Cruising with a 1 year old...any tips???

Going on a cruise with our 1 year old in August...any tips or suggestions from previous cruisers with little ones???

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Bring more diapers than you think you'll need.

If you can swing a balcony, it was great. She would nap for a couple of hours each day, and I could sit on the balcony and read.

Order milk from room service (comes in cartons) and keep in the fridge.

We thought anytime dining would be best so we could eat whenever our schedule was convenient. But anytime often means a wait, so it didn't work so well.

My kids are older now, but we did 3 cruises when our oldest was under 2 back in 2008.

Meg has great tips above....I would also say to bring a stroller. My child would nap in strollers (thankfully). So, we would get to sit and relax and people watch while he was napping in the stroller.

What about a car seat? Did you bring a car seat from home? If so, did you just use it when you were still ported in the US or did you use it when you got off at the other ports when you went on excursions?

Bring toys to occupy them during meals.

What about a car seat? Did you bring a car seat from home? If so, did you just use it when you were still ported in the US or did you use it when you got off at the other ports when you went on excursions?

We drove to the port, but did not bring the car seat on the boat. We didn't do any excursions at this age. We either walked or took a water taxi to the beach. Or walked around the port and did some shopping. We never had to be in a car.

Thanks everyone for the tips! Keep them coming if you think of anything else [emoji4]

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What about a car seat? Did you bring a car seat from home? If so, did you just use it when you were still ported in the US or did you use it when you got off at the other ports when you went on excursions?

You won't find many bus's ,taxi's ect in the islands that have seat belts , so car seats would not really work

Whatever you do at home with your 1 year old, you will do on the ship. What ship are you on? Some have "nursery" services....some have "in cabin" babysitting....so you might be able to have some adult time.

However....most ship's have only showers, so bring a blow up tub to bathe your child...most tots do NOT like showers!

No child (or adult) in diapers will be allowed in the pools..be prepared for that! The blow up tub can act as a "splash" area for your child on sea days.

Bring any and ALL baby stuff...diapers, wipes, special food, and ALL MEDICATIONS your tyke might need. The ship sells NO pediatric medications. BRING what you might need. Nose drops, ear drops, tummy stuff...antihistimines, baby tylenol ....whatever you MIGHT need...bring it.

All great advise above. We brought our 6 mos old last year.

Bring some things from his/her room that they would be familiar with. such as sheets from home for the crib (Pack n play size) for the smell, bring noise machine, etc. Try to make the surroundings similar to home.

bring extra pacifiers, loveys, etc.

Hopefully the cruiseline you're sailing will offer a nursery like RCI has...their Royal Babies & Tots Nursery is amazing.

Following, we're taking our what will be 1 year old next April. If you could update when you get back with any extra things you come across I would appreciate that!!

From what I've seen, a umbrella stroller, a back carrier, toys, an inflatable bathtub unless s/he will shower, snacks, beach toys, sippy cups

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We're departing in 4 weeks with a 15 month old - I'm curious if anyone has tips on dinner time. Our son mostly feeds himself finger foods (vegetables, fruit etc) but can make a mess. If you go to the MDR, can you ask for a small bowl of roasted vegetables?? Or can we bring a plate of food from the buffet into the MDR?? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Be aware that most ships do not allow babies/toddlers who are not potty trained (even with swimmers) in any of the pools ( even children's pool areas). A few ships have specially designed splash zones for babies, but not many. A couple of years ago, we brought a small inflatable baby pool and put it on our balcony for our then 15 month old. We were fortunate to have a large balcony, and the staff were ok with us doing it. The policies will vary from ship to ship I'm sure.

We're departing in 4 weeks with a 15 month old - I'm curious if anyone has tips on dinner time. Our son mostly feeds himself finger foods (vegetables, fruit etc) but can make a mess. If you go to the MDR, can you ask for a small bowl of roasted vegetables?? Or can we bring a plate of food from the buffet into the MDR?? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

We've gotten steamed vegetables for the grands, not sure if they will roast them for you. They will also bring you fruit and raw veggies. No problem bringing things from the buffet.

You won't find many bus's ,taxi's ect in the islands that have seat belts , so car seats would not really work

I don't know why this fallacy is so often posted. Yes, regular city buses and most tour buses don't have seat belts. I've been to many Caribbean islands, and never had a cab that didn't have seat belts.

If you find one that doesn't, take a cab that does.

My Grandson was just a very laid-back little guy, but we carried an umbrella stroller and he would fall asleep easily while in it. We were able to get him mashed potatoes or french fries in the dining room, along with a variety of vegetables. If they aren't on the kids menu, you can order from the regular menu for him. The waiter always had little finger foods or crackers for him waiting when we got to the MDR. It was his "vacation" too so he got a scoop of ice cream or sherbet for dessert along with a cookie. He LOVED the bread. We would pick up a few cartons of milk from the buffet to have in the room at night (carry a sippy cup) or during the day for naps, along with something like a banana or a yogurt. We carried a sack of little new, inexpensive toys so he had a new surprise to look forward to and to amuse himself with during dinner. We also carried the umbrella stroller and put it discreetly under the table in case he fell asleep, which happened a couple of times. We went through a LOT of wet wipes. Zip-lock baggies are your friend. An entire outfit will fit in a zip-lock. When you pack you can put an outfit in and when it's bath time you have a matched outfit you can just grab. Going off the ship? Grab a zip-lock with a clean outfit for "just in case." Put the dirty one into the zip-lock and mark an X on it and you can just toss it into the suitcase. Helps when time to pack to leave. Also good for anything damp or wet. Carry a stain stick and you won't have stains get embedded in the clothes.

We cruised with our twins when they were 14 months old. It was a trip with extended family to the Baltic on Princess. Things we learned:

The ship can provide "baby food" for you if you desire. We had to fill out some forms online from guests services, had a ship rep call and talk about our needs and how many and variety of food we wanted. We were able to request the food from room service and in the main dining room. We ended up not needing it much in the main dining room as the staff learned our kids preferences and would have apple sauce, steamed veggies, cheese and bread ready for us when we arrived. We did use anytime dining, but booked a reservation each night. We ended up eating at the same time every night to scheduled dining likely would have been better. We learned that the main dining room was easier (although not faster) for most our meals. We even ate breakfast there unless we had an early morning excursion. We did use our in room fridge to keep extra milk (we brought our own sippy cups and a small bottle of palmolive to wash in the sink) and extra food for snacks or to take on excursions for the kids. Food was much less of an issue that I had thought it would be.

We did bring two carseats on board the boat. Our girls fly in their car seats and we knew they would need them before and after the cruise as we spent some extra days in Berlin. We also found the car seats were great "seats" in our room for the kids to use if we needed to feed them or have them play without ramming around the room. We bought soft car seat trays for the plane that we also used to make the car seats into impromptu high chairs both at the hotel and in the stateroom.

We brought two umbrella strollers (doubles don't fit well down the gang plank or the boat passage ways) that we folded up and put in the bathroom standing up when we didn't need them. We had a handicap room (only ones that allow four passengers on that boat) and found the extra bathroom space was a great place to stash the strollers when not in use. We used the strollers on excursions (no problems with cruise sponsored or private transportation with the strollers, we just got good at folding them up in a flash) and inside the boat when we wanted to hang out. The strollers were another "seat" for the kids to sit in.

We packed a whole suitcase full of diapers (twins!) and also an extra cardboard box. We were able to unload the box and have our steward dispose of it for us so we had one less piece of "luggage" to deal with, esp since everything that bag carried was needed on the return trip. To get a guestimate for how many diapers to take we did a count for a few days of how many used, found the average and then multiplied by 1.5. It was a bit overkill but meant we weren't concerned about diaper. I know that many ports sell diapers but I wanted to see the sites, not the inside of the local drugstore when we were in port.

Sleeping was a bit tricky, esp since one of our girls is a very light sleeper. We took advice from a poster here and took magnets with us. We requested and extra sheet and used the magnets to attach it to the ceiling and walls to darken the room when they were sleeping and allowed us to go to the bathroom or watch tv (with headphones) without waking them. We were given two pack and plays, we requested them before the trip but somehow that request didn't make it to our room steward. Thankfully we were still able to get them in our room with little fuss. We also brought our noise machine to help make the environment sound like "normal".

We brought a number of small toys to use on the plane/hotel/boat. This worked well for us to have something for them to do when we were in the cabin prepping for the next activity or having some down time. We made sure the toys were corralled when we left so the room steward didn't have to deal with them.

I cruised with my then 10-month-old son and 3.5 yo daughter for the first time in February 2015 and brought the same high-powered magnets (as mentioned above) and made a "baby room" for my son. AMAZING!

We had an alarm clock with sound machine which did double duty since most rooms don't have alarm clocks. Also bring a power strip (without surge protector as per cruise line policy) to plug extra electronics in.

We also brought a clear over-the-door shoe organizer that we attached to the wall with aforementioned magnets to keep baby shoes, charger cables, diapers, wipes, toys, you-name-it within easy reach. We had an umbrella stroller which saved us, plenty of disposable bibs and travel size dish soap to wash our bottles in the sink as well as detergent to wash necessities in the sink.

There are a few Pinterest boards on this topic which I found amazingly helpful.

Don't forget ziplock bags for pilfering snacks from the buffet. And a couple of toys for the beach. Also brought the inflatable tub for bath if you don't have s suite.

We are going on our second cruise with the kiddies in two weeks and getting psyched. Good luck!

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I didn't see where you stated what line you're cruising with...but if it's Carnival, be prepared for the fact that their "Camp Ocean" doesn't accept babies under 2 years old. My husband and I have cruised with our teenage son and younger daughter several times, beginning when our daughter was 19 months old. They do offer set hours where parents can take their babies in the playroom to let them play with the toys and do some special baby-centric activities, but they are quite limited (an hour or two) and usually only offered early in the mornings before the regular kids programming opens.

Sailed with a 1YO last year who will be 2 this time when we go in the summer.

We did Princess.

Highlights that worked for us:

+ They were good with putting a pack n play but despite requesting one they had to bring in it after we got there - its still a plus having it. But if you're looking for that first nap right after you get there it might be hard

+ Bring stuff from home - for sure - blankies and toys etc. We bought some dollar store stuff for her to mess around with - even simple things like a closable container - that's the best toy :)

+ Not all cruises will let your kid play if under 3. Princess did have a play place but you couldn't leave them alone. No baby sitting (we took turns at night to go out).

+ I think all cruises are flexible for food - we did get steamed veggies for our LO and by night 3 they already had it ready when you'd get there.

+ all the restaurants and buffets have high chairs

+ an umbrella stroller is handy - we didn't use for on ship though just to go off.

- pools were a non go but it was fairly cool so we didn't care too much

+ We looked for a room with a tub rather than a shower - our LO was not a fan of water poured on head. Might be better this time around but still got a tub.

+ tip - don't fly with diapers if you can buy in the city you're leaving from and put them in the stroller bag or even a garbage bag with a label to go to your room.

+ sound machine was a good tip (at least we use one). Though you can dl some free programs to your cell.

This time we're going with HAL. It doesn't seem to have the same program for under 3 but we'll make due I guess. There's only one ship day and the ports are very easy.

Sleeping was a bit tricky, esp since one of our girls is a very light sleeper. We took advice from a poster here and took magnets with us. We requested and extra sheet and used the magnets to attach it to the ceiling and walls to darken the room when they were sleeping and allowed us to go to the bathroom or watch tv (with headphones) without waking them. We were given two pack and plays, we requested them before the trip but somehow that request didn't make it to our room steward. Thankfully we were still able to get them in our room with little fuss. We also brought our noise machine to help make the environment sound like "normal".

Were you able to hook headphones into the tv?

This is how we divided the room with magnets and sheets on our NCL trip. We also had sound machine and remember the soppy cups. The blow up pool was great for by the pool in an out-of-the-way place. I filled in in the showers by the pool.

A clear show divider is also great to hold smaller items (and shoes) to keep the clutter organized.

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I cruised with my then 10-month-old son and 3.5 yo daughter for the first time in February 2015 and brought the same high-powered magnets (as mentioned above) and made a "baby room" for my son. AMAZING!

 

We had an alarm clock with sound machine which did double duty since most rooms don't have alarm clocks. Also bring a power strip (without surge protector as per cruise line policy) to plug extra electronics in.

 

We also brought a clear over-the-door shoe organizer that we attached to the wall with aforementioned magnets to keep baby shoes, charger cables, diapers, wipes, toys, you-name-it within easy reach. We had an umbrella stroller which saved us, plenty of disposable bibs and travel size dish soap to wash our bottles in the sink as well as detergent to wash necessities in the sink.

 

There are a few Pinterest boards on this topic which I found amazingly helpful.

 

Don't forget ziplock bags for pilfering snacks from the buffet. And a couple of toys for the beach. Also brought the inflatable tub for bath if you don't have s suite.

 

We are going on our second cruise with the kiddies in two weeks and getting psyched. Good luck!

 

 

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Sailing on the NCL Breakaway this Sunday with our 20 month old and would like to do the room separator thing with magnets and sheet. What type of magnets and where did you order them? I'm thinking amazon but not sure which ones or how many to order.

Thanks!!!!!

Sailing on the NCL Breakaway this Sunday with our 20 month old and would like to do the room separator thing with magnets and sheet. What type of magnets and where did you order them? I'm thinking amazon but not sure which ones or how many to order.

 

Thanks!!!!!

These magnets are super strong. We just used them in the NCL Gem in April. I would buy two sets for a room separator to hang a sheet. They are strong enough to hold an over the door shoe organizer too, we used them for everything. [emoji847] good luck.

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