Kids Snack Question

[kimbo444]

We are booked on the Empress next year and yes, we are also taking our kids:p

Anyway.... my one son is King of the snacks. Are there snacks available on the ships or should I pack my own, like pretzels, crackers, etc.... First time cruising and I'm not sure what to expect. I would rather be prepared. Thanks.:)

[cmason]

very few snacks like pretzels, etc. Basically, if they can not make it in their kitchen, you won't see it. So you will see cookies, pizza, hotdogs, etc, but rarely chips, pretzels etc. They do offer nacho chips and I think pretzels in the Windjammer during the afternoons, but that is about the only time and place.

 

If you are a salty snack freak, you will be in withdrawal at the end of the cruise! Bring your own just in case, or encourage him to try something new.

[kimbo444]

Cmason:

 

Thank you very much for your help. I think I will pack some individual type bags, just in case. It will be good for the beach too. He may be only 7 but he has an endless empty pit belly. Thanks.

 

Kim

[warrior planner]

I have seen kids walking around in the afternoon with small boxes of cereal they got at breakfast and using them as snack food.

[FunCruiser56]

WE always pack snack foods for our kids and even ourselves! After all that rich food, buffets and such sometimes we just want a salty snack. We make a trip to Sam's club and get single serve packs of goldfish, pretzles, peanuts and some of the canister chips. These are great for throwing in your beach bag also for tours.

We have seen some of these items available in the store on the ship, but they are priced high.

 

Funcruiser

[kimbo444]

That's funny - I thought of the same thing. We have one here at home and I shop there all the time just for this purpose. Thanks.

[CT-AL]

If you go to the RCI website, and click on "Before You Board", then "Gifts and Gear", under the gifts for children there are snacks available (indulgent or healthy) for $19.95, and you get a nice insulated lunch bag, too. I don't know how many you get, or what they consider "healthy", but I thought it was a nice alternative to lugging snacks onboard and worrying about crushing them.

[BMW325]

We just got off the Empress a few weeks ago and as the others said, really the only snack foods were cookies and pieces of fruit. We did the snack size cereal box thing too. Took a couple each morning and used them to snack on during the day as we laid in the sun.

[Mo7192]

We are booked on the Empress next year and yes, we are also taking our kids:p

Anyway.... my one son is King of the snacks. Are there snacks available on the ships or should I pack my own, like pretzels, crackers, etc.... First time cruising and I'm not sure what to expect. I would rather be prepared. Thanks.:)

 

I hate to butt in, as I too buy snacks for home at Sam's Club in the individual packs, but on a cruise, you will be in salt water, humid air, salty pools, and such. Too much salt will cause your children to retain a lot of water (especially if taking bonine, at least with my experience) and blow up like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory (the real one, not the new one, except they won't be blue ;) )

I actually think they may be too thirsty at times to enjoy the salty snacks, and will crave more 'watery' type snacks like watermelon, canteloupe, and such. Drinking a lot of water in salty air is one of the keys to avoiding dehydration, too much salt could lead to dehydration and cause them to feel tired and lethargic, not to mention sick.

I wouldn't go out of my way to spend a lot of money on salty snacks for them to take. Plus, if they are really craving some chips, you can get them on one of the islands.

 

Like I said, the salt intake will be high without the snacks. Keep in mind, some of the lounges serve nacho chips, salsa, and such during the day, so someone could always get some.

 

Hope this helps

[trish1c]

I had a hard time finding salty snacks on my RCCL cruise. I thought that was odd since salty snacks make you thirsty & therefore want to drink -- not that my bar bill needed to go any higher. :rolleyes:

 

There will plenty of other things for the kids to eat: fresh fruit, cookies & soft serve ice cream are almost always available. My friends kids were thrilled when they discovered kids could order room service. :eek: My friends were more embarassed than anything b/c the kids didn't tip.

[MrsPete]

We tend to snack MUCH LESS on a cruise than we do at home. At home we eat small meals, but onboard we usually have a big breakfast, a lunch that often includes dessert, and then a dinner that includes appetizer or soup plus dessert. We just don't want more food.

[Happy ks]

My thought is...there is a mountain of food on every ship I've ever cruised and the last thing I would consider packing is more food. Your kids will find plenty to eat onboard a cruise ship, leave the extras at home. If the buffet is closed when they absolutely need something to eat, there is always room service.

[luckymbt]

It's my theory that if the kids are happy and content....it makes my trip better too. And I have to admit that by the end of 7 days...a bag of Lay's potato chips looks mighty good. We have cruised w/ our kids since they were 2...some mini bag salty snacks,a pop top type mini can of spag. O's, etc. go along way. In my opiniion kids need some level of comfort , esp. when they are in a mostly adult venue. I know they have the kids programs etc. but basically they are "out to dinner each nite, on their best behavior each nite etc. ...some good ole snacks or in my kids' case....A HERSHEY bar , goes along way!!!

And unless they are drinking the pool water....I wouldn't worry about them having to deal w/ "bloating.

[LBB]

I agree that there is more food than anyone could want and I really didn't feel like eating by the end of the week....BUT...I am a candy eater and it was nice to have a big bag of twizzlers and some other little things in the room. I don't really eat cookies, cake, ice cream, and typical dessert food. I liked having some candy and little snacks in the room to grab every once in a while.

[breal6]

whoaaaaaaaa Mo. back off a bit. no one asked for a lecture on parenting or obesity for that matter. the op just wanted to know if things were available, not your opinion on what they should or shouldn't feed THEIR kids. get a grip

[bobbie0253]

On the Sovereign they had small bags of Lay's available from room service. My kids snacked on Chocolate chip cookies sometimes. They hardly ever get them at home.

[Onessa]

There can be a serious aspect to "snacking" while on board.

 

A friend of mine and her family cruised Princess in Late August. Her 9YO DD had a problem with sea sickness and was on meds from the infirmary the whole trip. With the meds, changes in diet, and an underestimation of how much water she needed to drink; my friend's daughter became ill on the plane ride home. Friend at first thought it was just a reaction to the traveling, a day later when it was still just as bad, she thought it might be a bug or food poisoning. A day after that when it started to get worse - she took her daughter to the MD. Into the hospital she went for 2 full days - primarily for IV fluids.

 

She's fine but it is a lesson - not to just assume that the kids are getting "enough to eat" or "hey it's just vacation, let them do what they want". Particularly if your child is taking a med for sea sickness (even an OTC) be certain that they are drinking enough fluids ("good" fluids) and that their bathroom habits are regular.

 

We were also once next to a table when a 20-something discovered (quite dramtically) that he was allergic to shell-fish. He too was ok, but those were some scary moments.

[Nliedel]

Pizza, then there is pizza, and of course you can always get pizza.. SOft serve ICe Cream etc. You will not have to bring snacks, your son will be too full!

[Nantucketer]

Mo,

 

We live just steps from the Ocean, swim daily in the ocean(in the summer) and breath ocean air 365 days a year. Are you telling me I'm bloated, tired and lethargic because of the salt in my enviornment? Guess I'll stop dieting and move inland.........that should end all my problems.

 

Sorry, but I couldn't resist the comments. I have never heard of any link of sodium overdose from breathing salt air and of course I don't usually drink ocean water.

[camreesmom]

We are booked on the Empress next year and yes, we are also taking our kids:p

Anyway.... my one son is King of the snacks. Are there snacks available on the ships or should I pack my own, like pretzels, crackers, etc.... First time cruising and I'm not sure what to expect. I would rather be prepared. Thanks.:)

 

We just took our kids on a cruise in July and yes, there is LOTS of food on board. Our kids loved the pizza and ice cream but the snacks that we took really came in handy on our port days. We took individual size pringles so we didn't have to worry about them getting crushed. Also took fruit snacks and some non chocolate candies (so we wouldn't have to worry about them melting). It is hard to find stuff for the kids to eat at the beach in Cozumel. It also saved us some money since we ate a big breakfast, had snacks that we packed on the beach so then we just waited to eat our big meal on the ship. The one thing that I wish we would have packed for them was some capri sun juice packs to take to the beach. Soda and bottled water can really add up on the beach. We did take a bunch of bottled water with us but I know they would have liked the capri suns. Don't take regular juice boxes because they can get soggy when you put them in an ice chest.

 

Have fun, we did and our kids loved the cruise!

[kimbo444]

Pizza is his life - that's a great idea - thank you!!!!!!

 

Kim

[kimbo444]

CamreesMom -

 

Thank you for the juice box suggestion. That's great.

 

Kim

[Onessa]

When our DD was younger, and HAD to have milk, we always packed milk in the juice box packaging. Does not require refrigeration (sure does taste better if it is cold when you drink it though!). While milk isn't too hard to come by on board, the boxes have come in handy pre and post cruise, and in a few ports (we had the hardest time finding milk on shore excusions in Italy for example).

 

Hersheys sells plain milk and chocolate milk (they also have some chocolate "drinks" packaged similarly - be careful to get what you want). All summer we froze and packed "Scooby Doo" brand flavored milk in the same type packaging (they have strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla).

[redcat72]

I don't have any kids, but I do love to snack :D . I did a search for "microwave" and "popcorn" already and didn't come up with any answers in the RC forum. Does anyone know if there is a microwave you can use on the ship to make some microwave popcorn in the evening? Thanks!