Cruising with a 10 month old on the jewel

[Joecadd8269]

Hello all, on May 1st my family and will be starting our 13 cabin Group cruise on the Jewel out of NY.

 

we will be sailing with my 10 month old.

 

Does anyone have any experience sailing with a child that age? If so I have a few questions

1) would 1 on 1 child care be available in room?

2) Can a High Chair be provided in the dining rooms and most restaurants?

 

3) Other than a crib in the room does NCL also provide a high chair. Our travel agent has indicated they would but it sounded to good to be true.

4) In port did you rent a vehicle? If so could you rent a high chair?

sorry to ask so many questions but I have never cruised with a child before and I am starting to get nervous that we will not have what we need.

Any help would be great

[ColinIllinois]

4) In port did you rent a vehicle? If so could you rent a high chair?

 

I dont know the answers to your questions but having kids I would suggest you use a car seat and not a high chair in a moving vehicle. ;)

[Joecadd8269]

hahah typo

[NJfoodie]

I will be traveling w/ our 14 month old a few weeks after you on the jewel so I would love to see the replies to your questions. The bits and pieces I do know are that our PCC arranged for a pack-n-play in our room - it will not be a full travel crib.

 

High chairs are available in the dining rooms. I didn't ask if one could be provided for the stateroom but I would imagine we could ask our room steward if they could get one for us. I was planning on bringing our booster seat (one of those ~$20 fisher price fold up ones w/ straps to attach it to a chair) for our room since it's small, lightweight, has a tray and our son is used to eating in it.

 

I'm not sure what we'll be doing in nassau for excursions, but in Port canveral, we are considering renting a car. I believe FL laws require a carseat in taxis, but not buses/vans. I was told if we did an NCL excursion, we'd be fine w/o one and our son could ride in our laps. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that though. Since we don't want to lug the carseat with us, we're hoping that a car rental with a carseat reserved in advanced will be a feasible option for us. There are a few car rental agencies near the port with shuttles that run to and from the port. The catch is their hours are limited so I'll be calling to find out if we can do after-hours drop off.

[NJfoodie]

You might also want to peruse the family cruising board if you haven't already. They may be able to answer your questions as well.

[ColinIllinois]

I will be traveling w/ our 14 month old a few weeks after you on the jewel so I would love to see the replies to your questions. The bits and pieces I do know are that our PCC arranged for a pack-n-play in our room - it will not be a full travel crib.

 

High chairs are available in the dining rooms. I didn't ask if one could be provided for the stateroom but I would imagine we could ask our room steward if they could get one for us. I was planning on bringing our booster seat (one of those ~$20 fisher price fold up ones w/ straps to attach it to a chair) for our room since it's small, lightweight, has a tray and our son is used to eating in it.

 

I'm not sure what we'll be doing in nassau for excursions, but in Port canveral, we are considering renting a car. I believe FL laws require a carseat in taxis, but not buses/vans. I was told if we did an NCL excursion, we'd be fine w/o one and our son could ride in our laps. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that though. Since we don't want to lug the carseat with us, we're hoping that a car rental with a carseat reserved in advanced will be a feasible option for us. There are a few car rental agencies near the port with shuttles that run to and from the port. The catch is their hours are limited so I'll be calling to find out if we can do after-hours drop off.

 

 

Please, Please, Please......never do that.

[Joecadd8269]

good info thank you

[garycarla]

Please, Please, Please......never do that.

 

 

Yes, please. When I was growing up, my parents packed 6 kids into the car. Sometimes we slept on the floor or back window. Look what happened to me!

 

 

Seriously, back to the question about renting a car. That depends widely on the port of call. In the states, they will normally have them available, but call ahead as they could run out of them.

 

And, yes, visit the family boards for more info.

[nfowife]

I'm assuming on an NCL excursion you'd be on a big bus. In which case, probably not have seatbelts in which case, can't use a car seat. So then yes, you would have to hold the little on on your lap for that type of situation.

 

For renting a car, you can also rent a carseat from the car rental place for your child. Just make sure to install rear-facing :) .

 

You could bring a carseat, such as the Cosco Scenara, which is a great travel seat as it only weighs about 8 lbs. and is not hard to install. But know that on a big bus it would be useless without seatbelts to install it.

[Fairydust312]

We sailed on the Jewel a while back with our then 9-month old daughter. First, let me say that it was a fantastic experience. Second, here are answers to your specific questions:

 

1. There is no one-on-one child care on NCL, and there is no child care at all for children under 2. That said, I didn't think it was a big deal not having it available. We would plan our dinners a little on the late side. We would give our daughter dinner in our room, get her ready for bed, and put her in her stroller, fully reclined. By the time we made it to the restaurant, she would be sound asleep parked next to our table (ok, so sometimes we had to walk the hallways a little while first). Nice, quiet evening for all. Granted, that may not work for you if your child isn't a good sleeper.

2. There are high chairs in every restaurant.

3. There are no high chairs in the room, but I imagine you can request one. Upon request, your room will be set up with a pack-n-play with sheets and a blanket.

4. As someone else posted, excursion vehicles are typically buses with no seat belts, so you can't use a car seat. Depending on the rental car agency, they may have one available to rent if you decide to rent a car. Also, as already mentioned, Florida law requires car seats for young children. Taxis will refuse to drive your child without a car seat.

 

Hope this helps. You are going to have a great time. We loved cruising on the Jewel with our daughter. The staff was awesome, and cruising is such an easy way to travel with a family.

 

Happy sailing.