Cruising with a Baby

[Little Mermaid's Mom]

DH and I are taking our first Disney Cruise July 21st on the Wonder. Our DD will be 18 months old and I am looking for information on what to bring, what not to bring. Do I need to bring her carseat to use in Nassau? All of the excursions say for children 3 and up or even older. Can we still go on excursions? Or do we have to find our way in Nassau by ourselves. I don't really like the idea of riding in a taxi without a carseat.

I am planning on bringing diapers, juice and bottled water. Any other helpful items?

I would really love one of those postcards too! Or any other tips on getting some shipboard credits.

I can't wait for the cruise!

Nancy

 

[mom2grace]

Our daughter was only 8 months when we sailed but I do have some tips.

If the excursion says over 3 or doesn't state the age, your son is probably too young. I went on the Magic, so I don't know about the car seat for Nassau.

We took our stroller, supposedly there are some on board that you can check out, but the convenience and knowing how it works and our DH's comfort and familiarity was invaluble.

Split up and have one of you go to Flounder's (the nursery) and the other go to the spa and/or Palo to make ressies. Flounder's will help you coordinate your times.

You might think about a backpack carrier to use around the ship and Nassau if you are going to be doing some walking.

They have Pack-n-Play's available, I took our own sheet, they do have ones available but again this was a familiarity thing.

DCL is a great way to travel with a baby!! Very accomodating!! The only problem we had was getting the cooks to steam the fresh veggies long enough so DH could eat them!

 

[jlima]

We sailed last year on the 7/7 cruise with at 16 mo old and a 7 yr old. We requested a crib in our room; they use pack-n-play playpens and it worked out fine. Your steward will ask you if you want it folded up each morning or if you prefer it left assembled. We also requested a high chair & it came in handy with room service. I learned after the cruise that your steward can bring a diaper genies also.

We didn't even try any excursions. In St Maarten DH stayed on the ship while I went with others in my family to the French side of the island. The next day in St Thomas, we took a taxi to the downtown area. He rode on our laps; it was only about a 5-min taxi ride. We did a little shopping & had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe; then I took both kids back to the ship & DH did some siteseeing & shopping on his own & then returned to the ship. Not sure about Nassau; we were on the 7-day cruise. We had a carseat with us & just left it in a closet in our cabin (we had a cat 3 suite). I wasn't happy about him riding in a taxi on my lap, but it was either that or stay on the ship. I drew the line at anything longer than what we did.

Bringing juice and bottled water is a great idea. We brought along boxes of apple juice & also bottled water. I would also bring a few sippy cups; we had 2 with us and they came in handy.
Use Flounder's Reef to get some quite time . . . but be there at 1:30 the first day of your cruise, to make your requests.

One more thing I would recommend is a inflatable pool float that is made for infants, with two rings & a seat in the inner ring. You can pick one up for just a few dollars at WalMart or Target; it was great in the Goofy pool to float around with him. The Mickey pool was a little too busy for someone his size. I would also recommend getting water shoes for the beach at CC, if you plan on spending any time on the beach.

Hope this helps!

 

[jlima]

We sailed last year on the 7/7 cruise with at 16 mo old and a 7 yr old. We requested a crib in our room; they use pack-n-play playpens and it worked out fine. Your steward will ask you if you want it folded up each morning or if you prefer it left assembled. We also requested a high chair & it came in handy with room service. I learned after the cruise that your steward can bring a diaper genies also.

We didn't even try any excursions. In St Maarten DH stayed on the ship while I went with others in my family to the French side of the island. The next day in St Thomas, we took a taxi to the downtown area. He rode on our laps; it was only about a 5-min taxi ride. We did a little shopping & had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe; then I took both kids back to the ship & DH did some siteseeing & shopping on his own & then returned to the ship. Not sure about Nassau; we were on the 7-day cruise. We had a carseat with us & just left it in a closet in our cabin (we had a cat 3 suite). I wasn't happy about him riding in a taxi on my lap, but it was either that or stay on the ship. I drew the line at anything longer than what we did.

Bringing juice and bottled water is a great idea. We brought along boxes of apple juice & also bottled water. I would also bring a few sippy cups; we had 2 with us and they came in handy.
Use Flounder's Reef to get some quite time . . . but be there at 1:30 the first day of your cruise, to make your requests.

One more thing I would recommend is a inflatable pool float that is made for infants, with two rings & a seat in the inner ring. You can pick one up for just a few dollars at WalMart or Target; it was great in the Goofy pool to float around with him. The Mickey pool was a little too busy for someone his size. I would also recommend getting water shoes for the beach at CC, if you plan on spending any time on the beach. And bring swim diapers!

Hope this helps!

 

[tinkerbell4two]

This will be our first cruise also with my DD 18 mo. and DD 3 1/2. I plan on going on two excursions and I'm just praying that I can get Flounder's at those exact times.
We are going to go to Cozumel and rent a jeep all day to see four beaches. I'm planning on buying one of those car seats that is FLAT, but it still has a five point harness and she will be able to use it on the plane, in a taxi and in the jeep. Afterwards, I'll give it to Grandma to keep in her car.
I bought the disposable sippy cups from First Years which are going to be invaluable (I found them at Target and toys r'us).
I'm also taking our stroller since DH loves to roam the ship with the girls and we will need it for our WDW part of the vacation.
At the disney store I bought a rolling suitcase 1/2 off for my 3 1/2 y/o to take on the trip. No point in me caring her clothes when she will feel all grown up by rolling it herself.
My last idea is to ship one or two of our bags to Port Canaveral before we leave. It will cost us about $50 per bag (we live in California) and we will ship it to a company which loads all of Disney's medical supplies to the ship. Turns out that there is no cost to us and the bags should be in our stateroom around the same time all of the other bags are there. With 2 toddlers, one stroller, 2 carry-ons, a garment bag, a folding cooler and two suitcases, I think shipping one or two of the bags is ideal for our family.

 

[aprilgail2]

If you are flying woudn't you have your car seat with you anyway?? We usually always have her car seat everywhere because since she was an infant we woud never fly without buying her a seat and having her in the car seat during the flight.
As far as the postcard goes just ask your travel agent or whomever you booked though for "REF" ad you should get it...if not private message me and I have some.
Don't count of the "fridge" "cooling box" or whatever you want to call it to keep milk in, it cools soda somewhat but I wouldn't trust it to anything that might spoil.
We took my 2 year old on the Lucayan Beach day excursion, it was great. We didn't do any in Nassua because I really dont care for it there..unless you are going over to paradise island, Nassua is pretty run down and diry.

 

[Gillian]

Disposable sippy cups (1st years, 6 for $2.95) are the best! My son likes them better than his other cups, so I've actually been using them at home. They can even go in the microwave!

My son doesn't like cold milk in the morning, so for travel I buy boxed milk. I pour it out into his disposable sippy cup A lot of companies make them now. They are sold by the juice boxes. I pack enough for 1 per day & a few extras in case we won't be near fresh milk during the day.

 

[piglet33]

tinkerbell4two - Who makes the "flat" carseat you were talking about? I would love to get one of them for our cruise, but I can't find any info on it anywhere.

Thanks for any help.

Renee

 

[indymom1]

We just booked our next cruise for March 29, 2003. We will be taking our 6 yr old son and our 11 month old son on this trip. We are a little nervous about our little one but reading all the great posts and tips make me feel a lot better.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

We cruised last May on the Magic with our then 13-month old dd. It was a great vacation to share with a little one - very relaxing and everything was always close by. We really enjoyed it.

I wrote up alot of information on traveling with a little one when we returned. Here is a link to a thread with that info if you want to read it (there are several posts within this one thread with info I wrote).

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43302

I also wrote a pretty extensive trip report. Here is a link to the first installment - within the post are links to the other installments.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45110

As for the carseat in a taxi issue, you will probably find it near to impossible to even safely secure a carseat in a taxi in the islands. Many of them don't even have seatbelts of any kind. You also have the issue of what to do with the carseat once you reach your destination - do you drag it with you while you shop and go to the beach? Unfortunately, public transportation of any kind is not carseat-friendly. You just have to decide what level, if any, risk you are going to take. We took dd on two taxi rides (each way) and a ferry ride to St. John from St. Thomas. I was a nervous wreck the whole way but fortunately everything turned out fine. It would have been such a shame to miss Trunk Bay but I do understand why other parents would choose differently. BTW, we have faced this same dilemna when traveling to large cities (e.g. New York City) with dd and we just do our best to minimize our time in taxis or on buses - I imagine it must be very hard for city-dwelling parents to make these choices every day.

Good luck and Happy Cruising!!

 

[Fawn]

Just a note. When we traveled, I had the cabin attendant fill a zip-lock bag with ice everyday that I left on the counter for her. I put it in the fridge, and it stayed very cold until the next day when I put a fresh bag in.

 

[SJCSuzy]

Piglett33,

Cosco makes the Travel vest. It is a 5 point harness system that you can secure in a vehicle with a seat belt. It has a plastic back covered with fabric and regular harness/buckle set up. We used it last year on the Eastern cruise when we rented a jeep in St. Maarten. I wasn't too impressed with it, was kinda hard to get a good tight fit against the car seat, but it was easier than bringing a full size car seat.

 

[dijid]

I cruised in May with my 9 1/2mo DS and 2 1/2yo DD. It takes quite a lot of preparation to travel with an infant and toddler.

Invaluable items - comfort items from home (blankets, stuffed animals), disposable sippy cups, Bibsters disposable bibs, a few pop open cans of vegetables (for lunch - can't get steamed veggies very easily) and disposable containers to store leftovers in. A Twingles tray to go on the high chair since they only have those restaraunt style ones without trays. Our "lotions and potions" bag with just about every medicine we have at home for the kids. Our small Combi Savvy Z stroller. Couldn't imagine taking a full size one. Shovel and pail that we bought for $2 at wal mart. (Would have been $15 on the islands)

Wish we had - more diapers! Ds got a tummy bug. 'nuff said on that one.

Glad we didn't bring - Lots of toys (plenty for them to do on ship) Car seats. (please don't flame me - it's my personal choice) Over 2, FAA doesn't require them for seated toddlers on a plane. Held DS in our laps on the flight. Rented them from Avis to get to/from port. Never got in a taxi at ports. Didn't need them and glad they weren't taking up lots of space in our room. I looked into the flat carseat, but they aren't approved for airlines and the feedback I got is that they're nearly impossible to install correctly. I believe you need to tether them and I wouldn't expect any taxis to have tether anchors.

Anyone doing a 7 day: save yourself the room in your bags, bring 3-4 days worth of clothes and laundry detergent. For our family of 4, we had one very large suitcase, one small suitcase and a duffel bag that we checked. Carried on our wheeled carry on and diaper back pack. Gate checked the stroller. Everything fit just fine in the small rental car.

Let me know if you any specific questions.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

For anyone looking for further information on the portable carseat, here is a link to one on the www.onstepahead.com website. You may find it cheaper elsewhere but you can see the prices and read a couple of reviews etc.

http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.js...DUCT&iMainCat=117&iSubCat=163&iProductID=1363

 

[Little Mermaid's Mom]

Wow lots of great advice so far. I got some of the disposable sippy cups. So those will be great. I'll bring swim diapers and pampers.

We are driving to FL from GA so we will have a carseat. But I hadn't thought about what to do with it when we weren't in the Taxi. What I would really like to do is take the Disney excursion over to Atlantis. I would like to see the aquarium and DH would like to go in the casino for a little bit. But I am not sure if DD is allowed on the bus since the form I have says for ages 3 and up. Does anyone know for sure if we can take DD on an excursion?

We aren't planning on leaving her in Flounder's reef. She doesn't do well in group care. I think we will have enough time at the beach on Castaway Cay. I did find some little sand toys at the dollar store! We also have one of the baby water floats. I think we will bring the backpack instead of the stroller.

Anymore hints?

 

[tinkerbell4two]

dijid, How many diapers did you take? I'm planning on 48 since we are going on the 7 day cruise and to WDW for 3 days after. We have a sit n'stand stroller that we are planning to bring along. I've heard the elevators are small. So we wont be taking the stroller around the ship too much, but think that it will be invaluable with a 1 1/2 y/o and a 3 1/2 y/o at the airports, Cozumel, CC and WDW. DH wants to take an umbrella stroller to get around the ship with one of the kids (He loves to explore the area early in the morning with one of the kids). So, I'm torn as to what to bring. I almost want to bring both and toss the umbrella stroller as we leave the cruise. Do they have any umbrella strollers on the ship to use during the week?
What is a "Twingles"?

Nicole

 

[aprilgail2]

I brought 60 diapers with me on vacation and it was more than enough....we had a week at Disney then the 4 day cruise plus 2 days driving each way so 48 should be plenty...they do have them on the ship if you needed them in an emergancy..they are a bit pricy though.
Wh dont you just bring 2 umbrella strollers with you, the fold easier for storage and can get around the ship easier....

 

[dijid]

It's hard to judge the diaper amount. If you are in and out of the pools, you'll probably use more than normal since you'll put a new one on every time you put clothes back on. I'd say figure on what you normally would use and then add maybe 2 per day to be certain. If you put them in large ziploc bags and compress them hard before you zip them closed, you can decrease the bulk.

The twingles tray was great (www.twingles.net or http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=554&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=554) Used it in the dining rooms and it also allowed our stroller to double as a high chair in our room for breakfast, etc.

Don't bring the sit and stand! Two umbrella strollers would be good. A nice single stroller + Buggy or Kiddy board (www.lascal.se for info - several retailers sell them online) would be even better. (I LOVE my Maclaren Free Spirit + Buggy Board combo - wish I had had it on the cruise). Could also check out a Peg Pliko (only $99 at www.dmartstores.com) as it has a step on the back your 3 1/2yo could stand on. I saw tons of these on our cruise. Another option is to bring the one stroller and then try to get one from guest services. We took the Baby Bjorn for DS, and alternated having him in it or making DD walk. Even at 2 1/2, she did great walking all around the ship.

Have a great trip!

 

[Gillian]

If you buy diapers in a big case (like at costco) they are pretty well compressed, usually in 2 packages. I plan to bring either one of those packages, or 2 regular size packages of diapers, as they also are pretty compact. It's like a brick in your suitcase, but it doesn't take up a lot of room

the Twingles looks interesting...

 

[Jhalkias]

This January we took our daughter at 23 months - we were a bit apprehensive too, and we were on the 7 day cruise. I can't speak much more than what has already been said, we had a GREAT time.

Our daughter is somewhat shy in groups too, but she was fine at Flounders after we left. You will have a pager so that they can reach you if need be if you do choose to use them.

You do not have to do the excursion to Atlantis - you can get your own transportation over, and I would suggest the water taxi rather than land (more economical). Take your stroller with you though!

If you truly must see Atlantis, I think there is a visitor's pass you can buy that allows access to the pools and aquariums. To us, it was a bit over the top, and the tour was too long and a bunch of BS about their mythical city - I just wanted to see the aquariums. We did not have our baby with us on that trip, and I would not take an 18 month old through that.

One other comment - Dinners (especially formal ones) can be a test of patience with a child that age. Their attention spans are just not that long. The cast made a valiant effort to keep her entertained, but she ended up spending most of the time on one of our laps - and made it tough to enjoy dinner. But . . . that's part of being a parent!

Overall, you should have a great time. Good Luck!