Baby/Toddler type foods on board

[Stimpy]

When we go on our cruise is April, my DD will be celebrating her 1st birthday. I wanted to know what kind of baby friendly snacks and drinks I will have to bring with us. Do they have Cheerios (or Cheerio type cereal) on board? Do they have whole milk? Can I bring jar fruits and veggies on board? If I can, do I have to carry them on or can I pack them in the luggage? Any other advice for feeding a 1 yr old on the cruise? TIA

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Based on our experience on board with a one year old, there isn't anything included on the menu specifically for infants.

I do seem to recall whole milk was available. I know there were verious dried cerials, but I don't specifically recall seeing cherios.

With the exception of milk, you will pretty much have to plan on bringing any "baby" supplies, including diapers, wipes, swimmers, formula, and baby food. These items are either not available (such as baby food) or availiable in VERY LIMITED BRAND NAME and SUPPLY.

About the only things DCL does provide is a portable pack-n-play for sleeping and the diaper genie (both of which you must request).

Other recent parents of 1yo have better memories that me (our 1yo is now a 2.5yo).

 

[Tarquin]

Does your baby eat any table foods at all? is she a real stickler for the ultra smooth jarrred baby foods?
Many foods on the ship you should be able to mash up or chop up so that she could eat them-
yes, there were several types of dry cereal that she will be able to eat with her fingers- for breakfast we also saw hot oatmeal as well as grits (cream of wheat)- there were also bagels available which would be good for her to gnaw on- also scrambled eggs-
pancakes and waffles will make good finger foods-

lots of different fruit that you could cut up into little bite sized pieces for her-

I always saw mac and cheese available for the kids, that should be really easy to chop into smaller pieces-

at dinner on the menu, there is always baked chicken, baked fish, etc. on the menu, which will be easy to make into finger foods-also you should easily be able to find baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice, etc-

there is jello, pudding, ice cream, for desserts if you are looking for sweet treats!

foods such as cooked peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, will be easy to mash up as well-

if you are planning on doing any shore excursions, that may be the only time where you might want to bring some jarred food in case you don't find, or you don't trust the non-cruise foods-

have fun
CAthym

 

[goofytwo]

THank you Tarquin. This helps me also. We will be cruising with our 1 year old (currently 7 months) in November and I had the same questions. I think that by then, she should be able to enjoy the foods you described. It is so hard right now to see anything beyond the jars.

 

[minniemouse1]

We brought all the food, juice, water and formula our child had while on the ship for our first cruise with exception of the bread she chewed on at dinner. I wanted to keep her on baby food a little longer so I opted to pack it all. Now all the baby food is available in plastic containers which would be great to pack right in with the luggage provided you put them into a large ziplock bag just incase one leaks. They also do not provide bibs on the ship but bibsters or any disposable bib work great.

I also noticed because I am a bug that the high chairs were kind of yucky (probably from all those mickey ear icecreams) so this time I bought a clean shopper/diner cover that will cover all the goopy parts of the highchair. It will probaby get dirty from my DD but atleast I won't worry about other babies food and germs getting on her.

You could also but a baby food grinder that you could bring with you to mash up food. My is really small and hand powered. I've read some threads of waitors really catering to some infants and bringing out sweet potatoes, carrots, or peas for the parents to mash that have no additives.

You will know what to do when the time comes for the cruise and you WILL be able to see past the jars.

 

[jweiss]

Last august baby was 6 months old....we packed all formula, and baby foods....fruits, vegs, and meats. she munched on breads, bagels, and melons. This august, she'll be 18 months, and I don't plan to bring anything other than sippy cups!!!! The food she'll get on the ship is so much better than Gerber's!!!! (She's already eating meats, pastas, etc, so I expect no problem!!!

 

[Stimpy]

Thanks for the advice! She's eating some table foods and I'm sure she'll be eating more by then. So far she's a good eater, it's her 5 yr old brother that gives us the problems

I can order her stuff off the menus, right? Or does she just eat off our plates at dinner? (Stupid question I know but since we are only paying the $150+ for her I wasn't sure if it's included)

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Yes, your child gets to order off the menu.

When we last cruised, DS was 14 months old. He was in a transitional state such that he still primarily ate baby food, but was starting to eat more and more table food. The breakfast buffette was great because we chould get a little bit of a lot of things for DS to try. His pallet of foods expanded because of our time on DCL.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Katie was 10 months old when she went on her first Disney cruise. They were AMAZINGLY helpful. They volunteered to warm bottles and mush up any food that we wanted them to. They would also bring her anything off the menus that we asked for and if she didn't like it, they'd bring something else. They knew she liked bananas, so when we got to dinner every night, they'd have one cut up into bite sized peices waiting for her!

It was a great way to introduce her to new foods without having to buy a bunch of different things like you would at home.