NCL Pearl with 7 months old baby, tips

[Herrim]

Hi, I will be taking a 7 day cruise next week with my 7 months old baby. We will be cruising on NCL Pearl, going to Belize, Roatan, Key West and Cozumel.

 

Any tips? I requested a pack and play on the ship, but I overheard in another forum that they are not very clean.

 

Any tips, or if you have cruise on this ship before with babies, do you have any words of wisdom? Thanks!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

If the beds are pushed together into a king- then you can sleep with the baby. That's what we did. It left more floorspace and those pack and plays have hardly any mattress.

[Athankfulheart]

Better still is having the king bed pushed up against the wall ( one side) and then the baby can be near the wall. This way mom and dad can snuggle and baby is safe :)

Edited March 21, 2014 by Athankfulheart

[MamaWals]

We haven't been on the Pearl but recently sailed on the Dawn and brought our own pack n play (because I was worried about germs). However, there were several 7 month old children on the ship and none of them got sick so the pack n plays couldn't have been that bad. We did bring a mamadoo pack n play mattress pad to make it more comfy, along with our own bedding for him, and LO slept like a log!

 

My only real advice for the cruise is to bring plenty of sun protection. Our son did surprisingly well cruising but it was a challenge to protect his skin because the sun is just so bright and reflects off the water and ground. So just be careful, make sure he has really good hat (that's also good for swimming), and that the sunshade on your stroller is adequate.

 

And about Belize - the shore excursion people on the ship told us the beach excursion was great for kids. So we took it, along with a family with a 7 month old. However, there was NO shade and they were blasting really loud music. If I had realized that, I would have just stayed on the ship that day. We were stuck there in the blazing sun for over 4 hours trying to prevent our 6 month old from burning and crying too much. Not so much fun. But the rest of the ports should be fine. Belize is just a challenge because of the long tender.

Edited March 22, 2014 by MamaWals

[cb at sea]

The cribs and P&P's are cleaned....no worries! I'm not a fan of "co-sleeping", so if you see that the P&P isn't up to your standards, ask for it to be cleaned, or request another. There's no need to worry!

[JordanLovesCruisin]

We are taking our 7 month old on the 30th (he turns 7 months on the 26th) and are going to the same ports on the Magic, minus Key West.

 

Good luck!!

[Herrim]

Thank you. Did you bring him more than one bathing suit with sun protection? I got my son a long sleeve rashguard shirt and trunks with SPF protection.

 

We haven't been on the Pearl but recently sailed on the Dawn and brought our own pack n play (because I was worried about germs). However, there were several 7 month old children on the ship and none of them got sick so the pack n plays couldn't have been that bad. We did bring a mamadoo pack n play mattress pad to make it more comfy, along with our own bedding for him, and LO slept like a log!

 

My only real advice for the cruise is to bring plenty of sun protection. Our son did surprisingly well cruising but it was a challenge to protect his skin because the sun is just so bright and reflects off the water and ground. So just be careful, make sure he has really good hat (that's also good for swimming), and that the sunshade on your stroller is adequate.

 

And about Belize - the shore excursion people on the ship told us the beach excursion was great for kids. So we took it, along with a family with a 7 month old. However, there was NO shade and they were blasting really loud music. If I had realized that, I would have just stayed on the ship that day. We were stuck there in the blazing sun for over 4 hours trying to prevent our 6 month old from burning and crying too much. Not so much fun. But the rest of the ports should be fine. Belize is just a challenge because of the long tender.