Tips for parents of infants and toddlers cruisin' on an M-Class ship

[flagger]

How about a thread of tips for parents of an infant or toddler who will be cruising on an M-class ship? It would be nice to have this as a reference instead of a thread telling parents to leave their kids at home, with grandparents or to bring a nanny.

 

For background, Ms. Flagger and I have taken our DD (Dear Daughter) on Celebrity's Infinity twice when she was 15 months and again when she was 2.5 years old. She has also cruised on RCCL at 19 months and 3.5 years old. Anyway, here are some of ours:

 

1. If they are walking, forgo the crib/pack-n-play and bring a collapsible bedrail. It can be inserted in under the cushions of the sofa bed which can be made up as a bed. It is a much better use of space in a tight cabin.

 

2. If you must use the crib/pack-n-play, bring your own sheets. It will be a source of comfort to your child to have familiar sheets with their own feel and smell against their sleeping body.

 

3. If you have the means, book at least a balcony. You will appreciate being able to have a place to go while your child takes a nap.

 

4. Speaking of, you will not be keeping your child's normal schedule exactly, but have some space booked daily for naps. We would do excursions in the morning and I would come back to the cabin for a nap while Ms. Flagger shopped.

 

5. The basketball court on M-class ships are enclosed. Perfect area to let a toddler run around without getting in anyone's way. In the evenings they were never used (on our cruises) and it was a safe place to let our DD run off energy without her getting in anyone's way or without her able to get very far away from us.

 

6. Take the seating that works best for your body time. It might mean late seating if you are coming from the East Coast to a west coast cruise. Or if you eat late normally than stick to that. There are plenty of opportunities for snacks throughout the day.

 

7. Celebrity has in-cabin babysitting for $8.50 an hour. Book it when you first board and request the same person each night. We had ours come early the first night to tune in our internal parental radar and let them get to know one another.

 

8. Be prepared to eat separately if you bring your child to the dining room if you cannot get your child settled. One needs to remove your child as to not disturb other diners. The same goes for the theatre.

 

9. Many crew and staff will dote on your child as they have children at home who they miss terribly. Be prepared that your child might be whisked away by a waiter or his assistant whilst you finish your meal.

 

10. You are a parent 24/7 and it doesn't stop once you go on vacation and bring you child(ren) with you. But relax, it is meals prepared for you all day and all night and you get your room cleaned freshened twice a day if you desire.

 

Anyone who have cruised with kids have tips to add?

[stemit1]

Excellent post.....

While I have yet to take my two little ones with us on a cruise we will be doing so next year and you have some excellent thoughts there.

 

Thanks again.

[Drew B]

Go in with the expectation that it is your child's cruise, not yours. You will still be able to have a lot of enjoyment, both vicariously through your child as well as during times when your child is napping or sleeping. It will not be the same as a cruise where you are not dealing with a little one, though. If you go in expecting it to be YOUR cruise, you are bound to be disappointed.

[Bababooey Land]

great thread flagger and thanks for the tips.

 

i am leaving in a couple days on a 12 night celebrity cruise with my 19 month old son. I will report back any tips. until then..

 

Larry

[CruiserRev]

Have cruised twice with our daughter....at 9 months and 15 months. At 9 months she awoke several times during the night (which she never does at home), and knew we were in the room and wanted to stay up and play. She's happy except when you try to force her to sleep against her will, so on these nights I took her up on deck and let her talk and play until she wore herself out. Also, at 9 months she still needed 2 naps daily, which made excursions or sightseeing nearly impossible. It was still a great trip. 15 months was much better for everyone. First of all, she slept great every night--even with constantly fluctuating time zones. It's amazing how everyone celebrates when you get that extra hour of sleep going west, but all I could think of was how I hoped she wouldn't wake up too early because of it. Likewise, never before has losing the hour of sleep coming east been so delightful, because we knew that waking early wouldn't be a problem. The best tip I can offer isn't possible for everyone--we brought a dear friend of the family to serve as our daughter's "manny" for the 2 weeks. At night, we used the ship's babysitting, and our friend was at dinner with us. At other times, he helped us take care of her, especially in the evening--he would take her to dinner while my wife and I got ready for the show & dinner. We gave him breaks so he could have fun, too. The best was in Maui, when he watched her for the day so we could go snorkeling. A Hawaiian cruise is great for those with kids, because you can rent a car and drive where you want to go, and thus work with your child's schedule and not frustrate anyone with fussiness. For toddlers, the M class ships have a room in the fun factory for them to play in, and toys that you can check out during the cruise. It was great for our daughter, except that they occasionally closed to take the older kids on activities around the ship. Our cabin steward emptied the mini bar in the fridge, and kept us stocked with milk and juices. She even washed bottles and sippy cups for us, too. A couple of tips on the babysitting--ask right away when you board...not everyone got their requests filled on our cruise, and schedule yourself for late sitting--most of those who take babysitting shifts are still working during early sitting, and you'll likely have your request turned down. Don't let having little ones discourage you from cruising on Celebrity--we had a wonderful time, and wish we were going back tomorrow.

[spearmint]

An interesting thread. Here is one for the parent. Talk to your child by all means but do not presume that everyone around is interested in your toddler. One guy came out to the aft deck almost every morning with his cute little boy while mummy went for a workout. The child was just fine. It was the father who kept up a loud, running conversation with the child, so that everyone around his tabel could hear his comments. e.g. "What would you like, Jack? Some cereal? Would you like some cereal? How about a pancake? Some cereal, Jack? Want some milk?" and on and on.... He was just so proud of what he had produced that he wanted everyone to notice his offspring. (The child it should be noted, said absolutelly nothing!) It was very annoying.

[Eclipsepearl]

Hope you don't mind those of us lurking who are on Century Class ships lol!

 

The M-classes had too early sailings in the Med for us so we're on the Galaxy Aug. 3rd. Wish we had had the choice!

 

Can't add any cruising tips but for those of you flying, this might be useful;

http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com

[flagger]

In 2004, we were able to check out a treasure chest of toys from the Fun Factory to take back to our room. We played with it in cabin until one item when under the glass partition of our balcony. Luckily it fell on Deck 4 and not into the drink. The treasure chest went back after then.

 

In 2006, we were able to play with her in the Fun Factory as there were very few kids on board.

 

We had a table to ourselves on both our cruises. We were next to a window. While we normally do not allow our child out of her chair during dinner, we were able to let her watch out the window while we ate which kept her from running around the dining room.

 

Those Celebrity breadsticks were great for a teething child!!!

[rebeccalouise]

You will be fine- schedule the late seating for dinner- that way the baby can be in the cabin with a sitter and probably asleep

[chessbriar]

Thanks for the thread Flagger. I am cruising with my 21 month old in November. It should be a new experience. We are bringing along a set of grandparents to help in caring for her.

[Sky Sweet]

Thanks, Flagger, for the tips. What a great idea for a thread. We will be taking a Thanksgiving Cruise, on a different cruise line, that will include our infant granddaughter, and have found your post to be very helpful :)

[Epperbiker]

Great tips here. Our 3 year old will embark on his 4th cruise this September and we've enjoyed them all. We've never expected to be able to do many adult things away from him... just enjoyed spending family time at sea.

 

People sometimes make the comment that a young child "won't remember anything" about the cruise. - Ignore them. What do I care if my 2 year old remembers specific events!? It's the combined exposure to all kinds of different things that make the kid.

[dkjretired]

As someone who has taken my kids on many cruises covering all ages, it is good to get excellent tips. Although I recommend it for everyone, I highly recommend getting to the port a day early when traveling with children. It just makes the first and second days so much easier for both the kids and parents.

[wellesley1]

Thank you for the interesting posts! We are taking our first cruise to Alaska on Celebrity Infinity this summer with our 4 year old and 23 month old. Does anyone know what the swimming pool options are, given their ages and the fact that we are going to be in Alaska (ie is there a covered pool that kids can use, or is the pool well heated?)

Also, does anyone have knowledge about how Celebrity is in accomodating people with nut allergies?

[junglejane]

Also, does anyone have knowledge about how Celebrity is in accomodating people with nut allergies?

 

We went to Alaska on the Infinity last August. Our 10 year old daughter has a peanut allergy. Our TA took care of notifying Celebrity for us. When we arrived in our stateroom, there was a note acknowledging that they had been notified of a dietary restriction. When we went to our first dinner, the maitre d' came over to our table and asked who had the food allergy. He made sure the waiters were aware of it. They tried hard to be helpful and were always more than willing to check with the kitchen when we had questions about ingredients.

 

As a parent of a child with a nut allergy, I actually felt more comfortable on the cruise than in other situations, like birthday parties, field trips, etc. I felt that the DR staff took the issue seriously. Of course I carried an Epipen with me just in case, and they do have a medical center.

 

As our daughter gets older, she is more and more interested in trying new foods, especially on a cruise. We try to be cautious, but not over protective.

 

If you want more feedback on this, you might want to start a new thread either here or in the Family Cruising forum.

--Junglejane

[GORDONCHICK]

Thank you for the interesting posts! We are taking our first cruise to Alaska on Celebrity Infinity this summer with our 4 year old and 23 month old. Does anyone know what the swimming pool options are, given their ages and the fact that we are going to be in Alaska (ie is there a covered pool that kids can use, or is the pool well heated?)

 

The pools are not heated at all, as they are sea water. And swim diapers are not allowed in the pools (Infinity doesn't have a kiddie pool) or hot tubs.

[claud925]

The only covered pool on Infinity (and all M-class ships) is in the spa and is for adults only.

[caviargal]

And swim diapers are not allowed in the pools (Infinity doesn't have a kiddie pool) or hot tubs.

 

Swim diapers are prohibited by CDC regulations, FYI. It is not just a cruise line rule.

[flagger]

IIRC, they opened it up to children on one of the sea days during our Alaska trip. It might have been the day at Hubbard Glacier.

 

There were people in the ourdoor pools almost every day of our trip in September 04.

[rebeccalouise]

There is a kiddy pool at the back of the Fun Factory but I don't know if they allow swim diapers. It is in the shade and frankly to cold for my son to enjoy. He went in it once when he was 4 and never went back. In fact, he didn't enjoy the big pool on the ship until he was 5. He avoided it because it was saltwater, too deep to stand up in and the water tends to slosh back and forth.

 

As far as kid pools go, the ones on Royal Caribbean are better but still potty training is required.

[flagger]

Only child or rotten to the core? It is a sickness I tell you, a sickness. She is going to expect more and more and more with each celebration.

 

I found this $100 less than retail at Sam's:

 

http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1336&stp2ssid=C4DE3984-1143-E489-2DF9BE14018FB515

 

Bought it for her birthday. The one on display then went down another $50. However we felt it was worth the money to not have 1000's of germy hands all over a playhouse and keep the new one.

 

Then I saw on ad on tv last night for Big Lots! who had an inflatable water slide for $199, so I went and bought it. Laura however looked at the quality of it and said, you know that one at Costco $399 looks far cooler and much more durable.

 

So there I was today getting this:

 

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11202877&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&s=1

 

SPOILED ROTTEN I TELL YOU.

 

Did I mention we are going to Niagara Falls next weekend?