Royal Babies on Serenade

[Sugarpill]

I am new to this forum. I am planning on traveling Serenade of the seas on May 1, 2010. It will be me, my hubby, and 11 month old daughter. Plus his family (his mom and dad, uncle, aunt, etc). But what I am wondering has to do with the royal babies program. Is it just a nursery/babysitting service? Because I am confused. :confused: I did a search of the forum and it seems to be a "babysitting" service. But I thought I read on the website that classes are offered. Like where parents go in with their child for some kind of activity and for the baby to interact with other babies? And does anyone have any reviews of the program for this particular ship? Any advice would be very helpful. Like things to do with the little one on ship and if there is a splash area on the ship. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond. :)

[cruisegirl1]

I am new to this forum. I am planning on traveling Serenade of the seas on May 1, 2010. It will be me, my hubby, and 11 month old daughter. Plus his family (his mom and dad, uncle, aunt, etc). But what I am wondering has to do with the royal babies program. Is it just a nursery/babysitting service? Because I am confused. :confused: I did a search of the forum and it seems to be a "babysitting" service. But I thought I read on the website that classes are offered. Like where parents go in with their child for some kind of activity and for the baby to interact with other babies? And does anyone have any reviews of the program for this particular ship? Any advice would be very helpful. Like things to do with the little one on ship and if there is a splash area on the ship. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond. :)

 

I walked by a mommy (or daddy)/baby activity and it was so sweet to see the families playing. They were doing something with blocks.

 

Try the "family board" for more info

 

M

[ehappy]

Royal Babies is a program available for babies age 6-18 months. There are special activities planned, interactive classes, Fisher-Price toys for them, playgroups, etc...but the activities are all attended by babies AND parents.

 

So, the Royal Babies program isn't baby sitting.

 

That is something separate, and I believe the minimum age for in stateroom baby-sitting is one year.

[6rugrats]

Right, it's just time for you to spend playing with your baby. You must be there at all times; no babysitting involved.

 

Babysitting is only available to children one year of age or older, so you won't be able to use that service.

 

I do not believe your ship has a baby splash zone.

[Sugarpill]

Thanks for the answers. I was hoping it was an activity I could do with my lil girl. I didn't need nor want to drop her off for babysitting. I got so excited when I saw they were offering activities for little ones to do with parents because we usually do mommy and me classes n such but hubby can't attend. Someone has to work! Then I saw some people saying royal babies is a babysitting service. Then I got disappointed. But now I am excited again! Thanks for setting me straight! Off to see if I can find some reviews of this!

[John Henry on CC]

Thanks for the answers. I was hoping it was an activity I could do with my lil girl. I didn't need nor want to drop her off for babysitting. I got so excited when I saw they were offering activities for little ones to do with parents because we usually do mommy and me classes n such but hubby can't attend. Someone has to work! Then I saw some people saying royal babies were a babysitting service. Then I got disappointed. But now I am excited again! Thanks for setting me straight! Off to see if I can find some reviews of this!

Sugarpill, I suggest that you go directly to the Family Cruising board and talk to those nice people. :)

 

It's good that you are bringing all of those family members with you! You are bringing your own babysitters. ;) Have a nice romantic dinner with your husband!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[StaceyCT]

I am new to this forum. I am planning on traveling Serenade of the seas on May 1, 2010. It will be me, my hubby, and 11 month old daughter. Plus his family (his mom and dad, uncle, aunt, etc). But what I am wondering has to do with the royal babies program. Is it just a nursery/babysitting service? Because I am confused. :confused: I did a search of the forum and it seems to be a "babysitting" service. But I thought I read on the website that classes are offered. Like where parents go in with their child for some kind of activity and for the baby to interact with other babies? And does anyone have any reviews of the program for this particular ship? Any advice would be very helpful. Like things to do with the little one on ship and if there is a splash area on the ship. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond. :)

 

Hi, welcome to CC and you will love the Serenade! I was just on it the last week of January with my 2.5 year old "baby", plus my husband and mom. First, great idea bringing your in-laws, etc. - having my mom there to help with the little guy was wonderful, and you've got all sorts of extra support! You'll find this invaluable.

 

We did the Royal Tots program one morning - only one morning because it's a port-intensive cruise and we were off on excursions most mornings when they held it. We did the one for 1.5-3 year olds, but I bet it's not too different from the one your daughter would be in. They hold it in an empty nightclub (the Vortex I think); the younger babies go around 9:30 AM I believe. You do stay with the baby, as the other posters have mentioned, and it is pretty much like a Mommy and Me situation. A crew member is there to guide the play and help with the toys, etc. (ours was a lovely young Peruvian woman trained as an au pair and great with our little boy). On our sailing there was a "theme" each day. The day we were there it was "on the farm" and all the toys had a farm theme. Our little guy "bowled" with plastic milk bottles, put toy animals in a barn, etc.

 

It's a nice program, but now for the bad news. The Serenade doesn't attract many families (unlike the Adventure of the Seas, which also sails from San Juan but is a bigger ship with more amenities for kids). During non-school holidays, there seem to be very few. We were the only family present when we attended the Royal Tots program, and the girl working there told us that this sailing only had 50 kids under the age of 18, with only 7 of these being under 3. So, if you're hoping to socialize with other babies and parents, you may be out of luck :(. Of course, you could luck into a sailing with an unusual number of kids. Anyway, they hold the program no matter how many kids are present (or not).

 

The other bad news is that there is no pool at all on the Serenade for non-potty trained little ones. Swim diapers are a no-go, so no splash pool or anything like that for your dd. Some parents do bring a small inflatable pool from home, fill it with a couple of buckets of water from the pool, and let their child play in that, maybe putting it between their lounge chairs.

 

Btw, I do have a review on this board of our cruise, and it does talk a little about having a toddler on the ship (though your dd is much younger than my ds). Look for the thread titled "Review: Serenade 1/23/10 sailing, St. Thomas - Barbados itinerary". It's probably on page 3 or so by now.

 

Have a great time on your trip! :)

[JenAndDan]

Stacey - thanks for your input. I will definitely look at your review. We will be on the August 29th sailing of the Serenade with a 17 month old.

 

Sugarpill - the good thing is this is a port intensive cruise so hopefully a splash zone will not be missed. Some people have recommended bringing a little blow up tub (for baths anyway) and they said you can also let them splash around in this.

[Sugarpill]

Thanks everyone for the tips! My lil one is pretty happy just playing with toys and such. As long as she is with mom or dad she is pretty happy. So I hope she won't miss the pool too much. I really wanted to introduce her to the beach though. Pretty excited to get some picts of her on her first cruise and first time on the beach! I don't have too many expectations for this vacation. Just wanting to show her some new sights, sounds, etc. I just hope she has a good time and won't get cranky from lack of sleep. I will definitely look at your review Stacey, thanks! And thanks for the tip about the tub Jen!