Cruising in Carnival with two cribs for twins!!

[sandy18]

Hi all,

 

I will be traveling in 6 weeks on the Carnival Liberty with DH, MIL, SIL and my 1 year old twins. We booked two oceanview cabins. The plan is to have both cribs in one room so that the adults can hang out in the other room when they go to sleep. They are very light sleepers, so we figured this was the best option! My SIL will sleep with them in their room after they fall asleep because she is the only one in the group who doesn't snore!

 

So here are my questions:

 

1. Are the two cribs going to fit into the one room? Carnival has said yes but I am not sure that I can trust them!

 

2. One my babies will sleep the whole night but he does like to cry for 2 or three minutes before he is out for the night. Do you think that the noise will filter to the neighbors? I've never heard sounds coming from the rooms next to me when I have cruised in the past, but I just want to make sure that I will not bother anyone.

 

3. Do you have any tips about traveling with twins that will make my trip easier?

 

Thank you so much for your help!

[Kerry's Girls]

Crying at night was my biggest fear when cruising with my twins. On one of our cruises, one of my girls got a raging ear infection and cried a lot one night off and on. The next day I left a note of apology for each of the cabins next to us and offered to buy them some wine. One set of neighbors swore they hadn't heard a thing - though I don't know if they were just being polite. One thing about cruises with my twins is that the action-filled days + rocking of the ship makes for really good sleep.

 

If you do a search using "twins" as the search word on this board, you'll find tons of info and tips from all the others who have cruised with young twins - and I think there's even a triplet mom.

 

I taped a luggage tag to a box of diapers, and packed disposable bibs, wipes, powder formula, etc in a box that I then didn't have to bring home with me. I brought toys that clip to the stroller and/or high chair to avoid having to keep picking toys up off the floor. I brought the paper sheets that go under the high chair to catch food that drops - but the waiters didn't let me bother and would NOT let me pick up food after our meals (when I insisted, they told me they could get in trouble if a supervisor saw me cleaning up), but they have great little sweepers that made quick work of cleaning up after meals. Blow up pool for baths, sun-safe tent for the beach.

 

I encourage you to use the dining room for your meals. I found it much easier to have someone else serving me rather than juggling dealing with the buffet and the needs of the twins. Our meals on the ship were the first stress-free, fun meals I'd had with my girls at that point.

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[cb at sea]

Don't worry about a few minutes of crying...it's what babies do...

Definitely use the dining room....the waitstaff loves kids and it's sooooooo much easier!

 

With only 1 other adult in a cabin, the 2 cribs will be doable....

 

Bring all the stuff you use on a daily basis, and anything...med., comfort items, etc...you think you might need that you can't replicate in some way.

 

It will be good.

[sandy18]

Mia and CB

 

Thank you both for the great advice. Believe it or not I have been focusing on diapers and totally forgot that I will need a ton of wipes as well...I can only imagine the nightmare if I had forgotten!:eek:

 

One of my twins did not sleep the night until about 3 weeks ago, so not sleeping for over a year has left me anxious! I really want to enjoy this trip and not have to worry about upsetting my cruise neighbors.

 

thanks again,

 

Sandy

[thewolffs]

From what I've heard, Carnival's cabins are bigger. I have 2.5 year old twins and we cruised when they were 8 months old and are going again in Jan. I brought 2 of the travel lite pack n' plays. They are a little smaller than a standard pack n play. We also had a mini suite, so we had a little extra room. This time we have a standard balcony and I'm using the pack n plays on the ship. I'm hoping they will fit. I have a connecting cabin with my parents, so worst case, we'll split them up.

 

I brought a tandem double stoller, so I didn't have to worry about fitting down the hallways. We could have used 2 umbrellas as well. I actually think that's what we are doing this time.

 

I think we packed one suitcase just with diapers, wipes, toys, formula, bottles, snacks and baby food. I didn't want to chance the diapers not making it on the ship, although I'm sure they would. I used antibacterial wipes for the high chairs. I also brought a small inflatable pool and we let them play in that on the balcony. I will do that again for the pool deck, since they most likely won't be potty trained.

 

We did have fun, but it's a lot of work. Mine fell asleep great and napped great, but one of mine woke up early every day. Like 5am. We'd bring her in bed with us and she'd usually fall back asleep. I really wouldn't worry about your neighbors. I'm sure if they do cry, it will be early in the night and they probably won't hear them anyways.

 

We never did bring them to the main dining room. My parents watched them while we ate dinner every night. They were mostly on baby food and formula at that age. Have a great cruise.

[sandy18]

thewolffs:

 

Thanks. I hadn't really thought about the fact that the babies will go to bed earlier than adults so more than likely people will be eating or out and about. That makes me feel tons better. Duh!! I cannot believe I didn't think of that. My stress level just went down a lot.:D

[thewolffs]

Even if they cry in the middle of the night, I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think your neighbors will be that disturbed by it. They can always turn their tv on to drown out the noise. That's another reason to always bring ear plugs. I never had an issue with it and we were on a 10-night cruise. Luckily, my parents were on one side of us. I'm sure they will sleep well from the movement of the ship. One of mine did. The other one woke up early, but would cuddle in bed with us and fell back asleep most days. I also brought the cd I play for them at home. I tried to make the cabin as much like home as I could. Familiar toys, comfort items, etc. Do you have connecting cabins? That was a lifesaver for us. My parents could stay in their cabin while the girls went to bed and just leave the door open.

[beachchick]

Don't worry about a few minutes of crying because we all know babies do that sometimes--and most of us have been there. It's the constant, hours at a time, baby-has-colic-so-no-one-gets-to-sleep-all-night that disturbs neighbors. Your neighbors will probably hear it, just as they will hear loud conversations, loud TV/music, etc. But truly, a short cry is no biggie at all.

 

I can't be much specific help about the cabin size and two cribs, but you can be sure that it will be fairly tight because even the largest oceanview cabins are not large. But I know that parents work it out, so I wouldn't worry too much. It will actually help that only one adult is sleeping in the room because she can have the twins left apart (rather than being put together as a large queen), leaving the other bed for storing stuff and such.

 

Now, I know you didn't ask for parenting advice, so please feel free to ignore me. You might already be trying to do this and I do know it can be difficult. May I suggest that you try in small increments to get them used to more noise (not shouting or loud TV or blasting music, just everyday sounds) while they sleep? I can pretty much guarantee that the ship will not be quiet and certainly not quiet like you probably keep things at home. If they are extremely light sleepers, it may be a real challenge for all of you. What we did was open the door slightly and then go on with regular, not loud, activity. Then open a bit more and a bit more and so on until the door was open about halfway. We did keep the lights off in the hall so that the room wouldn't be bright. After a while, we closed the door nearly all the way, leaving it open just enough so we could hear (this was pre-baby monitors). You might even consider a small white noise machine that you could introduce slowly too. Then if you bring it along on the cruise, they would have familiar sounds to soothe them at night. Definitely bring blankies and comfort items from home.

 

I have to say that the busy days, sea air, new sights and sounds and activities, and everything that goes along with cruising make even us adults sleep soundly. They may very well sleep more soundly anyway.

 

Have a terrific time.

 

beachchick

 

p.s. to Mia: Bless your heart for being so considerate of your neighbors. I enjoy reading your posts and hearing about your adventures. No doubt it's very difficult for you sometimes, but your love and joy for your twins just shines through. May all your cruises be wonderful and all your lives filled with love.:)

[sandy18]

Thank you Beachchick!

 

You are absolutely right about the noise. I do use a white noise machine that kind of sounds like a fan blowing. I wanted to get them used to that since they were babies just in case. But, my concern is more about them waking up in the night and seeing someone sleeping with them in the room and thinking that it's ok to get up and play!:rolleyes: That would be exhausting!!