Travelling Freedom of The Seas with 7m twins

[sunsetsatsea]

Hi! My husband and I are seasoned cruisers, 18 and 23 cruises respectively, and this will be the first time with our babies. They will be 7.5 months at time of sailing. I have compiled a great packing list by combing through the family threads, but still have some questions.

 

We are booked in FO 8200, the largest FO on the ship. I have had these types of rooms in the past and know the layouts can vary. There will be 6 of us in total. DH, the twins, 83 yo FIL, friend, and myself. First, is the sofa a full size? My FIL prefers that to the sofa being pulled out into a bed. Will there be room for 2 PNP? RC website states that only one can be reserved per cabin, which makes no sense if you have 2 babies. Anyone get 2 PNP through RC?

 

Strollers - I see lots of talk about strollers, but not this specific question. We have a Double Snap and Go frame that holds 2 car seats in tandem. Would we be better off with a compact side-by-side umbrella such as the Citi Mini or Combi? My husband wants to bring a jogger, but I feel it will be just too big.

 

I thought I had read that there is time you can take the babies into the nursery to play with them and now I can not find it. Is this true? My friend is going on a free cruise in exchange for a few hours of babysitting a day.

 

Dining room - Is this doable at all with baby twins? This is a family cruise with 2 other cabins of family so we would like to dine together occasionally. We had read about special request for pureed meals (not baby food) and were given a hard time by our Costco booking agent. She said Royal Caribbean required to know which passengers this was for as RC does not make baby food. As my FIL is 83, we indicated the pureed meals would be for him, figuring that we could just switch plates.

 

Did you go back to the cabin for every diaper change? As we are in the very front of the ship, would prefer not to do that. I see there is a diaper changing station by the H2O zone. Any others?

 

Any other tips? I am sure I will thank of more questions later.

 

TIA!

[sunsetsatsea]

Sorry, OP here. I thought I posted this in the family travel section. How do I move my post?

[LissyTx]

Check out my review on Oasis linked below. Travelled with 7.5 month singleton.

 

We were all the way aft so totally get the diaper change issue. I would suggest finding a calm corner and changing them in your stroller (with them lying flat in the stroller on top of a disposable changing pad).

 

They have a room near the nursery that is full of fisher price toys. You can also check out a bag of toys from the nursery which was great.

 

Dinner in main dining room worked for us. We took stroller with and had them bring us a high chair most nights so she could go back and forth. Puffs were also a great distraction for her.

 

Have fun!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[reallyitsmema]

Any side by side stroller is going to be very difficult around the ship, especially trying to get to your cabin. Between housekeeping carts, room service trays and wheelchairs, I don't see how a side by side will work. I would try the MDR with your family and if it doesn't work, the WJ is always a good option. They will puree food for you, I would ask once on board.

 

As far as the pnp, can you have one of the other cabins reserve one to get around the stupid only one can be reserved rule? Might be worth trying.

 

Make sure you bring a small, blowup tub since the cabins have showers and not bath tubs. I know some people just hold the baby in the shower and clean them that way but my guy was always so slippery.:p

[cb at sea]

Definitely do the dining room...the waitstaff is awesome with babies...it will be soooooo much easier than trying to do a buffet with 2 babies!

[beshears]

Hello, what "caught" my eyes, was the word twins. :) The reason I say this and I am NOT putting you down, but if you have had 18 and 23 cruises, I was thinking that you might be a little older than what I thought, but then, you could be taking 3 or 4 cruises in one year. :)

 

I had twin boys, and then 11 years later with the same husband, I had another son. So now I have "My Three Sons," as the show used to be called. :)

 

I was on the FOTS the end of April, but with your family questions, I doubt I could answer them. I hope you all have a great cruise.

 

If I can answer anything else, please feel free to ask.

[reallyitsmema]

This thread has pictures of Freedom 8200 and some of the other FO. It looks like they are all a little different based on deck.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1975616&highlight=8200

 

Plenty of room for little ones. There is a picture of the sofa and it looks to be a full size sofa and not a love seat.

[jpcruise95]

I was on the Freedom on July 27 in the room 8200. The sofa is full size. The attendant made it into a bed each night, and my 2 daughters were quite comfortable. There was a pnp in the room when we arrived. But it was removed when she saw we would not be using it. I believe 2 would fit in the room.

[sunsetsatsea]

LissyTX,

 

What a fantastic review and your daughter is adorable! Great to note on the Ppffs, stroller cover, and PABA free sunscreen. I see the PNP is not nearly as big as I was thinking. I am sure that we will not have an issue fitting 2 of those in our room.

 

Reallyitsmema,

 

Great point about navigating the hallways with the stroller with housekeeping carts. It looks like we will have to take our tandem. The downside is that the kids will be sitting in their car seats. It is too bad as the car seats get so hot for them and we cannot lay them flat for a diaper change as LissyTX recommended. Great idea on having one of the other cabins reserve a PNP. Appreciate the link with cabin photos. Does look like the sofa will be large enough. Thanks!

 

CB at Sea,

 

Very true that main dining room will be easier. Doing a buffet with 2 babies on land isn't easy, at sea isn't going to be any easier. I am just concerned about disturbing other passengers.

 

Beshears,

 

No offense taken! I am 40, took us 9 years to get these babies. I started cruising young with my grandparents. Introduced DH to cruising and we did do 4 in one year, lol.

[jpcruise95]

See the pics that DaisyDoo posted in the above link, that will give you an idea of the room that you have.

[Lionesss]

First of all I would definetely do the alcohol package:eek:

 

No just kidding.

 

Realiztically, I would see if I could take a helper along with you, kinda like a vacation Nanny. You can still enjoy and have quality time and you can also share the time and give your helper some time to themselves.

 

I would definetely take a stroller, could you just take one?

 

Sea Ya

[LissyTx]

I forgot to mention they offered to make us puréed baby food every night in the MDR. Just let them know the first night what fruits / veggies your twins will eat.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LisaGoeke]

We were once in 8200 on the Freedom. I have a bunch of pictures posted on another site, if you want the link let me know. The first time we cruised after having our twins they were 28 months and it was a bit different bringing small ones onboard. We ended up purchasing two single umbrella strollers, that way I could take one and DH could take one if need be. (I'm not sure if that would be comfortable for yours since they are so young.) I can't help with the pack n play as we had two separate rooms so we were able to get one for each room. Enjoy your cruise and congratulations on your Double Blessings!!

[schwpaul]

Hi! My husband and I are seasoned cruisers, 18 and 23 cruises respectively, and this will be the first time with our babies. They will be 7.5 months at time of sailing. I have compiled a great packing list by combing through the family threads, but still have some questions.

 

We are booked in FO 8200, the largest FO on the ship. I have had these types of rooms in the past and know the layouts can vary. There will be 6 of us in total. DH, the twins, 83 yo FIL, friend, and myself. First, is the sofa a full size? My FIL prefers that to the sofa being pulled out into a bed. Will there be room for 2 PNP? RC website states that only one can be reserved per cabin, which makes no sense if you have 2 babies. Anyone get 2 PNP through RC?

 

Strollers - I see lots of talk about strollers, but not this specific question. We have a Double Snap and Go frame that holds 2 car seats in tandem. Would we be better off with a compact side-by-side umbrella such as the Citi Mini or Combi? My husband wants to bring a jogger, but I feel it will be just too big.

 

I thought I had read that there is time you can take the babies into the nursery to play with them and now I can not find it. Is this true? My friend is going on a free cruise in exchange for a few hours of babysitting a day.

 

Dining room - Is this doable at all with baby twins? This is a family cruise with 2 other cabins of family so we would like to dine together occasionally. We had read about special request for pureed meals (not baby food) and were given a hard time by our Costco booking agent. She said Royal Caribbean required to know which passengers this was for as RC does not make baby food. As my FIL is 83, we indicated the pureed meals would be for him, figuring that we could just switch plates.

 

Did you go back to the cabin for every diaper change? As we are in the very front of the ship, would prefer not to do that. I see there is a diaper changing station by the H2O zone. Any others?

 

Any other tips? I am sure I will thank of more questions later.

 

TIA!

 

I suggest that you drop off one of the children with their grandmother and one with their uncle. ;-)

[sunsetsatsea]

Thank you so much for all the responses! I can't believe so much time has passed by since I posted this :eek: Great idea Paul!

[FunX5]

Could you do 2 single strollers? I agree that the staff in the MDR are amazing. I took my 2yr old and our waiter asked what foods he could/couldn't have and every night when we got to dinner, there was a snack waiting for him! I would just take puffs and toys with you!