Carnival Liberty and an infant

[Sean&Karen]

Hi all,

 

We are very new to cruising and our family will be going on a cruise in April on the Liberty,

 

I was wondering if anyone can share any info to first time cruisers with a 14 month old baby.

 

I see my little one can't go swimming because she has a diaper. Will she be able to go dining with us? What about shore excursions and no car seat?

 

Any suggestions would be great, We have about 6 pairs of family members going with us on this trip..

[Kerry's Girls]

My twins were 13 months on their first cruise. We ate every meal in the dining room (I was ready to remove them if they acted up, but there is so much activity going on/new food to eat that I was usually able to finish my meal). Carival is great with kids - especially little ones.

 

I looked for excursions that did not require car transportation (either bus or boat ride), or just walked from the pier to a beach resort.

 

Best,

Mia

[CruizinMom2c]

Welcome to cruising! :) Once you cruise..you rarely go back ..lol

 

 

We have a son who is almost 3 now...but he has been on 3 cruises before..and one included him being 15 months old.

 

 

Some basic easy tips for crusing with a 14-15 month old:

 

 

-Bring a reclining umbrella type stroller: Perfect for naps and when you just want to stroll the boat to calm down the little one.

 

-Blow up pool: If you think your infant will want to swim, try bring a small blowup pool to have on the lido deck for splashing around. There are plenty of places to find away from the crowds.

 

-Food: There is plenty of food for an infant of that age to eat...yogurt, cereal, fruit..juice, milk, french fries, mac n cheese....pretty much any table food that they might eat.

 

 

-Dining: Yes your child can eat with you...our son always eats with us in the dining room...never had to eat on the lido deck. Just make sure to bring a quiet toy/book to keep them occupied while waiting for food. The waiters are really good about entertaining your little one. And you can request any type of food you want for your child. They also have highchairs in the dining room.

 

 

-Lounges: Are perfect for letting your child walk around and explore a little when they are empty during the day...plus you can bring them to the shows later in the night...sometimes they have magic shows....but mostly las vegas type shows. They lights and music will entertain them.

 

 

 

Also during the day there are times where under 2's are able to go in and play in Camp Carnival either with their parents...or for a fee you can have babysitting at designated times.

 

 

 

You will have a great time..especially since you have plenty of family coming with you.

[CruizinMom2c]

Where are you going on your cruise? We usually do a beach excursion with a bus ride...rather than taking taxis.

[Sean&Karen]

We are not sure what we are doing, need to figure out how to get to the hotel and airport with out a child seat ... this is stressful.

 

Where are you going on your cruise? We usually do a beach excursion with a bus ride...rather than taking taxis.

[CruizinMom2c]

There is a travel carseat, I have seen before. One that folds ...not really compact..but smaller than a normal carseat.

 

I bet cruisinmama knows which one I am talking about....

[MNmomof4]

We bring our own car seats and gate check them at the airport and we can use them from the airport to the port and know they are reliable. We also store them in the closet on the ship. When in port we just use the strollers and walk around.

 

Request a crib which is baically the size of a pack n play and I bring my own sheets and a favorite blanket from home.

 

The dining room will have a high chair for you and will always be waiting for you in the dining room along with crayons and something to color. The staff has always been great with little ones.

 

It will be a wonderful experience that you will want to do again, especially when you child is 2 and can enjoy camp carnival.

[cruisealot]

You should have a great time with your child! We took our 13 month old DD on her first cruise last year and she had a great time. Here are a few points I can add.

 

-Bring something to bathe your child. Unless you are in a suite you will not have a tube. We got a little Munchkin blow up duck pool that fit perfectly in the bottem of the shower. Our DD loved it.

 

-Make sure you ask for a crib or pack-n-play. Ours was in our room when we boarded the ship and made our way to our room. We took our own sheets to make it a little more like home for her.

 

-As for shore tours; we just took a cab to a local beach and rented beach chairs and umbrellas for the day.

 

-Our DD was not walking so my wife took a baby sling and carried her around. We also took a folding stroller that I pushed around our bags in. Made life much easier.

 

-There's plenty of food at the buffet that I'm sure you can find something she will eat. Lots of fresh fruit and juices.

 

-The cruise also had a high chair set up in the dinning room for the first night of dinner.

 

-Make sure you bring some small bags for dirty diapers so you don't stink up your room.

 

You should have a wonderful time and hopefully you will have created a life long cruiser!

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[crusinmama06]

There is a travel carseat, I have seen before. One that folds ...not really compact..but smaller than a normal carseat.

 

I bet cruisinmama knows which one I am talking about....

 

The Eddie Bauer travel one -- not available anymore. I've seen many others mentioned though. :)

 

Sean&Karen -- you might want to say which ports you are going to and we can help.:D

[Sean&Karen]

Ah, the ports that we will be at are San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Sean and I have been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten before, but not with a baby and want the best experience possible while we are at the ports. There is no way we are staying on the ship because we don't know what to do with DD.

 

Thanks for the great advice so far!!

[rescue/fire]

we brougt our chldren with us when they were 12 months old it was lots of fun and relazing. all had a great time

[crusinmama06]

When we went to Orient Beach in St.Martin, we went with the cruise line and it was a full sized bus - so no car seat was needed.

 

We've also done the "Under the Two Flags Tour" in St. Martin it was on a full sized bus as well - no car seat needed.

 

We did Coral World in St. Thomas and Coki Beach - that was a small van - we had seat belts in it. However - we were on a Disney cruise. They have different standards with their excursion vendors. Some of the open air safari buses don't have seat belts. It's best to pick an excursion and then go on the port of call board and ask specifically what people experienced.

 

Have a great cruise! :D