NCL Bliss with 18 month old

Hi All,

Just looking for some helpful tips for cruising with a little one for our upcoming trip to Alaska... And saying that we shouldn't do it is not what I would consider "helpful" ;).

What have others' experiences been like with NCL a little one? What gear is a must for onboard and what type of things should we expect/plan for?

My husband and I are seasoned cruisers, but now we are first time parents and everything is different! We would love to gain some knowledge from other cruising families. :)

You will need to bring ALL the "baby stuff" with you...the ship sells nothing for babies or pediatric meds......diapers, wipes, medications...you need to pack it. Most cabins only have showers, so a blow up tub is handy for bathing a child!

You are a family, and families travel together. I can't imagine anyone saying to leave your child behind. A cruise is only a vacation, and vacation as a family will be what you do for the next 2 decades! Go! Enjoy!

I will tell you that the dining room is MUCH easier than the buffet, when you have little ones....be served! Too hard to fix plates, find tables, gather utensils while dealing with a child. Go to the dining room, be seated and served! So nice! The staff loves kids, as they miss their own.

My son has cruised at 10 and 27 months. He will be 4 and his little sister 9 months on our next cruise. Baby wearing is sooo helpful!! But we also take a small stroller and use it a good bit too. High chairs are available in all dining venues, just ask. Sometimes orders from kids menu take longer, depending on which restaurant you are in, so we sometimes needed to order them as soon as we sat down.

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You'll get some answers here but there is also a Family Cruising forum here that you may find helpful. Here is the link:

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

From NCL's site, you can purchase Huggies diapers.

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-gifts/kids#

Baby was trying to help me type when I answered previously so I cut it short [emoji4] Other things we found helpful to pack were our own pack n play sheets, disposable bibs, and our own sippy cups and toddler forks/spoons plus a small bottle of dish soap and a bottle brush to wash them in our cabin. We packed more diapers and wipes than we thought we needed. You can order them through ncl but they are crazy expensive! When we flew we bought them at a store near our hotel the day before the trip. But packing in suitcase works too, leaves room for taking home anything you buy! Pack any baby meds you might possibly need, and some powdered pedialyte.

We used the parent/child play room on both cruises. Our ships did not have a drop off nursery, not sure of bliss will? We invited the grandparents to sail with us and they provided some babysitting. Otherwise, you will probably have an amazing trip, just go into it with realistic expectations. You may have to leave dinner early. You may not be able to do your first choice excursions. It will likely not resemble your previous cruises. But it will be a fabulous family vacation!

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Hope that the ship offers child care so that mom and dad can have some alone time. So far,,, the Escape is the only ship with care for babies.

Contrary to prior post, the ship does sell diapers. And you can preorder on your MyNCL account. No, they may not be exactly what you are use to,,,, but will save a suitcase dedicated to diapers.

Also think crowded ship. Remember the days of pre-kid cruising where you would shake your head at parents trying to maneuver that expensive double-wide stroller through crowds of people. Don’t be one of them.

One thing for an Alaskan cruise, it that it is going to be cool and damp the whole time so make sure to take appropriate warm clothing.

On NCL, only the escape has a nursery. For future reference if you are interested in child care, Disney and newer/some refurbished RC ships have nurseries. Please note that children can enter the kids club at 2 on Cunard and Carnival. Princess used to allow children under 3 to use the kids club with adult supervision, but has redesigned their kids club and I don't know if this is still allowed. Cunard allows children under 2 in the kids club with parental supervision.

For baby supplies diapers etc. research the port stops you will be making and check to see if there is a Target

Wal*Mart Sams Club Costco Walgreens CVS or other stores so you don't have to pack the entire nursery along.

For bathing the child consider a mini-suite with tub instead of a cabin with shower.

My daughter booked a family ocean view cabin on the Getaway, and she has a tub and double sink. Something to consider.

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Bring your baby's favorite packaged snacks and any pediatric meds he may need. An umbrella stroller is far preferable for maneuvering the narrow corridors of a cruise ship.

Bring clothes for layering in Alaska, for yourselves and baby. When I was there, the weather was cool and sometimes damp. We had fun walking through the port towns, nosing through shops, and trying local eateries..

Thank you all for the helpful tips! We are really looking forward to our first cruise as a family. We weren’t planning on needing child care for the cruise so not too worried about not having the option. Luckily, our little one is pretty used to going out with us to dinner, movies, football games... she prefers to be on the move and involved! ;) I didn’t realize they had huggies as an option to have onboard, that will definitely save some space for us. Also, I’m thinking of buying a small inflatable tub to have for the shower in our verandah suite, I’ve read that this is a must have while on board.

Does anyone know of any family friendly excursions for Alaska? I just picture my little one and I going to feed the reindeer at a wildlife sanctuary while my hubby goes fishing and it makes my heart happy. 😊

As someone has pointed out, the staff on any ship LOVES babies and toddlers.

Just be prepared to not be able to do EVERYTHING there is to do. Relax, have fun, and enjoy the cruise.

Bibsters for the dining room to keep little shirts clean. Pack an umbrella type stroller.

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The Bliss deck plans has “Guppies” on deck 5. The Escape has “Guppies Nursery”, so not sure if they are different or not.

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The Bliss deck plans has “Guppies” on deck 5. The Escape has “Guppies Nursery”, so not sure if they are different or not.

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They are the same or will be the same - same position as on the ESCAPE.

Basic age breakdown

Guppies - children ages 2 thru 4 or 5

Splash Academy - ages 5 to 10 11 or 12

Teen Entourage - 12 thru 17

Note on the ESCAPE the teen activity and video arcade is on deck 17 - on the BLISS it is on deck 5 thus

NCL will have a better handle on the overall childrens activities - staff being all on one deck.

We'll be taking our toddler, he'll be 2.5 at the time, on a NCL cruise this summer! I'm excited and nervous! My little guy is super active so I'm worried I'll do nothing but chase him the whole time! I think I'll buy a "baby leash". I know some people will judge and think it's tacky, but I don't need him getting lost in a crowd.

I plan to take him to the baby area and maybe the outdoor exercise track to let him run off some steam every day.

Also, I think I'll pick up a "ride on" suitcase as it may help keep him entertained in the airport and while waiting to embark.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A2H050/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Y4yuAbNZMVZ7A

We'll be taking our toddler, he'll be 2.5 at the time, on a NCL cruise this summer! I'm excited and nervous! My little guy is super active so I'm worried I'll do nothing but chase him the whole time! I think I'll buy a "baby leash". I know some people will judge and think it's tacky, but I don't need him getting lost in a crowd.

Don't use leather - use nylon nothing tacky about that !

On a more serious note take care around the elevators and stairs - you will do just fine.

You could use a stroller as an alternative just don't let the little one hit the deck running with his feet.

Pack more diapers and wipes than you think you will use just to be safe. We also brought an inflatable baby bath tub to bathe our daughter in.

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We cruised this past May on the Breakaway with our then 20 month old and had a blast!! The best piece of advice was to bring a shower curtain and magnetic hooks to go around the pack and play that the ship supplied, that way she would sleep and not be distracted by us at night. It sounds weird but actually looked halfway decent as it was a nice fabric curtain we happened to already have and we purchased the magnetic hooks on Amazon for like $10. The ceiling is metal so the hooks just stuck right to it, allowing the curtain to be a divider between the pack and play and our bed. She would occasionally get confused and wake up and end up in our bed, but it was nice that she could go down at 7pm and we could sit out on the balcony or on the couch and not have to go to sleep at 7 as well.

We had a family mini suite so it was really nice having a tub but not necessary, in my opinion.

We brought a bunch of the take and toss cups and utensils and disposable bibs for mealtimes. We primarily ate in the main dining rooms instead of buffet because it was easier to get served but by the end of the week she was pretty over it, haha. We made sure to put our room service breakfast requests out the night before so we would have milk, cereal, coffee (for us, lol) and fruit, and yogurt delivered first thing in the morning, which was extremely helpful. Even if we decided to have a sit down breakfast after, at least she had milk and some breakfast if she wanted it first thing. It was also handy to keep some extra milk and cereal in the cabin for other times of the day.

We had a fabulous time and she got a ton...TON of attention from the staff. The staff love babies, from what I gathered, and are pretty accommodating. You just have to roll with changes that might happen but since you already have a baby, you probably already know this!

Laura

Hi All,

 

 

 

Just looking for some helpful tips for cruising with a little one for our upcoming trip to Alaska... And saying that we shouldn't do it is not what I would consider "helpful" ;).

 

 

 

What have others' experiences been like with NCL a little one? What gear is a must for onboard and what type of things should we expect/plan for?

 

 

 

My husband and I are seasoned cruisers, but now we are first time parents and everything is different! We would love to gain some knowledge from other cruising families. :)

We are taking our 17 month old on the Bliss over the 4th of July. When are you going? If before me, I'd love to hear how it went and any tips specific to the ship.

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We are leaving this weekend for a cruise with our 2 year old. We are bringing some favorite snacks from home (fruits snacks and squeezeable applesauce) for the cabin and some sticker books(restickable so they won’t do any damage) for entertainment in addition to some previously mentioned ideas. And some packets of Lysol wipes for wiping down cabin surface and table tops prior to use. We can’t forget the “lovies” either for bedtime lol! Looking forward to spending some time in Guppies with our LO; it is not drop off style on tour ship. Have a wonderful trip and enjoy the time together as a family!

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Get a black and white bag that has a pattern and washable markers. Have her color the bag. You can later wash and reuse on future trips.

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