Cruising with a 1 year old

[curlygirl39]

I am looking for some advise on cruising with a 1 year old. We will be on RCI Adventure of the sea. Did you bring baby food and diapers with you or did you use services the cruise line provided? Thanks in advance for the help.

[cb at sea]

You will need to bring the diapers....you might be able to order some prior to sailing, but you'll pay and arm and a leg for them.

 

At 1 year old, my kids were eating smushy table food....but if you feel the need, bring some baby food.

 

Make sure you bring any and all medications for your child. The ship does NOT sell anything "baby" strength. Nose drops, allergy meds, something for tummyaches, fever, etc...

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would bring any diapers and medications with. Even if the ship's store carries these items, they might not stock your child's size or have the brand/variety, and whatever they do have will have a huge mark up. Plus, the store won't be open all the time (nights and while in port).

 

I have also taken sippy cups and cleaning items (detergent and brush) for them. Make sure to get in writing any reply from the cruise line in terms of high chairs, pack and plays, etc.

[Kerry's Girls]

Bring more diapers and wipes than you think you'll need. Bring extra bottles or sippy cups in case you lose or ruin one. I used disposable bibs (with the little pocket to catch food) and placemats at dinner. We didn't end up using any of our baby food because there were so many choices in the dining room (my girls were 13 months on their first cruise). I agree about the meds - the medical center on board is well-equipped to deal with toddlers, but you don't want to go to that expense for over the counter meds (don't forget a thermometer).

 

Have a great time! My girls loved empty lounges for play time.

 

Best,

Mia

[K&Rs Mom]

We're going in January, baby will be 12.5 months then. I looked at the RCI website and the prices for food/diapers are unbelievable (not in a good way). So we'll be bringing that. She'll probably be mostly on table food by then but I plan to bring some of those pouches for easy snacks, especially in ports. I read somewhere you can put a luggage tag on one of those big cardboard boxes of diapers and check it with the rest of your bags, then you only need to carry enough for the first day, so that's my plan. I like those "take n toss" cups & utensils too - lightweight, cheap, effective, don't need to pack them to come home.

Edited July 20, 2014 by K&Rs Mom

[beckster42]

We brought everything with us last month when we cruised with our 18 month old on the Freedom. Granted we drove, so that made it easy. But even if we had flown, I'd have packed what I could and then made a Walgreens/Target pit stop on the way to the pier.

 

We planned for the worst. I brought enough diapers for the worst diarrhea for 7 straight days. Same with wipes. I would MUCH rather lug some extra diapers on the ship and not need them then end up with a sick little one and panic because we ran out. We brought a lot of diapers home, but I still felt at ease having them. I packed a shoebox and filled it like a medicine cabinet. Snot sucker, baby saline, child SeaBands, infant Tylenol/Advil, bandaids, Neosporin kids, gas drops, aloe, hydrocortisone, Benadryl, etc... I put the shoebox inside a huge Ziploc and packed around it in the center of the suitcase. The shoebox was great since I could just put it on the shelf in the closet and didn't have little bottles and stuff everywhere!

 

Our son is a temperamental eater at best, so we brought quite a few pouches and snacks with us. With meal time being so off and him being so active all the time, we ended up using the pouches a lot for lunches and snacks when we were short on time. I just packed a little duffel with pouches, snacks, water bottles, a few spoons, a little bottle of dish soap for washing, and a bottle brush and carried it onboard.

 

Prolly more information than you wanted to know (sorry) but I was lost when I was packing and looked for all the tips I could find!!

[brikee]

We brought everything with us last month when we cruised with our 18 month old on the Freedom. Granted we drove, so that made it easy. But even if we had flown, I'd have packed what I could and then made a Walgreens/Target pit stop on the way to the pier.

 

We planned for the worst. I brought enough diapers for the worst diarrhea for 7 straight days. Same with wipes. I would MUCH rather lug some extra diapers on the ship and not need them then end up with a sick little one and panic because we ran out. We brought a lot of diapers home, but I still felt at ease having them. I packed a shoebox and filled it like a medicine cabinet. Snot sucker, baby saline, child SeaBands, infant Tylenol/Advil, bandaids, Neosporin kids, gas drops, aloe, hydrocortisone, Benadryl, etc... I put the shoebox inside a huge Ziploc and packed around it in the center of the suitcase. The shoebox was great since I could just put it on the shelf in the closet and didn't have little bottles and stuff everywhere!

 

Our son is a temperamental eater at best, so we brought quite a few pouches and snacks with us. With meal time being so off and him being so active all the time, we ended up using the pouches a lot for lunches and snacks when we were short on time. I just packed a little duffel with pouches, snacks, water bottles, a few spoons, a little bottle of dish soap for washing, and a bottle brush and carried it onboard.

 

Prolly more information than you wanted to know (sorry) but I was lost when I was packing and looked for all the tips I could find!!

 

Good tip about packing shoebox like Medicine cabinet!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[curlygirl39]

We brought everything with us last month when we cruised with our 18 month old on the Freedom. Granted we drove, so that made it easy. But even if we had flown, I'd have packed what I could and then made a Walgreens/Target pit stop on the way to the pier.

 

We planned for the worst. I brought enough diapers for the worst diarrhea for 7 straight days. Same with wipes. I would MUCH rather lug some extra diapers on the ship and not need them then end up with a sick little one and panic because we ran out. We brought a lot of diapers home, but I still felt at ease having them. I packed a shoebox and filled it like a medicine cabinet. Snot sucker, baby saline, child SeaBands, infant Tylenol/Advil, bandaids, Neosporin kids, gas drops, aloe, hydrocortisone, Benadryl, etc... I put the shoebox inside a huge Ziploc and packed around it in the center of the suitcase. The shoebox was great since I could just put it on the shelf in the closet and didn't have little bottles and stuff everywhere!

 

Our son is a temperamental eater at best, so we brought quite a few pouches and snacks with us. With meal time being so off and him being so active all the time, we ended up using the pouches a lot for lunches and snacks when we were short on time. I just packed a little duffel with pouches, snacks, water bottles, a few spoons, a little bottle of dish soap for washing, and a bottle brush and carried it onboard.

 

Prolly more information than you wanted to know (sorry) but I was lost when I was packing and looked for all the tips I could find!!

 

Not too much information. Thank you very much.:)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

You will need to bring the diapers..

[mdjohn5]

Don't be afraid to try eating in the main dining room. We actually found it much easier with young children than the windjammer. At the buffet, you are always running to get food, drinks, etc. In the MDR the waiters are bringing things to you, so you can concentrate on entertaining the kids.

 

Traveling with young children is a different vacation than pre-kids, but it is still a lot of fun!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

We never took our 13 month old to the MDR. That age has about a 10 minute attention span and they are often fussy by dinner time. I would have been on edge and spent too much time attending to the 13 month old and not enjoying the ambiance and food. I'd feed the little one in the buffet and then take them to the day care for a few hours and enjoy the meal sans child. I've raised two boys and then weren't "bad" but you can't expect them to be in a highchair for over an hour.

[drenee73]

We took my DD on her first cruise over her 1st bd. She was walking ok and that made it fun to watch her explore.

 

I think most have posted ideas for what to take - diapers and meds a must! I also took a roll of the diaper bags to make my steward happier if we had "toxic" diapers in the cabin. :)

 

I found eating in the MDR to be ok. The next cruise when she was a bit older was better in the MDR - but the staff on our ship couldn't have been better about catering to her meal times. I even got shooed away from the floor in the Lido trying to pick up the big things she threw down. The staff had to remind me for the first 3 days that we were on VACATION and it was their job to clean up after her! LOL

 

The only thing we really missed was goldfish. If yours is addicted, bring your own. We ran out on day 2 and it took a few days before she stopped whining about fish.

 

Another thing that was kinda fun was letting her walk around all over - the night club during the day, on stage when there were no shows, etc. She really liked being able to toddle every where!

 

Don't forget the sun burn spray/gel. If you can get it on the boat or in port at all, it will be about a zillion bucks.

 

Have fun!

[WinterEscape]

We sailed with my son when he was 9 months and again at 13 months. He did great on both cruises. We overpacked diapers and medicine as previous posters mentioned. On the first cruise, we packed baby food as he was mainly eating baby food at the time. I was glad we packed it, but I was not glad when we got called to the naughty room for trying to "smuggle" candles on board. Apparently they thought my baby food jars were candles. If I were to bring baby food on a cruise again, I think I would carry it on. That way, if there is any question, they can open the bag right there. When my son was 13 months, he occasionally would have some baby food, but did fine the entire week without any and got to try lots of new foods.

[mdjohn5]

Another thing that was kinda fun was letting her walk around all over - the night club during the day, on stage when there were no shows, etc. She really liked being able to toddle every where!

 

I did this with both of my kids at that age and had a blast. I would just put them down in the hallway and follow behind them and see where we would end up. If they looked like they wanted to go up or down stairs I would carry them, otherwise I just let them lead the way. We would find all kinds of places I had never seen on the ship.

[sweettiff3]

That's what I'm looking forward to mdjohn5. I bought my 18mo son one of the monkey backpack leashes, because he loves to explore. I'm excited to see where he takes us. :) I'm loving all of the tips on this post too!

[brikee]

Good ideas all. Please keep them coming. Ill be going on a cruise in feb and my son will be 13months by then. Can't wait to try these tips out!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hkc]

I also suggest bringing along some powdered Pedialyte. Carnival had some when we needed it but only a limited amount. I now have added that to my packing list. It is very small and does not take up much space at all.

 

If your child is ready for table food by 1 yr, bring a small pair of scissors to cut up his/her food. I find it much faster to cut up food with scissors.

 

Another tip is to divide your diapers/wipes amongst your luggage (I also do the same with our clothes), especially if you are flying to port. That way if one gets lost you will still have some.

 

We have dined in the MDR with an 11 month old then a few years later with a 2 yr old. I brought along a little bag of small toys/colouring books to keep my kids busy. Some of the guests who sat near us even complimented on how well behaved they were. But you know your child best and if eating in the MDR will be stressful there are lots of other places to eat. :)

[CruisingTeacher19]

I wrote a detailed review of adventure of seas with my 15 month old in march. You can search my posts to find it

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk