RCCL Toy Lending Program

[MissMouse]

Hi! We are going on the Mariner in May with our baby -- he'll be 6.5 months when we set sail.

 

What exactly is the toy lending program? What kind of toys do they have? Any activity centers/jumperroos? How does it work - you get to keep a toy for a day?

 

Any help is appreciated. My little guy loves his activity center and jumperoo, and I'm not sure how practicle it is packing one of those :)

[crusinmama06]

This is a sort of new program. I saw flyers for it while I was on Indy, but I didn't check it out. It just said to ask the counselors at Adventure Ocean.

 

So you'll have to come back and tell us about it. :D

[geegee1]

it's small toys, like rings, animals and the like. you are able to borrow it for the length of the cruise. at least that's how it was on EOS a few weeks back

[MissMouse]

Thanks! I will certainly post a review when I return.

 

I am thinking of packing his Bright Start's jungle mat/gym because it can be packed up in a fairly confined plastic bag container and is soft and has plenty of space to hang toys to grab at. Luckily, we are driving so we just need to drop it off -- no need to hastle with an airport. This is what we always occupy with when we are getting ready in the morning. Of course, he is 4.5 months now, so who knows if he'll still be in love with it in 2 months :)

 

Anyone else pack bigger toys with them?

[PattyW]

I don't know about a six month old but we used to bring quite a few toys with us when we traveled with very little kids both for the plane and the cabin - especially before a movie would entertain them. The goal was to find toys that didn't make too much noise, were interesting and were one piece, or just a couple of pieces. See and Says, and the leapfrog phonics radio were good ones. Later a viewmaster with new reels for the trip.

 

I thought the toy lending program was brilliant for parents with small children. All of their little kids programs are sponsored by Fisher Price, so I imagine all the toys are Fisher Price (and if your child falls in love with one on the ship - well, I'm sure Fisher Price thought about that possible revenue source, too). When I took my 1 year old to the Aquatots program in 2007, they had all the classic Little People toys (farms, airplanes, etc), so maybe those are some of the toys as well.

[sharktums]

On the Liberty in December there were some 'larger' toys that you could borrow as well. They had a really cool Dinosaur thing that you would put balls in and they would come out in different ways. It was about 2 feet long. One kid fell in love with it and they borrowed it for the week. (Not to worry, they had two others as well!) As others have said it's pretty much all Fisher Price stuff but some bigger toys as well, not just little hand held toys.

[Angie-Pangie]

We just returned from the NOS on Feb28th and sailed with our 3 year old and 9 month old sons.In regards to the toy lending program, please prepare yourself to be unimpressed! The toys come in a cloth laundry type bag and for us, they were either broken or just kind of old and dumb. Now, maybe there are other "magic" bags and we got a crappy one. That is possible. Our bag contained an old Elmo phone who's batteries had seen better days, an alarm clock with no batteries, linking "belt" thing with pieces that attach and a boat. Those are the things I remember, there may have been 1 or 2 other things in the bag. To be honest, I was expecting actual Fisher-Price toys, like the farm that we have at home or our "gumball machine" where you put the balls in or at least some of those chunky little people and animals. Unfortunately, that's not what you get.

So, my advice for travelling with your baby is to bring the mat and anything else that you can easily tuck in the corners of your suitcase. Try not to bring too many things because although the cabins are smaller than your house, you will most likely lose things. The last night on the ship should not be spent backtracking your steps to find a Sophie the Giraffe. Because that's not fun. And remember, entertainment for a baby doesn't need to be fancy. We had a blast with 5 paper coffee cups from the Cafe Prmenade. Make a tower and then baby knocks it down. Hours of entertainment.

Cheers,

Angela

[sharktums]

^Ugh, that's really a bummer as we'll be on the Navigator for a 2 week transatlantic cruise next month.

 

The toys on the Liberty of the Seas this past December were all nice, new, quality Fisher Price toys. I wonder if some of the older ships are getting the 'hand me down' toys. =(

[gypsygirlzen]

When we sailed on the Jewel of the Seas before, we received alot of toys to take back to our room. The toys were a mix of smaller and larger toys and we had to keep some out on our balcony to make room for them all. We were told, however, that there was only a handful of small children on board and so that may be why we received so many. They were in great condition too.

[luv2travell]

rccl let you borrow it its like checking a book only its a toy they asked how old my son was and thats it and asked for your room # thet said it was donated by fisher price

[HurleyD]

You should also think about how dirty the toys are. They have probably been passed through MANY MANY hands and I bet you, some kids put them in their mouths. If you do decide to get toys from them, I hope you sanitize them very well and tell your kids to not put them in their mouths and wash their hands after they play with them.

[MissMouse]

I would most definitely sanitize them myself. I plan on bringing my own clorox wipes and such anyway in the (very likely) event his toys hit the ground (he's starting to get to the fun throw them down phase).

[HurleyD]

That's good lol. My mom brings lysol wipes and lysol spray with us when we go. She always sprays the whole cabin down.