Just back from Oasis with 9 month old!

[Cruise Princess 2009]

I read everything I could before I went on this cruise, I have cruised before, but never with a baby. So, I figured I would let you know my experience, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

I traveled with my hubby, my parents, and my sister and her boyfriend, we all had balcony rooms in a row. We had the balcony dividers opened between us.

 

Our room steward was wonderful, she brought us the crib, which is just like a PNP, I used the sheet they provided and he did not have an issue, the first night he did not want to sleep so our room steward re-did the crib the next day, so the padding would be more like a crib mattress and that worked perfectly the rest of the week.

 

We had traditional dining at 6pm. It worked well for us. The highchair that is used is a heavy duty plastic one with a tray, our waiters were great with our son by day 2 they had the fruit plate waiting for him, I ordered him something off the kids menu every night. I fed him oatmeal/rice cereal with fruit in the cabin in every morning, then he got his formula and table food for the rest of the day, he loved it.

 

After dinner we had shows most nights for 8:30pm since you have to reserve prior to going on the Oasis, so after dinner we usually went back to the room changed the baby into his PJ's and went to the show, he usually was asleep before we got to the show and slept right through and when we put him in the crib he never woke up. He is a very good sleeper even at home.

 

The Oasis has a daycare and playroom, I never used the daycare, there were enough of us to take care of him and he is such an easy going baby that there was no need. We did use the playroom which was great, he loved playing with all the toys and crawling around.

 

The Oasis also has a baby splash zone which was wonderful it was his 1st time ever in a pool and he loved it. The pool staff we very friendly.

 

We showered him in the shower by sitting him on the floor and removing the shower head he thought it was fun!

 

My baby is a very good easy going baby, so he napped in the stroller most times during the day, and feel asleep in there at night. We were able to do everything we wanted to do, without disrupting the baby.

 

Hope this helps!

[kitkathiking]

Hi, we are thinking of taking our DD (will be 9 mon) on Allure with my parents for its Dec Caribbean cruise. Any suggestions on what to pack? Did you buy the insurance? Did you hire any baby sitter on board for your evening out? Were you still nursing at the time? Anything you wish you could have done differently? Did you have to pay an almost full price for the infant?

Hope to hear from you soon! Thanks a lot!

[flhokie]

Hi, we are thinking of taking our DD (will be 9 mon) on Allure with my parents for its Dec Caribbean cruise. Any suggestions on what to pack? Did you buy the insurance? Did you hire any baby sitter on board for your evening out? Were you still nursing at the time? Anything you wish you could have done differently? Did you have to pay an almost full price for the infant?

Hope to hear from you soon! Thanks a lot!

 

We took our toddler on Allure a few months ago & I can offer some answers to some of your questions.

 

The most important things to pack with a baby are baby specific items (diapers, wipes, formula, medications, etc) that could be hard to come by on a ship and things that are important to them (we took blankie & some stuffed animals she was attached to). There are several threads with packing lists.

 

I know OP mentioned not using any babysitting. We used the nursery 1 night for DD so we could go to Chops. It was wonderful! They fed her & played with her. There were cribs if they needed to sleep. They also give you a phone that works on the ship in case they need to get in touch with you (we were able to keep it all week). The playroom OP mentioned was really nice (lots of toys). They also have bags of toys for babies which you can check out & keep in your cabin for the week. They do have in room babysitting on an "as available" basis at a much higher rate than the nursery.

 

Everyone, regardless of age, is full price on most cruise lines (including Royal Caribbean). On a rare occasion I've seen them do a very limited promotion for kids sail free on a few specific sailings. At least the rate for the 3rd person is lower than 1st & 2nd passenger. We paid full 3rd person rate for DD.

 

Hope this helps some!