Baby's First Cruise! My Experience and Shopping List

[Host Faith]

Hi Everyone! I want to thank you all for your advice here on the Family Board. My husband and I just took our 10-month old son on his first cruise, on Royal's Liberty of the Seas. We chose the Liberty because it was a nice, short cruise to see if Isaac would take well to cruising, and the ship had a Baby Splash Zone so he could cool off and enjoy the water on the pool deck.

 

We flew from Philadelphia and stayed overnight in Fort Lauderdale one night pre-cruise and one night post-cruise. I figured it might be helpful to some new parents out there if I posted our experience here, in case you don't frequent the Royal Board.

 

We had a fantastic time! We're already booking our next two cruises. Cruising with a baby is totally doable and a fun trip. It's very different from cruising with just your partner or friends, but it's still a whole lot of fun if you're prepared.

 

If you want to know how every leg of our journey went, I'm doing a moment-by-moment photo review, here's the link.

 

Here's an excerpt from the review where I listed the most helpful products during our vacation:

 

Most of us are familiar with what to pack when we go on a cruise. When planning our trip, I felt like a newbie all over again. I spent hours researching to find the right products for Isaac- and for us. Let's face it, we need to make life as easy as possible for all of us when we're traveling with a baby. :rolleyes::D

 

First off, if at all possible, bring family along with you. I can't begin to describe how grateful my Mom and Aunt were with us on this cruise. They were really helpful, keeping Isaac occupied if we needed to take care of something. We asked them well before our departure if they felt comfortable taking Isaac once in a while so we could be alone, and then taking him into their cabin overnight one night of the cruise. Isaac still wakes up once or twice per night. In general, he goes back to sleep quickly, but we can have an 'off' night once in a while. We were so happy to have some uninterrupted sleep. Just the thought of that sleep made us so happy as we counted down the days to the cruise. I'm sure you new parents can relate. :D

 

Here is a list of items that really helped us make things as smooth as possible. I'm providing links to each in the name of the product in case you want to buy them yourselves. You'll see them as we go through the review:

 

1. Cosco Scenera Convertible Car Seat: We were initially going to have Isaac fly as a lap infant. As I did some research, I came to understand that the best possible place for Isaac on the plane was in his own seat, in his carseat. We had a pretty bulky car seat at home, and we needed one that would fit in the narrow plane seats, and one that was light enough to schlep around with us. This car seat is wonderful for travel. It only weighs about 8 lbs. We flew Southwest, and the seat fit nicely on the plane. It even left the person in front of him some space to recline. It was easy to install. We're so happy with this purchase.

 

2. The First Years Ignite Stroller: Perfect for travel! It's compact and gives baby a smooth ride. Nice storage for a jacket or blanket underneath, and a cup holder on top. A nice canopy to keep baby out of the sun. The stroller didn't take up too much space in the cabin closet.

 

3. High Sierra Curve Backpack: This was a nice, lightweight backpack that replaced our "baby bag" on this trip. No complaints.

 

4. JL Childress Gate Check Bag for Strollers: We used the stroller to get Isaac to the gate in the airport, and used this bag to check the stroller at the gate. Easy to use, easy to roll up, stayed in one piece through both flights.

 

5. Diaper Genie on the Go Dispenser: Totally needed these to keep the room smelling fresh. They worked. Enough said. :rolleyes:

 

5. Burnout SPF 30+ Kids Sunscreen: Soooo gentle and kept my little guy safe from the strong sun. You do have to rub this in quite a bit, so I applied it to his skin as I got him dressed in the morning. I mixed it with a little bit of his Aveeno moisturizer to apply it to his face. He has eczema and sensitive skin, and he didn't break out with this one at all. I was relieved.

 

6. JL Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag: A lifesaver! Wes was able to carry our carseat like a backpack. Mind you it was pretty large, but it wasn't all that heavy. I was surprised at the number of parents awkwardly lugging their car seats throughout the airport. We were also able to put our heavy winter coats around the car seat in this bag, so it's great for additional storage. It still looks like new, after this trip.

 

7. Tiny Love Take-Along Arch: We use this on car rides; Isaac loves it. Brought it with us on the flight and it kept him occupied until he fell asleep.

 

Feel free to post any questions you may have. I'm happy to help you plan in any way I can. I'm grateful for your help would love to pay it forward!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Thanks for sharing. I know it is comforting when you hear that other people went and had a good time. It was so nice of your Mom to take the baby overnight! That's true love. I agree the more people you go with the better. Our first two cruises we had three teens and six adults and it was really fun. Our second baby cruise there was another couple with a baby, one teenager and six adults. It makes a difference! People are so happy to hold them, feed them- you name it. It really helps when all hands are on deck. So for anyone who is worried about doing a family cruise- don't. Often grandparents invite couples with kids to go and parents have concerns but it really is great. My parents would watch the baby so we could do the early dinner alone as a couple and then the rest of the people would do the late dinner or we would all eat with the baby in one of the casual alternate restaurants. It worked out great.

Edited January 24, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[Spiralshell]

What a cutie!

We're cruising with our baby and 4 year old in March. The babe will be 8 months old by then, and we're really looking forward to it!

I would have been terrified to cruise past 10 months though -- my first was walking by 10 months and running by 11, and the thought of dealing with an unsteady toddler on a cruise ship....Aieeeeeeee!!! :eek:

Thanks for the shopping list! I just added that mini diaper genie thing to my amazon shopping cart :cool:

[Ashland]

Any problems with the cabin steward about having the baby joining family members overnight ?..We're hoping to do this when we cruise RCI to Alaska in May with our family and 17 month old grandson..Our cabin in located on another deck from that where our grandson is booked.

[Host Faith]

Any problems with the cabin steward about having the baby joining family members overnight ?..We're hoping to do this when we cruise RCI to Alaska in May with our family and 17 month old grandson..Our cabin in located on another deck from that where our grandson is booked.

 

No issues at all. We moved Isaac's pack and play ourselves since the breakdown and assembly were so easy. We were a couple doors down. If you can move closer, it's worth the ease of moving the baby's crib.

[Ashland]

No issues at all. We moved Isaac's pack and play ourselves since the breakdown and assembly were so easy. We were a couple doors down. If you can move closer, it's worth the ease of moving the baby's crib.

We're very experienced in moving a pack-n-play (5 kids and now 7 grandchildren) and will also do it ourselves...Just wanted to know if the cabin steward was notified and how that went?

 

No chance to change cabins, the adult kids/grandson are in connecting OV's deck #4 and we're in a true corner aft on deck #8...Our ship (Radiance, Alaska northbound May 30th) is almost completely sold out.

[Host Faith]

We're very experienced in moving a pack-n-play (5 kids and now 7 grandchildren) and will also do it ourselves...Just wanted to know if the cabin steward was notified and how that went?

 

No chance to change cabins, the adult kids/grandson are in connecting OV's deck #4 and we're in a true corner aft on deck #8...Our ship (Radiance, Alaska northbound May 30th) is almost completely sold out.

 

He saw us moving it and laughed as we joked about how excited we were to have a full night's sleep. He offered to help but we were fine. No issues at all. :)