Happy birthday to your LO!
Be sure to let the cast members know! They will be sure to celebrate. You will at least get a special dessert and a visit from Mickey at dinner so don't miss it (I missed our anniversary dinner - mistake #1 from me oops).
The dream will be great! A bigger splash zone since your LO is too young for the pool like mine. This was a huge hit for my DD. She just turned 17 months. This was a hard age since she is running now. She loved the stairs and elevators lol! I would definitely bring a stroller if your LO is walking a lot and distracted by things. This was a big help! When DD was over tired or just needed to rest, we used it. Our stateroom host showed us a place to park our stroller in the hallway so this saved us the room. If not, I had planned on putting it under the bed (didn't fit) or in the tub for the night.
Sleep was our biggest issue. Bring ANYTHING that will help your LO sleep through the night. At home, DD sleeps great! 11 hour nights and 3 hour naps - never wakes. She does have an air filter in the room and I think she is used to the noise. I debated on a white noise machine, but thought the bathroom would have a fan or I could use a phone app. No bathroom fan and the apps didn't work well. DD hardly slept. She woke up and seemed confused as to where she was. I let her sleep in bed with us. We were all so exhausted by the end of the trip. I hope this doesn't happen to you. I know a few other families had a rough first night, but things got better them. Do whatever you can to get sleep.
Meal time was time consuming. The first night takes the longest. Download the cruise navigator app for your phone and open it once you board the trip. This will have all of the menu's for the week. I looked up the menus ahead of time to see what DD might want. Some nights I sent DH ahead and he would order for all of us and I would come to dinner 15-20 minutes later. Or find some way to stagger meals between the two of you. DD feeds herself and we help her too, but it takes time. She was wearing most of her macaroni in her hair and avocado on her face, but she had a great time. It was hard for me to enjoy dinner as I was worried about her. Also hard to entertain her through meals. We had two other family members who cruised with us, but neither helped me with meals. I know you can use some nursery time for meals too, so that might help. Not many suggestions, just something for you to think about before the cruise since this was a difficult time for us.
Use the nursery time if you can. DH and I have opposite work schedules so DD is almost always home with us. She isn't good with strangers so we didn't use the nursery. We did visit it and it is very nice and the people were very friendly. This would be a great help if your LO will go. Take some time to enjoy the ship
CC is wonderful!!! Walk or take the tram to the very end. The splash zone is great! I found the water was warmed a little - perfect for the babies, not sure if it was intentional, and there was a bit of shade. It wasn't too crowded either. Bring lots of sunscreen. My DD refused a hat
but we managed to spray sunscreen on her head (she is still bald lol) and she didn't get sunburn! It was surprisingly hot out for this time of year.
Nassau - we got off the boat just to go to the t-shirt shop. My husband loves the bamboo made shirts.
Food on the boat - I'm not sure what your LO is eating. My LO was behind in solids at 1 yr. She loved the melons on the boat and the ice cream - her first ice cream! You can request veggies. They had turkey meatballs one night with the spaghetti. I would give DD things from the adult food like avocado and sweet potatoes. Oh and I ordered whole milk from room service every day and kept it in the room fridge for bedtime.
Toys in the room. I brought a little collapsable bucket and some toys and books. DD played with these while we got ready for the day and before bedtime. Was nice to have a place to keep her things.
The nightly shows are great, but many parents said they didn't entertain the really small kids. The 50 years of mickey (?) one did, but the others didn't. You can see the shows in your room if they are going on during bedtime.
Try to go to the sail away and goodbye parties. Meet the characters - they are great with babies! There is so much to do on the ship and we got to do very little. A toddler's day is very busy with eating, sleeping, playing etc so it's hard to fit lots of other stuff in. But enjoy everything you can!
I think I could go on forever, but I'm at work :0 Please ask ANY questions! Overall, the disney crew is amazing and I'm glad I went!
