First Time Sailing With A 15 Month Old

[panda24]

DH and I will be sailing with our daughter in June to Alaska. She will be 15 mo at time of sailing. Both sets of grandparents are going as well. It will be my in-laws first cruise, but multiple times for myself, DH, and my parents.

 

We chose Alaska so we'd still be in the US (mainly for my in-laws, not our daughter). Also, it allows DH and I the option of skipping excursions since we've been before.

 

So a few questions:

 

1. Did you take a car seat? If you schedule transfers on the NCL buses, can you anchor a car seat? Same for excursions.

 

2. Are you able to request a play pen for LO or did you allow them to sleep with you?

 

3. Any other helpful tips?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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[Fido Chuckwagon]

DH and I will be sailing with our daughter in June to Alaska. She will be 15 mo at time of sailing. Both sets of grandparents are going as well. It will be my in-laws first cruise, but multiple times for myself, DH, and my parents.

 

We chose Alaska so we'd still be in the US (mainly for my in-laws, not our daughter). Also, it allows DH and I the option of skipping excursions since we've been before.

 

So a few questions:

 

1. Did you take a car seat? If you schedule transfers on the NCL buses, can you anchor a car seat? Same for excursions.

 

2. Are you able to request a play pen for LO or did you allow them to sleep with you?

 

3. Any other helpful tips?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

My wife and I cruised with our 9 m.o. in June on the Gem. We didn't take a car seat but if we had it to do all over again we would, because we were very limited on what we could do in port. You can request a pack and play, which we did.

[hunterjackson]

We've done this specific thing in Alaska. Only we had a 3 year old with us as well and we brought my in laws (first cruise).

 

We have also taken them multiple times to the caribbean at different ages from the oldest when he was 10 mos old to as recent as 4 and 2. Never have brought a car seat.

 

We did not take a car seat for either.

 

Being in the USA, most rental companies etc have car seats.

 

We rented a car in Skagway through Avis. No problems with 2 car seats reserved ahead.

 

Rented a car in Juneau, once again, no problems. (car rental at the port, used to be rent a wreck).

 

Ketchikan - Went fishing and didn't use a car.

 

walked around victoria. Didn't use a car.

[gymbomb]

DH and I will be sailing with our daughter in June to Alaska. She will be 15 mo at time of sailing. Both sets of grandparents are going as well. It will be my in-laws first cruise, but multiple times for myself, DH, and my parents.

 

We chose Alaska so we'd still be in the US (mainly for my in-laws, not our daughter). Also, it allows DH and I the option of skipping excursions since we've been before.

 

So a few questions:

 

1. Did you take a car seat? If you schedule transfers on the NCL buses, can you anchor a car seat? Same for excursions.

 

2. Are you able to request a play pen for LO or did you allow them to sleep with you?

 

3. Any other helpful tips?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

We took a car seat on one cruise (because we needed it on plane, the day before the cruise, and for post-cruise travel -- I would never trust a rented car seat because you just don't know if it's been in an accident or handled improperly) but not the other (where we drove to port and left it in our car). We chose excursions that did not require a car seat. Things that used walking, busses, or boats for transportation. You cannot use car seats in busses unless they have seatbelts, which most do not.

 

First cruise at 10 months we requested a pack n play and my son slept just fine in it. Second cruise at 2.25 years we took our own pack n play since we drove there but he absolutely refused to lay down in it. He just stood there and cried. For a very long time. So he ended up sleeping with us, which he never does at home. It worked fine.

 

Take disposable bibs. Take any baby medicine you might possibly ever need. Take more diapers and wipes than you think you need plus small trash bags to tie the dirty ones up in. Take a small stroller. If you ever wear your child, take your baby carrier. I used it a TON on both of our cruises. So much easier for getting on/off ship, buffet, and some excursions. We took both sets of grandparents on our first cruise and one set on our second. Each time we were able to get a couple of dinners/shows to ourselves. We were also able to get 1 port day to ourselves to do things we couldn't do with baby. The rest of the time we did some stuff with the grandparents and some stuff just us.

 

One thing that worked well on our last cruise was that we had a couple of days where my parents took our son to the buffet for dinner while we ate early at a specialty restaurant, then we met up and took our son back so my parents could go to a later dinner on their own. We all ate together most of the other days.

 

Take a few favorite toys/books, but they have a room of toys where you can go play with your child (or have grandparents go play with child) and it's open from like 9-9 every day. So you don't have to haul a ton of toys with you.

[SuperMommy]

Pay attention to that last paragraph and look for the guppies program I think it's called. You will find that playroom a welcome respite as will your child as they can let loose and play and they are open all day. Note: it's not a drop off program but a playroom for families with little ones to use. They will usually have one activity planned per day for that age group too - once it was finger paint with all-natural organic paint which my nephew loved.

 

 

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[Apsalar]

We're going on the Jewel in November and our daughter will be 22 months. We're driving to the port so we'll bring both our car seat and pack and play with us. I'm looking forward to the Guppies room to give her a place to play, but she loves exploring new places and there's no shortage of those on a ship. This will be our first cruise with her so I hope all goes well and there will be many more after.

 

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[Barb Nahoumi]

I recommend bringing an umbrella stroller, because the ships corridors are very narrow.

 

You might want to bring a small inflatable tub, so baby can splash in it on deck next to your deck chair. They come in handy for bathing baby, by putting it on the floor of the shower stall.

[jkneern]

I second the umbrella stroller. It can be very difficult navigating halls and decks with a big stroller/carriage. You have to store it in your cabin too so keep that in mind as well. We travel with our grand babies every year, will be 3 of them this time and although the double stroller would work best for us, it wont for the ship so we'll take 2.