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Baltic Cruise with 13month old


mikeyj512
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I wanted to post my experience. When I prepared, I used this board for some advice, and a lot of the posts helped. I hope what I write here might helps other families.

 

Sailed on the Norwegian Getaway for the Baltic in September 2017.

We stayed in the mid balcony staterooms. We traveled with a family, so we had booked 2 adjoining rooms. This was very helpful for us.

 

The first thing I was worried about was a crib for the room. I read a lot of different stories and posts regarding where a child would sleep. Since we were flying to the port overseas and because I didn't want to risk dealing with lack of available cribs from the ship or just broken or dirty cribs, I decided to find a travel crib to bring. I settled with the Guava crib. The size was appealing if I wanted to carry on the plane. I ended up packing it into a big luggage to check in. The set up isn't difficult. For the room, I was able to put the crib on the sofa; my child wasn't walking or climbing out of cribs yet, so this was pretty safe for my situation. Even with her supporting herself with the sides, the crib tipping wasn't a problem. Besides, whenever she was in the crib, we were right next to the bed. I suppose you could put the crib on the floor; but you would have to squeeze by the crib over the sofa to go from the bed to the bathroom. Probably have to pack and unpack the crib every day. This isn't hard to do with the Guava; and you could easily store it away. I did like the option of unzipping the side of the crib to lay my child to sleep in the crib without reaching over the sides. The mattress was fine for my child; didn't use extra sheets for cushioning. I brought my own sheets to put on; I had 3. Thankfully, no issues, so didn't use them up. It's nice to have extra. The attendant had sheets available as well, but they were for the beds. Maybe nice for back up.

 

The next thing I was concerned about was the car seat and the stroller. At home we had the Britax B Agile stroller which is pretty heavy to travel. A friend recommended the Zoe xl1 deluxe. This worked out fine. I definitely worn the stroller out with pushing it through the gravel in parks and all the cobblestone streets, and it's still intact. The stroller is very light. I was able to remove the wheels and fold it up into the travel bag for the stroller. I can carry the bag as backpack. Brought the bag on the plane as carry on, and it fit in the overhead. You can look up the specs for the Zoe on the website. The one thing it couldn't do was recline fully; but my child was able to sleep okay. She would prop her legs up on the front rail of the stroller for comfort. The stroller was good on the ship; didn't take too much room in the restaurants and was able to push through the halls. I didn't have to fold it up in the room; but I guess I could if I wanted to. We did bring a Ergo and used it on some occasions.

 

I brought a ton of diapers, wipes. I gauged the week before how much diapers I went through at home, and just added a little more for peace of mind. But the places I visited, I noticed at grocery stores or shops that carried the same US brands too. Still, nice to not worry about running out to find supplies.

 

For the bath, I brought the Stokke foldable tub. Used it a few times, but the tub was pretty compact and light to pack in the luggage. It fit in the shower stall that has a hand held shower head.

 

As for feeding...my child just turned 1, and when that happened, I transitioned her to whole milk. I read that other parents just found milk in the morning at the buffet and stocked up. This was fine to feed when we were on the ship. For the excursions or time off the ship, I actually packed bottles of ready to feed formula and some horizon milk cartons to use. The ship gave my room a liquid exception to allow formula and bottled water. At one of the ports, I went to the grocery store and bought some cartons of milk to put in the fridge. As far as food was concerned, I let my child try everything I had. Found stuff in the buffet. I did pack snacks; but I saw the stores at the ports had baby snacks to try as well. My child was pretty good with eating at home, and that didn't change when on vacation. Looking at pictures, she looked chubbier while on the cruise.

At meal times, we did bring toys or books to distract. There were crayons and paper to also distract as well. Our child was good at eating, so as long as she ate, she didn't really cause any scenes. Towards the end of the meals if she was starting to get antsy, then I would finish quickly and take her out to walk around. I think the meals weren't a problem for us.

 

On excursions, my wife and I just took advantage of places that had changing tables whenever we saw it. Otherwise we just had to improvise when needed. Everywhere we went the locals and establishments were very accommodating to help. We didn't feel like we were the first to bring a child to places. At souvenir shops, we found some books or toys to get entertain our child.

 

On the ship itself...This was our first cruise with a child, but my wife and I have cruised on our own before. We certainly felt it was different this time with a child. We felt lucky to be able to enjoy the ports as much as we could. But we definitely didn't get to enjoy the ship that much when we returned. We didn't attend any shows. We didn't use the climbing wall or mini golf or pool (although I don't know if anyone did because it was pretty cold outside). Didn't go to the Ice Bar. My wife was able to go to some lectures while I watched the child. And we were able to attend restaurants and have meals without much problems. The free time was spent caring for my child in the room. Although there is a playroom that is open and very good for my child to crawl around and play. The toughest thing to deal with was the jet lag; my child didn't get used to the time difference till the cruise was nearly over. So we were up late, and definitely couldn't stick to our typical schedule/routine at home. Overall, it was tiring, but what vacation isn't? When we got back and when I look at the pictures, I think the trip was worth all the planning and packing and all the worries of diapers and feedings. I don't regret the trip.

 

Hopefully this helps someone out there.

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