Post your questions - Cruising with baby/toddler

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I have completed 3 trips with our little guy aboard the Anthem, Brilliance, and Harmony (you can follow the link below for the YouTube video highlights). I see a lot of questions about cruising with children posted on the board. I'm willing to help. Post your questions below! :D

Hi,

I have a couple of questions. I've been on a couple of cruises, but this is my first time with my daughter. She will be just over 1 year old. We will going on the Enchantment of the Seas for 4 nights.

Do they offer whole milk?

Did you use the baby sitter in the room or the nursery? We would like to see some of the shows at night and would like to use either the nursery or a babysitter.

Any tips you learned when travelling with a little one would be appreciated. We are also taking her on her first flight.

Thanks.

I am considering booking a cruise on the Liberty with my 11 month old. Am I crazy? Or is a cruise with a baby actually doable?

I am considering booking a cruise on the Liberty with my 11 month old. Am I crazy? Or is a cruise with a baby actually doable?

Certainly doable, I've seen many young babies on cruises. I'm not sure how much vacation it will be for Mom, but you won't be the only one onboard with a very young person.

I am considering booking a cruise on the Liberty with my 11 month old. Am I crazy? Or is a cruise with a baby actually doable?

We were just reminiscing about when we took our 11 month old grandson, who is now ten years old, on his first cruise. Does he remember any of it? Probably not except some great photos. But we sure remember it.

We were just reminiscing about when we took our 11 month old grandson, who is now ten years old, on his first cruise. Does he remember any of it? Probably not except some great photos. But we sure remember it.

What are your memories like? Good times or what were we thinking?!

Cruising with a toddler/baby is definitely doable, and in my opinion quite enjoyable. We have used the nurseries on the anthem, ovation, brilliance, liberty, freedom, grandeur, and mariner. Also the nursery on the Disney Fantasy. Our kids are now 2 and 6 and have literally grown up cruising. Almost out of paying for the nursery as that 6-8 dollars an hour adds up. We have been on many transAtlantics and repositioning cruises lasting as long as 16 nights.

We truly enjoyed bringing them along. My wife and I view it as the best of both worlds. We would typically spend the day with them and in the night drop them off at the kids program and get a date night. It is a ton of fun and the kiddos love it.

The main thing is to adjust your expectations. You will obviously not be doing the same thing with kids as you would be doing without.

What are your memories like? Good times or what were we thinking?!

Good times actually great times. We did travel with several family members, some whom are no longer living, so they helped entertain. I don't recall us using the in cabin sitters as mom just wasn't comfortable with that.

Thanks everyone! You've all been helpful. I'm gonna talk to my hubby about booking this cruise.

Hi,

 

I have a couple of questions. I've been on a couple of cruises, but this is my first time with my daughter. She will be just over 1 year old. We will going on the Enchantment of the Seas for 4 nights.

 

Do they offer whole milk?

Did you use the baby sitter in the room or the nursery? We would like to see some of the shows at night and would like to use either the nursery or a babysitter.

Any tips you learned when travelling with a little one would be appreciated. We are also taking her on her first flight.

 

Thanks.

There is whole milk.

The nursery is what we have used exclusively, and we have spent several thousand dollars in nursery time.

I have not been on enchantment, but imagine it would be very similar to the grandeur as they are sister ships. If that is the case, It is sadly not exactly the baby friendliest ship in the fleet. While the nursery hours on every ship varies, the sizes of the nursery amongst similar class ships are the same. The vision class nuseries are extremely tiny and accomodate 4 babies at maximum capacity. They are about te size of two inside cabins if that. Even with the nursery opening up at 8pm on embarkation day and staying open from 9am or 30 min prior to the first excursion till midnight every night that limits nursery time to a total of approx 216 hours total divided amongst all the infants aboard the ship. That is assuming they are open at all times and there are not times they are closed. With a max capacity of 4 infants nursery time can be very tight based on the number of 6-35 month olds on board. With a nursery that size they will let you book 10 hours initially and open it up after the first day or 2. We always go straight to the nursery when we board and book the peak hours with our initial allotment. Many times they may say that they are not open to book hours and its just registration. If you push them they will let you book. This will always be the formal night and also daytime during sea days. If you go straight there when you first board you will aleays get at least your top picks with the initial ten hours you get.

Other ships have an open play area for toddlers but from my experience the vision class ships have not had that. With the grandeur they close the. Nursery for 5 hours on sea days and convert it into an open play area. This really eats into available nursery time if they do this on the enchantment as well.

The nursery is 6/hr till 6pm and 8/hr after 6pm.

Hope that helps. Please dont hesitate to ask any other questions.

Thanks everyone! You've all been helpful. I'm gonna talk to my hubby about booking this cruise.

Go for it!

It's a ton of fun. You just have to roll with the punches. Some days the kiddos may not be as cooperative as others and you just have to accept that. If you do any excursions, esp something sightseeing intensive like Rome or a european port, I really recommend hiring a private vehicle with guide. It lowers stress considerably knowing you can adjust plans based on fussiness, nap times, needing to eat and not having to follow a group of 50 other tourists.

Earlier this year we had a family reunion on the Allure, with a 9 month old and a 20 month old, along with 8 adults and two children, 5 and 8. The cruise was most enjoyable and everyone had a good time, even the parents of the 9 month old.

We did have one issue with the nursery. It turns out the 9 month old was teething, and for a few days could not be comforted. After an hour in the nursery they called and asked his parents to come pick up the baby, as his crying was bothering the other babies there, and not to bring him back. That forced us to change plans a bit. We were able to accommodate that, but if the parents had been counting on some time alone, it might have ended differently.

There were no problems at all in the MDR. The staff was helpful and noise level high enough so that the children and babies never stood out. Lunch in the WJ was probably the most challenging meal. The tables are close together and there was not always enough room to stow the stroller. Lots of waiting, to get in for a table and then to get the food, and this was stressful for the baby and his mom.

I am impressed that they allowed an hour of unconsolable crying. Typically they would give us 20-30 min. tops of unconsolable crying before they would call us. This only occurred once as our kids are used to daycare, babysitters, and other caretakers other than us.

However, if your babies/toddlers are not used to childcare, this has been an issue for some of my friends that cruised, and assumed that their kids would walk in with no issue never having had their kids in a daycare setting before. They then were unable to use the nursery as their child would not tolerate it. Unlike Adventure Ocean, your kid is allowed to cry on drop off, and while in their care, however, if they are unconsolably crying for a length of time they deem excessive, they will call you to pick up your child.

The MDR staff is extremely accommodating with children. IMO, they are more accommodating with babies and kids than with adults. They truly want the kids to be happy.

I agree with the above poster in that Windjammer to feed can be stressful due to looking for seats, getting food, all the walking, etc. We found our favorite venue to feed our kids on an RCI ship, especially for breakfast, to be the Solarium Bistro on the Ovation and Anthem. It is notably smaller than WJ, but it is easier to find a seat I found, and the size of the place allows you to get up, and keep an eye on your kids without problem. So you can get them seated, and go get food, without having to have another adult stay at the table as the area is so small. It is much easier to get and get more milk, a napkin, etc. there than at any other venue on the ship.

I am impressed that they allowed an hour of unconsolable crying. Typically they would give us 20-30 min. tops of unconsolable crying before they would call us. This only occurred once as our kids are used to daycare, babysitters, and other caretakers other than us.

 

However, if your babies/toddlers are not used to childcare, this has been an issue for some of my friends that cruised, and assumed that their kids would walk in with no issue never having had their kids in a daycare setting before. They then were unable to use the nursery as their child would not tolerate it. Unlike Adventure Ocean, your kid is allowed to cry on drop off, and while in their care, however, if they are unconsolably crying for a length of time they deem excessive, they will call you to pick up your child.

 

Use the dining room for breakfast daily...and lunch on sea days! That way, you are served, which is so much easier with babies/toddlers than a buffet! Very casual for breakfast and lunch. Also, much nicer for dinner because of the service....

Even babies well experienced with daycare and used to being handled by strangers cry. Such was the case with my grandson. A nursery for "happy-only" babies is a resource that has some use, but is limited, and does not meet the expectations set by RCI.

I agree. My son was kicked out once as I stated above, and he has spent hundreds of hours in the nursery at sea. Some times babies/toddlers have a bad day.

It is, however, better than no nursery at all. Only Disney and RCI have nurseries at sea, and even the mighty Disney, that has a nursery that can accomodate 20+ babies will not allow a baby/toddler to cry uncontrollably for extended periods. As someone who deals exclusively with babies on a daily basis, one baby uncontrollably crying can lead to an all out uprising amongst all the other toddlers and infants.

I am not sure what expectations RCI really made with the nursery. It is a minimally marketed amenity that is only used by a small subset of the population. I have had many friends go on cruises and have their child not go into or be kicked out of the nursery/kids program. If a child does not meet the standard of what is required to participate, then unfortunately they cannot participate. This has gone against us on many occasions, and we accept that. Sometimes it is because he had a small sniffle (what kid doesn't), once it was because he was crying when we dropped him off at adventure ocean, once it was because he cried too long in the nursery, once it was because he was hit by someone and he hit back (and the attendent even admitted to us he was hit first and being harassed by anothrr child), and other instances. The bottom line is kids are a wild card. Is it disappointing when your plans change because your baby/kid doesn't cooperate. Of course it is, but thats part of traveling with babies/kids.

With typically only 2-3 attendants max in the nursery they simply do not have the manpower to keep all the babies happy and calm if one is requiring all their attention.

Heloo, thanks for all of this information to all of the posters. I have a question I have been wondering about a lot this week.

I am sailing with a ten month old next Saturday on the Grandeur. I am doing late dinning, do you think they will put us at a table alone or with other people?

I think it could be a lot of pressure to be at a table with a lot of other people, Not everyone likes kids.

What do you all recommend? She is really pretty good in restaurants so far.

Heloo, thanks for all of this information to all of the posters. I have a question I have been wondering about a lot this week.

 

I am sailing with a ten month old next Saturday on the Grandeur. I am doing late dinning, do you think they will put us at a table alone or with other people?

 

I think it could be a lot of pressure to be at a table with a lot of other people, Not everyone likes kids.

 

What do you all recommend? She is really pretty good in restaurants so far.

We have always gotten a table to ourselves when we have had an infant. We were always a party of 3 or 4 though, so I am not sure if that will make a difference in who they seat you with. If not, you can always request from the head waiter to be placed at a table by yourself. Being late dining, there will definitely be less infants than earlier, as many infants go to bed by 7-8pm.

It would definitely be a lot of pressure, and while I am pretty aggressive bringing our kiddos everywhere, I would be anxious being at a table with a total stranger. Typically, a baby will monopolize all conversation, either because they are being cute, or because they are not cooperating.

Only you know how the ten month old will react. At that age, they are pretty easy to entertain. I find 24-36 months the most difficult to entertain in a restaurant environment, but every baby/kid is different.

DD will be almost 7 months when we cruise Freedom in January. How have your little ones enjoyed the splash pad? Also, can you recommend baby friendly excursions for San Juan and St. Maarten?

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DD will be almost 7 months when we cruise Freedom in January. How have your little ones enjoyed the splash pad? Also, can you recommend baby friendly excursions for San Juan and St. Maarten?

 

 

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In all honesty, neither of my kids when they were small were too excited with the small splash pad. Its nothing really to write home about. At 7 months the good thing is that they're not mobile so they can stay put. The biggest issue is that once they can walk, and esp. if there is a sibling, they will not he content to stay in the baby area os the sibling is doing something cooler.

For San Juan we just took a 20/person tour around the island once. It was only 3-4 hours and our son who was 2 at the time was pretty entertained. The last 2 times we stopped there we didnt get off the boat. A 7 month old is easy to keep happy so you can do really anything outside of something like ziplining or jet skiing.

At St Maarten, for convenience sake we typically just do the small beaches that are right on the boardwalk after you get off the water taxi. Its normally like 2 chairs, an umbrella and wifi and a bucket of beer for 40 dollars if I remember. Might have been 30. Either way it's convenient, cheap, and close to the ship. Sometimes we don't get off the boat in St. Maarten either. Really just depends on our mood and the activities on the ship for the day.

 

For San Juan we just took a 20/person tour around the island once. It was only 3-4 hours and our son who was 2 at the time was pretty entertained. The last 2 times we stopped there we didnt get off the boat. A 7 month old is easy to keep happy so you can do really anything outside of something like ziplining or jet skiing.

 

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We have not cruised with children, but I will tell you I think San Juan is a great port stop for kids of all ages. We have been there several times.

We often go to the El Moro fort for the beautiful views, available restrooms and walkway along the water.. It is a National Park Service site.

There is a HUGE grassy field out front of the fort. On weekends we see family groups of locals sitting on blankets and flying kites. There were a couple of vendors selling kites. I bought one for $3 to bring back to a grandchild. I think a toddler would be entertained by the activity and there is lots of room to run. They will need to run after being on the ship.

PS--there is a CVS drug store across from the dock for all of the things you have forgotten or to restock diapers, etc.

We have not cruised with children, but I will tell you I think San Juan is a great port stop for kids of all ages. We have been there several times.

 

We often go to the El Moro fort for the beautiful views, available restrooms and walkway along the water.. It is a National Park Service site.

 

There is a HUGE grassy field out front of the fort. On weekends we see family groups of locals sitting on blankets and flying kites. There were a couple of vendors selling kites. I bought one for $3 to bring back to a grandchild. I think a toddler would be entertained by the activity and there is lots of room to run. They will need to run after being on the ship.

 

PS--there is a CVS drug store across from the dock for all of the things you have forgotten or to restock diapers, etc.

The fort is very nice. We have been many times before we had children and the tour we took with our son dropped us off there at the end and we let him play in the field as well. I am not sure what a 7 month old would do there as they are barely crawling at that point, but for toddler age the fort is nice.

The fort is very nice. We have been many times before we had children and the tour we took with our son dropped us off there at the end and we let him play in the field as well. I am not sure what a 7 month old would do there as they are barely crawling at that point, but for toddler age the fort is nice.

You are correct the 7 month old could not walk around. However, they would be entertained by the activity. There were lots of very young children there. I would post a couple of the pics I took, but Photobucket will not allow that now. Arg [and I am too cheap to pay the fee]

I was thinking of this more for the toddler someone said was just over 1 year. this would be a soft walk around spot.

Thanks! I have a few questions.

We are cruising Liberty of the Seas for the first time next spring with a large group of family and friends. This is our first cruise with kids and ours will be 3 and 4 years old.

I've never been a worrier, but with kids now you can't ever be TOO safe. Do you suggest we bring a sticker name tag on their back with their last name and room number just in case they get separated? Or does RCCL already do something like that for kids? I thought I heard something about wristbands.

For the My Time Family Dining, are they escorted back to Adventure Ocean by more than 1 employee? How can we ensure that they get to where they need to be. I know I know, I'm being a worrier.

How long does dinner in the MDR typically last? I remember it being fairly long. Is it sped up a little it you have kids? And do they have little menu coloring sheets for them? Should we bring our own crayons or stickers and paper to help occupy them? Or would that be frowned upon?

Also if anyone has any excursions that they recommend for us for Jamaica or Grand Cayman please let me know! A lot of the ones I've seen seem to be for age 5 and up so that doesn't work.

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Heather- We are headed on the Liberty this coming spring as well. We will have our 4 kiddos- 7, 5, 3, and 17 months as well as a 2 other kiddos in our party (plus some other adults!). For Cayman, there's the Jolly Roger pirate ship that you can book independently. I think we'll just go to Calico Jacks on 7 Mile Beach and rent a few chairs. For Jamaica, we are leaving the kids on the ship with Grandma so that we can go on a kayaking excursion. Now, I cannot speak for any of these excursions, as I haven't done them myself! But just something for you to research independently!

On our last cruise, the kiddos got bracelets that staff could link to our rooms. You could consider buying personalized temporary tattoos for them as well.

I'm not sure about MyTime dining. We are doing the late dinner and plan to just feed the kiddos room service while we get ready. We'll drop them off in the kids' club while we enjoy our dinner most nights. Last time they were begging to go the kids club as soon as dinner started (the earlier seating). Besides, they eat so much pizza and fro-yo on the boat they're never hungry for dinner! Fingers crossed that our toddler will like the nursery!!! Last time, our then-toddler refused the nursery.