Cruising with a 1 year old?

[disynut]

We are so excited about taking a Disney cruise that we just don't think we can wait 'till our youngest is older. She'll be one when we cruise next October. Our other child will be 5, and I know he'll have a great time. But I'm wondering about cruising with a baby. We've done WDW with a baby, but none of us have ever been on any kind of a cruise. What should we know about cruising with a 1 year old?

TIA,
Jennifer

 

[princesspumpkin]

When I cruised with my 7 month old years ago, I fed her before taking her to dinner with us. That way she was satisfied while we ate. I just gave her something to play with at the table and she was content.

 

[Eeyore18]

We are taking our soon to be 7 year old and our baby who will be nine months old in May on a land/sea package. I searched the information here and it seems most people said that is a good age because they will still be in a stroller and not walking yet.
I haven't done the parks with a baby, but I'm hoping that will be ok too. If you search "cruising with an infant" there are several past posts. Good luck!

 

[leahvonleah]

We are going in January on the 7 day Eastern with our 8 yo, 3 yo and 1 yo. We decided on the 7 day cruise because of our youngest is only 1. We didnt want her strapped in a stroller all day long during the park visits, so we thought the cruise would be beneficial to her, as well as her brother and sister. We are really looking forward to it (naturally!!!)

 

[disneymummy]

We had a 4 Day cruise last year whn DD was 22 months
She had a great time
We booked her some times in Flounders Nursery and she was fine there so we could take our other DD's ( 6 and 9 ) swimming but she also loved the splash pool
She was fine in the restaurants and there is so much food available that always found something for her to eat
Iam hyper safety conscious and I always felt she was very safe
Have a fabulous time

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Originally posted by disynut
What should we know about cruising with a 1 year old?

Be patient and very flexible. I would stay away from shore excursions and figure out, on your own, what to do one shore (unless you're travelling with grandparents or others who will watch the baby). Also, take advantage of room service and Scoops fruit for snacks in between meals -- this was a lifesaver for us. Oh, and go to the breakfast buffet and take a box of cereal every day -- this saved us when we went on shore and needed quick fnger food. You can't bring fruit on shore, but the sealed cereal is fine.

 

[kirabira]

I'll let you know how we do with our 1 yr old! We totally couldnt wait and were originally planning on crusing for our 5th anniversary (we honeymooned on the DLC!)-- but poor DH has to work, so now I'm going with my mom and our kids (3.5 and 21 mos).

I am actually planning on getting nursery time right away for each day at dinner. Dinner at restaurants is probably the most stressful thing with my DD. She never wants to sit in a high chair because she wants to do whatever her brother does and she just likes to eat sauces with her fingers! Ketchup, salad dressing, butter and mayo! If its on the table she will want to eat it LOL. She will do better eating chicken fingers, fruit, etc that i get via room service or snack stations---and that way we can have special time with grandma and my son alone.

We arent planning on doing shore excursions. I know she will love the pool. I wish I had the navigator already so I could plan other flounder's reef times for her. At least with my mom along we can split up.

 

[tracilicious]

I'll be interested to see what people have to say about this as well. My son will be 20 mos when we cruise in three weeks. Flounders isn't an option for us because I'm a stay at home mom and have never left him with anyone. We're planning on taking it easy, lots of playtime at the beach, etc.

I, too, am afraid of dinnertime because Indi will want to grab everything on the table. I'm planning on giving him a nutritious snack before dinner, then at dinner give him one part of a kids meal that I know he will eat and then some sugar free ice cream to keep him busy.

We're doing WDW after the cruise, but he's already been to Disneyland six times, so we're pretty well seasoned park goers. He hates strollers (he VERY independent) so that part gets a little difficult. We have a hip carrier though, so hopefully that will save my arms a bit. He's also getting pretty good about walking with us.

We're bringing the stroller on the cruise so that at naptimes and bedtime dh and I don't have to be confined to the room. My motto is going to be: don't stress out. I think we will have a good time as a family.

 

[SuzPasq]

I'll be interested to see what people have to say about this as well. My son will be 20 mos when we cruise in three weeks. Flounders isn't an option for us because I'm a stay at home mom and have never left him with anyone. We're planning on taking it easy, lots of playtime at the beach, etc. >


IMO, you can have a great time even without using Flounders. My children are almost 7 and 19 months, and we are sailing on 11/13. This will be our 5th cruise, and the third time we're sailing with a child under 2.

We've never used Flounders, and we've always enjoyed ourselves immensly. We fed our kids about an hour before our seating so they weren't starved; we had fruit cups waiting for them each night; we let them color and/or bring a small toy to the table and they did great during our meals. I've never had to leave a dining room (I've just jinxed myself, I'm sure!) because of a squirmy child.

Each year we do our own thing at each port, rather than book an excursion. I'd hate to feel pressured to do something if one of my kids was having an off day and would rather relax on the ship. That works very well for us, and I'm looking forward to doing that this year too, in St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

I also wanted to say that some days at naptime one stays in the room while the other has some alone time. Last year I really enjoyed going up to the adult pool for an hour or two, and as a trade off, my husband went to the movies at night (something I am not interested in dong) and I stayed in with the boys.