Royal Babies & Tots (Brilliance)

Just returned from our Brilliance OTS cruise out of Tampa, and we had a great time!! Royal Babies & Tots worked perfectly for our family, and I highly recommend using them!

I will hopefully scan in their compass (its just one page), but here is some info:

1. On port days, you can make a reservation with them, but we didn't use this service, so I cannot comment.

2. During sea days, they have dropoff times from 9-12 and 2-4 for $6 an hour. We used this both days from 2-4 for pool time and to give him a break. He really loved playing in the nursery, and we felt the cost was worth it.

3. Evening dropoff is $8 an hour. I want to say they are open from 6-12, except for the first night which is 8:30-12. We used the nursery nightly. We made reservations on the first night for most nights until 12, though he got picked up early most nights.

4. You can borrow a bag of toys at a time (which you can change out as much as you would like, but we kept the same one all 5 days). They are due back by 6 PM on the last day. Each bag is different - ours had a stacker, a push toy, a puzzle type toy, and a ball. LO loved all the toys.

For dropoff, they give you a phone in case they need to reach you. You can use this phone to call other rooms on the ship. You sign your child in and out each session, and you can indicate who can also pick up your child. When you register, you will give info on your child, including a password that is used in an emergency. Its really an easy process once you register. They let you sign up for 20 hours on the first day, but we were able to add hours later in the week. I would also like to add that everyone in the Adventure Ocean/kids program were amazing. We loved the ladies and gentleman in the nursery, and highly recommend them!!

We probably used the nursery more than the other families on the boat (I could see the sigh-ups, and we were definitely reservation heavy), but I don't feel bad about it. My LO's eyes lit up when we arrived each session, and he power crawled right to the toys. He's a great sleeper (when he isn't with me, of course), so using them at night at least ensured a few hours of sleep for him! They have cots and cribs for the kiddos. We used a cot (LO is 13 months). You provide changes of clothes, formula/milk, diapers, wipes...they have juice, snacks, and baby powder.

At this point in his life, I would not cruise on a ship without a nursery. I loved the ability to spend some time with my husband, and our families. Baby was much happier not sitting around when we were at lounges or dinner. Its really a great option for those who cruise with their littles. We still had TONS of family time, and I think we all really enjoyed our vacation together.

Feel free to ask questions!

I can echo that we also had a very good experience with the nursery on another RCCL ship. Highly recommend that you use it if you have a little one. We budgeted for it and wished we had used it more.

hi there,

just curious, how old is your little one? our daughter will be around 17 months on our cruise on may on the brillance.

At the time, he was 13 months. He's now 17 months and we're looking for more cruise options with RB&T!