Worth it to cruise with a 10 month old?

[niki1785]

Our DS will be 10 months old when we are planning to cruise which will be January 2011. We're looking at the NCL Gem or Jewel out of NYC. Ports of call include San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, St. Maarten. What's your experience cruising with a little one and was it worth it?

 

 

Any tips for what to do at each of those ports if you've done them with a LO before? We've gone to all but San Juan but I can only remember there is shopping and a beach in St. Maarten within walking distance. All other ports we've hopped into a taxi and went on our way.

 

We will take a nice vacation regardless next year, just not sure how easy it will be to cruise with him.

 

Any advise/tips are appreciated!

[kitty9]

It's easier to cruise with an infant than with a toddler who can run all over the place. There are no programs for infants, so you'll be with the child all the time, but that's probably no different than being at home. You will have to bring everything for the baby, as the cruise line won't have wipes, diapers and all that. Also, if the baby has any medical problems, just know that the medical centers aren't equipped to handle pediatric issues. Is it easy, not all that much in some circumstances, but at least you don't have to cook and clean.

[Keith1010]

I think you will find that you will be limited to what you can do in these ports because of the age of your child. You'll want to be very careful about keeping the infant protected from the sun and from the heat. I would think just walking around. It all depends on how cooperatative your child is.

 

Keith

[mymollysue]

10 nights is a LONG time on a boat with an infant. Do you have any grandparents going with to help? We had my parents and it made a huge difference. If my parents were not there, we would have missed all of the shows and have been stuck in our cabin from 7:30pm on when my DD goes to sleep. FYI the Jewel cabins are super small. We had a balcony and barely had room to walk.

 

To be honest, I think you might be better off with a cruise line that caters to little ones (the new RCL ships and Disney). They have a nursery service available that is outstanding and pools for LO's in swim diapers. It will give you a little bit more freedom. Our next cruise is with Disney for that reason alone.

 

Check out my review of the Jewel...it's been posted under Member Reviews. I talk more in detail about the Jewel and traveling with a 12 month old.

[Prinycesa07]

IIm going on the Jewel in October with my daughter who will be 11 months. I figure it will be easier than going with a toddler who can run around. She will be content strolling around in her stroller and looking at people and things. SHes very inquisitive.

[mymollysue]

IIm going on the Jewel in October with my daughter who will be 11 months. I figure it will be easier than going with a toddler who can run around. She will be content strolling around in her stroller and looking at people and things. SHes very inquisitive.

 

My 12 month old had a blast! She loved the beach and loved the food! I brought an inflatable pool and she used that up on deck. I think 7 nights was a perfect length. Anything longer and it would have been too much. The Nick at Sea program was also cute. We did story time and my DD loved it!

[cb at sea]

Your 10 month old really won't care if you go, or where you go! Just pick what interests YOU!

[jam82]

We cruised with our son at 11 months for the first time. He was an easy baby. We had late seating so he'd already be asleep in his stroller and we could enjoy dinner. We cruised Carnival because they had babysitting. Without the babysitting, I think that we may have felt that we were missing out on the total experience. I don't think NCL has babysitting for infants, so that would be a negative for me. Even though you don't have to cook or clean, taking care of a little one is still a lot of work. Being confined to 180 square feet with a little guy who wanted to roam was stressful at times. However, we learned a lot on that cruise and cruised with him again at 15 months and 18 months. Both of those cruises were much nicer because we knew what to expect. Cruising had become our vacation of choice with our son. (He's been on 11 cruises and is 3.5 now.)

 

Another great vacation option with a little one would be Club Med. We've been to both Punta Cana and Ixtapa and the child care program was really the best I've ever seen. Not all Club Meds have Baby Med, but the two we've been to did and they were fantastic. The food was much better than cruise ship food too. (I like cruise ship food, but Club Med was a level above.) At first Club Med looked more expensive than cruising, but it really is all-inclusive. We only spent a few hundred dollars extra the whole week and that was for tips and travel. When we cruise, we figure that the cruise fare is about half of what we spend that week. If you want to use the Baby Med you do have to pay the weekly fee which was about $400, but they don't charge for kids under 2 to stay, so in the end it doesn't cost any more than cruising. I have no affiliation with Club Med, I just loved my experiences there. Thinking of how good the food was makes me want to go back.

[Julienatul]

We cruised with ours at that age. Its much easier than a land based vacation because everything is in close proximity. If you and DH take turns you wont feel you miss out. You may not get to see shows together but some relaxing time in the cabin is sometimes nice too. I make sure to bring ipod movies and magazines and when dd or ds sleeps I read or watch a movie. Having grandparents along to help or other family is good but we have done it alone too. Itrs a nice way to travel and everyone will dote on your baby.

[harryfat1]

We took our son to Alaska cruise back when he was 15 months old in 2002. Had to deal with some logistical issues other have discussed already such as diapers and wipes. One suitcase was just his diapers/wipes/bibs and so on.

 

One thing came to mind as I type this – I believe most pediatricians only recommend diary products and more solid food after the kids turn 12 months old. So if your baby will only be 10 months old, you may wish to inquire about your pediatrician what to feed him at that age – perhaps baby cereals/baby food and baby formula. If so, add that those packing list. Easier with a 15 month old as he was sable to eat some of the adult food. My only task every night was going up to the Lido deck to ask all the nice workers to heat up his bottle of milk before bed time. You may have different set of routine with a 10 month old.

 

Another question is at the ports – do you plan on taking stroller/basket/car seats when you hop in the taxi?

[niki1785]

Thank you everyone! When I used to think of cruising I would think of all of the beaches, crystal clear water, etc. Now I'm trying to switch my train of thought to no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry... lol, how times have changed.

 

Unless I can come up with another way to get around the islands I guess we'll pretty much be walking to any close shops/beaches or just hanging out on the ship. I don't know how else to get around the islands since I wouldn't really be comfortable putting DS in a taxi with some of those crazy drivers and even if I was I can't imagine lugging around the carseat to buckle in. That's really why I'd like to find out if there is anything to do at any of those ports or any beaches close by.

 

The advise is great. I can't imagine missing the shows at night, but it would be really nice to just relax. Trying to convince my mother and father to join us for built in babysitting, but they aren't crazy about cruising for 10 days.

 

I love the idea of the blow up pool for our DS I think that would almost be a must for us for him. And I don't think we'd be able to jam into an inside cabin like usual, I told DH maybe we get a larger cabin this time but no shore excursions since they aren't practical with DS. We've never had a suite before so at least that would be nice!

 

Sounds like it's do-able. I just have to train my brain to take in the fact we may not be able to enjoy much beach time =(

 

Any other tips/advise very much welcome!!!!

[fisherhum]

And I don't think we'd be able to jam into an inside cabin like usual, I told DH maybe we get a larger cabin this time but no shore excursions since they aren't practical with DS. We've never had a suite before so at least that would be nice!

 

I would highly recommend a balcony if you can get one as you will be spending WAY more time in your cabin with an infant than you did on a cruise without kids. The balcony is a nice 'escape" when baby is sleeping, etc. This goes for later if you cruise again with toddlers or kids who need a break and are watching TV.

 

I always think of the cruise as the most relaxing vacation you can do as everything is usually preplanned you don't even have to think. :rolleyes: Don't worry about what you are missing, you get to see lots of places without have to unpack and you aren't cooking! What could be better.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

Unless I can come up with another way to get around the islands I guess we'll pretty much be walking to any close shops/beaches or just hanging out on the ship. I don't know how else to get around the islands since I wouldn't really be comfortable putting DS in a taxi with some of those crazy drivers and even if I was I can't imagine lugging around the carseat to buckle in. That's really why I'd like to find out if there is anything to do at any of those ports or any beaches close by.

 

Any other tips/advise very much welcome!!!!

 

Private tours can be a great way to go with kids/car seats, and are often even less expensive than the ship tours. You can go to the appropriate ports of call board and find recommendations, or join your roll call and possibly find other families who would like to create a larger private tour for families. That way you can leave the car seat in the car while you see sights, visit the beach, etc.

 

I had a great time on a 7 day cruise with twin 13 month olds without any babysitting service. As others have said, it's obviously a different cruise than without kids, but I don't think there's any better way to go - unless you have someone at home doing all the cooking and cleaning, etc.

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[mymollysue]

I would highly recommend a balcony if you can get one as you will be spending WAY more time in your cabin with an infant than you did on a cruise without kids. The balcony is a nice 'escape" when baby is sleeping, etc. This goes for later if you cruise again with toddlers or kids who need a break and are watching TV.

 

If you can swing a mini suite, I would recommend that. We had a balcony and with the pack'n play and stroller, we barely had any room to walk. The more space you have, the easier things will be.

[Wilda]

The inflatable pool will double as a bathtub too!:)

 

The way I look at it, you are not doing dishes, laundry, cooking, working, paying bills, etc. Got a feeling you will find yourself having a good time;)

 

Having said that, do consider that 2 of your cruise days will be in the northern Atlantic which can be rough. Make sure you pack Bonine:D

[mrs.mobster]

We took DD last Jan when she was 11.5 months. We all had a fantastic time. She was eating table foods by then, so we didnt need to worry about packing baby foods, and every night at dinner her "baby appitizers" were waiting for her when we got seated. (a fresh fruit cup and plate of crackers, she thought this was just great) She was also only going through about 6 diapers in 24 hours at that age, so we onyl brought one large "jumbo pack" of 68 or 72 (i forget, but Im sure you know the size I mean) and one big bag of wipes. We didnt need to worry about bottles since she was still nursing, but we did bring a sippy cup (for water) and a scrubby brush for cleaning it out. If you need to wash any clothes (accidents) or bottles/ sippies, the staff were more than happy to bring us a small dixie cup of dish soap/ laundry soap to do so with, Im sure you would be able to request the same if needed. We did much the same itin. as you are planning, and really we just walked around in port. They all seemed to have the same turisty huts, selling the same stuff, but DD was scared of ocean waves so after our first beach trip, we layed off for her sake. But regarless, she enjoyed walkign around new places, seeing all kinds of new people and things. We normally take a late seating dinner, but took early for DD's sake, and are planning to this Jan as well. We also didnt go to a single show the whole cruise or eat at the specialty restraunt, both of which we have always done. We went into it knowing that it would be unlike all of our other cruises, and we came away from it very happy. Sure I missed the shows, but not enough to feel like I shouldnt have brough DD. This year she will be nearly 2 and we might try to bring her to a few. Shes always been very much so on a self schedule for sleep, so 8pm came and she wanted to go to bed. And she cannot sleep in a stroller, or with any light on, or with any sound, lol. So she slept in the pack n play provided by the ship in the dark, quiet cabin, and DH and I hung out on the balcony with the drapes closed up and the door cracked so we could hear her if she needed us, (DH would run up to the bar and get us each a drink and some ice cream) and we would talk, play cards or another game we "rented" from the kids club (they have tons of games and will rent them to adults for free too). You shouldnt need to worry about DS getting sea sick, since from what I hear its pretty rare for babies, but if you worry about it, you can bring some crystallized ginger for him as a natural way to ease it.

 

Good luck, Im sure youll have a great time!

[SusieV]

 

One thing came to mind as I type this – I believe most pediatricians only recommend diary products and more solid food after the kids turn 12 months old. So if your baby will only be 10 months old, you may wish to inquire about your pediatrician what to feed him at that age – perhaps baby cereals/baby food and baby formula.

 

This I've never heard of. There are a few foods to hold off on until 1 year- honey, egg whites, peanuts, and shellfish- but generally babies can eat just about anything. My son is nearly 11 months old and has been on table food entirely for more than 2 months. In fact, there is a movement now to Baby Led Weaning or BLW where babies begin on soft table food right at 6 months- no purees at all.