Bring our own or use the ships?

[um5xno1]

Cruising with a 1 year old. Should I bring my own pack n play, or use the ships. We will have no need for one before getting on the ship, only for ship use.

 

Thanks!

[RadFamily]

We always use the ship's, but bring our own sheet and favorite blanket. Having our own sheet and blanket makes it more like home for our little one.

[purplefrogs]

We brought our own but we were also driving and not flying to the port. We checked it in with the porters during embarkation so we didn't have to deal with it. During debarkation though it was one more heavy item we had to take off the ship ourselves since it wasn't something we could put with our other bags the last night of the cruise.

[sharktums]

I think it also depends on how germophobic you are and how much you're willing to clean one down.

 

I've had one provided for me twice. Once at a Disney Resort, and once on a Princess Cruise. (Both times I had a backup with me as well, but I wanted to see what they'd be like)

 

The Disney one was FILTHY! Wouldn't use it! But it came with really nice fitted Disney Sheets.

 

The Princess Cruises one was much nicer but did not come with a fitted sheet so that concerned me.

 

From now on, we'll bring our own.

[aaklang]

If you do decide to use your own, try buying a used on off of craigslist.org. We got a great one - clean and in perfect condition - for $25 to keep at my parents' house. Do not get one with any of the frills (bassinet, changing table, mobile, etc). A simple one will do.

 

You could also see if any of your friends with kids have one you could borrow.

 

That said, I think in most cases the ship's PNP is probably fine to use. Just bring your own sheet.

[StaySea]

I didn't bring my own, and wish I did (Carnival). I was flithy....ended up asking for 2 more never got a clean one.....DS ended up in the pull out bed surrouned in pillows & me up every hour worried he was going to fall off!!! He survived and it was fine....He's 4 now and no worried now!!!!

[lolakat]

We used the one provided by NCL and it was in good condiyion and clean. THey did not have fitted sheets. Next time I will bring our own sheets. Personally I wouldn't want to have to lug around a PNP of our own.

[rebeccalouise]

I have two boys and neither of them would have slept in any sort of crib on a cruise ship at the age of 1. We always had them in bed with us on the cruises. Made life much easier- more space and we knew going into it that we wouldn't be having much "romance" with two kids in the cabin.

[um5xno1]

If you do decide to use your own, try buying a used on off of craigslist.org. We got a great one - clean and in perfect condition - for $25 to keep at my parents' house. Do not get one with any of the frills (bassinet, changing table, mobile, etc). A simple one will do.

 

You could also see if any of your friends with kids have one you could borrow.

 

That said, I think in most cases the ship's PNP is probably fine to use. Just bring your own sheet.

 

We have our own and only live 1.5 hours from the port, so we would be bringing ours if we needed too, just one more thing to lug on and off the ship....

 

Sounds like I will borrow one from the ship, but bring my own sheet, and clean it up before use.

 

Thanks!

[AJI2596]

We are just going to use the ships but bring our own sanitize wipes, sheets, pillow and blanket. If he doesn't sleep in it we will put him on the pull out couch.

[um5xno1]

We are just going to use the ships but bring our own sanitize wipes, sheets, pillow and blanket. If he doesn't sleep in it we will put him on the pull out couch.

 

Good point, worst case scenario, they take the ship own PNP out, which would not happen if we had our own....another thing to think of...

[Ashelleigh]

I had this same question and decided to take our PNP. We ended up using the ship's crib all week and never unpacked the PNP. My DS slept fine in the crib, and actually enjoyed standing and playing in it. We were on the Carnival Glory and the crib was in excellent condition. I would recommend taking sheets. They used a standard sheet in the crib and folded it under. It usually ended up in wad underneath him and didn't look as comfortable.

[khm1]

There is another thread on the family cruising board titled baby packing list. One of the posters gave this link http://www.coverplayard.com/ for a PNP cover. I think that this is a WONDERFUL idea, especially with recent luggage restrictions on many airlines. I am thinking of buying one of these since we travel quite a bit and I am very squeamish about using the cruise ship's or hotel's PNP.

[sas80]

Cruising with a 1 year old. Should I bring my own pack n play, or use the ships. We will have no need for one before getting on the ship, only for ship use.

 

Thanks!

 

I have never brought my own and I have never been disappointed. RCCL uses bedsheets for the pack n plays...RCCL's bed sheets are very soft!

[jerin]

There seems to be such a variation that if we have a new niece or nephew by the time of our family cruise (still 19 mo out, we've told them to get moving :D ), we'll bring our old Pack n Play for them. If the one the ship puts in their room is clean, great, we'll use the crib we bring in our suite or my parents' adjoining room so that all the kids can be in one place for the adult(s) who stay behind in the evening while the rest go back out.

[olivertate]

I travel a lot with my kids and I hate using the hotel/cruiseline pack n plays...most of the time they are dirty can you imagine sticking your child in it? yuck! also I hate to travel with them they are super heavy.

I bought the slipcover for the pack n play and wow it makes my life so much easier.

[khm1]

Olivertate, do the covers fit over many different shaped PNPs? The different brands of PNPs have different shapes sometimes. Also, do the covers go over or under the mattress? If it goes over it, does it take the place of a sheet? I guess they must stretch some or are secured with ties in order to stay on? I am thinking about buying a cover. What brand did you buy?

[Conrycol]

Use the ships but do bring your own sheets!!

[flagger]

As another option, consider a collapsible bed rail. Ours fit inside a 28" rolling suitcase. We used it on the in room sofa which our cabin steward made up as a bed. It worked great and did not take up space in the room at night or during the day. Our DD was 15 months old on her first cruise, but it would have been fine when she was a year.

[olivertate]

Olivertate, do the covers fit over many different shaped PNPs? The different brands of PNPs have different shapes sometimes. Also, do the covers go over or under the mattress? If it goes over it, does it take the place of a sheet? I guess they must stretch some or are secured with ties in order to stay on? I am thinking about buying a cover. What brand did you buy?

 

 

THere is only one company that makes the covers. COVERPLAYARD. I have used it on a bunch of different pnp's. It doesnt cover the mattress only the entire pnp. I just bring a mattress sheet with the cover. The cover does have stretch so it fits over all different sizes of pnp's. ITS REALLY GREAT>

[olivertate]

THere is only one company that makes the covers. COVERPLAYARD. I have used it on a bunch of different pnp's. It doesnt cover the mattress only the entire pnp. I just bring a mattress sheet with the cover. The cover does have stretch so it fits over all different sizes of pnp's. ITS REALLY GREAT>

 

 

OOPS I was given a discount code which takes off 10% at coverplayard.com

The code is: faf

[Kate's Mom]

OOPS I was given a discount code which takes off 10% at coverplayard.com

The code is: faf

Thanks for sharing this website and coupon with us... I just ordered my cover for our June cruise!!!

[khm1]

THere is only one company that makes the covers. COVERPLAYARD. I have used it on a bunch of different pnp's. It doesnt cover the mattress only the entire pnp. I just bring a mattress sheet with the cover. The cover does have stretch so it fits over all different sizes of pnp's. ITS REALLY GREAT>

Thanks!

[Mom2Syd]

We were on the Disney Magic in November and we used their PNP - it was fine but we did bring our own sheets and blanket. I also sprayed it down with Lysol beforehand.

[cantwait2cruise]

I'm still confused about whether Carnival uses Pack N Plays or small "cribs". We are going on Carnival Liberty next March with a 17 month old and I'm trying to figure out whether I am going to lug our own Pack N Play.