many ?s - RCI with a toddler

[GatorGirl]

Couple of questions for those of you who have traveled with a toddler...

1. Are the cribs pack n plays or a real "crib"? Did you bring your own, or did you use RCI's crib?

2. Do they have whole milk available all day? Or do I need to bring some back to my cabin after breakfast at the Windjammer?

3. How was Aquababies run? Do they have this program everyday or just at sea days?

4. Anything else you wish you would have brought with you?

 

TIA!

[sas80]

Couple of questions for those of you who have traveled with a toddler...

1. Are the cribs pack n plays or a real "crib"? Did you bring your own, or did you use RCI's crib?

2. Do they have whole milk available all day? Or do I need to bring some back to my cabin after breakfast at the Windjammer?

3. How was Aquababies run? Do they have this program everyday or just at sea days?

4. Anything else you wish you would have brought with you?

 

TIA!

 

RCCL offers pak n plays. We have used them on 3 cruises and have never had a problem.

 

I cant answer the question about the milk. I assume it is entirely possible that yu could get whole milk from any eatery that happened to be open. I always found it easier to take a few extra cartons from the windjammer and store them in the fridge in the room.

 

Aquababies is free form. You can drop into any session but, if the session is not for your age group, and there is an overabundance of the target age group, you may be asked to leave. Our age group was an 8:30 class, whihc was too early for us. So we went to the 9:30 am one. That's how I know what I just said. We only went to aquababies during at sea days so I dont know if they do it during port days.

EDIT: They do do aquababies during port days. I remember our last cruise (Voyager) we were travelling with friends with children. We all met at aquababies, let the kids play for a bit, and then headed off the ship together.

 

Aquababies is basically a fisher price "advertising" hour. Your kids play with fisher price toys, for free, and you usually walk out thinking "johnny really liked that toy, maybe we should get it" :D But it is nice to be able to have your kid be pre occupied for an hour, and you get to meet other parents.

 

Our first cruise I ended up wishing I had not over packed so much. I have since learned that it is perfectly okay to under pack clothes, and to mix and match DS's stuff like I do my own. If anything gets tragically dirty, we either hand wash it or send it to get laundered. A little dishsoap and laundry soap might come in handy, so pack some.

 

I am also always aware that there are supermarkets and infants in every port of call. Because of this I know that diapers, wipes, formula and any thing I might have forgotten, but feel I need, will eventually be available. Sometimes I pan not to travel with enough diapers/babyfood after I have done enough research to know what my options are in the ports of call. To research what your options are, go to the ports of call boards for your stops and ask the question "where is the closest supermarket?". Of course, you have to make the time in the port of call to do a little shopping.

 

RCCL offers pureed food for people with "special dietary needs". They dont do "babyfood" but you can arrange to have proteins (meats), veggies and fruits pureed for your baby. This is regular food (cooked, spiced and salted as if it were going to be served in the dining room) that is pureed for your "special dietary needs" passenger. No one on these boards has ever had a problem with arranging it. When making the initial request to special needs, most people dont ask for "baby food", they simply indicate that they need to alert the ship that they have a special dietary need and are going to require pureeed food. Email special_needs@rccl.com to request this service. This scenario helps cut down on the amount of jarred food you have to bring.

 

Happy sailing!

[Dr_DNA]

Couple of questions for those of you who have traveled with a toddler...

1. Are the cribs pack n plays or a real "crib"? Did you bring your own, or did you use RCI's crib?

2. Do they have whole milk available all day? Or do I need to bring some back to my cabin after breakfast at the Windjammer?

3. How was Aquababies run? Do they have this program everyday or just at sea days?

4. Anything else you wish you would have brought with you?

 

TIA!

I can't answer all of your questions, but here is a nice tip. If you are on a ship with the Promenade Cafe, they will give you milk anytime you ask for it. And, they will even steam it to the perfect temperature if you want. We found this to be extremely helpful and the staff there would have it ready to go when we would show up at 8:00 to get our son ready for bed.

[salsagrl]

I don't really have any advice since this will be our first trip with our son, but I just noticed your sailing date and wanted to say, "See you next weekend!!"

 

:)

[NoelsCat]

I have traveled with a 24 month old and an 11 month old -- so I will try to answer your questions, too... although Sas did a great job!

 

 

1. Are the cribs pack n plays or a real "crib"? Did you bring your own, or did you use RCI's crib?

 

They provided a basic pack-n-play -- blue in color with a regular sheet folded to cover the mattress. Our friends with the 11 mo old requested it -- and they were both pleased that it was newer and visually very clean. The room steward offered to set it up and down -- but it was easier for them to leave it up. It did take up a large portion of their floor space.

 

 

2. Do they have whole milk available all day? Or do I need to bring some back to my cabin after breakfast at the Windjammer?

 

I was unable to get WHOLE milk on my last cruise (Jan. 08) -- but was able to get 2% pretty much all day. We had our room steward clear out the fridge and kept milk in it at all time. Once, we even had room service deliver it to us.

 

3. How was Aquababies run? Do they have this program everyday or just at sea days?

 

Sas described AquaTots/babies pretty accurately.

 

They divided babies and toddlers -- I believe the cut-off was 18 months for the babies and 36 months for the toddlers... we used both programs in our family since we had both an 11 month old and a 2 yr old.

 

Aquatots/babies was everyday -- on our cruise it was at 9:30 for babies and 11 for toddlers. Due to being in January (I am assuming) there weren't many actually showing up -- most days were were the only ones. It was held during port days and sea days.

 

An adult must accompany the child and keep in mind that AquaTotsbabies is held in the Vortex lounge (the disco) not a child specific area. It basically consists of an age appropriate Fisher Price toy, a counselor, and play. For example, one day in the toddler session the counselor/leader brought out the Little People pirate ship and accessories and the kids played for the hour.

 

In my opinion, AquaTots was better than nothing -- both kids enjoyed it -- but it is definately an afterthought and not like the rest of the kid's programs. We sometimes missed it due to the timing -- and I wished that it had been offered more than once a day or at least in the late afternoon. I also wished that there were more "free" times that little ones could play with the toys...

 

Also, keep in mind that it is possible to "borrow" toys from the kids program. This at least cuts down on the number of toys you need to pack. :)

 

4. Anything else you wish you would have brought with you?

 

I can tell you what I am glad I brought with me:

 

1. Sand toys for beach days. I bought them cheaply at the end of summer -- and since a pail with a shovel was 22.00 at one of the beaches -- I was THRILLED that I didn't wait!

 

2. DVD PLAYER. Godsend for downtime -- LIFESAVER --

 

3. Disposable bibs, sippys and wipes. I am normally against disposable ---but hey... they were GREAT.

 

4. Toys. Lots of them.

 

5. High quality sunscreen/sun hat/etc.

 

6. A good sense of humor.

 

We all had a wonderful time. My son still talks about the big ship -- he absolutely loved the trip. I wish you wonderful memories!

[GatorGirl]

Thank you for all of your help. We leave in 7 days and all of your info is really helpful!

 

If you think of any more helpful info, please post it! :)

[lastingtouch]

Thank you for all of your help. We leave in 7 days and all of your info is really helpful!

 

If you think of any more helpful info, please post it! :)

 

Have a great time and be sure to share your experience when you get back.

[GatorGirl]

I plan to post about my experience. I'm getting really excited!