Baby's First Cruise! My Liberty Photo Review #2

Hello All! Chrystal here:) With the sounds of the sea still sharp in my mind, and while the lingering relaxation from our cruise is still with me, I bring to you a complete review of our vacation. I'm excited to share our cruise with you!

It's been a while since we've cruised. Last year, we were blessed with our son, Isaac. He's such an awesome little guy. We missed cruising so much last year! In December, my husband, Wesley, and I decided to take our 10-month old son on the Liberty of the Seas. We invited my Mom and Aunt to come with us as well. We had a nice time cruising as new parents.

It should take me a few days to complete the review. For those of you who are familiar with my reviews, I take you through just about every moment of our vacation, from start to finish. So, for those of you who want a short review, here is a quick summary: New Moms and Dads, rejoice! Cruising with a baby can be done, and it is awesome if you're well-prepared. It is certainly different from cruising just with your spouse, but it is still a wonderful vacation. We loved every minute of the trip.

If you like long reviews, keep reading! Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer them the best way I can. I hope this serves as a source of information and as a virtual vacation for all of you. :)

So excited to read we take our 13 month old next month. Although we are going on adventure so not as much child friendly activities

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Holy cow! Seems like you just got pregnant! And now the baby is 10 months old??!! Time flies! Looking forward to your review. Bring it on!

Looking forward to this review!!

Subscribing. :)

So very excited for your review! My husband and I hope to have a little one within the next year or 2 and we always talk about whether or not cruising with a little one would be a good idea, can wait to read your take on it :)

So glad to see you have another review. I have enjoyed reading your past reviews. Love your detail.

Ok, so where do I start? I think I'll share a little bit about my family so you can understand our point of view. Please bear with me, I promise I'll get to the cruising part soon! :)

Wesley and I have been married for 7 years. We've been together for about 14 (high-school sweethearts). You can see reviews of our previous cruises via the links in my signature. We love cruising, and Royal suits us best at this point in our lives.

2013 was a busy year, full of ups and downs. Isaac was born last February. Four days before he was born, my father passed away. It was an incredibly sad and incredibly happy time all in one. We get to see a glimpse of my Dad in Isaac every day. He looks just like him:

 

 

Here are some photos of Isaac through the months. He's a very observant, good-natured little guy. We've done some road trips with him and he's been a pleasure in every way.

 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

So excited to read we take our 13 month old next month. Although we are going on adventure so not as much child friendly activities

 

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Awesome! Thank you for reading. Feel free to post any questions you may have. You'll have a great time. The crew was always happy to see Isaac, and they were very helpful. Go with the flow and enjoy the time with your little one :)

Holy cow! Seems like you just got pregnant! And now the baby is 10 months old??!! Time flies! Looking forward to your review. Bring it on!

Haha! Thank you! The time is definitely flying! Will do.

I am so subscribing! Isaac is just adorable! Love his monthly photos -- are those stickers you can buy with the months on them? Such a good idea. Wish we old moms had them when we were still photographing our babies with film!

We took our 10-month-old grandson to Disney World in 2005. I like to tell people that he was easier and better behaved than his parents on that trip!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

Looking forward to this review!!

Subscribing. :)

Thank you ladies!

First off congrats!! He is adorable! Looking forward to this review! I loved your review while pregnant, it was very helpful to me before our babymoon on Allure. We just booked our new little one's first cruise for the end of May, just after he turns 6 months. Perfect timing again!! Thank you!

Love the pictures of your little guy! He is a cutie! I'll be following along-have really enjoyed all of your reviews. Thanks for sharing with us!

Isaac is adorable; just love the pics.

Looking forward to another of your great reviews!:D

So very excited for your review! My husband and I hope to have a little one within the next year or 2 and we always talk about whether or not cruising with a little one would be a good idea, can wait to read your take on it :)

Awww I remember when we were at that stage. We thought we were going to wait a long time before cruising with the baby, but we missed it soooo much and it's been fun sharing new travel experiences with him. I guess we needed to figure out his personality before we felt comfortable taking him.

So glad to see you have another review. I have enjoyed reading your past reviews. Love your detail.

Thank you so much!

I am so subscribing! Isaac is just adorable! Love his monthly photos -- are those stickers you can buy with the months on them? Such a good idea. Wish we old moms had them when we were still photographing our babies with film!

 

We took our 10-month-old grandson to Disney World in 2005. I like to tell people that he was easier and better behaved than his parents on that trip!

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

Thank you so much! Yes, we got the monthly stickers. I think we'll turn his photos into a calendar once he hits 1 year old. If anyone is curious about the stickers, I bought them here.

You're right about babies being better behaved than adults! At least Isaac was more quiet in the Main Dining Room than some larger adult parties!

First off congrats!! He is adorable! Looking forward to this review! I loved your review while pregnant, it was very helpful to me before our babymoon on Allure. We just booked our new little one's first cruise for the end of May, just after he turns 6 months. Perfect timing again!! Thank you!

Thank you so much and CONGRATULATIONS!!! Enjoy your little guy. How is he doing? How are you? I'm glad you had a nice time on the Allure.

Love the pictures of your little guy! He is a cutie! I'll be following along-have really enjoyed all of your reviews. Thanks for sharing with us!

Isaac is adorable; just love the pics.

 

Looking forward to another of your great reviews!:D

My pleasure! Thank you both so much! :D

I'm definitely interested in hearing your take on the cruise. My son is also 10 months. We took him on a Carnival cruise last month and enjoyed it even though we don't usually do Carnival. We're going again in May, back to Royal this time for us!

I'm interested to see if you used the nursery and how well Royal stacks up. We prefer Royal mostly. The cruise we took on Carnival wasn't baby friendly, but we made it a good time with our son.

I know how you felt about not being able to cruise for a while. We went on the Liberty when I was 23 weeks pregnant last year (Nov 2012) and were not able to go on another until this December (2013).

Congrats on your beautiful son!! I am looking forward to following this review!

He is adorable!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so most of us are familiar with what to pack when we go on a cruise. When planning our trip, I felt like a newbie all over again. I spent hours researching to find the right products for Isaac- and for us. Let's face it, we need to make life as easy as possible for all of us when we're traveling with a baby. :rolleyes::D

First off, if at all possible, bring family along with you. I can't begin to describe how grateful my Mom and Aunt were with us on this cruise. They were really helpful, keeping Isaac occupied if we needed to take care of something. We asked them well before our departure if they felt comfortable taking Isaac once in a while so we could be alone, and then taking him into their cabin overnight one night of the cruise. Isaac still wakes up once or twice per night. In general, he goes back to sleep quickly, but we can have an 'off' night once in a while. We were so happy to have some uninterrupted sleep. Just the thought of that sleep made us so happy as we counted down the days to the cruise. I'm sure you new parents can relate. :D

Here is a list of items that really helped us make things as smooth as possible. I'm providing links to each in the name of the product in case you want to buy them yourselves. You'll see them as we go through the review:

1. Cosco Scenera Convertible Car Seat: We were initially going to have Isaac fly as a lap infant. As I did some research, I came to understand that the best possible place for Isaac on the plane was in his own seat, in his carseat. We had a pretty bulky car seat at home, and we needed one that would fit in the narrow plane seats, and one that was light enough to schlep around with us. This car seat is wonderful for travel. It only weighs about 8 lbs. We flew Southwest, and the seat fit nicely on the plane. It even left the person in front of him some space to recline. It was easy to install. We're so happy with this purchase.

2. The First Years Ignite Stroller: Perfect for travel! It's compact and gives baby a smooth ride. Nice storage for a jacket or blanket underneath, and a cup holder on top. A nice canopy to keep baby out of the sun. The stroller didn't take up too much space in the cabin closet.

3. High Sierra Curve Backpack: This was a nice, lightweight backpack that replaced our "baby bag" on this trip. No complaints.

4. JL Childress Gate Check Bag for Strollers: We used the stroller to get Isaac to the gate in the airport, and used this bag to check the stroller at the gate. Easy to use, easy to roll up, stayed in one piece through both flights.

5. Diaper Genie on the Go Dispenser: Totally needed these to keep the room smelling fresh. They worked. Enough said. :rolleyes:

5. Burnout SPF 30+ Kids Sunscreen: Soooo gentle and kept my little guy safe from the strong sun. You do have to rub this in quite a bit, so I applied it to his skin as I got him dressed in the morning. I mixed it with a little bit of his Aveeno moisturizer to apply it to his face. He has eczema and sensitive skin, and he didn't break out with this one at all. I was relieved.

6. JL Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag: A lifesaver! Wes was able to carry our carseat like a backpack. Mind you it was pretty large, but it wasn't all that heavy. I was surprised at the number of parents awkwardly lugging their car seats throughout the airport. We were also able to put our heavy winter coats around the car seat in this bag, so it's great for additional storage. It still looks like new, after this trip.

7. Tiny Love Take-Along Arch: We use this on car rides; Isaac loves it. Brought it with us on the flight and it kept him occupied until he fell asleep.

What a handsome young man! Looking forward to your review, as always! :)

Host Faith: Isaac is beautiful, I'm enjoying your review so much!!:):)