Help! 13 month on Board

[NU 2 CRUZ]

I am leaving this Sunday (6 days) for on a Celebrity cruise with my 13 month old. I have never cruised before much less brought a baby with me. I am excited and nervous and I realize it will be a lot of work. I will be cruising with 7 other people including grandma and grandad. Some questions I had were:

Can I get a refridge in the room to keep milk cold?

What do you do with a 13 month old on cruising days? My baby is now walking and does not like to sit still!

Do walkie talkies or monitors work on the cruise ship?

Any other input would be great! I can't wait for the cruise!!

[PattyW]

I'm so jealous that you're leaving in a week! Have fun!

I've never cruised on Celebrity, but most cabins do have mini fridges in them. If yours doesn't, just ask your cabin steward and (s)he'll bring you one.

Monitors: yes, they work great. We had multiple cabins on our cruise, too and were able to put our daughter down in our room, set up the monitor and be in another room while she slept. Our cabins were all next to one another and we opened the balcony partitions between them, so it was like one long balcony. It worked great - even two cabins away. We didn't use walkie talkies, though, although I've heard that they do work (but can be annoying to other passengers, a la loud cell phone use - "are you there? ARE YOU THERE? We're in the casino!")

On cruising days, there's lots to do. There are always bands by the pool that play upbeat music she can dance to, the kids club may let her play in their playroom as long as you're there and often there are empty lounges where she can run to her heart's delight. Not to mention circular tracks for the walker/joggers. I know how exciting walking is to them in those early months - you can work on your tan while you two go around and around and around. . .

As for other advice, I've posted this before, but these are my recommendations (briefly) - bring enough clothes for the week, plenty of sunscreen and a hat. Always at least stop by the buffet during breakfast because that's when they have yougurt and single serve boxes of cereal. You can take some in the morning for afternoon snacks. Bring enough diapers and wipes on board with you because they will be very expensive on the ship or in port. Bring swim diapers, too because even if you can't/don't use the ship's pools, you can swim at the beach while in port. Pack some small toys from home. You probably will spend some time in the cabin, so it's better to have books to read or a magna doodle to scribble on than to be pulling on electrical cords for fun. Bring your child's blanket/lovey from home and any other "essential" crib items so they'll feel more secure when going down for the night/napping.

Have a wonderful, wonderful time. Relax and enjoy your vacation! Cruising as a family is so much fun!

[TWA4Ever]

[quote name='NU 2 CRUZ']I am leaving this Sunday (6 days) for on a Celebrity cruise with my 13 month old. I have never cruised before much less brought a baby with me. I am excited and nervous and I realize it will be a lot of work. I will be cruising with 7 other people including grandma and grandad. Some questions I had were:

Can I get a refridge in the room to keep milk cold?

What do you do with a 13 month old on cruising days? My baby is now walking and does not like to sit still![/QUOTE]

I know I'll probably get slammed for this, but just have to ask. You're cruising in 6 days and only [I]now[/I] you think about keeping your baby's milk cold? You're cruising in 6 days, and only [I]now[/I] you ask the question as to what to do with your child?

Apparently you can log on the internet (you're here, and registered here last January), so you could have researched this earlier (unless you just happened to forget you were bringing the baby).

I do not begrudge you asking questions; however, this is a child you just remembered about, not how to pack an extra toothbrush. Have a great cruise, but don't let the baby who [I]"is now walking and does not like to sit still"[/I] out of your sight.

[BlueB]

[quote name='NU 2 CRUZ']
Can I get a refridge in the room to keep milk cold?

What do you do with a 13 month old on cruising days? My baby is now walking and does not like to sit still!

Do walkie talkies or monitors work on the cruise ship?
[/QUOTE]
We took our daughter on a Celebrity cruise when she was 15 months old. We did not have a fridge in the room, and it was not a big deal, just went and got her milk every morning and night from the buffet room (forgot the name).

Children who are not potty trained are not allowed in pools. There is a toddler program run by Celebrity on sea days where a parent needs to be there with some toys provided by the ship for toddlers to play with. In addition, Celebrity allows you to check out a treasure box filled with toddler toys for free for the entire cruise, which kept my daughter busy in the stateroom, for the most part. We, of course, brought some new toys and bought new ones along the way to keep her busy because she never sits still.

Walkie talkies and monitors do work. Walkie talkies are very important, because one parent will always need to be with the child. I don't see the need for a monitor unless you will have your baby sleeping in a different room. You should stay in the room while s/he sleeps.

There are not a lot you can do on a sea day, besides playing with your toddler. We took turns to play with my DD, it was actually nice to spend some one-on-one time with her.

[PattyW]

[quote name='TWA4Ever']I know I'll probably get slammed for this, but just have to ask. You're cruising in 6 days and only [I]now[/I] you think about keeping your baby's milk cold? You're cruising in 6 days, and only [I]now[/I] you ask the question as to what to do with your child?

Apparently you can log on the internet (you're here, and registered here last January), so you could have researched this earlier (unless you just happened to forget you were bringing the baby).

I do not begrudge you asking questions; however, this is a child you just remembered about, not how to pack an extra toothbrush. Have a great cruise, but don't let the baby who [I]"is now walking and does not like to sit still"[/I] out of your sight.[/QUOTE]

Consider yourself slammed. We're here to help each other, not criticize.

[NU 2 CRUZ]

Thank you Patty W and Blue B for this HELPFUL information! I was looking for last minute tips not to be judged by some stranger. I, of course, have thought ahead and figured I would use an ice bucket to keep the bottles cold if I had to.

[michaelsmom]

Children who are not potty trained are not allowed in pools. There is a toddler program run by Celebrity on sea days where a parent needs to be there with some toys provided by the ship for toddlers to play with. In addition, Celebrity allows you to check out a treasure box filled with toddler toys for free for the entire cruise, which kept my daughter busy in the stateroom, for the most part. We, of course, brought some new toys and bought new ones along the way to keep her busy because she never sits still.

Walkie talkies and monitors do work. Walkie talkies are very important, because one parent will always need to be with the child. I don't see the need for a monitor unless you will have your baby sleeping in a different room. You should stay in the room while s/he sleeps. "


The ship is huge and your child should have plenty of space to walk around.

When we were on Celebrity last year, toddlers were not allowed in the kdis club area. You could check out toys. Babies and Toddlers (even in swim diapers) are not allowed in the pools.

Walkie talkies work pretty well on the ship,but with everyone using them, well you know how that goes (interference)

Monitors shouldn't be necessary unless your baby is in a different room. You should not leave your baby alone in the room (unless you are in a connecting room.)

Knowing that this trip will be some work along with the vacation part, will go along way to you and your husband enjoying the trip more. Travelling with children is simply more work than travelling without. (I know I have three!) Since you are travelling with extended family perhaps you and your husband can get some alone time that way.

[CabinForFour]

I would recommend taking a small collapsible insulated cooler for storing the baby's milk. (The kind that look like a soft lunch box with a zip-closed lid.) We had used an ice bucket in the past, but the collapsible cooler seemed to stay cooler for longer. It also has the added benefit of being portable in case you want to take it for island excursions. Simply ask the cabin steward to fill it twice daily, and it should be fine. I purchased ours at Wal-Mart for $4.95, and it worked great. It's the six-pack size, which was plenty large enough for any milk/cups/bottles we needed. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!

Jamine

[flagger]

Celebrity is one of the few cruiselines that offers in-cabin babysitting. I know you are traveling with lots of "babysitters", but it is a nice option if the rest of the family wants to get together. You book it through Guest Relations and I believe the cost is $8.50 an hour.

I hope you have a blast. We are taking our 15.5 month old in 13 days.

[kfleming]

No tips for you since I haven't yet cruised with my DD. We are going in October and she'll be 13 months old then so be sure to report back to help us first timers!

[NYcruisefamily]

When we did the milk bottle thing we took advantage of room service to bring us the fresh milk whenever we needed it

[Nliedel]

I have not cruised with any of my babies (I may have to fix that with this one since I am in travel withdrawel) but I have traveled with them at about 13 months... So here goes..

The collapsable cooler idea is good and works well.

Your baby is old enough to fight sleep so bring plenty of things he has at home to make him comfy so he will sleep. He will only give you grief the first day or so.

Diapers and lots of them... really.. the change in diet alone may mean you are using more diapers.

Have a WONDERFUL time.. My 15 month old is such a hoot that I would love to cruise with him. He is easy going and would travel well... my eldest, who I traveled a lot with cause he was the only one.. is fairly high strung and harder to travel with.. Oh and this is the age they learn to manipulate!! My oldest one grabbed a large stuffed bear when we were traveling and said "mine" one of his first words.. well what are you gonna do? We bought him the bear : ) I can't really begrudge him tho since he sleeps with it to this day and he is 7 (if he knew I was telling you this I would get a great big MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!)

[O2B_CRUZN]

I cannot stress how important it is to keep your eyes on your baby at all times I think someone else mentioned this to you, there are so many people she could easily "get up and go". Remember that even though you sister and mom, ect, will be there she is your responsibility!

You need to take the time to make a through packing list, because like others have said you cannot buy diapers on the ship. You should think about the take-and toss disposable sippy cups, becuase then you don't have to wash out cups. (Of course this assumes your baby is not still taking a bottle)

No you cannot request a mini fridge in your cabin, but others have given great suggestions on how to overcome this problem.

Have a great time!