Questions of a first time mom

[kasi1979]

Hi,

 

I´ve been reading this board for quite some time.

We are planning our first Family cruise in 2015 with our daughter who will be 9 months old at time of sailing.

To minimize our anxiety we are looking for advice how others have handeled travelling with small children.

 

We are looking at Cruises leaving from the Netherlands or Germany so that we´ll be able to drive to port.

I´ve read that most cruiselines provide Baby beds if requested ahead of travel. Do we have to bring anyting for the beds? Sheets?

 

How did you handel you lo drinking milk? Right now she is completly bottle fed purely with milk, I know she will be eating Food by june, however I believe we´ll still Need bottles of formula. I know I Need to bring formula with me. Did you also bring along water to prepare bottles?

 

What is not to be forgotten?

- diapers

- bips

- sleeping bag

- trash bags for dirty diapers

- bottles and anything needed in that context

- favorite Snacks

- favorite toy

- medicine (pain, electrolyte...)

 

I hope you can help a first time mom prepare for a Family vacation.

Not our first cruise but our first one with Baby...

[cb at sea]

I think you've got the list down pretty well....the ship's water is fine, but you can bring bottled water if you want to....it's also avail. for sale on the ship. Powdered formula is easiest, if that's an option. There is no way to "heat" anything...no microwaves or stoves...so get your baby used to room temp!

 

Also, most ships have only showers...so bring a blowup tub...helpful for bath time!

 

The crib should be in the cabin, if you requested one. You don't need to bring sheets...how would you wash them??? (In my experience, babies tend to soil sheets fairly quickly!)

[flhokie]

You seem to have a great list. Make sure to bring more of everything (diapers, wipes, etc) than you think you will need. If the crib provided by your cruiseline is a pack n play, you may want to bring some sheets. I've read that the cruiselines put regular bed sheets on these which don't work well.

 

I found the premade bottles of formula (Simlac) worked wonderfully for travel. You just put a nipple on and they are ready to go. They are more expensive & a bit cumbersome, but you don't have to worry about water, mixing, etc.

 

Also, don't forget some comfort/familiar items for baby like blankets, toys, etc.

 

Since baby will be eating in a high chair, some disposable bibs & placemats could be helpful. It might be a good idea to bring some food for baby in case She doesn't like options on board.

[RCI_FADM_76]

We sailed with DD at 7 months on an 8-nt cruise. She was on mainly formula at the time. We brought all of her formula (powdered), rice/oat cereals with us. All of which is fairly compact and travels well. To that end, we hand carried all of her food on to the ship.

 

With bottles - don't forget to bring a travel size container of dish soap for cleaning.

 

Our child used to spit up a bit at the time - so we brought a bottle of Spray N Wash for some impromptu laundry. In retrospect, this was one of the most useful things we brought with us.

[kitkat343]

I'm not sure which cruiselines you are looking at, but ours have always been able to provide a pack n play for babies to sleep in. They will supply sheets, but we always brought our own to help maximize familiarity for our son when traveling (also, the sheets didn't arrive until nighttime on a HAL cruise, and our son naps during the day so it was a lifesaver to bring our own on that cruise.)

 

All cruise lines with room service were able to bring warm milk at nighttime so our son could have something soothing right before sleep. You might want to ask for some hot and cold milk, since the hot milk may be scalding and combining it with the cold will get you a nice, soothing warm bottle before bedtime.

 

I didn't know about these but people have mentioned bags that seal to keep in smells for dirty diapers (I did notice that some of the cruises ships had very few trash cans near rooms in public areas, and I didn't want to leave a diaper just anywhere). Hopefully, another cruiser can give you specifics since I learned about it after my son was potty trained.

 

Good luck!

[kasi1979]

Thanks, your answers and Points of view really help.

There´s so much new Happening right now that I´m a bit overwelmed.

[flcruiser08]

Seems like you pretty much covered everything again I would recommend the blow up tub and we brought our own sheets, towels, wash clothes and soap because my lo has sensitive skin. We brought a light umbrella type stroller and and Ergo baby carrier.

[gymbomb]

We are cruising this weekend with 10 month old son. Not our first cruise, but his first. We are taking both sets of his grandparents with us. Also taking pack n play sheets, Ergo, stroller that is not huge but has good recline, shade, etc., disposable bibs, some baby food (he gets a combo of breast milk, baby food, and table food), a lot of diapers and wipes, extra clothes for both him and us in case of messes since NCL does not have self serve laundry, small packets of laundry detergent designed to wash a few things in the sink, bottle brush and small bottle of dish soap. Probably a lot of other things, but that is what I can think of right now! He does not have sensitive skin, so we are bringing some of our own blankets (muslin swaddles that I use for everything) but using the ship's towels and wash cloths. We had originally booked a balcony room but a kids sail free promo came up and we were able to upgrade to a mini suite for less than we had paid for the balcony, so we do have a bath tub in our room. Oh yeah, I packed the Johnson & Johnson disposable wash cloths with the baby soap already built in.

 

 

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[autrucheplume]

We are cruising this weekend with 10 month old son. Not our first cruise, but his first. We are taking both sets of his grandparents with us. Also taking pack n play sheets, Ergo, stroller that is not huge but has good recline, shade, etc., disposable bibs, some baby food (he gets a combo of breast milk, baby food, and table food), a lot of diapers and wipes, extra clothes for both him and us in case of messes since NCL does not have self serve laundry, small packets of laundry detergent designed to wash a few things in the sink, bottle brush and small bottle of dish soap. Probably a lot of other things, but that is what I can think of right now! He does not have sensitive skin, so we are bringing some of our own blankets (muslin swaddles that I use for everything) but using the ship's towels and wash cloths. We had originally booked a balcony room but a kids sail free promo came up and we were able to upgrade to a mini suite for less than we had paid for the balcony, so we do have a bath tub in our room. Oh yeah, I packed the Johnson & Johnson disposable wash cloths with the baby soap already built in.

 

 

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We are on the Epic on 2/1 with our 16 month old! You'll have to let me know how it goes and if you discover any little secrets about having little ones on the Epic!

 

I hope you guys have a blast! :)

[gymbomb]

We are on the Epic on 2/1 with our 16 month old! You'll have to let me know how it goes and if you discover any little secrets about having little ones on the Epic!

 

 

 

I hope you guys have a blast! :)

 

 

Thanks, and will do!!

 

 

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[mconthehighseas]

We recently got back from our cruise with our 16 month old. Having a stroller with us made it much easier to take our little one around and off the ship. It meant having to use elevators all the time even when going up or down when floor, but it meant we didn't have to chase DS when he wanted to explore! We were in the Caribbean, and we brought a car seat to use in cabs, etc. when we went ashore.

 

Most ships have cartons of milk available in the cafeteria; many will only have them available at breakfast, so you may want to extras for your room for the rest of the day.

 

I recommend taking advantage of onboard babysitting services, so you and your spouse can have some grownup time together. Some cruiselines only have activities for children over 3, but there are some with nurseries and infant programs, like Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Most of these cost extra, but you may decide it's worth it.

[autrucheplume]

We recently got back from our cruise with our 16 month old. Having a stroller with us made it much easier to take our little one around and off the ship. It meant having to use elevators all the time even when going up or down when floor, but it meant we didn't have to chase DS when he wanted to explore! We were in the Caribbean, and we brought a car seat to use in cabs, etc. when we went ashore.

 

Most ships have cartons of milk available in the cafeteria; many will only have them available at breakfast, so you may want to extras for your room for the rest of the day.

 

I recommend taking advantage of onboard babysitting services, so you and your spouse can have some grownup time together. Some cruiselines only have activities for children over 3, but there are some with nurseries and infant programs, like Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Most of these cost extra, but you may decide it's worth it.

 

Did you find that cabs in the ports had seatbelts for car seats, and were patient enough to let you install the seat?

[mconthehighseas]

Did you find that cabs in the ports had seatbelts for car seats, and were patient enough to let you install the seat?

We had hired private vans, and alerted them in advance that we would have a carseat to install.

 

That said, I think most cabs are so anxious for work, they would be happy to wait while you installed the seat. I can't speak for how many have seat belts.

[goofy810]

The one thing that has been missed (we have done 2 with and under 3 and plan a 3rd ) is a way to keep the baby out of the drawers and stuff, our DD was into them anytime we turned around. So bring some masking tape for that. Also look for a baby pool that can use as a bath and on the pool deck the $ store had one. Last thing is that for royal and Celiberty Prob most others to you can go to the kids club and check out a bin of toys for the child to use in the cabin or around the ship they have bins for different ages.

 

 

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[kasi1979]

Right now we are leaning towards a HAL cruise either aboard the Rotterdam or Eurodam.

Any of you have experienced These ships with very Little Kids?

I understand Rotterdam has self-service laundry which Eurodam does not have. Any other differences if we set aside the size of the ship?

 

Does HAL provide P&Ps or cribs?