Sapphire Princess and Infants/Toddlers

I'll be travelling with my family in under 2 weeks for our first cruise on the Sapphire Princess. With us will be our 1 year old daughter.

I know the kids club's youngest group is 3-7, but are there any areas/activities where a 1 year old can run around and play? Can a 1 year old still play in the 3-7 kids club (with either my wife or myself supervising her)?

Are there high chairs in the different dining room / buffet?

Are there change rooms around the ship (in toilets in public areas) or will we need to head back to our room for nappy changes every time?

I don't know about Princess, but on other lines the room steward places a proper diaper disposal device in your room and empties it regularly. Thus, it is preferable that changes take place in your room rather than smelling up the public restrooms with the disposal issue. I've never noticed change tables in the restrooms on any cruise line.

I've read that Princess permits kids too young to participate in the programming to use the area with parental supervision. I don't know if there are any age restrictions on that, and I have no personal experience with it on Princess. Your daughter is welcome in any "family"area on the ship--this is essentially any area not designated "adult only." Your server should supply a high chair, regardless of where you are eating.

I was on the Crown in November with my one and two year old and I think all ships have the same rules regarding the kids club, etc.

There should be a time before 10am where you can take your child to the kids club and stay with them. I believe at 10am, you have to then sign them in and one parent can only stay with them (as opposed to mom, dad, grandma, etc)

High chairs are available in the CG and buffet. In the buffet, we tracked them down ourselves most of the time and carried them to where our table was. In the dining room, I'm sure once your waiter knows you need it, they'll be provided for you at the table.

The only changing table I ever saw was in the kids club. You won't find them in the public bathrooms so you'll probably be changing your child in your room a lot. I would put a paper down on the floor and that was my sons cue to lay down and have him diaper changed.

Hope this helps!

I don't know about Princess' date=' but on other lines the room steward places a proper diaper disposal device in your room and empties it regularly. Thus, it is preferable that changes take place in your room rather than smelling up the public restrooms with the disposal issue. I've never noticed change tables in the restrooms on any cruise line.

 

I've read that Princess permits kids too young to participate in the programming to use the area with parental supervision. I don't know if there are any age restrictions on that, and I have no personal experience with it on Princess. Your daughter is welcome in any "family"area on the ship--this is essentially any area not designated "adult only." Your server should supply a high chair, regardless of where you are eating.[/quote']

 

I didn't receive a diaper disposal in my room, but that would have been nice. Usually I just put the soiled diapers in a bag (brought from home) and would put that on the balcony. The steward was usually good about removing them after cleaning.

A nappy bin would be great! We always carry scented plastic bags in our baby backpack to keep the smell away when we're out and about.

Has anyone else travelled with infants on Sapphire (or Princess in general)? How did you keep them occupied and how did you find the cruise?

I'd ask the room steward. On Disney you get a diaper genie and they empty it twice a day.

Hopefully you've booked a balcony cabin. A child who naps is the one time I consider a balcony essential. It provides a place for the parent to hang out and read, watch the waves, or whatever while the child sleeps and still allows you to provide a relatively dark space for the child. Normally I see a balcony as a lovely benefit, but with a baby, it is a necessity.

I may be wrong, but kids club is restricted to those in the program. Other than drop off and pick up, parents are not in the area at all. At one year of age, your child doesn't qualify for kid's club or any of the pools.

I was on the Coral in September with my one year old grandchild. We received a large red bio hazard type waste bag to use in our cabin for diaper disposal.

As for kids club we were allowed to bring her in with the youngest group to play in the foam pit area but one of us had to stay with her. We both stayed once. I must say there were very very few kids on board and never more than four or five others when we were in there. The young ladies working in the Kids Club were lovely and kind and so sweet with the children! They gave our granddaughter a little packet with a toy in it and allowed us to pretty much come in whenever we wanted to. She had a great time and the kids who were around 5 years old really loved having our nearly twelve month old in there...she was a novelty.

We used a lot of the suggestions on this page and bought some of the magnets and a Bluetooth speaker through the links to Amazon products. Highly recommended.

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/home/cruising-with-little-kids

Thanks for all the info everyone - That suggestions page has some good stuff on it cruisingrob21!

Yes, we've booked a mini suite, so we can relax on the balcony while our daughter has her nap time (we'll be bringing our own portacot). Had initially planned on putting it up in the sitting area, but had't considered it might fit in the closet space (can't tell dimensions in photos on the website. The portacot is 106L x 78W x 76H (cm) when assembled.

Thanks for all the info everyone - That suggestions page has some good stuff on it cruisingrob21!

 

Yes, we've booked a mini suite, so we can relax on the balcony while our daughter has her nap time (we'll be bringing our own portacot). Had initially planned on putting it up in the sitting area, but had't considered it might fit in the closet space (can't tell dimensions in photos on the website. The portacot is 106L x 78W x 76H (cm) when assembled.

It will fit, the bathroom door will only be able to open maybe half to 2/3rds the way if you shove the crib all the way to the back of the closet area and against the side wall, but trust me, it means you can actually use you cabin while they nap.

We are going with one in a crib in a few weeks in a minisuite on the Ruby (they all have the same mini suite design) and ill take a picture so you can see how it fits.

I didn't receive a diaper disposal in my room, but that would have been nice. Usually I just put the soiled diapers in a bag (brought from home) and would put that on the balcony. The steward was usually good about removing them after cleaning.

I'm sure your balcony neighbors really appreciated you doing that...first time I smelled anything, I would have immediately called the front desk...:evilsmile:

It will fit, the bathroom door will only be able to open maybe half to 2/3rds the way if you shove the crib all the way to the back of the closet area and against the side wall, but trust me, it means you can actually use you cabin while they nap.

 

We are going with one in a crib in a few weeks in a minisuite on the Ruby (they all have the same mini suite design) and ill take a picture so you can see how it fits.

Looks like you are leaving before we are. The webmaster at that site seems to have posted a pic of the crib in closet within the last few hours.

I admire the lot of you that travel with small children. I would never imagine doing anything other than roadtrips until they're out of their diapers.

I admire the lot of you that travel with small children. I would never imagine doing anything other than roadtrips until they're out of their diapers.

It's different than doing a cruise without kids, that's for sure. But it's enjoyable seeing kids get so excited for so many of the same things. My oldest is more of a cruise hound than I am, she's 5 and been on 5 cruises already. And it's actually easier than packing up hotel rooms every few nights and worrying about carseats.

It's different than doing a cruise without kids, that's for sure. But it's enjoyable seeing kids get so excited for so many of the same things. My oldest is more of a cruise hound than I am, she's 5 and been on 5 cruises already. And it's actually easier than packing up hotel rooms every few nights and worrying about carseats.

I can imagine, but we don't live anywhere near a cruise port so doing a cruise with our one-year-olds involves all the hassle of car seats, hotels, flights plus the actual cruise itself.

I can imagine, but we don't live anywhere near a cruise port so doing a cruise with our one-year-olds involves all the hassle of car seats, hotels, flights plus the actual cruise itself.

I'll say grandparents are a very helpful when traveling with babies but also provides good bonding time with them especially if you don't live near them.

I'll say that fort Lauderdale, San Diego, and Vancouver are all ports that you can fly to and sail out of without the need for carseata with some pre-planning. The combination of hotel shuttles from the airport or frequent city bus/train service can make it possible.

We cruised with HAL last year with both kids under 5 and the only kid related hiccup was when the 4 year old had to go pee while on the shuttle from the hotel. This next time when sailing with princess, we will stay at a hotel near the princess terminal in fort lauderdale so we can walk to it.

We are elite on princess but only 2 star on HAL...that being said, last time on HAL they took us to the front of the checkin line seeing us traveling with two kids. Grandparents got to tag along too. The buffet waitress on the ship did magic shows for our daughter every night and when we went to the dining room we went early for anytime dining to get a table quickly and service was fast.

I'll say grandparents are a very helpful when traveling with babies but also provides good bonding time with them especially if you don't live near them.

 

I'll say that fort Lauderdale, San Diego, and Vancouver are all ports that you can fly to and sail out of without the need for carseata with some pre-planning. The combination of hotel shuttles from the airport or frequent city bus/train service can make it possible.

 

We cruised with HAL last year with both kids under 5 and the only kid related hiccup was when the 4 year old had to go pee while on the shuttle from the hotel. This next time when sailing with princess, we will stay at a hotel near the princess terminal in fort lauderdale so we can walk to it.

 

We are elite on princess but only 2 star on HAL...that being said, last time on HAL they took us to the front of the checkin line seeing us traveling with two kids. Grandparents got to tag along too. The buffet waitress on the ship did magic shows for our daughter every night and when we went to the dining room we went early for anytime dining to get a table quickly and service was fast.

Good luck convincing my wife on the grandparents part! :')

I'm glad we're travelling with the whole family (grandparents, sister & bother in law with their 2 boys - 6 and 8), so we'll have plenty of help and babysitters (for when we want to enjoy a night out!).

The tips and suggestions you all are offering are really helpful!

Our 1 year old enjoyed dancing and toddling around on the dance floor in the lounge before morning trivia. The colored lights flashing around on the floor, music, and handful of other little ones made for a good time. Then he would sit with us and have a snack while we played trivia. It was a fun daily activity and got out some energy.

He mostly just did whatever we did, or we took turns watching him in the room/balcony between the grandparents and parents if the activity wasn't baby appropriate. It was a great vacation!

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I'm surprised that no one has referred you to the Family Forum here on CC! You might get some good advice there too.

I'm sure your balcony neighbors really appreciated you doing that...first time I smelled anything, I would have immediately called the front desk...:evilsmile:

If someone had complained, I would have moved them.

I may be wrong, but kids club is restricted to those in the program. Other than drop off and pick up, parents are not in the area at all. At one year of age, your child doesn't qualify for kid's club or any of the pools.

We were on the Crown last November and both my kids (1 and 2) were allowed in the kids club as long as a parent or grandparent was with them.

I admire the lot of you that travel with small children. I would never imagine doing anything other than roadtrips until they're out of their diapers.

Can't wait till your kids are potty trained, otherwise it may be awhile till you can cruise!

This is Grandma here ....we took 3 year old and 15 month old ( not yet Walking ) on Ruby the week before Christmas.

Thoughts ....the 3 year old was really too young for kids club ,several related boisterous 6 year olds scared her a bit HOWEVER I stayed twice with her and the 15month old could be there also providing an adult stayed .

Dinner had early dining ....rather long wait for food but we took turns is taking them out of dining room ..usually ordered the albedo with chicken breast for both ...

The weather was unusually nice that helped , we bought a cheap small inflatable pool baby was quite happy in by the pool ...only used it twice on port days so pool not crowded .Parents put the provided pack and play crib under clothes rack in closet and draped with extra blanket for darker area .Bottled water in room proved handy ...

3 year old was happy as can be climbing the many stairs while one of us wearily followed ...the 15 month old is a very easy baby ...took lots of junk stickers etc from Dollar Store .

Buffet was just fine the staff made such a fuss of the children , carried our trays and went out of their was to be helpful .

Hope this helps ...we had our moments of course but the vacation was great , and parents came home relaxed ..I was ready for another cruise .