We cruised with our 19 month old...with medical center visit!

[Pacclady]

First off, let me tell you a bit about myself. I’m in my early 30s and been married to my husband, D, for 4 years. He and I have been on 4 cruises together, all on Norwegian Cruise Lines. We have a 19 month old son, A. Not only was this our first cruise with A, it was also our first ever trip with him period. This cruise, which we took of the eastern Caribbean from August 13th through the 20th, was on the Carnival Dream. We traveled with my parents, my older brother and his wife and two sons (aged 5 and 7), and my younger sister. We had four balcony cabins that were side by side by side by side. The cruise was to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday.

 

Cabin

I am so happy we got a balcony room. It made having a toddler so much easier. During naps and at bedtime, we weren’t forced to be in the darkened cabin. We could enjoy the outside while still being just a few feet away from A. We even hung out in neighboring cabins and balconies as well. We just made sure to open the door a bit to check on him once every 10 minutes or so. I was the one who asked in a previous post about using a baby monitor on cruise ships and we did bring it. However, we were unable to use it. We had also brought a sound machine which was essential due to the noisiness of the ship. (Initially, D and I were complaining about how loud the ship was and were thinking it much be a Carnival thing. We eventually realized that we had never spent so much time in the cabin nor been in the cabin so early and just had never noticed.) Since there is only one outlet (yikes!) in the cabin and we stupidly didn’t bring the sound machine that runs on batteries, we had to choose between it and the monitor. We chose the sound machine and it was fine. We only had one problem when A must have woken from his nap right after I checked on him from the balcony and by the time I checked again, he was fit to be tied. I was shocked that I couldn’t hear a thing on the balcony cause he was pretty ticked off. Of course, my dad had heard him from next door but didn’t think to come outside and mention anything. Sigh. After that, I just made sure to check on him more often and it was good.

 

Having a balcony with a toddler was no problem. He just was never out there alone. He loved it out there. He would push the table to the railing and climb up on it but still was too short to get into trouble. And the few times my husband held him up so he could lean over the railing, he didn’t want to. He knew it was not something he wanted to fall from. There is a lock high up on the door (probably about 6 feet) that makes sure he couldn’t get out on his own (not that he could figure out the door knob anyway). My brother was concerned about his 7 years old climbing on the bed to open the balcony door lock but he never did.

 

It is true what I’ve heard that Carnival cabins are bigger than NCL cabins. I had been worried about the crib in the cabin but there was plenty of space. (I still prefer the bathroom on NCL though.) Even with the crib up, you could easily walk through the entire cabin without having to shimmy or anything. The crib was the one provided by Carnival and it was nice. Good size and very easy to fold up and put between the bed and the window (took maybe 10 seconds). The only problem with it is that it’s metal. So every time A moved, it was made a noise. Plus, A likes to snuggle up against the sides of his crib and he didn’t like doing that on the cold metal. So a couple of nights, he did join us in bed (something he refuses to do at home but I guess since we had a king bed in the cabin, he felt there was enough room.) Still, it was a lot easier than lugging along a pack ‘n play.

 

Meals

D and I love eating in the MDR and had already decided that we would eat dinner there every night. We’re not big buffet eaters. Plus, my entire family was eating there every night and we wanted to spend that time with them. We hadn’t been worried since we take A out for dinner all the time at home and he’s fine. Of course, dinner in the MDR takes a lot longer than your average dinner at Chili’s. Plus, it’s just a totally different environment. So put simply, dinner was not easy. A would tolerate for about 30-45 minutes but then he’d be done. He wouldn’t scream or anything, he just would start thrashing around, demanding to be held. And once we held him, he wanted to be put down so he could run around. So most dinners were spent with one of us wandering around with him. We would take turns so we each got to eat. And the waiters (who were awesome!) would keep our food warm for us. Occasionally, they would even hold him for a while so we could eat. They would tell us about the kids they have home that they never see and we would feel so bad for them. So they would dote upon A and play with him and do their best to keep him happy. Plus, other guests would play with him as well. Two nights, this man who had 10 grandchildren played with A in the area in front of the MDR. They danced around for 10 minutes, having a blast.

 

It didn’t help that for some reason, A didn’t eat. Seriously, he didn’t eat a meal the entire cruise. I couldn’t even get him to eat his favorite food, a hot dog. He just wasn’t interested in eating. He would munch on goldfish or veggie straws (which we had brought) and maybe a noodle or two. But that’s it. It was not like him at all. He drank plenty of milk, juice, and water so I wasn’t too worried. But that made all the meals somewhat stressful, even the ones we ate in the buffet. He just had no desire to sit there since he didn’t want to eat. We brought lots of toys, like puzzles and that worked really well. I think next time we’ll bring a portable DVD player cause that zones him out for a while as well.

 

I know some people think that babies shouldn’t be allowed in the MDR since they are noisy and some people find that intrusive to their meal. A couple times, when A would yell out (not scream, just express his want to be out of his highchair), a lady at the table next to us would turn and give a face. We found this hilarious since she and her 9 table mates were wasted drunk by the end of every meal and laughing and talking very loudly. I guess the sound of a toddler’s voice is the devil’s work and the sound of drunken adults is like angels singing.

 

Camp Carnival

Everything is about how Camp Carnival is for 2 and up only. Thankfully we had heard that there were times for under 2s and that was confirmed for us at the Camp Carnival orientation. On at sea days, 8-10am was under 2 time. You could stay and play with your toddler for free or leave them for $6.75 and hour (plus 15% gratuity). Then at port days, you could drop them off (no option to stay) from 1 hour before docking time until noon for the same cost. During those times, they shared the space with the under 5s. On our first at sea day, we did go enjoy the time with him. We met Heather, the very nice lady in charge of the under 2s. Then on the second port day, we did drop him off for 1.5 hours, and he had a blast. We weren’t trying to get rid of him, we just knew he needed that time to run and play and be himself. And he was so happy the rest of the day. And on the last day, we dropped him for an hour so we could pack (best idea ever!).

 

They also offer Night Owl service from 10pm to 3am. We had every intention of using this but in the end, never did. The logistics of it just didn’t work. A was too tired by 8:30pm and needed to be in bed. And we couldn’t figure out how to move him from the cabin to the Camp and back, through all the bright lights and noisy hallways. I know some people suggested a stroller with a blanket over it but we just never tried it. And it was fine, my sister watched him one overnight for us so D and I could have a nice time out and about.

 

My 5 year old nephew liked Camp Carnival a lot. The 7 year old only seemed to want to go for the video game part and besides that refused. This was after he enjoyed it for 2 days and he did mention some bullying. I don’t know if that was true (he isn’t the most truthful kid) but I did wonder how much the 7 year olds are watched or let to be on their own.

 

What Did We Do All Day

I wish I knew. Seriously, I still can’t believe that we managed to pass the days with A. The first few days were rough as we all figured things out and found what we can do. But eventually, we had a lot fun. We brought some toys that we played with in the cabin. We walked around a lot. Sometime he was in his stroller, sometimes not. We would find music so he could dance. We found empty lounges (the Burgundy lounge and Caliente were the best) for him to just go crazy in. The pool side was too crowded so we didn’t spend a lot of time there. We had brought an inflatable pool but never used it. We did go on the water slides one morning. There’s a very small water slide for the younglings that A loved. (Before you lynch me, swim diapers are allowed on the slide. I read all the signs at every pool and they clearly stated no diapers of any kind so we did not go in those with him. The sign on the slide said nothing about diapers and I read it 5 times to be sure and had my sister-in-law read it too. The only restriction was height and my little man is already 35 inches so it was fine. And although I never asked the lifeguard directly, he clearly saw me check A’s diaper plenty of times. The water on the slides is recycled constantly and the amount of chlorine in them was enough to choke a horse. We broke no rules.) We played with the big chess board. We climbed stairs. We did a lot. In a nutshell, it was not the relaxing cruise we were used to. But that doesn’t mean it was bad, just different. We got lots of exercise and got to see A discover a whole new world.

 

The Ports

On Nassau, my parents did the ship excursion to the aquarium at Atlantis. And since under 2s are free, they took him with. So we got a few hours to explore the ship and relax (and also decorate Mom’s cabin and door since that was also the day of her birthday). D and I didn’t even go to shore. On St. Thomas, all 10 of us took an open air taxi (no car seat, but since there was so much traffic, the taxi never went that fast so it was fine) to downtown to do some shopping. I have no idea how all 10 of us stayed together but we did. It was nice and A enjoyed being outside and with his cousins. On St. Maarten, we booked a catamaran excursion that included snorkeling and beach time. Obviously, A didn’t snorkel. And since I’m blind as a bat and can’t wear contacts, I didn’t either. I was a little miffed to learn that we were expected to swim from the catamaran to the beach but thankfully they had a dingy for those of us that couldn’t swim (I can swim but wasn’t keen to do with A). A really enjoyed the beach. He was sitting on my lap, digging with his shovel when a huge wave washed over us and almost took us back out to sea. My mom grabbed my ankle while I held onto A. We were fine and even laughed about it after. But A wouldn’t sit on the beach anymore. I held him in the water with me and every time a wave came though he’d go “no, no, no, no.” He wasn’t scared; he just was telling the wave to not do that again. After the excursion, we went back to the ship for a shower and lunch. Then we headed back out, taking a water taxi downtown. Just the three of us this time. We wandered around in the excessive heat and had a nice relaxing afternoon.

 

Medical Center

And yes, we got to visit the medical center. I wish I could say it was an unavoidable thing, like the flu or food poisoning. But no, it was parental negligence. A was sitting on the bed with us and I looked away for one second and he scooted back and fell off the edge of the bed. He had the whole floor to fall on but managed to hit the hinge at the bottom of the foldable crib (which was open). Right on the back of his head. He screamed, blood poured from his head, it was oh so exciting. We got tissue on the wound and held it there until the bleeding seemed to stop. This was at 7:30am and the med center didn’t open until 8am so we had to wait and see. At 7:55, we could see it was still bleeding and looked really nasty. It was a horseshoe shaped gash. So we headed down to deck 0. I guess the first thing that shocked me was that the waiting room was full of crew. Isn’t that so dumb of me? I never thought about how to the crew, this is the general practitioner. I used to wonder how busy the docs down there were but now I realize they’re very busy. There was member of the kitchen crew in there who had glass in his face. The waiting room was pretty small but I could see an exam room and it looked like a full ER room, with everything you need. I think they had 4 exam rooms total. They took D and A back and kept me up front to fill out paper work. Then the nurse asked me some questions about how it happened and had me repeat it a few times. I was kinda annoyed by that. Then I was allowed to go back to the exam room and D told me that they had asked him how it happened too. We realized that they were making sure our stories matched and it wasn’t a case of child abuse. Then we were very happy how thorough they were being. The doc came in and looked at A’s head wound and said it wasn’t horrible but it did need to be shut. Instead of stitches, they went with Dermabond (pretty much superglue for the skin). First the nurse had to cut some hair off and then I assured my little man it wouldn’t hurt. The nurse had to tell me that actually, Dermabond burns a bit when applied. Thankfully it didn’t take too long and he didn’t cry too much. Then they put bandages on his head so all would be able to see what a crappy parent I was that morning. The doc came back and checked it out and said all was good. No sleeping until noon and no water for 48 hours (hence why we never used the blow up pool). They never asked for an insurance card but the bill was only $148. That’s less that the copay would be at the ER so we were very happy. However, it meant that visit to the spa I was eyeing was now out of the question. Thankfully, A seemed pretty unaffected by the injury. He woke up from naps more cranky than usual but after some Tylenol, he felt much better. Probably had a killer headache.

 

Would I Do It Again

Yes. Taking a cruise with a 19 month is not a piece of cake. It’s not a relaxing, easy-going time. But it also didn’t run me ragged. It just took some work and a lot of patience. (And margaritas. Is it bad to admit that our bar bill was just as high as the last cruise we took?) I would recommend a 7 day cruise not being the first every trip you take with your toddler. Try a weekend getaway or something to just see how he responds to being outside the home. Try a longer dinner than usual, share a room sleeping with him. The less unknowns you have, the better. Of course, as we know, toddlers change from day to day so even a pre-trip might not help at all. But I still think it’s worth the effort. Cause by day 3, we were having a blast. The first day was the absolute worst day but that also applied to my brother and his family. I think day one always stinks. Just get by that and find your groove and it’s a trip well worth taking.

 

Loving the balcony but not sure about being over the railing

 

Plenty of room with the crib

 

Games needed to sit at the table

 

Loving the water but not the waves

 

His favorite toy...the light swtich

[cruisergirl79]

awesome!! Thank you for your review, we are going on RCCL with our 2.5 yr old.

 

Did you take a car seat for your little one? and if you did, did you use it much or was it not worth it?

[southern cruising couple]

Thanks for the review. We are taking our 16 month old son on the Allure next year. Question: where were you gonna use the blow up pool?

[crusinmama06]

Thanks for the review. We are taking our 16 month old son on the Allure next year. Question: where were you gonna use the blow up pool?

 

You won't need one because Allure does have a Baby Splash Zone. Carnival does not. So I am assuming Pacclady was going to use it to swim for A ;)

 

Pacclady - GREAT review!!!! And "A" is sooo cute! I LOVE the picture of him and the light switch! I swear you never need to take toys because kids always find something more fun to play wth and THAT is a perfect example! LOL! :D And you are so not a "bad parent" for letting him fall off the bed. I guarantee if you took a poll here, the majorty of us would have the same kind of stories. Those little buggers are fast!

 

It does get easier - you had the hardest cruise. The one where they have no interest in the kids club, they are VERY active and they go to bed early. So I applaud you for doing so well.

 

The next one will be MUCH easier. And those pictures are PRICELESS! :D

[6rugrats]

OP - thank you so much for that honest review!

[dpaton]

Did you take a car seat for your little one? and if you did, did you use it much or was it not worth it?

 

We brought the car seat for the plane ride, and it was really helpful. Unfortunately, it also took up a seat at the end of the couch because we didn't ever use it on the cruise. We did pick up one of the car seat stroller conversion boards to use, and that made the airport a snap.

 

We ended up using the umbrella stroller we brought a lot though, and it was incredibly handy at making naptime easy. We fed him lunch, popped him in the stroller, and did a lap or two around deck 5. Usually by the end of the first lap he was out and we just rolled him back to the cabin and put him in the crib, easy as pie.

 

Yes, I'm the DH in the pictures :D

[cb at sea]

Don't feel you were a "bad" parent!!! Kids get hurt...fact of life! Dermabond is wonderful, isn't it!

[MustSailNOW]

Thank you so much for this awesome review! Our son will be 14 months on our cruise, so I anticipate an experience similar to yours.

 

We have, however, taken him on 2 trips so far. He did great. Hopefully, he will be great on the cruise as well!

[Julienatul]

Great review! It reminds me of my son at that age. 18 -19 months were the toughest ages for us to cruise with our kids. They are mobile and want to keep going, going going and their attention span is not very long. It will get easier especially once he is old enough for the kids club and then you can get a break. My son too fell off the bed on the cruise at 19 mo and hit his head on the side table but luckily didn't need any medical treatment. I turned to reach for something and whomp there he went. It all happened so fast. So dont feel bad it happens!! Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Next one will be even better.

[jlrn366419]

Great review, I loved reading it.

[Pacclady]

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm glad my review will be of some help to people out there. I just wanted to share my experiences because I was so concerned before we left.

 

Mandy, we had planned on using the pool on our balcony. We knew it would be a pain to empty but the pool deck was just too crowded. I know A would have loved it too.

 

Cruisergirl79, as my hubby said, we didn't use the carseat at all on the cruise. The taxi we took didn't even have seat belts so it would have been useless. I'm sure some of the taxis did but I wasn't too worried about it. The car seat was heaven sent for the flight but of course, that means we had to buy him a seat. I knew there was no way he'd sit in my lap for 2.5 hours so we had to get him a seat. And the car seat helped him be more comfortable. Though it did make it much easier for him to kick the seat in front of him. Ugh.

 

Thanks to all of you who have been there before and assure me it will only get easier from here. As I said, it was hard but it was still a lot of fun. But we will for sure wait until he's at least 2 so he can enjoy the kids area more. And I know I'm not really a bad parent. I just felt so horrible. It was his first injury that required a visit to a doctor and it had to be while on vacation. I know it will happen again...and probably again. I'm just a normal mom who felt guilty. :)

 

And maybe I'll post more pictures. My little man is quite a photo bug. And I'm happy to answer any more questions!

[B_Mc]

Great review! Love the light switch one!

 

Very interesting to read your experience with the medical centre. I hope I never have to experience that but always good to know what you're getting into!

[kitty9]

For future reference, you don't have to wait until the medical center opens for you to go there. For an emergency, the center is available 24/7. There is an emergency number you dial that pages the nurse and she will open the center and call the doctor. I had an asthma attack at 3am and dialed the four digit number. The nurse came to my cabin, and then called the doctor who met us in the medical center. So, don't ever wait for the center to open, in an emergency.

[beachchick]

As a further FYI, they never would ask for an insurance card because the ship medical centers do not accept insurance. You have to pay up front on your shipboard account. If you have insurance that covers you outside the US, you can then submit the medical paperwork (ask for it if they don't give it to you automatically) for reimbursement.

 

Sounds like a great cruise.

 

beachchick

 

p.s., You are not a crappy parent because your child had an accident. It would astonish me if your child never had one. All children have accidents; all parents feel bad about it. I speak from experience.

[njmomof2]

What a great, thorough review with a toddler. Thank you for posting it.

 

Luckily I am well past toddler stage, but as others have told you, you are definitely not a bad parent regarding the injury. At that age, those little buggers move fast. It has happened to all of us at one time or another.

 

We were in WDW with DS (now a 5'7" 13.5 yo) when he was between 3 and 4.5 (I can't give you a definite age, but it was after our first trip and before our second son was born). Anyway, we were staying at Wilderness Lodge and for one reason or another, he leaned over on the bed, lost his balance and hit his head on the corner of the nighttable. Put a hole in his head and started bleeding. We spent the whole night with him in the bed with me, and me putting pressure on his wound with a cloth. We didn't go off site to a medical center (looking back now, I have no idea why not) but he survived.

 

And 2 years ago, DH and younger DS (now 9 yo) were throwing a baseball around in the back yard when one throw tipped off the end of DS's glove and smacked into his nose. Caused a depression fracture, which then required surgery to repair. So yes, dad broke his nose!

 

And they have both survived so far and continue to cause havoc in my life (but I love them to death).

 

I agree that this was the worst of the vacations for you and your toddler. You now know that he'll sleep in a strange crib, nap in the stroller, sit through various dinners (maybe not eating but at least sitting) and generally not get sea sick. All good things. More fun in the future!!!

[cruisergirl79]

Cruisergirl79, as my hubby said, we didn't use the carseat at all on the cruise. The taxi we took didn't even have seat belts so it would have been useless. I'm sure some of the taxis did but I wasn't too worried about it. The car seat was heaven sent for the flight but of course, that means we had to buy him a seat. I knew there was no way he'd sit in my lap for 2.5 hours so we had to get him a seat. And the car seat helped him be more comfortable. Though it did make it much easier for him to kick the seat in front of him. Ugh.

 

Thank you, that is what I am afraid of on the plane, him kicking the seat in front. That's why on one of the connections we have, I took a seat right in front, so either myself of DH sits in front of DS, but the other connection there was none available :(

I know he'll be able to sleep a lot better in his seat too, since it will be more comfy.

I am so torn if I should take it or not, I can't see us using it that much in ports as well.

 

Thank you for your reply :)

[tkportersat]

We too had a cruise injury but thankfully no medical attention needed....My older son (18 at the time of trip/3-2011) sat my 10 month old on the bed. He didn't realize that in the few weeks prior that his crawling had gotten quite speedy. Needless to say I saw him out of the corner of my eye racing across the bed. I ran and almost caught him by his foot. He fell to the floor :( Thankfully I caught enough of him to slow him down so the fall was not as bad but I was terrified and my son felt horrible. Maybe these things happen on vacation because we are trying to relax, where as at home we are more "alert". Who knows. But having the two older ones I know that wasn't the last little accident he will have.

 

Glad y'all had a good time despite all that. I too will not cruise again until my son is older.

[Pacclady]

Thank you, that is what I am afraid of on the plane, him kicking the seat in front. That's why on one of the connections we have, I took a seat right in front, so either myself of DH sits in front of DS, but the other connection there was none available :(

I know he'll be able to sleep a lot better in his seat too, since it will be more comfy.

I am so torn if I should take it or not, I can't see us using it that much in ports as well.

 

Thank you for your reply :)

 

On the flight down, my dad sat in front of him so we weren't worried about the kicking. However, on the flight back, strangers sat in front of us. I did everything I could to keep him from kicking. As long as he was disctracted (watching a movie, playing with a puzzle), he didn't kick. And when he did, I told him no. He didn't like it but he did seem to understand. I'm torn on what I'm going to do for our next flight in 6 weeks, which is 2 hours longer!

[JinxyB]

Thanks for the review! We are cruising for the first time with our 9-month old in 2 weeks on Carnival. What kind of crib bedding do they have? Should I bring my own crib sheet? Is it a sturdy crib mattress or more of a mat? We would like to take advantage of the babysitting during port days-is my son too young for this? Thanks!

[kitty9]

Thanks for the review! We are cruising for the first time with our 9-month old in 2 weeks on Carnival. What kind of crib bedding do they have? Should I bring my own crib sheet? Is it a sturdy crib mattress or more of a mat? We would like to take advantage of the babysitting during port days-is my son too young for this? Thanks!

 

Hours for port day sitting varies by port. You have to check the schedule. There is an hourly fee for the sitting,that's charged to your sign and sail card. Last time we used it, it was $6.75 an hour. But now I heard they also add 15% gratuity to the amount.

[Pacclady]

JinxyB, we brought out own sheets so we never found out what they use for crib bedding. We thought he'd be more comfortable with his own sheet but honestly, I don't think he cared. Just be sure you have quarters to wash the sheet if needed. The mattress itself is a 2 inch think mat with a solid wood base under it. He slept through the night almost every night on it so I guess it was fine. I'm attaching a picture of the crib.

 

As for the babysitting during port days, I don't think your son is too young. The sign just says under 2, it doesn't give a minimum age. There was an 11 month old in there once but her mom was with her (it was an at-sea day, you're not allowed to stay on the port days). The cost is $6.75 plus 15% gratuity. For our cruise, the times on the port days were 9-12 on Nassau, 10-12 on St. Thomas, and 8-12 on St. Maarten (I think, I don't have the sheet anymore).

[JinxyB]

Pacclady, thank you for the very informative review and the pictures-I was wondering what type of crib Carnival used. It will be interesting cruising with a baby, but I want to start him young!!