Sailing the Elation with an 11-month old

[Baxter]

I had read this forum intently before cruising because we were a little paranoid sailng with our little one (11 months). I wanted to report back with our experiences.

 

First, we had no expectations for this cruise. Our preference was to be able to eat in the dining room without disrupting other diners. We didn't expect to go to the shows or other activities. We basicaly wanted some prime bonding time with our daughter, be able to walk around the ports, and enjoy walking around the ship.

 

Overall, we had a fabulous time! We were curious to see how she would adjust to the ship, but there were no issues with the ship. What she didn't adjust to was the time change. We live in CST, so the 2 hour time difference was a challenge. Every morning she was up at 5am, bright-eyed and ready to party. So one of us had to do the early morning shift of pushing the stroller around the ship. And you had to be semi-conscious because when you travel with a little one, everyone talks to you, and everyone wants to touch the baby (that took a little getting used to). So we met a bunch of people and the staff were outstanding in terms of their attention to her.

 

Our first stop on the ship was to the dining room to try and ensure that we were seated with "family-friendly diners". IOW, we wanted to either be seated alone, or with others who had children. We were seated with a wonderful family -- Mom, 7-year old daughter and 10-year old son. We couldn't have had better dinner companions. Our daughter handled the long dinner well...we just fed her in courses like we were eating (she still eats baby food so we had brought all of our own stuff). What she didn't like was the "showtime" in the dining room...too loud! So after the first night, we simply made sure to leave before the entertainment started.

 

We took a Peg Perago Aria stroller...was perfect for the ship and did fine in the ports as well. We also used our Baby Bjorn A LOT!

 

We brought a portable high chair, as we weren't sure what kind of high chairs they had (she needs a full seat for support and a table tray). No problem -- that's what they had (though the trays seemed hard to find).

 

The crib was a crib (as opposed to a pack and play), which fit just fine into our inside cabin (it was the largest inside we've ever stayed in!). But she didn't adjust well to the new sleeping quarters. For our next cruise in December we're going to haul our pack and play (she had never slept in our bed before the cruise, but she kept waking through the night and we would have to bring her into our bed -- normally she sleeps through the night, no issues).

 

That's all I can think to report on for now. If you have questions, ask away!

[sas80]

Thanks for the detailed report.

 

Babies are so funny! Ours had no issues with sleeping in the pak n play what so ever. He also slept like a rock!

 

One thing we did worry about was the time change, but we did like you did and stuck to our original schedule. This meant he now went to bed at 8:30 and slept till 7, instead of going to bed at 7:30 and sleeping till 6.

 

When we travel to the west coast we simply do a big adjustment. He stays up until 10:30 pm Texas time, 7:30 pm Cali time, and he is able to sleep thru until 6 am without issues.

 

LOL, we have been very conscientious to breed a sleeper! =-)

 

Curious - why didn't you get a sitter to watch your baby while you went to the dining room?

 

I was able to arrange with RCCL to provide me pureed food for all his meals. Carnival doesnt do that?

[Baxter]

We deliberately chose not to get a sitter. For us, cruising is a family-bonding experience so I wouldn't feel right leaving her with a sitter. (That said, we barely leave her with my parents so I really would be uncomfortable leaving her with strangers!). No judgements about those who do, it's just not our thing. (And now that I think about it, I believe babysitting for those under 2 was only available starting at 10pm with some small window of time available during the day on port days)

 

I'm sure Carnival would have pureed food had we asked, but we've been feeding her strictly organic food, and we decided to stick to that. Also, she won't eat anything I puree at home, so no sense risking a hissy-fit at the dinner table. So rather than hauling everything, we made a trip to Target when we landed in San Diego and bought the food, diapers, wipes, etc).