· Bathing suits (2) & trunks (2)

· Bibs (15)

· Blanket (2)

· Bottle brush

· Bottles (2)

· Bowls (10)

· Breast pump

· Bucket seat

· Bum cream

· Camillia (homeopathic teething remedy - doesn't numb gums so BFing is okay still)

· Carrier – Beco

· Change pad

· Children’s Benadryl

· Clothes pins (stroller)

· Cold medicine? Coryzlia?

· Diaper shirts (5)

· Diapers (100+) - USED 80 OR SO

· Drop-ins (1 pack)

· Dryer sheets?

· Food – Cereal, Nutrios, peas (x3), beef (x4), chicken (x4), sweet potatoes (x2), green beans (x3), cream corn (x2), Veggies and beef/chicken, etc. etc., finger foods (Mum Mums, puffs, farleys biscuits?)

· Formula (powder + tetra)

· Garbage bags

· Iron (drops, DS is anemic)

· Ivory Snow (ziploc full)

· Jacket (2)

· Juice boxes (apple)

· Laundry bag

· Long-sleeve onesie (5)

· Lotion

· Milk bags (15)

· Nightlight

· Nipples (3)

· Nursing cover

· Pants (5)

· Plastic bags

· Play pen sheets

· Q-tips

· Rash guard

· Receiving blankets (5)

· Rompers (5)

· Saline

· Shampoo

· Shoes?

· Shorts (5)

· Short-sleeve onesie (12)

· Sleep sack (2)

· Sleepers (7)

· Small books (3)

· Socks (7)

· Soother (3)

· Spoons (10)

· Stroller

· Suit

· Sunglasses

· Sunhat (2)

· Sweater (3)

· Swim diapers (10)

· Thermometer

· Ties (2)

· Toys – Eli, Rings, Blocks

· Travel dish soap

· Travel pack + Diapees & Wipees

· Vaseline

· Washclothes (15)

· Wipes (2 packs) + container

How did you handle shore excursions? Did you use a carseat at all?

We just walked around mostly, and put him on our lap the one taxi we took in Grand Cayman. The car seat was good for travel from the airport to the hotel, and to and from the port. We'd been to most of the ports several times, so just did beach days.

Did you make use of the playroom free time (when you can use the playroom and toys with your baby)? How was it? Or, did you end up bringing some of your own toys?

We brought some of his smaller toys - I wanted to check out the free time, but truthfully didn't know when it was, and we ran out of time with 4 ports.

Did you eat in the main dining room? How did that go?

We always eat in the MDR - it's our preferred place, and since we had a bunch of people in our group who could hold DS if he got fussy, it was a little easier. Check out my review for my comment on the pureed food, but other than the first night, the highchair was waiting for us each time, and we'd take turns feeding him each night. Breakfast was always in the MDR, and the servers LOVED seeing DS. We just fed him safe food from our plates, and his usual cereal breakfast each morning.

Hey RizzoLee!!

I was wondering how your cruise went! Glad you had a good time!

How did you do on the ports? Belize, Cozumel, Grand Caymen? I don't know what we should do with Mackenzie (she will be 8 months)

non-cruise question- Do you take your little one to any programs in Milton? We just enrolled Mackenzie in Kindermusik on Bronte.

Belize my sister and I just walked around while our DHs did a shore excursion. :)

Cozumel, again, my sister and I did our own thing (drinking, lol) while the DHs walked around Puerta Maya with DS. :)

Grand Cayman we took a taxi to Royal Palms, and had a beach day.

Honduras was supposed to be a different beach day, which meant a half an hour taxi, but we misunderstood it and ended up walking over to Mahogany Beach. It was beautiful - and lots of shade!

I want to start going to MCRC, but time has been flying! I do baby aquatics at the Leisure Centre on Wednesdays, but find a lot of the programs to be too much money. Have you heard of Cupcake Mommies? I go to a lot of their (Free) get togethers.

Here's the review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1560281

Here's what the cribs look like:

And my DS inside:

I forgot to mention - I wouldn't have packed so many clothes for him. I brought way too much, and he didn't wear half of it since we ended up washing it twice, the clean clothes just ended up on top again, lol.

Thanks for posting this. It was really helpful. DS is 22 months and will be almost 23 months when we go on our cruise so I don't think he will need nearly as much as you packed. Also, the crib. I hope its not the standard size they give for other cruise lines because DS is too big for it. We'll be on the NCL Epic in a mini suite

We were on CCL, not NCL, so I'm not sure about their cribs, but CCL's was smaller than the standard size. DS probably wouldn't fit in another year or so. Maybe they have rails?

Thanks for posting this. It was really helpful. DS is 22 months and will be almost 23 months when we go on our cruise so I don't think he will need nearly as much as you packed. Also, the crib. I hope its not the standard size they give for other cruise lines because DS is too big for it. We'll be on the NCL Epic in a mini suite

On our last NCL they got pack n play.

hi again,

Did you put the white blanket around the crib? or is that a part of the crib?

Havent heard of cupcake mommies, but I do take her to making waves on bronte.

hi again,

Did you put the white blanket around the crib? or is that a part of the crib?

Havent heard of cupcake mommies, but I do take her to making waves on bronte.

In my review I mention the stewardess had it already setup for us. :) The crib is a regular, but smaller, crib, and the white blanket is just the duvet from the big beds. :)

Check out http://www.cupcakemommies.com when you have time! I'm RizzoLee on there as well. :)