Harmony questions - sailing with 7 month old

[ellie1145]

Has anyone sailed on Harmony with a baby and could help with a few questions?

 

Will they provide any sterilising equipment?

Can they provide a kettle?

 

Does anyone know the size of the cot which we will have in our cabin? Think it’s a pack and play but these can be many different sizes.

 

As the buffet is shut at 3.00 pm where can we get food for the baby at around 5pm? We are on second sitting but he will need feeding earlier. We will bring some pouches but he likes normal food too.

 

Can you borrow toys? 

 

Any help would be most gratefully received and also any suggestions about what to take.

 

Many thanks in advance. 

 

[cb at sea]

Generally, at 7 months, sterilizing isn't required.  If you're still using bottles, you might consider the disposable kind.  As far as baby food at 6am, you will want to bring what you will need.  During regular meal times, there will be plenty of "soft" or mashable foods available.

 

Yes, they do have "toy exchanges", so you're good to go there.  (of course, you will want to double check on that closer to your sail-date....covid and all, you know....things change!)  

 

There isn't alot of "baby specific" stuff on the ship, so make sure you bring all you will need...wipes, diapers, special foods, etc.

[topnole]

2 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

Has anyone sailed on Harmony with a baby and could help with a few questions?

 

Will they provide any sterilising equipment?

Can they provide a kettle?

 

Does anyone know the size of the cot which we will have in our cabin? Think it’s a pack and play but these can be many different sizes.

 

As the buffet is shut at 3.00 pm where can we get food for the baby at around 5pm? We are on second sitting but he will need feeding earlier. We will bring some pouches but he likes normal food too.

 

Can you borrow toys? 

 

Any help would be most gratefully received and also any suggestions about what to take.

 

Many thanks in advance. 

 

I think their is a forum for parents on CC.  That will probably help too.    
 

RC will provide a standard pack and play.  We started bringing our own after one was filthy and the next the bottom was broken causing a hump in the middle.  I’m guessing most are ok, we just had bad luck.  We can drive to the port so bringing our own is not hard.  Be prepared that the pack and play might not be there even though you request it.  So you may have to ask for it once you meet your cabin steward.  That happened to us even when in suites.  But one time in the cheapest cabin it was there.  Go figure.  
 

We brought a bag full of toys and a collapsible storage box to store them  16x16 inch.  With Covid I’m not sure they will have toys available and you likely won’t get current accurate info from Royal customer service.    I’d only trust info you hear from current or recent post Covid cruisers.  

Have to imagine their will be plenty of food options after 3 pm.  Don’t know the new Covid protocols and time changes due to that, but park cafe (if open) will have plenty of fruits and yogurts.  You could probably order room service if you can’t find veggies in late afternoon.  But I’d imagine there are other options besides room service.  
 

Tip.  My wife found one time bibs that are fantastic. I think at Walmart.  Very convenient for travel.  Same for sippy cups.  Those we used a few times and then in the recycling bin.  Great for a cruise.  Ask all servers to only fill any drink half way for the baby.  They like to fill em up and that causes a lot of spills.   Also, clearly explain to the server that fast service would be helpful due to the baby.  Many understand this, but many don’t.  A polite reminder can save you from a hungry crying baby.  The servers in general love babies since most of them miss their own kids a great deal.  
 

Ask your room attendant for a roll of the small garage liners for the diapers.  They will appreciate you using them and tying them up when done.  The cabin will be remain pleasant too.  

Depending on your cabin, you may want to bring a small blow up baby bath tub.  We got one for cheap and it easy to pack.  Not sure we used it much, but it was nice to know it was there as an option.   The showers are very small in non suite cabins so even holding them in the shower takes some care.  

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by topnole

[wildwanderer]

1 hour ago, ellie1145 said:

I cruised with my son at 9 months of age.  We used the insert style bottles so they were convenient.  If you need to clean you can bring dish soap and a bottle cleaner, thats what we used for the sippy type cups. They will have hot water but not boiling for sterilization.  

Can they provide a kettle?

Some cruiselines will others say it is a fire hazard.

 

Does anyone know the size of the cot which we will have in our cabin? Think it’s a pack and play but these can be many different sizes.

The one they provided was a smaller size pack and play.  It took up a lot of real estate in the cabin.

 

Food is usually available on the promenade they have sandwiches and fruit there.  We would often order a couple bananas with morning room service at the beginning of the cruise and keep in our room for him of we needed a snack. We also brought cheerios from the buffet.  We also carried favorites from home as we have a few food allergies.  

 

They used to have a preschool group that met in the morning, there was a baby play room (not 100% certain that was on Royal). 

Several of the cruise lines allowed you to order diapers and wipes pre-boarding at a premium.  We always drove to the port so just brought our own.  

There were toy exchanges but we never actually used them.  

 

I know we met a mom that ran out of diapers and had enough to share to get her through one trip. 

 

The staff doted on our little ones during their cruises.  Many have children back home they miss and would share pictures and stories about them with us.  We had a waiter who was expecting the birth of a child and would make little animals out of napkins for our son.  

The cruise experience is a great way to travel with your little ones.  My son is 11 and about to go on his 11th cruise this year.  He is almost as excited as I am and now we can take a much smaller suitcase.

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

[topnole]

As far as the kettle.  Pretty sure the answer is no unless you are in a suite.  Even then I wouldn’t count on it.  

[soozles]

The good thing is that at 7 months, solids are really more for fun, and the main source of nutrition if from the breast milk or formula. I took my then 8 month old on a celebrity cruise pre covid. I do think you can preorder some baby food jars to be in your room, but I would just bring what you need. And if there’s a day where the baby doesn’t get solids, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. 
 

you would get a standard pack and play, which should be fine for a 7 month old. Bring your own sheets, because the cruises don’t carry them, they’ll just wrap a flat sheet around it. Don’t expect them to provide sterilizing equipment or a kettle, though at 7 months they really don’t need it either. Take a little bottle of dish soap, a bottle brush, and a portable drying rack and you’re good. And you can just use regular bottled water for mixing the formula. 
 

I actually felt like it was fairly easy to be on a cruise with an 8 month old. He wasn’t mobile yet so i just pushed him around in the stroller. 

[kimmy_bos]

I travelled with both my children when they were under 1. 
 

with regards to sterilising we just took some Milton sterilising tablets on the ship and used the cabin  sink / ice bucket to sterilise the bottles. I have also used disposable bottles too.
 

we def had access to toys too via the royal tots and babies programme (but not sure if this is still around due to covid). We found the royal tots and babies service to be fab - often my daughters were the only child in - I think there was a charge of c. $10 an hour but definitely worth it. 

[Ashland]

The ships that have the Royal Babies & Tots nursery...they are open.

[GKMCruising]

Was just on Ovation with my daughter, can confirm that they're still doing the toy lending program and the Royal Babies and Tots nursery.

[brillohead]

My mind is blown that people are still sterilizing baby equipment in this day and age.... I thought that went out of fashion in the 1960s!

[topnole]

22 hours ago, soozles said:

The good thing is that at 7 months, solids are really more for fun, and the main source of nutrition if from the breast milk or formula. I took my then 8 month old on a celebrity cruise pre covid. I do think you can preorder some baby food jars to be in your room, but I would just bring what you need. And if there’s a day where the baby doesn’t get solids, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. 
 

you would get a standard pack and play, which should be fine for a 7 month old. Bring your own sheets, because the cruises don’t carry them, they’ll just wrap a flat sheet around it. Don’t expect them to provide sterilizing equipment or a kettle, though at 7 months they really don’t need it either. Take a little bottle of dish soap, a bottle brush, and a portable drying rack and you’re good. And you can just use regular bottled water for mixing the formula. 
 

I actually felt like it was fairly easy to be on a cruise with an 8 month old. He wasn’t mobile yet so i just pushed him around in the stroller. 

Good call on the sheets.  We let them put on their big sheet (which they partly fold under) and then put our sheet on top.  This created a little more padding for them.  We brought two sheets in case

of an accident or a lot  spit up.  

[topnole]

Make sure to bring swim diapers.  On Harmony the baby area is small but it is fine for a 7 month old.  They will not let kids/babies with swim diapers in the other kid pool area for obvious reasons.  At 18 months that was hard because they wanted to be in the bigger area, but at 7 months that won’t be much of an issue.  A few blow up toys would be good.  We got a few marketing freebie handouts at a local event (like the size of a tennis ball) that were blow ups and our kids loved them in the pool.  Also in the cabin for that matter.  Easy to pack and leave behind if you want when the trip is done.  

[ONECRUISER]

22 hours ago, matj2000 said:

Like the above poster noted.

 

The ship does not supply baby stuff,  It is all on you to bring along..

 

Personally I would never bring a child under 3 on a ship.

 

Due to all the excess work, time, space, money and loss of personal time involved.

 

We did not bring our kids until they were more self sustaining.

 

Have fun...

Agree, and bring extra Baby supplies just in case. We got home on 9/11/2001, glad wasnt on next Cruise away from home. Was single Parent raising 3 with youngest 2yrs old and we Cruised twice a yr. But lucky all my kids were 100% Potty Trained way before age 2. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 hours ago, brillohead said:

My mind is blown that people are still sterilizing baby equipment in this day and age....

during the pandemic I spray a lot of things with alcohol. So, yeah, in this day and age, even though my kid is 10. And we wipe the airplane seats with Lysol wipes. Also our cruise cabin gets a good wipe down with Lysol wipes.

[zekekelso]

13 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

during the pandemic I spray a lot of things with alcohol.

Even before the pandemic I was using a lot of alcohol. But we may be talking about different things. 

[brillohead]

32 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

during the pandemic I spray a lot of things with alcohol. So, yeah, in this day and age, even though my kid is 10. And we wipe the airplane seats with Lysol wipes. Also our cruise cabin gets a good wipe down with Lysol wipes.

So if you wash your dishes and silverware, you spray them with alcohol afterward?  That's what baby sterilizers are for -- bottles, nipples, pacifiers.  

If you use soap and water, there's no need to boil your baby's feeding equipment.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

54 minutes ago, brillohead said:

That's what baby sterilizers are for -- bottles, nipples, pacifiers.  

I am well aware of what they are for. Don't forget pumping equipment. I didn't say BOIL. I am a wee bit more modern and used a microwave steam sterilizer.

[brillohead]

18 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I am well aware of what they are for. Don't forget pumping equipment. I didn't say BOIL. I am a wee bit more modern and used a microwave steam sterilizer.

But.... WHY? 

My pumping equipment and baby paraphernalia all got washed just like regular dishes -- soap and water.

You don't boil the baby when you wash them in the bath... and the baby puts their hands in their mouth.  So why does baby stuff need to be "sterilized"?  (Not trying to fight, I legit don't understand the concept, and I'm a bit of a germophobe!)



 

[Tree_skier]

4 minutes ago, brillohead said:

You don't boil the baby when you wash them in the bath...

This is my favorite post of the day 🙂 

[brillohead]

7 minutes ago, brillohead said:

You don't boil the baby when you wash them in the bath...

 

3 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This is my favorite post of the day 🙂 

CORRECTION: 

You're not SUPPOSED to boil the baby when you wash them in the bath...

[Itchy&Scratchy]

57 minutes ago, brillohead said:

My pumping equipment and baby paraphernalia all got washed just like regular dishes -- soap and water.

my pumping equipment traveled to work and back daily, and also on business trips and even on a cruise. One may want to sterilize it at least once in a while.

You don't want to sterilize your stuff? Great. Don't.

One may want to bring a baby who stuffs everything in their mouth and crawls on the floor a lot on a cruise during a pandemic, but others don't. One may want to sterilize bottles while cruising, but is ok using a shared pool of toys with other kids who stuff everything in their mouth. It's their prerogative to consider one activity a high risk, but not the other.

 

[mjkacmom]

9 hours ago, brillohead said:

My mind is blown that people are still sterilizing baby equipment in this day and age.... I thought that went out of fashion in the 1960s!

I never sterilized anything, had 5 babies, our pediatrician said babies need clean, not sterile.

[death_star]

Coming from the UK you're going to be much better off buying consumables locally before boarding rather than bringing them with you. Unless you are very particular about brands or flavors. 

 

Stockpile what you can for food from the restaurants and room service when they're open for these off hours. 

 

We brought bottle soap and a little drying rack/ brush kit with us and washed all bottles and pump parts in the bathroom sink. 

 

Also did magnetic hooks and shower curtain to hang from the ceiling to wrap around the pack and play during sleep.

[Ashland]

13 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

I never sterilized anything, had 5 babies, our pediatrician said babies need clean, not sterile.

5 children and now 11 grandchildren and their all alive and healthy