Advice needed - 1st cruise with LO (13 Months)

[krmlaw]

LO will be 13 months on our upcoming Oasis of the Seas sailing.

 

I need to know it all. Any and every piece of advice welcomed.

 

IM starting to get really nervous about it!

 

We are semi-seasoned cruisers, but this will be a first!

 

We have a balcony cabin if that matters.

 

Thanks!

[Carolin]

YAY for you having a balcony. you will be able to enjoy some adult time with your spouse while the little one is down for the night. Many bring little blow up pools to take up on deck or on your balcony so your baby can enjoy splashing. Only potty trained little ones can get into pools. You will have a wonderful family vacation. :)

[Mack2]

Bring a sturdy umbrella stroller.. like a Maclaren stroller... not one of those gigantic Evenflos... something you can folk up and shove into the closet without taking up all the room in the thing.

 

Powdered formula is a big help... it's lighter, and you can get bottled water anywhere and it's easy enough to find something or someone to warm it up for you.

 

Bring enough diapers... I don't remember ever having to look for them at port, but I remember having to look for kid's tighty-whiteys for my son once... and it was nearly impossible to find.

 

Bring Woolite... because it's easy to wash the onesies with it in the sink and hang 'em up in the room or on a balcony or something... but it's hard to use to hand soap to wash 'em.

 

The sun wiped out the babies after a long day of fun. My daughter's first cruise was @ 18 months. The best thing about the Oasis (we were on the Explorer 4+ years ago) is the Royal Promenade... it's like walking around a shopping mall with the baby in the stroller.

 

Before or after dinner, she'd konk out.. then we'd roll her to the show and enjoyed the show while she slept (we did sit in the back "just in case" she woke up) If she konked out at dinner, we'd park her next to the table and eat... Roll her over to the AO to drop off the boys... She was always with us and it was a magical time.

[Kerry's Girls]

My twins did their first cruise at 13 months (see picture below) and it was wonderful! Bring new little toys that attach to the stroller or high chair with links - saved me from lots of picking up off the ground. Whatever your baby is drinking out of, bring extras. I lost one of ours the first day and was really sweating it as to what I'd do if we lost another. As the previous poster wisely said - bring more than enough diaper and wipes. And a thermometer and any meds you may need (motrin or whatever). Lots of sunscreen and sun safe shirt/hat for sun and water play.

 

Don't be afraid to use the dining room. We ate in the dining room for every meal and only had to leave due to cranky behavior a couple times.

 

I would use one of the ship's beach towels to cover the stroller at night while they slept and I wandered.

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[mrs.mobster]

DD cruised with us last Jan when she was less than 2 weeks shy of her first bday. We ate in the MDR every night (we had another couple with a daughter just a few months older than our ours, so they kept eachother entertained, shared cheerios, etc ;) ) We didnt book excusions in ports, just kinda did out own thing. We had a large belcony and brought a blow up pool, and DD loved that (but the ocean scared her, so we only tried the beach once). We brought one of those big resealable bags of wipes with us, and had a ton left over. I think we brought close to 100 diapers, even though we were only needing about 5 a day, better to be safe. DD doesnt sleep unless shes ina dark quiet room, so no shows for us, but we expected that cruise to be very different from any others we had been on, and missing out on shows and specialty dining was worth it for us.