slplisa Posted August 23, 2006 #1 Share Posted August 23, 2006 We are about to book a 5 day cruise on RC Explorer of the Seas for 10/1/06. Our son will be about 6 1/2 months old. Right now he goes to bed around 6:30. What should we do about our dinner seating? My husband's parents will be on the cruise also. Should we each do different seatings so that someone can stay with the baby or should we eat together and bring him along? If we bring the baby, what seating do you think is best? I'm afraid he'll be cranky if we go to the early dinner, but I'm worried that he won't be able to sleep in the stroller if we bring him with us. Also, if we dine separately that probably means that my husband's parents won't be able to see any shows because they'll be babysitting. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally1J Posted August 24, 2006 #2 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hi, sorry I cannot offer any advice but I would be very interested to hear what others recomend. We are cruising on Century this Saturday with our 8 month old and so far plan to take him with us for the early sitting. At home in the Uk he goes to bed about 7.30pm which will be 8.30pm in Amsterdam and Norway I think so I am hoping he will just push himself forward an hour. We then plan to arrange in cabin baby sitting from 9pm 3 or 4 nights so that DH and I can watch a show or have a drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julienatul Posted August 24, 2006 #3 Share Posted August 24, 2006 We cruised with our 7 month old in April and did late seating. She goes to bed around 730 8 ish so we did her bath/bedtime routine and put her to sleep in the reclined stroller with a rayshade canopy extender covering it. She did great and slept through every meal! Now we are cruising this fall she will be a year and we are wondering which seating to book this time as she is older. Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted August 24, 2006 #4 Share Posted August 24, 2006 My children usually go to bed at 7pm. But we still take them to early seating (even when they were as young as 7 months). There is always so much going on during dinner that we are easily able to keep our kids entertained. Especially when there is extended family as well. Then after dinnner (when the kids were that young), we would head back and put the kids to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNSHINEONME Posted August 24, 2006 #5 Share Posted August 24, 2006 I am not sure if I will be of any help or not, but we leave in 31 days and are taking our 4 girls with us at sailing they will be 8, 3, 21 months, and 6 months. We scheduled Late seating, so that we can dine with the kids if need be elsewhere. We plan on hiring a sitter 4 nights or so also, so if the kids arent up to it we can still do dinner in the dinning room. I know all of my girls slept wonderfully in our stroller, and the shade I saw someone mention in a pp sounds very Kewl. I think I will pick one up just in case. We felt the early seating would just be too hard, on the kids mostly the 3 yo and 21 MO so thats why we opted for the late. Wish us luck, My parents are joining us as well, so the we have help. I am sure it will go perfectly whichever you decide to do, its such a fun age!! blessings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerif Posted August 25, 2006 #6 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Unfortunately, OP is sailing on RCCL where the minimum age for in-room sitting is 1 year. So, I guess I would recommend trying early seating - if the baby gets cranky, one of the parents could take him back to the cabin and either take the rest of their meal to go or get room service. Not sure when the cruise is scheduled for, but you could practice putting the baby to sleep in a stroller at home and see how he does in a local restaurant. Shows are often scheduled so late seating diners see their show while early seating is eating, so if the baby won't sleep in the stroller, it's likely that someone won't be seeing many shows regardless of which seating you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted August 25, 2006 #7 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I am not sure if I will be of any help or not, but we leave in 31 days and are taking our 4 girls with us at sailing they will be 8, 3, 21 months, and 6 months. We scheduled Late seating, so that we can dine with the kids if need be elsewhere. We plan on hiring a sitter 4 nights or so also, so if the kids arent up to it we can still do dinner in the dinning room. I know all of my girls slept wonderfully in our stroller, and the shade I saw someone mention in a pp sounds very Kewl. I think I will pick one up just in case.We felt the early seating would just be too hard, on the kids mostly the 3 yo and 21 MO so thats why we opted for the late. Wish us luck, My parents are joining us as well, so the we have help. I am sure it will go perfectly whichever you decide to do, its such a fun age!! blessings Sunshineonme - are you aware that RCCL has changed the minimum age for in cabin sitting to 1 years old? The information has changed on the site. And the pp mentions the same thing. JUst wanted to make sure you were aware of that since you were planning to use it. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merela Posted August 25, 2006 #8 Share Posted August 25, 2006 We are about to book a 5 day cruise on RC Explorer of the Seas for 10/1/06. Our son will be about 6 1/2 months old. Right now he goes to bed around 6:30. What should we do about our dinner seating? My husband's parents will be on the cruise also. Should we each do different seatings so that someone can stay with the baby or should we eat together and bring him along? If we bring the baby, what seating do you think is best? I'm afraid he'll be cranky if we go to the early dinner, but I'm worried that he won't be able to sleep in the stroller if we bring him with us. Also, if we dine separately that probably means that my husband's parents won't be able to see any shows because they'll be babysitting. Any advice? If you are in the same time zone (where you live and where you are cruising), then go to the early seating. If you are on a different time zone, you will need to go to the late seating. If your baby can sleep in his stroller, just bring the stroller into the dining room and the baby can sleep in it while the adults eat. When I was still breastfeeding my son, I would breastfeed him discretely (since we were seated with family members, so no problem there) and just put him down in the stroller after he had fallen asleep. The stroller is the recling kind and has a big canopy on top. So I draped a windbreaker over the canopy and the windbreaker served as a noise and light barrier. I don't know if RCCL has freestyle dining. But when we go on Princess cruises, we would choose their anytime dining, but we would make reservations at 6pm for every night. But since we had anytime dining, if our kids are still napping or if they want to eat earlier or later, we can cancel our reservation and eat according to the children's schedule. Once he starts solid food, just train him to sit in a highchair, even when you are home, so he'll be used to sitting in highchairs during meal time. I will remove the baby from the dining room if he cries for more time 2 minutes. I've had to do it a few times during our 4 cruises. I leave with my son and go back to our room. Although some cruises won't let you take food out of their dining rooms, but some waiters will wrap up the food for you and let you take it back into your room to eat it. But our kids would sleep well in their strollers, so it really hasn't been a big problem eating in the dining room. We've always eaten our dinners in formal dining rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNSHINEONME Posted August 26, 2006 #9 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Sunshineonme - are you aware that RCCL has changed the minimum age for in cabin sitting to 1 years old? The information has changed on the site. And the pp mentions the same thing. JUst wanted to make sure you were aware of that since you were planning to use it. :( OH NO!!! Thank you so much, I am new to the boards, and so far its been such a big help!!! I thought I had read that back when we booked, and I read somewhere on the boards that it was six months, so no I have to rethink everything....we are sailing 9/24 on the Freedom I am tickled to say..... we lucked out and got the presidential family suite, so at least I can spend time in the hot tub on deck at night if nothing else..peeehehee .. I don't know now what to think but I was told by a few friends who cruise ALLOT that when we board we can check and see if any of the staff are willing to watch a infant under the age requirements, and its very possible it wont be an issue? does anyone know about this kind of thing first hand??? I am just not sure what to think.... thanks for the info!!! ttfn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitlinsmama Posted August 27, 2006 #10 Share Posted August 27, 2006 We just got back from our cruise with my 21 month old daughter. We did early seating and only missed out on one dinner because she was too fussy to take. The other days she was fine as long as there was something going on like bread to eat, people to talk to, servers to entertain her. I would not have done the late seating because she probably would have been very fussy due to being tired. Keep in mind that a cruise could change sleeping schedules and normal routines for the time that you are on the cruise. My daughter went to bed later then normal which was fine... We just got back yesterday and she went to bed at a normal time so I think we are back on track already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerif Posted August 28, 2006 #11 Share Posted August 28, 2006 ".. I don't know now what to think but I was told by a few friends who cruise ALLOT that when we board we can check and see if any of the staff are willing to watch a infant under the age requirements, and its very possible it wont be an issue? does anyone know about this kind of thing first hand??? I am just not sure what to think.... thanks for the info!!!" Of course, it is up to you, but I'm thinking that an employee who would sneak behind his/her employer's back and do something against the rules would not be a person with whom I would want to leave my baby. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNSHINEONME Posted September 7, 2006 #12 Share Posted September 7, 2006 ".. I don't know now what to think but I was told by a few friends who cruise ALLOT that when we board we can check and see if any of the staff are willing to watch a infant under the age requirements, and its very possible it wont be an issue? does anyone know about this kind of thing first hand??? I am just not sure what to think.... thanks for the info!!!" Of course, it is up to you, but I'm thinking that an employee who would sneak behind his/her employer's back and do something against the rules would not be a person with whom I would want to leave my baby. Just a thought. OH NO NO!!! I must explain, thats not at all what I meant. I was told ALL the babysitters, are paid in Cash,because and it is theirs to keep, (siters are OA regular staff) They do the in cabin sitting for extra cash, in their off time. If they have staff that are educated and comfortable sitting with a child under 12 m and they would be willing to stay wth a younger child, than you can hire them on a night by night basis kinda thing. My understanding is that it all on the Up and Up, just left upto the Sitter themselves. I really dont know how or even if this is true, Its just what friends told us. I would really like to know more before we bored the ship if anyone has heard of anything liek this. thank you thank you:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l929 Posted September 7, 2006 #13 Share Posted September 7, 2006 OH NO NO!!! I must explain, thats not at all what I meant. I was told ALL the babysitters, are paid in Cash,because and it is theirs to keep, (siters are OA regular staff) They do the in cabin sitting for extra cash, in their off time. If they have staff that are educated and comfortable sitting with a child under 12 m and they would be willing to stay wth a younger child, than you can hire them on a night by night basis kinda thing. My understanding is that it all on the Up and Up, just left upto the Sitter themselves. I really dont know how or even if this is true, Its just what friends told us. I would really like to know more before we bored the ship if anyone has heard of anything liek this. thank you thank you:) We were on the Explorer a couple of months ago and I requested the babysitter through the concierge before we left via e-mail. We booked late seating and my kids then 15 months and almost 3 would never make it so I knew we needed the sitter even on the first night. Initially he responded they cant arrange a sitter the first night, but after begging he said he found someone. So, my point is that they can arrange anything, and I kind of felt that it was unofficial b/c I never signed anything, on a past Celebrity cruise we had to sign a form every night to confirm what time the sitter left. The sitter this time also had to leave at 12 each night which was strange. I think you said are in the PFS (lucky!) so use the concierge. E-mail him about a week before, I found the email on these boards somehow for Explorer which was Ex_concierge@rccl.com for Freedom might be Fr_concierge@rccl.com and see what you can work out. I think when they hear they will get to hang out in the PFS for a couple of nights, they will be willing to watch your baby! Good luck! I think in room babysitting makes the cruise, that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNSHINEONME Posted September 9, 2006 #14 Share Posted September 9, 2006 We were on the Explorer a couple of months ago and I requested the babysitter through the concierge before we left via e-mail. We booked late seating and my kids then 15 months and almost 3 would never make it so I knew we needed the sitter even on the first night. Initially he responded they cant arrange a sitter the first night, but after begging he said he found someone. So, my point is that they can arrange anything, and I kind of felt that it was unofficial b/c I never signed anything, on a past Celebrity cruise we had to sign a form every night to confirm what time the sitter left. The sitter this time also had to leave at 12 each night which was strange. I think you said are in the PFS (lucky!) so use the concierge. E-mail him about a week before, I found the email on these boards somehow for Explorer which was Ex_concierge@rccl.com for Freedom might be Fr_concierge@rccl.com and see what you can work out. I think when they hear they will get to hang out in the PFS for a couple of nights, they will be willing to watch your baby! Good luck! I think in room babysitting makes the cruise, that's just me. Thank YoU!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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