Advice on cruising with 1 year old

Hi all, we just booked a 7 night trip on the Breakaway from NY to Bermuda for October. It will be our first cruise and I'm nervous about doing a weeklong trip with our son who will be one year at the time. I'd like to hear about your experiences (good and bad) on cruising with a young baby, thanks in advance!

Well...you have a toddler..not a "baby"!!! What are you nervous about? The child will be happy anywhere, if you are!

You will need to bring all the diapers and stuff you'll need...so start keeping count of how much you use on a weekly basis! AT 1, he's probably eating table food (smushed, of course!), and there will be plenty of mashable foods!

Most cabins have only showers, so bring a blow up tub for bathing. Also useful for splashing at the pool area, as diapered kids aren't allowed in the pools.

Despite what you might think, eating in the dining room is MUCH easier than dealing with a child at the buffet, so do give it a try...the waitstaff is VERY accommodating to children!!

Taking a vacation is no different than being at home with your child! Just go, and make memories!

Do you have any particular questions or concerns? Will he be newly 1 or closer to 2? We had a great experience sailing on epic recently with our 10 month old and have booked another cruise for when he is 2. We did a combination of eating in the buffet for most breakfasts and lunches, o'sheehans a couple of times, and main dining room for most dinners. It is easier when they bring everything to you in the dining room, but it was hard for DS to sit there for very long so we mixed it up so he wouldn't have to do it 3 times a day. I found our Ergo to be invaluable when eating at the buffet!! That way I could just wear him while I got food, then put him in a high chair and start feeding him right away.

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My wife and I have been lucky enough to cruise each of the last three years with our DD. In 2013 we cruised with her at 8-months. Last year we cruised with her at 20-months and most recently in January at 2.5 yrs. Our best memories as a family come from these three vacations. As the posters above mentioned your baby/toddler will have a great time no matter where you are and what you do as long as they're with you. If you want to read a couple reviews here is a thread I recently started that includes my review of our first cruise (8-months old) and our third (2.5 yrs).

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2163277

If you have any specific questions are thousands of helpful posters on CC who can answer any question you could possible have.

Enjoy.

My son was a few weeks shy of 2 and he loved it. He had a great time in the pool and no one said anything about swim diapers. They would have taken him in the kids club, but he wanted to part of it. Luckily he had just gotten into tv so we brought the ipad and that kept him busy during dinners. My husband loves to lay around in the room or on the balcony and I'm more go go go, so I did alot of activities with my 4 year old while my husband did alot of naps and earlier bed times with my little one.

My son was a few weeks shy of 2 and he loved it. He had a great time in the pool and no one said anything about swim diapers.

Really? It's obvious you know that non-potty trained children aren't allowed in the pool; no swim diapers or diapers. Bad "advice" you are giving the OP. Another example of "the rules don't apply to me". You know the entire pool would have had to be shut down, drained and cleaned if your son had an accident. Selfish.

My child wasn't the only one, and the pool was shut down and cleaned out for some other messes. Kids wear swim diapers all the time, I don't understand why cruises are any different. I'm also aware that I'm probably aware of alot more rules than the majority of cruisers who do not frequent these boards. If they want to enforce the rules, go for it, until then I'm going to have the same fun as the people who are not aware of the rules.

My child wasn't the only one, and the pool was shut down and cleaned out for some other messes. Kids wear swim diapers all the time, I don't understand why cruises are any different. I'm also aware that I'm probably aware of alot more rules than the majority of cruisers who do not frequent these boards. If they want to enforce the rules, go for it, until then I'm going to have the same fun as the people who are not aware of the rules.

Wow - great lesson to be teaching your kid. Only follow the rules you want to follow and if you don't understand or agree with the rules, do whatever you want and who cares about the consequences to others. There actually are very good reasons cruises are different from public pools on land - just because you're ignorant about it, doesn't mean it's not true.

We cruised right after lo turned 2, the hardest part was preparing and packing tons of diapers, wipes and medicines (just in case.). We also struggled with lo not wanting to use her stroller any more. I almost think it would've been a bit easier with her being younger.

I read a funny blog that said once you have kids you go on trips, not vacations. Lol! That helped me keep my expectations realistic.

My child wasn't the only one, and the pool was shut down and cleaned out for some other messes. Kids wear swim diapers all the time, I don't understand why cruises are any different. I'm also aware that I'm probably aware of alot more rules than the majority of cruisers who do not frequent these boards. If they want to enforce the rules, go for it, until then I'm going to have the same fun as the people who are not aware of the rules.

This isn't some willy-nilly rule.

From Wikipedia:

Some public pools require swim diapers for use by young children and the incontinent out of hygiene concerns. For the same reason, other pools do not allow swim diapers at all.[1] Sick children who are not potty-trained and do not wear swim diapers may be responsible for the transmission of e. coli from fecal matter.[2]

When not used properly, or when using inferior products, health experts caution that swim diapers may not protect pool water against communicable diseases, such as norovirus.

From the CDC:

The use of swim diapers and swim pants might give users, parents, and pool staff a false sense of security regarding fecal contamination.

Some research has looked into how well swim diapers and swim pants are able to keep feces (poop) and infection-causing germs from leaking into the pool. Even though swim diapers and swim pants might hold in some solid feces 1, they are not leak proof.

Since norovirus is common on cruises, and illness/tummy issues due to change in diets, etc., are also common on cruises, it's prudent of the cruiselines -- and responsible parents -- to avoid the use of swim diapers in pools.

ETA: For the OP, I've recently read the past 2+ years' worth of posts on this board pertaining to babies and toddlers on cruises. There's quite a bit out there if you use the search function.

My child wasn't the only one, and the pool was shut down and cleaned out for some other messes. Kids wear swim diapers all the time, I don't understand why cruises are any different. I'm also aware that I'm probably aware of alot more rules than the majority of cruisers who do not frequent these boards. If they want to enforce the rules, go for it, until then I'm going to have the same fun as the people who are not aware of the rules.

I had my 9 month old in the pool almost every day on Carnival with a swim diaper on because I didn't know she wasn't allowed. They actually don't do a good job of advertising this rule. I finally learned about it on Cruise critic after my cruise. I'm not saying it's okay to break the rule but if they're serious about the rule, they should advertise it better.

Hi all, we just booked a 7 night trip on the Breakaway from NY to Bermuda for October. It will be our first cruise and I'm nervous about doing a weeklong trip with our son who will be one year at the time. I'd like to hear about your experiences (good and bad) on cruising with a young baby, thanks in advance!

Hi! We took a cruise in January with Royal Caribbean and our youngest was 10 months. I posted a review and, although it's a different line and different itinerary, maybe you can get a feel for what it was like cruising with a young one.

We brought a small umbrella stroller with sun shade and reclining seat, but our daughter never fell asleep in it. We also brought along a sling-type carrier that I used in ports. We used a relatively empty lounge one afternoon to let her walk off some energy and nap time was my friend. Although she is not on a solid nap routine at home, most days of the trip she slept for an hour or so after lunch.

I also brought along some small color books with stickers that I used during dinner in the dining room. We ate all but two dinners in the main dining room and she did great. I think I only left a few minutes before the rest of the family once because she was getting restless.

Anyway, hopefully you'll get some idea of what it's like in my review.

Enjoy your trip!

1. Please for the safety of your child and all others, follow the pool rules. Ship pools are NOT chlorinated. If there are other diapered babies in the pools, that's all the more reason my child will not be in there - I don't want my kids in other childrens' poop. The ships that have swim-diaper friendly splash areas are very limited and have separate drainage and are spraygrounds, not pools.

2. Bring more diapers than you think you will need. I would also pack any baby meds, and if there are any packaged snacks that your child is particular about, especially for port days. I liked having some single-serve sized packages of applesauce to take ashore, and I grabbed a couple of the single-serve boxes of cheerios from the buffet during breakfast. You can only take pre-packaged items off the ship to shore.

3. Strollers - we did best using a lightweight umbrella stroller. It's crowded getting around the ship and hallways are narrow! Babywearing is a great option too in order to get around both onboard and in port without wheels.

4. Go with your child's flow - you know what your child handles best to keep them happy and manageable. Our first cruise with DS1 was when he was 15 months old, and we did it annually until he was 3. The only reason we've had a hiatus was because it became less affordable to cruise as our family expanded to 3 little ones and cabins for 5 are not as common. We knew that keeping DS1 up past his bedtime made for a miserable evening for all so if that meant one of us was staying in the room from 8pm on, it is what it is. We were fortunate that he napped well on the go in the stroller so while he also needed the naps to not be crabby later, we were able to be out and about during his nap. Some parents have been able to bring a sleeping baby in a stroller out to the evening shows; some kids are fine staying up and sleep in; ours was not that child. Same thing with determining the best choice for meals for your family, and NCL has a lot of options and flexibility for that and is our preferred cruiseline. DS did great at sit-down meals in the MDR/specialty restaurants since it wasn't a drawn out 2 hr dinner and we ate early to have time to walk around after dinner before his bedtime. On Carnival where we were assigned a seating, we had to get our seating time changed from 8pm to 6pm because that was just way too late for DS, and and we did the buffet a couple nights when he just was too tired after a busy day for a 2 hr meal. Cruising with littles means accepting that it's not going to be a do-whatever-the-parents-want vacation unless you are fortunate enough to have someone else babysitting when you need it. Following my son's habits and schedule though meant not dealing with a melting down baby screaming his head off for hours. We were ok with missing the nightlife to have low key peaceful nights in our cabin. That being said, get the most comfortable cabin within your budget - you may find yourself in it a lot more than you planned because of your little one's sleep schedule or the little one needing some downtime from stimulation.

Cruising with my kids is not by any means a vacation from parenting, but the only thing I have to do is parent my children. Not having to work, commute, cook or clean is what still makes it a vacation and allows me to enjoy spending the time with my kids. Watching their awe and wonder at the little things like pushing around giant chess pieces, or blowing bubbles on my balcony was why I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them.

We did a transatlantic cruise with our 9-month old last year and it was fantastic!

The good:

Family time. Seriously, at that age (and still at 1 if I remember correctly) they are just so happy to be around you, it doesn't matter much what you get up to. And the fact that you don't have to cook or clean means much more focus on being together and that will keep any toddler happy most of the time.

We brought lots of diapers and got some fruit pouches from Whole Foods before the trip but other than that I didn't really feel we were in need of anything. We were on a Disney cruise but at that age our son wasn't really interested in much of the activities so I'm pretty sure most cruise lines would have been fine.

The bad:

If you are going for the shows and the bars etc, it might be a bit harder. We just enjoyed relaxing in our room our walking around with our son asleep in the stroller at night so it didn't really bother us.

It's a shame that small children aren't allowed in the pool, but I know some people brought inflatables, and for us it wasn't too much of a problem since our son was happy doing other things anyway.

Anyway, if you have any questions feel free to ask. We're going again in July, when he'll be almost 2!

Yes, I agree with the other poster. It is not sanitary for non-potty trained children to be in cruise ship pools. Check out your particular cruise/ship. We're sailing on Quantum in a few days (gulp!) and they have a baby splash area where we will take DS.

What type of inflatables do you all mean that people bring onboard? We are sailing Disney in August and our twins will be 15 months old. Disney has a splash zone, so I am also curious about the inflatables.

What did you all do about getting around in pets and car seats. My main concern is Bermuda which we would ride the bus so not really placement for a car seat and getting to maho beach in St. Maarten for our older son to see the planes. We will have a 14 month old at the time.

What did you all do about getting around in pets and car seats. My main concern is Bermuda which we would ride the bus so not really placement for a car seat and getting to maho beach in St. Maarten for our older son to see the planes. We will have a 14 month old at the time.

I will not put my son in a cab without a car seat, so if I needed to take one I would put his seat in it. We did that a couple of times in Florida. We chose to take a bus in one port and just walk near the port in another. We will do Bermuda when he is 2 and will rely on busses and ferries for transportation.

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My child wasn't the only one, and the pool was shut down and cleaned out for some other messes. Kids wear swim diapers all the time, I don't understand why cruises are any different. I'm also aware that I'm probably aware of alot more rules than the majority of cruisers who do not frequent these boards. If they want to enforce the rules, go for it, until then I'm going to have the same fun as the people who are not aware of the rules.

The pools were shut down and cleaned because some non-potty trained child had a fecal incident in the pool. If no child with a swim diaper had been in the pool, there would not have been a need to drain and clean the pool. Why are cruises different? Because the must follow USPH requirements rather than local health codes, and the USPH requirements are far stricter.

1. Please for the safety of your child and all others, follow the pool rules. Ship pools are NOT chlorinated. If there are other diapered babies in the pools, that's all the more reason my child will not be in there - I don't want my kids in other childrens' poop. The ships that have swim-diaper friendly splash areas are very limited and have separate drainage and are spraygrounds, not pools.

The red highlight above is not correct. The only time that ships pools are not chlorinated is if the pool is salt water, and the ship is more than 12 miles from shore, and are in "flow through" mode where sea water is pumped into the pool and then overflows back to the ocean with no recirculation. All pools, whether salt water or fresh water, must be in "recirculation mode", or drained, when the ship is within 12 miles of shore. All pools on recirculation, salt or fresh water, must be chlorinated. In fact, ship's pools are chlorinated to higher levels than public pools ashore.

The "infant only water facilities" not only have different water supplies but have a higher "turn over" rate for filtration, and additionally a UV sterilizer for the water.

It always amazes me how passengers feel they can cherry pick which rules, most of which are USPH requirements, not cruise ship rules, apply to them and their precious vacations, and then express disgust when a ship receives a poor report on a USPH inspection, and "why can't the cruise lines protect us?" Pool sanitation is a large part of a USPH score, and reviews pool records for the last year, including reports of fecal incidents. If a ship has too many fecal incidents, the USPH will realize that the ship is allowing non-potty trained children into the pools.

If you feel that the rules definitely do not apply to you, that's one thing, but please don't recommend to others to do the same.

The only cruiselines that have splash zones for the diapered set are Disney and Royal Caribbean (Freedom class ships and newer). NCL and Carnival do NOT.

We cruised from NJ to Bermuda when my daughter was 14 months. We were with extended family, so I had some help, but it was a great experience. She got a ton of attention in the dining room. We walked around with her during meals when she was getting antsy. We brough an inflatable bathtub for her to splash in on the pool deck. After dinner, we changer her into her pajamas and put her in her stroller with her bottle. She fell asleep before the shows and we sat in the back and got to enjoy them!

 

 

 

The red highlight above is not correct. The only time that ships pools are not chlorinated is if the pool is salt water, and the ship is more than 12 miles from shore, and are in "flow through" mode where sea water is pumped into the pool and then overflows back to the ocean with no recirculation. All pools, whether salt water or fresh water, must be in "recirculation mode", or drained, when the ship is within 12 miles of shore. All pools on recirculation, salt or fresh water, must be chlorinated. In fact, ship's pools are chlorinated to higher levels than public pools ashore.

 

We have only cruised on itineraries that spend several sea days heading across the atlantic so it may be more my own experience that we were not within 12 miles of shore, and they were always saltwater pools.

That being said, regardless of chlorine or not, please for the safety of all in the pool, including your own child, follow the rules!

What did you all do about getting around in pets and car seats. My main concern is Bermuda which we would ride the bus so not really placement for a car seat and getting to maho beach in St. Maarten for our older son to see the planes. We will have a 14 month old at the time.

Car seats are required, even in cabs, anywhere in FL and I wouldn't want my kids in a car without them anyway. We rented a car in FL and rented the car seat with it. The rental agency basically had several seats for us to inspect and choose from and we installed it ourselves. In the bahamas, we arranged a private tour with a car seat reserved as well and again, we inspected the seat and installed it in the tour minivan. In bermuda, we used buses and ferries and rode with my son on our laps on the bus and in his stroller w/ brakes on next to us or in front of our seat on the ferry.

Are babies allowed in a splash zone? My daughter has been doing swim lessons (she's 8 months now, will be 1 on the cruise), and we have to double up on a swim diaper and a reusable diaper per the class instructions. Have had no problems yet.

Are babies allowed in a splash zone? My daughter has been doing swim lessons (she's 8 months now, will be 1 on the cruise), and we have to double up on a swim diaper and a reusable diaper per the class instructions. Have had no problems yet.

Only Disney and a few of Royal's newest ships have areas that allow children who are not potty trained. What ship are you wondering about?

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