Alaska cruising with babies - ages 1 and 4

[TravlnStyle3]

@chinita415 how do you like the GB pockit? I’m thinking about getting the newest one that reclines for this trip. 

[chinita415]

3 hours ago, TravlnStyle3 said:

@chinita415 how do you like the GB pockit? I’m thinking about getting the newest one that reclines for this trip. 

So far so good. Not as sturdy as other umbrella stroller but understandable because it needs to fold down. We used the Summer Infant in Singapore recently and it was a PITA trying to fit all luggage and long stroller in taxis. With the Pockit Plus this trip, much easier and goes in overhead  bin. I wanted the original but too cheap and I wanted recline. This does the job and baby naps fine in it.  Read Amazon reviews. Kids tend to slouch. I use a caranbiner on top handle to yank the pull string tighter. Not perfect but better. Able to do diaper change even if not fully reclined like my Summer Infant. I got it for under $200 from Buy Buy Baby online with a 20%off coupon that you can get easily. Cheaper than Amazon. 

[pettums]

Key advise is to rent your own car in each destination where possible. It just makes things a lot easier and gives you more flexibility. 

[riki]

On 2/13/2019 at 4:11 AM, Jlk88 said:

 

So, I've never been on Princess, but my family of 4 is cruising in a carnival interior cabin in 2 weeks. My baby is 11 months and daughter is 3.5. We requested a crib for the baby, and the plan for 3.5 year old is to sleep in the upper Pullman. She has slept in a regular twin bed since age 2 with no rail so I'm not worried. If she doesn't like it we will put my husband up there instead.

At 4 and 1 you guys could do a similar arrangement.

your child might have slept in a bed with no rail. but this is a ship that might rock during the night and that is very dangerous.

My 7 year old fell out of the bed and thankfully our beds were placed under his bunk so that the child fell onto our bed. 

[Jlk88]

7 hours ago, riki said:

your child might have slept in a bed with no rail. but this is a ship that might rock during the night and that is very dangerous.

My 7 year old fell out of the bed and thankfully our beds were placed under his bunk so that the child fell onto our bed. 

Our cruise was almost 4 months ago and she did great in the upper bunk. There was a rail on it. 1 year old alternated between the crib and our bed.

[honeymooner16]

If you don't need the car seat anywhere else....You can take the train from the airport to downtown Seattle and then the free bus to the cruise port. My husband and I did this with our cruise luggage for our honeymoon a few years ago. The train is right in the airport and there were many people doing the same thing that morning. 

 

We babywear and took our 14 month old to Hawaii without a stroller (needed the carseat that trip as we rented cars and drove for several excursions). 

 

Alaska is amazing and most of the towns are completely walkable. If you do a shore excursion, you'll be on a bus or van so won't need the seat. There is a train in one of the towns (Skagway?) - little ones would get a real kick out of that. 

 

You'll have a great time! Alaska is amazing and cruising with kids really isn't hard. 

[ToniV]

On 2/21/2019 at 5:45 PM, grg said:

Hi, I've done this trip twice once with a 9 month old and then again with his brother when they were 1 and 3.

 

First off the boys were treated fabulously by the crew!  I was surprised how many would want to talk or interact with our kids.  You tend to forget they have lives outside the ship and are missing their own families.

The first time we had a mini suite and a crib.  plenty of room for the 3 of us.  We called Princess ahead of time and they arranged baby food for us.  We were asked what he liked to eat and how much before the trip and on embarkation met with the Maître de to confirm.  He asked if we wanted it in our cabin or to be brought out at meals.

 

Second time we did an inside.  The boys (1&3) loved the bunk beds.  the room wasn't too crowded as they were small.  Both boys ate off he children's menu this time.(the absolutely best chicken strips in the world!)  Again the crew was wonderful. We had fixed dinning and the wait staff took excellent care of us. having a little snack at the table ready for our boys, and other little things like that. 

 

Some of my thoughts:

-Get a good "umbrella" stroller the compact folding kind. Our first trip we had his full size one and it took up a lot of space in the mini suite.

-The provided baby food was great, cut down on packing.

-The buffet was good always found something for our picky eater.  At dinner fixed dinning  with the same waiters was great. 

-The kids club was not operating on our second cruise. Not enough children but they let us use the rooms. They had Legos, balls, trikes, a play room.

-As for packing "baby" stuff there are normal stores in Ketchikan and Juneau  for getting things if you run out.

-My wife and I are both from Alaska and I spent a lot of time in S.E. Alaska  and my mother lived in Ketchikan (reason for cruise #1) so we just walked around the ports with our boys.  There was enough to keep them and us interested.

-For naps we took turns in the cabin.

-Both are potty trained and we went to a pool everyday and played.  It's an Alaskan cruise so the pools are pretty deserted!

-With kids your daily cruise routine is changed it is still fun but just different.

-Traveling with family is nice because you have built in help. my wife's parents were with us and took the boys for a night or two so we could be out late.  

-I have to say I talked with more cruise staff on these cruises than on any of my previous ones.  I usually talk to them anyway but I found them to initiate conversation more when my boys were present.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time. It is a different cruise experience when you have small children. 

 

Be sure to tell us how it went.

 

 

 

Are you saying you had a one year old son who was toilet trained and entered the  cruise ship pool?

[grg]

Yes

 

[ToniV]

I don't believe that a one-year-old is toilet-trained. And neither does anyone else.