Cruising with an infant

[staceyeileen]

DH and I have decided we seriously need a vacation!! We have a 7 month old son, so we are looking at DCL (despite the higher fares - we are used to Carnival/RCL fares) because it seems the best of all the lines for cruising with an infant. Here are my questions...

 

We plan to make good use of Flounder's Reef. Can we drop him off while we go to Castaway Cay? I know they do pagers, but will it work while on shore? Would love to make it to the adult only beach.

 

Which dining seating is better when dealing with an infant, in your opinion? I can see advantages to both. Eat early diinner with baby & drop off at nursery to attend late show vs. bring the baby to the early show (he may enjoy it?) & drop off to have later dinner by ourselves. He usually goes to sleep around 8pm. Decisions...

 

I see the rooms have "coolers" which I gather is not the same thing as a fridge. I am breastfeeding and will likely pump some milk for my son for when he is in the nursery. Would the cooler be sufficient to cool my milk?

 

We have a baby jogger city mini. For those of you that are familiar with it, do you think it's a good size to take with us, or should we buy a cheapie umbrella stroller?

 

Can you request a diaper genie ahead of time? I think it is so cool that DCL offers those.

 

Thank you! :)

[mom x4,grandma x4]

DH and I have decided we seriously need a vacation!! We have a 7 month old son, so we are looking at DCL (despite the higher fares - we are used to Carnival/RCL fares) because it seems the best of all the lines for cruising with an infant. Here are my questions...

 

We plan to make good use of Flounder's Reef. Can we drop him off while we go to Castaway Cay? I know they do pagers, but will it work while on shore? Would love to make it to the adult only beach.

 

Which dining seating is better when dealing with an infant, in your opinion? I can see advantages to both. Eat early diinner with baby & drop off at nursery to attend late show vs. bring the baby to the early show (he may enjoy it?) & drop off to have later dinner by ourselves. He usually goes to sleep around 8pm. Decisions...

 

I see the rooms have "coolers" which I gather is not the same thing as a fridge. I am breastfeeding and will likely pump some milk for my son for when he is in the nursery. Would the cooler be sufficient to cool my milk?

 

We have a baby jogger city mini. For those of you that are familiar with it, do you think it's a good size to take with us, or should we buy a cheapie umbrella stroller?

 

Can you request a diaper genie ahead of time? I think it is so cool that DCL offers those.

 

Thank you! :)

 

 

I can help a little.

Yes get the diaper genie booked when you book the cruise. Also ask for the pac n play crib at the same time you book. They do have a limited number of them available.

 

It is a cooler not a frig so not real cold. will keep drinks cool but not cold. You can request an cie bucket with ice from your room host bu tnot sure if that will help you. Someone who as done this before will have an answer for you i'm sure.

 

 

I dont know the range for the pagers but people have left their kids on board in the nursery while they go ashore.

You must book reservations for the nursery. They do have a limit of 10 hours per child but usually you can pick up hours with no problem.

It use to be $6 per hour, 2 hour minimum, not sure if its gone up any.

 

I am not familair with your stroller but I can say the hallways are small so the smaller the better for getting around. They do rent strollers on board but again they are limited so book it early. Myself I would bring an umbrella stroller.

 

Good luck,

Kathy

[dreaminofsun]

If you are planning to use the Breastmilk within 24 hours it will be fine in the cooler (probably even longer) Breastmilk can actually sit out at room temperature for up to 12 hours. The antibodies in the milk prevent bacteria from growing.

[Penguiiin]

Stroller:

We did a Carnival cruise when our granddaughter was 6 months old. She was still in her infant carseat. We took a small travel system like stroller set. I can tell you we only used the stroller when we went onshore. It was too bulky for the hallways and I didnt like having to wait on an elevator. We did use the infant carseat/carrier alot. We took the baby to dinner and she slept in her seat.

 

Now if your little one doesnt like napping in his seat. I'd say just go with the cheapie umbrella stroller. We just go back from another cruise and the baby is now 19months and the umbrella stroller was handy during the boarding process and disembarking.

 

The other thing we used alot was the Beco baby carrier thing. - we used this on the Disney cruise we took when she was 15 months. Instead of a stroller in the Bahamas. We put her in the Beco and off we went.

 

 

Milk storage:

 

The "cooler" isnt cold enough. I found a softsided cooler at Target with a hard plastic liner. It wasnt too bulky and can also double to carry your wet stuff off the boat when you get back. Just let your room steward know that you need ice in it daily and it will be taken care of.

 

As a maternity nurse, I know that fresh pumped, never refridgerated, never frozen breastmilk is good at room temp- but we use 4 hours as a cut off time.

 

 

Dinner time:

 

Really depends what is most important to you.

 

On our Disney cruise when the baby was 15 months, we did late dinner. We fed the baby, dropped her off at the nursery, got showers and dressed, hit the show, picked up the baby and then went to dinner.

 

Now on our most recent Carnival cruise.... a 19 month old and dinner at anytime.... seemed like torture. So for this reason on our next Disney cruise, the plan is feed kids, drop off in the nursery, have peaceful adult dinner time, pick up kids and watch show and then bed.

 

Flounders Reef will feed your little one baby food, bottles, or what ever you send in their bag.

 

Another tip for Flounders Reef, take a small diaper bag or back pack with diapers, wipes, change of clothes, food, etc for the baby- put baby's name on everything- just like daycare.

 

FLOUNDERS REEF ...... SAVED OUR LIFE....

 

We were hesitant to leave the baby in the nursery because she had never stayed in daycare before. But after getting up early for an early flight, waiting at the airport, 1.5 hr flight, 1 hour bus ride to the port, and a completly destroyed nap schedule for the day, the baby was sick of us and we were sick of her. We needed a break.

 

Flounders Reef to the rescue.

 

The baby walked right in, immediately started playing and we were all relieved.

 

The counselors here are FANTASTIC!!!

 

You can tell that they really love children. They were down in the floor playing with them, holding, rocking, singing and reading stories on the occasions that we stopped by to peek in the window to see how our little one was doing.

 

My last suggestion:

 

Reserve your nursery time as soon as it is available online or go straight to the nursery after you board. I overheard many phone calls of parents trying to arrange nursery time and there was no more availability.