Traveling with infants

We booked our cruise on MSC assuming they had a daycare program for infants - OOPS! He is 9 months old and we are wondering if anybody else has traveled with babies under 1yr and if there is any advice such as whether we should take a travel high chair, how much bottled water (for formula) can we bring with us and is it possible to hire crew to babysit in their off time? We are not new to cruising, but we have never traveled with an infant before. He is a very easy baby so we are not too worried about taking him to shows, or on excursions, but would love to hear and any all experiences, or advice from past new parents who have taken their babies on board.

There may be other tips from those who traveled with infants onthe Family Cruises Forum.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

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We booked our cruise on MSC assuming they had a daycare program for infants - OOPS! He is 9 months old and we are wondering if anybody else has traveled with babies under 1yr and if there is any advice such as whether we should take a travel high chair, how much bottled water (for formula) can we bring with us and is it possible to hire crew to babysit in their off time? We are not new to cruising, but we have never traveled with an infant before. He is a very easy baby so we are not too worried about taking him to shows, or on excursions, but would love to hear and any all experiences, or advice from past new parents who have taken their babies on board.

Besides getting your info from the Family cruises forum you might want to ask on MSC forum for info specific to that cruise line.

You may want to bring a blow up tub for bathing, if your cabin only has a shower...makes it much easier than trying to spray them in the shower!

You can get water onboard....the ship's water is fine, but they have bottled as well. He can go pretty much anywhere you go on the ship, except casino. Not sure about excursion age minimums....some trips have age limits!

We booked our cruise on MSC assuming they had a daycare program for infants - OOPS! He is 9 months old and we are wondering if anybody else has traveled with babies under 1yr and if there is any advice such as whether we should take a travel high chair, how much bottled water (for formula) can we bring with us and is it possible to hire crew to babysit in their off time? We are not new to cruising, but we have never traveled with an infant before. He is a very easy baby so we are not too worried about taking him to shows, or on excursions, but would love to hear and any all experiences, or advice from past new parents who have taken their babies on board.

Our experience is that the cruise ship will have a high chair but best to post on the MSC board but better yet have your TA contact MSC to see if they will provide the high chair.

Keith

Check any excursions before you book to be sure you will not be charged for the child.

We booked our cruise on MSC assuming they had a daycare program for infants - OOPS! He is 9 months old and we are wondering if anybody else has traveled with babies under 1yr and if there is any advice such as whether we should take a travel high chair, how much bottled water (for formula) can we bring with us and is it possible to hire crew to babysit in their off time? We are not new to cruising, but we have never traveled with an infant before. He is a very easy baby so we are not too worried about taking him to shows, or on excursions, but would love to hear and any all experiences, or advice from past new parents who have taken their babies on board.

Someone's probably already said this might do better on an MSC cruise forum, especially if you add in the ship's name. I do have this link to the baby care schedule for MSC Seaside. Reports are the schedule for this ship is different to any other MSC ship but I have not seen schedules for any other.

Regarding the high chairs I would expect there will be high chairs somewhere. I know I have seen photos and videos showing high chairs in the buffet areas of both Divina and Seaside.

I would guess hiring off duty staff to babysit is unlikely to be a thing because of their long hours but that is only a guess.

Happy Cruising to you!

Some of the ship's childrens's programs do not aceept those who are not yet toilett rtained.

No insult intended, but have you considered not taking the baby on the cruise? Your experiences on and off the ship will be restricted. Hard to relax when 90% of you attention is trained on your child.

You can purchase however much bottled water you may need on the ship..

Some of the ship's childrens's programs do not aceept those who are not yet toilet rtained.

I wonder if a 9 month old baby really should b e b rought to live entertainment at night on a cruis e ship. O f course, someone will be ready to remove the ch ild if he becomes disruptive to others trying to enjoy the show.

No insult intended, but have you considered not taking the baby on the cruise? Your experiences on and off the ship will be restricted. Hard to relax when 90% of you attention is trained on your child.

I concur. We left our DS with gma and gpa when he was 9 months old, and went on our 2nd cruise without him. I was still tied up in a way because I had to travel with a breast pump and pump milk several times a day. We also left him with the grandparents when he was 2. We were able to participate in excursions that would be impossible with a child in tow. We finally took DS on a cruise with us when he was 3 and fully potty trained. We've been cruising with him ever since, but all our excursions are limited to the beach.

Traveling without a child, and especially, an infant affords a lot more freedom - no diapers, no naps, no looking for a babysitter, no dealing with a crying baby, you can come and go as you please, go to late shows with your spouse, have unhurried meals.... God forbid, the infant picks up an infection - they are becoming very mobile at that age and are crawling-cruising everywhere. Yuck. I don't even want my 6 yo on the floor, let alone an infant who puts everything in his mouth.

Also check out Travel with Children Board on www.babycenter.com.

Don't forget that you may need to bring your car seat with you, depending on how you get to the port.