First Family Cruise (Oasis Eastern) with Baby!

[LissyTx]

 

As for the review: everyone told me I would stop traveling when I got pregnant with twins but as you have shown so far it is doable but different with a baby ( or two :D) This age is actually the easiest to travel, once they walk it becomes very difficult so I say plan another soon! My twins are two now and they have done three cruises, including two international trips to Europe. I say make Europe your next stop so you don't have to pay too much for her flight and before she walks on her own. ;0)

 

Bearette - Any tips for international or long flights? We were thinking we might need to avoid those until she is 4 or 5 and can understand what we're telling her.

[bearette]

Actually it is very easy if you come prepared. A few toys, iPad with her movies/ tv shows (mickey mouse club house,Arial, dumbo and Frozen instantly quiet my kids). Know her schedule and plan accordingly, food, snacks etc.... We made the mistake of taking a 6am flight thinking they would sleep, but instead my daughter threw a tantrum because she was over tired. ( We were those people on the plane, but people were actually very nice about it). A few minutes to cry in the bathroom and she was fine.

 

Call and request a bulkhead seat and bassinet for your child as soon as you book your tickets, they do not release these seats without a phone call. The bassinet is great as they can sleep, but check with airline as few allow for a child over 12 month sizes in bassinet. My almost two year olds flew to Paris on Air Tahiti and they fit in their bassinet which was awesome. The bulkheads also have more room so my kids could play on the floor so even if the bassinet doesn't work out they are still better seats. ( put a blanket down first but a bath once you arrive is the first thing I do with my kids).

 

When possible book nonstop, easier then coming and going with all your stuff.

 

Utilize the flight staff. They will bring you milk or an extra blanket to keep her eyes covered from the light etc... whatever you need. They were great on all our flights.

 

The best advice I got on my first flight with my kids was " you have a right to fly and enjoy yourself. You will never see these people again" from the flight attendant. So don't worry about it and happy vacationing. Even if she fussed or cries it won't last forever.

 

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[BlueSkiesTX]

Great review! I can't wait to read more. :)

[tampagirl2]

I'm enjoying your review! We are traveling in Feb. with a 2 yr old and 1 year old. I particularly liked the photo of your room with the pack n play. Is that the ship's? Or did you bring your own?

 

I'm thinking of buying that stroller - do you like it?

[MANDMTRAVEL]

Loving your review. We will be traveling with our 2 little kids. No babies anymore but I am sure your review will be very helpful.

 

Thanks!!

[relaxatsea]

Thank you for your excellent review, pictures, and videos!

 

We are senior citizens with no children, and are so interested to see this review from your perspective, and your daughter is adorable!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review.

[LissyTx]

I'm enjoying your review! We are traveling in Feb. with a 2 yr old and 1 year old. I particularly liked the photo of your room with the pack n play. Is that the ship's? Or did you bring your own?

 

I'm thinking of buying that stroller - do you like it?

 

Thank you! The ship provided the pack n play. We did however bring our own sheets for it. (We tried a pack and play at home with one sheet and she didn't like it, so we bought thicker/quilted typed sheets from Babies R Us which she then liked.) When we added our daughter to the room they automatically added the pack and play to our invoice. If you don't see that you might call CS to reserve one.

 

We LOVE this stroller. It's amazing. It has 4-5 different positions one of which is almost flat, decent storage underneath, we could hang her diaper bag (backpack) from the handle bars on back, good maneuverability.... and when folded it takes up 30-40% less space than the travel system stroller. It will hold a toddler/child up to 40 pounds.

[LissyTx]

Great review! I can't wait to read more. :)

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Thank you both!

[LissyTx]

Thank you for your excellent review, pictures, and videos!

 

We are senior citizens with no children, and are so interested to see this review from your perspective, and your daughter is adorable!

 

Loving your review. We will be traveling with our 2 little kids. No babies anymore but I am sure your review will be very helpful.

 

Thanks!!

 

Relaxatsea - Thank you for the compliment about Katie. I'm biased, but totally over the moon. Glad the videos worked. Was trying to post them but keep the size manageable.

 

Mandmtravel - Thank you, appreciate the feedback.

[LissyTx]

Day 3 – Cruising

 

Character Breakfast:

We all, Katie included, really enjoyed this. IF it cost $10 per adult to attend, we wouldn’t bring all 4 of us, but we might’ve paid for 2 of us. So glad the old policy applied. (I had emailed RC / Adam to complain about the change and received a phone call back stating they were delaying it.)

 

Once you’re seated before the Characters begin appearing, they are very lively and play music to get the kids excited. During our character breakfast three characters from Madagascar appeared. King Julian, Gloria, and the Lion (I forget it’s name). They do a great job and come to each table (at least King Julian and the Lion did, Gloria was too wide!). My only suggestion is to add 1-2 more characters, but I think they were going with a different movie during each of the different breakfasts. Once they deliver your food the festivities end.

 

 

 

 

Hairspray:

We got great seats (pre-reserved the show) at the very back of the bottom / lower level. These were bigger chairs that moved and there was room to put our stroller out of the way. (We did have to carry it down the stairs.) Unfortunately the volume was just too loud. Besides our baby, Katie, I was worried about my own hearing and started getting a headache. We only lasted about 3-4 minutes until we left. The Grandparents stayed and watched they show – they enjoyed it and compared it to a West Side Story (in type of show) but said the volume level bothered them as well.

 

Frozen in Time aka the Ice Show:

This was probably the biggest hit of the cruise with Katie. We got a front row seat (on the long side of the ice) so she would be able to see well. Not once did she get bored. She followed the dancers all over the ice. We videotaped her reactions to the show, but I am not sure how interesting that’d be to you all. This was my 3rd RC ship with an Ice Show and this one was the best so far.

 

To get to the Ice Show: If you’re coming from the Aft of the Ship, Studio B is on Deck 4, you have to go through the Casino. FYI for Strollers, only the walkway between the two elevator banks has a ramp. If you go directly from the elevators, you’ll encounter a few stairs.

[LissyTx]

Towels and Back to Nassau

So we’ll go temporarily back to Nassau now that we’ve started viewing the hundreds of video clips my DH took. We rarely ever left the room without our Go Pro camera!

 

Towel Policy:

This is a positive change – yeah RC! Previously we had to go up to the Pool Deck to check out towels and then down to the Gangway to Disembark. Now (or maybe it has always been this way on Oasis not sure) there is RC Staff checking in/out towels as you get off the ship! Saves a lot of up and down in the elevators I’m sure! When not disembarking the ship, towels are available without checking them out on the Pool Deck, another positive change.

 

View of Nassau

Briefly back to Nassau for a view from the Pool Deck on Deck 15.

 

[charliegirlac]

Loving your review so far! We have taken our daughter on 2 cruises so far and she has loved then. Her first was at 14 months and her second at 16months. The cruise season has ended here in Australia and we are not willing to do the 24 hour plus flight to the US with a 20 month old!! Plus now she is moving, she wants to be down and going all the time now - it is great when they are still happy to sit in the stroller and be pushed around! Although we would love to take her on the bigger ships that have the baby splash zones!

Carly

[LissyTx]

Woo-hoo... the very first compilation video from my husband! Most of this filming was done with our Go Pro camera attached to her stroller. Can't wait for the St Thomas, St. Marteen, swimming in ocean video.

 

This includes the airport, plane ride, check in, boarding, and sail away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dzz2rao-j4&feature=youtu.be

[LissyTx]

Woo-hoo... the very first compilation video from my husband! Most of this filming was done with our Go Pro camera attached to her stroller. Can't wait for the St Thomas, St. Marteen, swimming in ocean video.

 

This includes the airport, plane ride, check in, boarding, and sail away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dzz2rao-j4&feature=youtu.be

 

IGNORE THE PREVIOUS LINK.

 

Hubby reposted with a few subtitles. HERE'S THE CORRECT LINK:

 

 

Note: The crying was during the Muster Drill - she was not a fan of emergency sirens!

[CaribbeanDreamer80]

Loving your review. I have subscribed. We dont have any kids yet but it is interesting to me to see others thoughts about cruising with kids. Look forward to reading more.

[AndiShop]

Thank you so much for the review! I'm really looking forward to the rest. We leave for the Allure with our 22 month old on 7/5! Did you utilize any babysitters or the royal nursery?

 

 

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[LissyTx]

Thank you so much for the review! I'm really looking forward to the rest. We leave for the Allure with our 22 month old on 7/5! Did you utilize any babysitters or the royal nursery?

 

 

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Thank you! Have fun!

 

Babysitters - no because the baby has to be 12 months + to use the babysitter in your cabin.

 

Royal Nursery - No but I would have. I totally planned to and went and registered her the first day. I went to the nursery on a few occasions to check out toys and was always impressed. Girls working seemed to genuinely love babies, nursery looked very clean, etc. We ended up not using the nursery because the Grandparents are from Europe and were headed back to Europe about 4 days after the cruise - so they could not stand to part with Katie anytime we didn't have her. I did speak to another couple who used the nursery twice at dinner time for their 10 month old and they were very happy.

[LissyTx]

I’m putting off posting about St. Thomas until my DH finishes the video for it. I hope to be able to post it late tonight or tomorrow evening. In the meantime, I’d promised this as next up a few days ago. :rolleyes:

 

Feeding a Baby on the Ship:

At 7.5 months Katie was eating mostly Similac formula. I had hoped to use the “Ready to Feed” bottles (not the jugs, but individual bottles) with the disposable sterile nipples. This route would’ve avoided having to clean bottles every night. We started testing to see whether she’d take to this bottle type about 6 weeks before the cruise. Unfortunately she refused. I figured if I was going to be washing bottles anyways, I might as well use the powdered formula and bring bottled water to mix it with. Just in case something happened (ala Carnival Feb 2013) I wanted to be sure I could feed her. So we took enough formula and bottled water for 2 weeks. I know the ship’s water should’ve been safe enough, but this gave me peace of mind. I didn’t want to take any chances with Katie getting sick on board – and if the Carnival type thing happened, I remember not all cabins had running water.

 

I would’ve paid for the convenience of “Ready to Feed” if she would’ve eaten it out of the ready to feed disposable bottles. Oh well.

 

In case you’re interested in the convenient route… those bottles do not come with the nipples, however you can order them here:

http://abbottstore.com/infant-and-child/similac-infant-nipple-and-ring-case-of-50-53558#.U5-785RdWt1

 

This is the most cost effective way I found to order the formula (and have enough quantity). My local Walmart usually only has 3-4 boxes in stock at any one time. I had planned to order this and have it shipped directly to the hotel to avoid the weight in my luggage – or having a luggage of nothing but formula!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Similac-Sensitive-Infant-Formula-Ready-to-Feed-8oz-6-count-Pack-of-4/21129065

 

Since that didn’t work out, we took 6 bottles, a bottle brush, dawn dishwashing liquid and a drying rack. We used this rack which I liked because it folded flat in our luggage.

http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/munchkin-reg-bottle-drying-rack/1013589852?Keyword=bottle+drying+rack

 

There’s also this version, but I have not used this one:

http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/oxo-tot-reg-on-the-go-drying-rack-with-bottle-brush-in-orange/1041129043?Keyword=bottle%2bdrying%2brack

 

We also brought Puffs (which were a great distraction at dinner) and jarred baby food. The MDR staff offered to make her baby food, however like above I didn’t want to take the chance of her getting something contaminated and went with the Gerber kind. I’m not a total worry-wart, but also did not want to give any additional avenues/chances of her getting noro-virus. I’m sure in a 7 month old that would have been horrible. (On a side note, we did buy cruise insurance for the first time ever. I figured there was a 25% shot we’d use it if she got sick before leaving – and I wanted to have it in case of worst case I wouldn’t worry about the cost of evacuation if needed. Luckily, no such problems!)

[LissyTx]

Day 4: St Thomas

 

We took one of the open air trucks/buses to Magen’s Bay. One of the drivers tried to talk us out of it saying it was so boring and everyone went there… well I kind of wanted calm water for Katie’s first experience in the ocean. We had been to Magen’s Bay once before and it was noticeably more crowded than before. However, if you went all the way to the left or right it was a little less so. The water was colder than expected, but you got used to it after 15-20 seconds. I expected Katie to protest when we put her in the water but she didn’t. She loved it!

 

A big THANK YOU to Host Faith for the recommendation of the Swimways Baby Float. This was a great way for Katie to experience the water without us holding her the whole time. Additionally in St. Marteen this was great since there were bigger waves. I did feel bad for parents of 15 month old twins whose kids did not seem to enjoy getting hit by the waves whereas the float helped Katie stay on top of them. http://www.amazon.com/Swimways-Baby-Spring-Float-Canopy/dp/B0035X4NNE/ref=sr_1_5?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1403063769&sr=1-5&keywords=swimways+baby+float

 

 

See our St. Thomas video below. A little long, but it includes: in the middle some good pictures we took of the Island, towards the end pictures of the ship and at the very end a quick view of the island from the top of the ship.

 

We got back on board, changed clothes, and headed to Johnny Rockets for lunch. The food was good. We had burgers, a salad, chilli-cheese fries and a second round of chili-cheese fries. We used our Gold C&A Discount to get a BOGO beer and BOGO shake. All was really good. The only slightly disappointing thing was I thought I’d remember getting a Peanut Butter flavored shake on a previous cruise but the only choices were Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, or Oreo.

 

TIP: Experienced cruisers probably know this, but for newbies, St. Thomas is a US Territory so most cell phone carriers work there without roaming, etc. We got intermittent service at Magen’s Bay, but really good service when at the port/on the ship as long as we weren’t too far inside the ship.

 

UP NEXT: Well the St. Thomas video took a bit of time to put together... hubby indicated some of the touring the ship videos would be quick. So for anyone new to the Oasis class we'll take you through the Royal Promenade, Pool Deck, and Casino. (Since we have a natural alarm clock AKA Katie, Hubby got up early one morning with her and filmed the ship.)

[LissyTx]

Here's a video my hubby took of the Royal Promenade around 6:30 one morning. The only thing really missing is a good view of the Cafe Promenade and Guest Services (which you would've seen if he kept the camera rolling past the Cupcake Shop).

 

Also... in the second half of the video, a guy in his bathrobe! :eek:

 

[ravenjls]

Thanks for the videos...the guy in the bathrobe -hahahahaha!

[bearette]

I second your float as I use them with my kids as well. It keeps your arms free of baby weight and the shade is awesome.

 

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[lgonquin]

Love the GoPro videos. Almost got one for our cruise. Wish I had! BTW, we were on your cruise!

But....I can only view some of the videos on my iPad. The St. Thomas and Royal Promenade worked, Check-in did not. Have had similar issues with other posters GoPro videos. Is there a setting when uploading to You Tube?

 

 

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[CaribbeanDreamer80]

Lol at the man in bathrobe. I dont understand how people can walk around like that and act like its natural. Great review. I am staying tuned in for more.