Cruising with a 1 year old?

[circadian9]

We're getting ready for a cruise with our shy 10 yo DS and outgoing 1 yo DD. I think we'll have fun! We're taking a tiny blow up pool. First cruise for everyone but me. We did get a balcony, so I'm okay with spending nap time out there.

[SoundDawg]

Anyone done it? How was it? We have a cruise planned on 9/29 but are now second guessing bringing our 1 year old son. We are on an OV room but my parents are going and are on lido so we can use their room to stash pampers, food etc so that should help. Anyways, we are getting advice against bringing him and have read people saying not to do it as well so we are second guessing it now. If so, any suggestions/recommendations?

 

Do it and enjoy it!! We did when he was 10 months! We will be taking him on his third cruise in September before he even turns three! You can skim the review in my signature to Bermuda. It was our first cruise as parents!

[CJinFLA00]

We also cruised with an 11 month old last Oct on the Dream and loved it. We had plenty of grandparents, aunts, uncles to help out as well. We're doing the Dream again in August with a now 18 month old. Enjoy your cruise!

[tty206]

My husband and I had the same apprehension about bringing our 7 month old on a cruise... we had cruised many times prior but never with a baby and we had no idea how she would react so we were pretty nervous. Cruising with a baby is definitely different but we had such a great time and I would say it was better than expected... we went with our friends who brought their 12 month old and 3 year old and they also had a good time. The first day was a bit of an adjustment for the baby being that she had never been away from home but from the second day on, she adjusted very well and everyone had fun... so much so that we are taking her on another cruise next month when she will be 10 months old. We know that she will not remember these trips when she gets older but it is nice to get away as a new family of 3 and it was great seeing her experience someplace new.

 

Here are a few we brought that helped us on the cruise...

 

- our own pack and play sheet... our last cruise was with royal caribbean so I'm not sure if it's different with Carnival but their sheets were scratchy and did not fit the pack and play mattress well

 

- inflatable tub (we have the munchkin inflatable duck tub) since the bathrooms only have a shower

 

- umbrella stroller and ergo (or other baby carrier) - on sea days, we tried to stick to her normal nap schedule and that worked out pretty well for us. our baby doesn't nap well in the stroller so when we were in port, we'd wear her in the baby carrier whenever she got tired and she would just sleep on us. my friend also wore her 1 year old in port.

 

- travel size wet ones wipes to wipe down high chairs and tables

 

I know every baby is different and not everyone would bring their baby or toddler with them but for us, it was a great experience. Enjoy your cruise!

[John1928]

We took our 7 month old with us last year, and she'll be going again this year at a year and a half old. Her older brother started cruising when he was 2.

 

The staff (and many of the passengers) will absolutely dote on infants. Being served in main dining room isn't a problem (assuming you have happy/non-crying kids). We were also able to watch any show we were interested in in the main lounge as she would either pay attention or sleep (again YMMV if you have criers rather than crashers).

 

The only significant issue my wife and I had with programming was being unable to attend the late night comedy shows together. I think we'll take advantage of the for-fee babysitting for that next time.

 

For excursions we hired a private driver at one port, and did a public bus/taxi to a beach/park at two others, all of which worked out fine.

 

I'm good with the concept of an adults-only vacation too, but domestic cruising is easy, enjoyable, and cheap with the family. I'll save our "alone time" trips for more difficult, expensive, or adult focused vacations.