Storing expressed breast milk in-room on Carnival?

[ArchMom]

Hello all -

We will be traveling in June on Carnival Magic with kids, one of whom will be 9 months at that time. As grandparents/babysitters are coming as well, I was thinking of bringing my pump so partner and I could go out and/or I can have a few drinks on occasion. But, I just realized, I'm not sure where I would store bottles! Are there mini-fridges in the rooms? We have a balcony if it makes any difference.

Thanks!

[6rugrats]

You might try doing a search, as the "search" function seems to work today. This has been discussed many times, and the general consensus is that most fridges don't keep it cold enough.

 

At nine months, if you just want to go out in the evening, can't you just nurse before leaving, and not worry about bottles? I know with any of my children, they were not eating that frequently that I couldn't leave for a few hours after feeding.

[Leezer]

I have never sailed Carmival but I would call them. People need fridges for medical reasons and most places will put one in your room if needed. If your room already has a mini fridge it might not keep it cold enough which is why I'd get one that keeps things cold enough for medical reasons.

[cb at sea]

The in-room fridge will keep it cool enough for the short time it will need to be stored.

[ArchMom]

Yes, the search is back! Seems general consensus is to see if there may be a spare medical fridge available. Also located this page on mayo clinic site which states insulated cooler with ice packs for a day, which should hipefully cover us. At nine months it is hard to tell if she'll want to play with food or fill up on milk ;)

Thank you all for the help!

[inluv4life]

I called carnival about this because we are planning a trip with our 8 mo old. In my past experience(with RCCL), the "coolers" in the staterooms do not keep the same temp as a frig. We were told that it is only enough to chil the sodas for drinking but not for keeping food(or in our case medicine) from spoiling. After 4 attempts from housekeeping, maintenance, and even the mechanical staff we ended up roatating half broken plug in coolers through out the week. It was exhausting. And stressful because most of the meds were spoiled by the time we got back to port. our Carnival agent told me the stateroom coolers, aka mini frig, are identical to the ones we experienced on RCCL. However, each floor should have a frig for keeping medicines, etc at the proper tempurature. Your cabin steward should show it to you. She also made a notation on my reservation that I would be needing that storage space. So you may want to call and talk with someone to cover yourself. Something else you may want to clarify- I was told by the special needs agent(for my autistic son) more recently that I would have to keep his meds in the medical clinic on the bottom floor instead of the floor frig. Which means I have to make a trip down there twice a day for his doses. :( I'm wondering if they will still have the frig on each floor if they changed that policy. Happy Cruising!

[inluv4life]

Oh! Another site that I think had some info about bm storage...http://www.kellymom.com. You may not even need to store it if your going to be gone for less than 4 hours. :)

[cello56]

However, each floor should have a frig for keeping medicines, etc at the proper tempurature. Your cabin steward should show it to you. She also made a notation on my reservation that I would be needing that storage space.

 

Sorry but there is no way in the world that I would allow medicine out of my sight, and stored in some out of the way fridge that other passengers and crew would have access to. Storing breast milk that way would be even worse!

 

If the fridge in your room is not cold enough, could you supplement the cold with gallon sized ziplock bags of ice from your cabin steward? (Bring your own bags.) Or perhaps just bring a small hard-sided cooler (so it won't leak) and ask for ice to keep the milk cold? Please don't let the breast milk out of your immediate control.

[bearette]

I did a carnival cruise with my 9 month old twins in December. I exclusively pump and needed to store milk overnight. The fridge in my parents room was freezing but the one in mine barely kept things cold. I complained about it and someone came to service it. They said that's how it worked, to which I said that was unacceptable for me. He said he could replace the fridge and when he did it was ice cold. Just make sure you turn the nob all the way up. They will accommodate you especially if you have made inquiries before. Also at room temperature you can store breast milk for up to six hours so you may not even need it.

[HelloMoo]

I haven't sailed Carnival, but here's some general advice:

 

Expressed breast milk can be stored in room temperature up to 8 hours. It's safe to use as long as it doesn't smell, but it gets a weird scent when it's off. The in cabin-fridge will most likely keep the milk fresh overnight, even though it's warmer than an ordinary fridge.

 

That being said, a 9 month old baby might not need breast milk that often any more. For instance, my 7 month old goes to bed around 6-7 and will sleep 6-7 hours before waking for a little "snack", so going out for a couple of hours at night isn't a problem. During the day he eats porridge, fruit purees and regular dinner, so again, leaving him with his dad or babysitters for 3-4 hours is no problem at all.

 

Of course, not all babies start eating solids at the same time or in amounts that are satisfying, but I wouldn't worry about this as of right now, if I were you, OP. The breast milk will be fine IF you need it, but you'll probably get a better idea if it's necessary a month or so before you go.