No baby food - WHAT?!

Friends,

I want to share this experience in the hopes it keeps another Mommy or Daddy from completely PANICKING prior to a Celebrity cruise.

My husband and I decided to splurge on a nice Celebrity cruise in March 2012. We have sailed Celebrity many times before, but never with our kids (infant and age 4). While talking with multiple Celebrity representatives over the phone prior to our booking, we were THRILLED to learn that Celebrity provides baby food and formula on-board! This was explained to us a few different times. We were so pleased to hear this!

What the reps FAILED to mention is that the baby food/formula must be reserved at least 45 days before your departure. We booked our cruise well AFTER this deadline had past, only to learn AFTER THE FACT that Celebrity is unable to provide ANY baby food or formula (we get too excited to book a cruise very far out, so this one was booked approximately 28 days prior to departure!).

We have since learned that Celebrity staff are sometimes willing to puree food for babies on board. But how do we know if our son will like the food and not throw a fit? We certainly don't want him to be miserable... and we don't want him to get upset and ruin meals for other passengers.

Bottom line... we will be packing a LOT of baby food and formula to bring on board with us.

Celebrity, PLEASE train your reps to inform anyone traveling with a baby of this policy PRIOR to booking.

We are disappointed, to say the least. Do we still love Celebrity? Yes. But this is NOT a good start to planning for our getaway!

:(

This surprised me because we had no problem getting baby food on a Holland America cruise, which is even more adult oriented than Celebrity.

Since you are in this dilemma though I have a suggestion. Rather than pack all that baby food and have to lug it on a plane, wait until you arrive at your embarkation port and buy it at a local supermarket.

We frequently cruise with our family, including our grandchildren. I can tell you from personal experience that whenever you're cruising with babies/young children you are well-advised to bring everything they need with you, especially formula, RXs and OTC meds they may need, rather than depend on the cruise line to supply you with those things. When our grandson was six months old, we requested formula from the department at X that deals with special dietary needs. Despite faxing all the info, receiving a confirmation that the formula would be onboard per our request, and regular phone calls to our contact in that department once a month, two weeks, one week, three days and one day prior to the cruise and promises all was taken care of, the formula never made it onto the ship. Fortunately we arrived at the port a day ahead and my daughter-in-law had the good sense to visit the supermarket to buy enough formula for the cruise, just in case. Lesson learned? Better safe than sorry.

We frequently cruise with our family, including our grandchildren. I can tell you from personal experience that whenever you're cruising with babies/young children you are well-advised to bring everything they need with you, especially formula, RXs and OTC meds they may need, rather than depend on the cruise line to supply you with those things. When our grandson was six months old, we requested formula from the department at X that deals with special dietary needs. Despite faxing all the info, receiving a confirmation that the formula would be onboard per our request, and regular phone calls to our contact in that department once a month, two weeks, one week, three days and one day prior to the cruise with promises all was taken care of, the formula never made it onto the ship. Fortunately we arrived at the port a day ahead and my daughter-in-law had the good sense to visit the supermarket to buy enough formula for the cruise, just in case. Lesson learned.

Is your infant old enough to eat soft table foods? Close to 12 months so he/she can drink milk instead of formula? If so, it might be worthwhile to start that transition prior to your cruise. Would save a lot of extra packing.

We took our kids to Alaska 6 yrs ago. Our youngest was 6, but had just had his g-tube removed, and was still drinking about 5 cans of Pediasure a day. I checked with RCCL well ahead of time (they had the same 45 day advance notice), but Pediasure wasn't something they supplied. We had to pack close to 50 cans in our luggage. TSA had a field day!

Anybody know of any cruise lines that provide Boost or Ensure with > 45 days notice - you know, for seniors who also don't eat dining room food? Or do you just get the dining room staff to puree their food, too? ;)

Anybody know of any cruise lines that provide Boost or Ensure with > 45 days notice - you know, for seniors who also don't eat dining room food? Or do you just get the dining room staff to puree their food, too? ;)

I would gather that if a request is made for almost any type of nourishment in advance, Celebrity would accomodate you.

Thank you for your informative post. I was able to get a hold of the correct department and reserve baby food and formula. They allowed me 3 powder cans of formula (my choice of brand) or 44-8 oz cans of ready to feed. Also you are allowed 44 cans of stage 1 or 2 baby food plus 3 boxes of cereals. You have to contact the "special needs" department. Central reservations cannot do this. I'll try to upload a copy of the form for future travelers.

jrc, not to be a party pooper but did you not read about this type of thing being repeatedly confirmed, with the right department (special needs), and still not onboard?

I guess if you're okay with taking a chance, go for it. Don't know if I would risk it when it concerns a baby...

I have also heard about people cruising with infants only to find that either no food or formula was on board, or their special organic baby food was not available. I don't know if people cruising with baby's are trying to save money on baby food, but they should bring a weeks supply on their own in case of a mix-up by the cruise line.

We just booked a cruise on the millenium for the end of the month. I will be traveling with my mother, my 6 month old and will be 20 weeks pregnant. We also were last minute bookers for this cruise - so they never mentioned anything to me about this. Even if they did though I would probably still pack enough formula/baby food to hold me over for the trip - at 6 months old this is my childs main nutrition and I wouldnt want to gamble with the chance that they might not have followed through with their word.

Honestly, Im happy to know that Im not the only one who is traveling on Celebrity with a baby. When I booked I got a little nervous on how other people would preceive me taking a 6 month old on a cruise.

Wouldn't you rather feed your kid pureed food made onboard rather than the jarred crap with all the preservatives anyway? Just a thought. At least you know the food served would be "real" food.

And children won't starve themselves. I'm an Early Childhood Educator and have one of my own. If they're hungry, they'll eat.

I’ve noticed that when I buy baby food for my granddaughter that most of it now is natural. I’d rather buy natural baby food rather than chance the food additives used on the cruise line.

With all of the other changes a trip like this brings for a new baby - schedule, location, strange people - I think I'd be reluctant to add new foods to the mix. If your little one is used to a certain diet, I'd bring enough of whatever she's used to, just to make sure. Does she like bananas? They're usually readily available.

We travelled last year with our DGS, who was 14 months at the time. He was eating mostly table food at that point, but DD brought baby cereal on board for the times when none of the ship's offerings caught his fancy. It was light and easy to carry in zip lock bags.

I hope you and your baby have a wonderful trip.

Thanks for the advice. I'll bring back up supplies just in case. My daughter will be 8 months by then so we should be able to feed her off our plates easily. I ordered the baby food as a "insurance plan". European food can sometimes be difficult for young children.

My daughter has actually only eaten home made baby food until we flew home to the US last month. She ate 2 jars of gerber on the plane during the 11 hour flight then proceeded to get horrible diarreaha. So much so she went thru all the diapers we packed. Luckily another mom on the plane helped me out. Proof that processed baby food is not the best.

Wish us luck! We are going to be on the ship for 12 days!