Traveling with One-Year-Old Radiance Class

[BHappy2Day]

Leaving next month on Serenade with a one-year-old. 

 

1.  Does Radiance class have water play area for babies still in diapers (underneath waterproof diaper cover, of course!). Expecting not, but would like to know. 

2.  For good reason, we can’t take food off the ship. But how about the baby’s food?  She will be with us in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan. Do RCCL and the ports make an exception?  
3.  Any experience and/or tips with the nursery on board?  Do you know the price?  
4.  Is in-room baby sitting available?  Price?
 

 

[Sigyn]

I wish you great luck. I traveled with my son on a cruise when he was 21 months old and it was so difficult and stressful I didn't try it again until he was 15 years old. 

[rimmit]

2 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

Leaving next month on Serenade with a one-year-old. 

 

1.  Does Radiance class have water play area for babies still in diapers (underneath waterproof diaper cover, of course!). Expecting not, but would like to know. 

2.  For good reason, we can’t take food off the ship. But how about the baby’s food?  She will be with us in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan. Do RCCL and the ports make an exception?  
3.  Any experience and/or tips with the nursery on board?  Do you know the price?  
4.  Is in-room baby sitting available?  Price?
 

 

1. There is no baby splash pad on the radiance.

 

2.You can take processed food off the boat typically.  Fresh Fruits, veggies, etc are a no.

 

3. Nursery back when we used it which was from 2011-2018 was $6/hr during the day.  $8/hr at night.  Not sure if they raised it since 2018.  Ultimately, they typically give you X amount of hours that you are allowed to book on day #1.  After a day or two they open up the bookings completely, and you can book as much as you want.  We spent thousands in the nursery with our kids.  The nursery was awesome and I highly recommend it.  We used it a lot especially around nap time.
 

4. They no longer have in room babysitting.  That went away several years ago.

[BHappy2Day]

Njsmom—I totally get that. She is traveling with 7 adults—mom, dad, grandmother, aunts, and other adults. Not sure 7 is enough, lol!

Edited March 15, 2023 by BHappy2Day

[ARandomTraveler]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:50 PM, njsmom said:

I wish you great luck. I traveled with my son on a cruise when he was 21 months old and it was so difficult and stressful I didn't try it again until he was 15 years old. 

 

On 3/15/2023 at 4:29 PM, BHappy2Day said:

Njsmom—I totally get that. She is traveling with 7 adults—mom, dad, grandmother, aunts, and other adults. Not sure 7 is enough, lol!

Same. I cruised with a 2 year old and I would never do it again. Didn't cruise again until she was 11. 
 

We cruised with 5 adults, all of whom wanted to enjoy their vacation, and not be a babysitter. If I went on a cruise nowadays with anyone who had a small child, I would not appreciate any expectation that I'd be available to help out with childcare during my vacation, and wouldn't volunteer. 

[mjkacmom]

You can bring prepackaged food off of the ships, you can even pack her favorite snacks from home.

[gerif]

28 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You can bring prepackaged food off of the ships, you can even pack her favorite snacks from home.

Best idea. Not much other than the little cereal boxes you can take off the ship. You’ll need prepackaged snacks. 

[Sigyn]

On 3/15/2023 at 6:29 PM, BHappy2Day said:

Njsmom—I totally get that. She is traveling with 7 adults—mom, dad, grandmother, aunts, and other adults. Not sure 7 is enough, lol!

Lots of adults are good. I traveled with four adults - myself, my then-husband (dad), my best friend and her husband. We were still all exhausted from monitoring the 21-month-old. My best friend still jokes that we didn't eat a single meal together without tears. My son was always so tired at the end of each day that he'd start crying at dinner every evening. Despite afternoon naps. It was just a nightmare trying to keep him on a schedule. Just do your best and don't overly stress. It worked out okay - either his dad or I would take him to the cabin and rest with him at dinner time and then that person would eat dinner with one of our friends later on - and we just did what we could. But it was a lot of work to try to entertain a baby on a cruise. Other vacations were easier to do with him. The good news was the last one we did, in December, when he was 15, worked out just fine. He had a blast. And we could laugh about the drama from the cruise in 2009. 🙂 

Edited March 17, 2023 by njsmom

[Mum2Mercury]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:06 PM, BHappy2Day said:

Leaving next month on Serenade with a one-year-old. 

 

1.  Does Radiance class have water play area for babies still in diapers (underneath waterproof diaper cover, of course!). Expecting not, but would like to know. 

2.  For good reason, we can’t take food off the ship. But how about the baby’s food?  She will be with us in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan. Do RCCL and the ports make an exception?  
3.  Any experience and/or tips with the nursery on board?  Do you know the price?  
4.  Is in-room baby sitting available?  Price?

No to water play, but I have a grandson that same age, and if I were cruising with him today I'd plan on beach days for the island stops.  Bring along some sand toys, and he will be in heaven!  

 

Side note about babies and water safety:  My daughter only allows my grandson to wear swim trunks in shades of red, orange or yellow -- you know, bright colors, which are easy to spot.  They're not so easy to find, as so much swimwear gravitates towards blues, but I agree it's worthwhile to know we can spot our boy in the water.  

 

Definitely bring plenty of the snacks he enjoys at home.  One-year olds aren't known for their love of new foods!  Individually wrapped cookies and fruit pouches would work great.  As others have said, processed /packaged foods -- granola bars, bags of peanuts, cheese crackers -- are not a problem.  

On 3/15/2023 at 5:50 PM, njsmom said:

I wish you great luck. I traveled with my son on a cruise when he was 21 months old and it was so difficult and stressful I didn't try it again until he was 15 years old. 

We didn't travel when our kids were small /pre-schoolers either, but we made up for lost time once they were both in elementary school.  

10 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

... We cruised with 5 adults, all of whom wanted to enjoy their vacation, and not be a babysitter. If I went on a cruise nowadays with anyone who had a small child, I would not appreciate any expectation that I'd be available to help out with childcare during my vacation, and wouldn't volunteer. 

I'm cruising with extended family next year, and I am 100% willing to babysit my grandson -- I'm glad to give his parents a dinner to themselves or take him to the splash pad for a while.  His other grandmother wants time with him as much as I do!  On the other hand, I might not be willing to take him on excursions, given that our choices may not match his age /abilities.  

 

I think the right answer is, Talk to your family and see what they're thinking.  Don't assume.  

Edited March 17, 2023 by Mum2Mercury

[minniemouse427]

We had a family member who worked for a cruise line when my now 21yo was a toddler and she cruised 4x before she was 4yo. 

While it was challenging at times, she had an amazing experience and under the same circumstances (family cruising discount and ability to spend time w/ family member) I would do it over again. 

Three of the cruises included my dad (not much help when it comes to child care) and one was just myself, dh, and dd. Our family member was motivated to spend time w/ dd so one trip she took her on excursions to swim w/ dolphins while dh and I were able to do an excursion by ourselves!

In general, dd was (and still is) a night owl. She took schedule changes in stride, did amazing at meals in the MDR, and enjoyed participating in the children's club. One trip I had her completely convinced that they didn't serve french fries in the MDR..and our server was in on it! 🤣 FWIW, we had more issues with other adult passengers assuming she would "act up" at meals than any instances of her doing so. 

A few tips...
Bring a lot more diapers and wipes than you think you may need. You don't want to be stuck at sea and run out. 
It doesn't take much to amuse little ones. I would figure out a plan for easily accessed basic beach time at ports and bring some sand toys. One of my favorite memories is my dd "watering the beach" for two hours in Cozumel one trip!
Pack favorite snacks, small toys, stuffed friends, blankets, etc. Whatever makes them happy and content!
Use a car seat when traveling on the airplane there (if flying) it made traveling w/ littles SO much easier! ..and when not on transportation, a great infant/toddler carrier to "babywear." Especially convenient when walking around the ship during naptime!

[rimmit]

Ultimately, you know your baby best and what they can handle.  
 

We travel extensively around the world with our kids ever since they were born.  They did fine and loved it,  they especially loved the kids club and nursery,   They grew up cruising and traveling.

 

Ultimately, as long as you have reasonable expectations as to what you can do you’ll be fine.  If you set your expectations the same as before you had a baby you will be disappointed.   We go into every vacation with kids with the mentality that “Everything can and will go wrong.   If something goes right that’s a bonus.”   And that’s served us well over the countless snafus we’ve had over the years.

Edited March 17, 2023 by rimmit

[Choozin Croozin]

We just got back and our ds, dil and gd came with us. She is 2 1/2 so totally different than your situation. There is nothing for these little ones under 3. I had read a suggestion to bring one of those little blow up pools and a small hand pump. You can fill it up with the outdoor showers. That way you can enjoy the pool deck if you'd like. I would almost think a 1 yo would be easier than the 2 1/2 yo. She was very active and seemed to be overstimulated by all the new things (she was born in 2020 so has been quite sheltered). They brought a lot of food pouches and pre-packaged snacks. Hopefully your child will sleep in a stroller as that will help you out a lot. They ordered a crib but one was not in the room so they flipped the couch around to form an enclosed area. Not sure how that would work with a one year old. It was a lot of fun and she had a ball. Mom was pretty exhausted running after her. 

[BHappy2Day]

Thank you for all of your really good advice. I plan to write a detailed trip report at the end of our cruise to give my own experience with cruising with a baby. I also want to give my review of our unusual Stateroom 1054–4 of the 8 of us (including the baby) will be on that space. 
 

So far, what I have gleaned from your posts:

1.  Have realistic expectations. The Serenade of the Seas, and cruise vacations in general, were not designed for babies.  Baby will cry more than once, and you need to roll with that and always be considerate of other cruise guests. Get up and walk away from the table if you need to—you brought the baby, and your fellow guests did not. 
2.  Have plans and backup plans for child care. The 7 adults—mom, dad, aunt, grandmother, great aunt (me), and other relatives—need to have a schedule for baby-watching “turns.”  Use ship-provided child care when it makes sense and if the baby likes it.  (Her mom and dad need time to relax, too.  In our case, the mom and dad originally booked this cruise to go by themselves—the rest of us (okay, me) piled the rest of the group onto the roster.)
3.  Pack all the stuff!!!  Extra diapers, wipes, toys, so many clothes, hats, beach toys. Bring all the snacks!!!  Bring the baby-version iPad!!! Baby needs those things from home to feel at home.
4.  Most importantly, ENJOY the baby. Play. Take pictures. This is family time in a different setting. 

[Jasukkie]

Radiance class does have a baby pool area. I haven't been on Serenade though so I can't speak to that specifically. I was on Radiance in October and did regular laps and never once saw it open though. There weren't many kids onboard though.

 

I think the part I would find most stressful is not having a place to let them down on the floor. In the cabin you can put a sheet down but that's not going to work in public areas. They want to explore at that age. I would bring a baby backpack so they can have a better view of what's going on. 

 

I think it's important to communicate ahead of time about expectations. I'm not a grandmother yet but I cruise enough that I would be happy to spend my time babysitting on a cruise in this situation. If this is the first vacation someone has had in a while they may not feel that way once they are in vacation mode. 

 

[rimmit]

18 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:

Radiance class does have a baby pool area. I haven't been on Serenade though so I can't speak to that specifically.

That is a kid pool area.  Not a baby area.  On ships there is a difference as they filter the water differently since a baby will pee in the pool for sure.  Kids and adults do as well, but for reasons I don’t quite understand this is ok and does not require a separate filter system.  I guess it’s because there is a 100 percent chance of babies peeing in the pool and kids and adults only do occasionally????  Not sure to be honest.

 

On the bigger ships there is a specific “baby splash pad” that is typically super small and has minimal features.  This is babies only.  Then there is a kids area.  Then the normal pools.  The Radiance class ships only have a kids area and no baby splash pad.

[mjkacmom]

26 minutes ago, rimmit said:

That is a kid pool area.  Not a baby area.  On ships there is a difference as they filter the water differently since a baby will pee in the pool for sure.  Kids and adults do as well, but for reasons I don’t quite understand this is ok and does not require a separate filter system.  I guess it’s because there is a 100 percent chance of babies peeing in the pool and kids and adults only do occasionally????  Not sure to be honest.

 

On the bigger ships there is a specific “baby splash pad” that is typically super small and has minimal features.  This is babies only.  Then there is a kids area.  Then the normal pools.  The Radiance class ships only have a kids area and no baby splash pad.

It’s not the pee, it’s poop, I’ve had 5 babies/toddlers, swim diapers do not contain it all, and it can make people sick (swim diapers do nothing to hold in pee, a lesson most parents learn quickly before they get in the pool). Some splash areas have special filters to deal with fecal contamination.

[rimmit]

Forgot about #2. Lol.  Totally forgot about that.  Kids are 8 and 12 now and it’s amazing how fast you forget about things like that. 

I have definitely been peed on while holding my kids in swim diapers. Lol.

 

Swim diapers are nearly useless.  They stop some stool and zero urine.  Anyone that thinks swim diapers hold any urine does not understand basic physics.

[mjkacmom]

15 minutes ago, rimmit said:

Forgot about #2. Lol.  Totally forgot about that.  Kids are 8 and 12 now and it’s amazing how fast you forget about things like that. 

I have definitely been peed on while holding my kids in swim diapers. Lol.

 

Swim diapers are nearly useless.  They stop some stool and zero urine.  Anyone that thinks swim diapers hold any urine does not understand basic physics.

Or has never, with first child, put that child in a swim diaper, in a car seat, expecting it to work like a pull-up. That’s a one and done rookie parent error.