Cruising with a young baby?

[richard3330]

Hi ,

DW is pregnant and the baby is due this late August/ Early September and we have booked a Disney Cruise for next March (Baby DS/DD will be about 7 months old).

Has anybody had any experience with taking children this young? When we booked the trip, the travel agent told us this was a great age to take a child and that it would all be fine, but we are both a little bit worried.

Has anybody got any advice/tips?

Thanks!

Richard.

 

[hoganjdmb]

We are cruising next Sunday on the Wonder and we have 3 children with one on the way. One of our kids is 6 months so I will be able to tell you how it was once we get back. We have cruised DCL many times but never with an infant as my other 2 are 10 & 7. We are hoping for a fun vacation and we might put the baby in Flounders for either a brunch or a few hours on deck ALONE for sun and fun. There is so much to do on the ship I'm sure the baby will be fine!
Good Luck!
Dani

 

[ohiominnie]

Having not cruised with an infant, I am not the authority, but I think there is general advice that works for anyone travelling with a baby to any destination.....
be realistic that your "plans" may change b/c baby needs a nap, needs to eat, needs downtime, needs quiet, needs food, whatever....
If you go in with a laid back attitude that plans are going to change (or if you make no "formal" plans to begin with) then you'll have a much more relaxing vacation and a much more relaxed baby.

 

[richard3330]

Thanks for your replies!

I think the 'have a flexible plan' is a great idea.

I look forward to hearing how you got on, Dani

Thanks again.

Richard.

 

[Dayna]

We went on a cruise last year, my daughter was 10 months old. It was a little difficult, just make sure to stick to your baby's routine as much as possible. Let her have a nap, bring security items (binkies, blankets, toys) and definitely take the early seating. We went on NCL and could eat anytime we wanted, but we were travelling with 2 other families nd by the time everyone was ready, we were eating at 8:00 every night. My daughter was shot. She was so fussy. It was not fair to us. This year we went on DCL and she is 2. We ate early and then took her to Flounders for a few hours. We saw the shows and went to some clubs. The staff at Flounders is amazing. Enjoy your cruise. It is the best vacation for any age.

Dayna

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Dayna
My daughter was shot. She was so fussy. It was not fair to us.

No, it was not fair to your baby for everyone else to make your family wait.
Poor thing!!!

 

[Pickles61]

I was on the 4 day when my DS was 11 months. I signed him up for Flounders but he wouldn’t stay. They really were great with him and tried hard to make him happy. They paged me (the pagers are great) and they let me stay in the room for a while to see if he would stay but it didn’t work. I would have left him at flounders longer if he would have stayed. At mealtime they always helped me out by getting him something that he would eat. I took him to all the show and he was fine. I still had a great time and will be going back the end of August. You’ll have a great time

 

[richard3330]

Thanks again.

What are the pagers?? Do you get given them when/if you drop your children off at Flounders? They sound like a fantastic idea - very reassuring.

Thanks.

Richard.

 

[Pickles61]

When you sign up your child you are given a pager for the cruise. I think they only work on board (I’m not sure about castaway Cay). If they need you they just beep you and you go to the nearest phone to see what they want. In my case they called because my son was crying, but it’s nice to know they can contact if something happens. I know it gave me piece of mind. For my older one he would page me when he wanted out of the camp.

 

[Gillian]

At flounders they gave us a pager when we dropped off DS. We had to give it back when we picked him up. I think that's because there are a limited number of slots so they don't have a pager for every kid for the whole cruise.

We're planning to sail in April with DD who will be 10 months and DS 3. I hope she will be fine in Flounders, as it is wonderful to have some time alone. DS liked it pretty well there at age 2.

DCL is great because most other cruise lines do not have babysitting for the little ones.

one thing that was a big help (mentally) when we sailed with DS was having a verandah cabin. It was worth every extra cent to have a nice place to relax when he was napping or after his bedtime. We enjoyed our time out there so much!

You'll be fine!

 

[TiggerPU88]

Hi!

We had very good luck with Flounders on our 4-day Wonder cruise when DS was just over 1 year old. However, he was in daily child care at home (at a family day care center) and adjusts easily to new situations. If you plan to use Flounders for your little one, PLEASE make sure your child has some experience in a group child care setting, be it child care or preschool, babysitting with another child there, etc. Your expensive cruise vacation is not the time to try something new.

That said, here are some other tips:

I saw posted here that some parents brought their children in their strollers after they were already asleep. For little ones, that seems like a great use of Flounders.

Flounders is SUPER mid-afternoon, when the sun is at its hottest and your child can burn most easily. We used it on the Castaway Cay day and it was a great idea.

Bring gift cards/phone cards/etc. for the counselors. They work really hard, especially with those babies who are upset at being left.

You need to bring your own bottles, formula, etc. Make sure they are labeled with your child's first and last names in advance -- it is easier that way. <g>

Enjoy and please let me know if you have other questions. Flounders was a GREAT experience for my DS and therefore for us.

 

[disneydeb]

dd is pregnant now and we just booked a cruise for when baby is 5 months old, what we did this time is we booked room with veranda,so we could at least get some fresh air for baby,when we rebooked on board the girl we rebooked thru said if we need baby food we need to bring our own, but at 5 months i dont think that will be a problem, also when talking with dd as to whether we wanted to take baby to wdw or cruise, dd made some good points that on cruise there is food all around and your on the ship so if you need to go to room for nap you dont have to travel back and forth as far,and you can get off ship if you want to and they only let a certain amount of people on ship so thats it for crowds, valid points i think then we can do wdw when baby is older, right now everyone gets vacation!!!!!

 

[dis4me]

My ds was 6 months when we traveled.Mind you I also had a 6 and 7 year old dds but we had a fabulous time. We brought powered formula and bottle water. There was no need to heat up bottles ever I also brought way too much food. DS was just eating veggies and cereal from the jar and I brought enought for 10 days (just in case of breakage or whatnot) ANyway the dining staff was so good that I only used about half of it. The wait staff was terrific and entertained the baby. One night our server held the baby while I ate. Another night she cut my meat(embarrasing but truly helpful. Take advantage of all the help you can get. I only used Flounders 1 night but they were outstanding. My ds whined quite a bit they said but they never paged me. I checked on him and he was sleeping so I am glad the let him stay. If he had been inconsolable they said they would page us.Bring a stroller so that they are in something familiar.
Any questions ask away. We are going this Nov with our 18 month old so I am sure this age is a little harder.

 

[lrmillen]

i just got back from cruising with my 8 1/2 mo. old. the main reason we went was because it was a family reunion. i don't want to discourage you in the least, but it was difficult cruising with the baby. My DH and I passed up many shows and the beaches on St. Thomas and St. Martin due to keeping his routine and the sheer fact that hot sun and 80 degree temps made him miserable. I wish that your child turns out to be a peaceful, easy-going baby, then you'll have an easier go of it. Mine is pretty hyperactive - Always wants to be crawling and climbing, only takes catnaps, and isn't fond of a stroller. The dining rooms were especially taxing because one of us had to be holding/standing with the baby because he wouldn't use the high chair. So you should expect and be prepared to miss out on some opportunities that the cruise has to offer, especially if flounder's won't work for your baby. I echo what others have said about being flexible. Looking back on the cruise I wouldn't reccommend it for families with just babies. They aren't going to remember it and the parents would have a much more relaxing time if their children were older and could really appreciate the Disney "magic". Anyway, to end on a positive note, we did enjoy it. The CMs really do all they can to help you out and the staterooms are absolutely perfect for a crawling baby. My advice is to schedule a night at Palo to look forward to, relax, and have some time just for yourselves.

 

[PlaneJoy]

I have to agree with the previous poster, going with an infant is very difficult. Just came back from the 7-night Eastern with DD that is 9 months old. Here's what we experienced:

No where for the children to play aside from Flounders. They do have *limited* family hours (like 1-2 hours a day) that you can go and play with your child in their facility. If you miss that time during the day, then your out of luck to find a place to play. The cabins are pretty small and even infants get a little weary of the space. I was thinking they would a least have a small space to take children anytime during the day, so that they can get their energy out. Yours will be at the age that he/she could be crawling, so take that into consideration.

Two naps a day really puts a damper on things. If she was down to one it would have been much better. DH and I had to split up to take our older DD to things and the pool in order to get the naps in. We also missed a lot on the ship and in port b/c of it.

Dining room was always trying. It isn't meant to be a quick meal and most kids don't like to sit still for as long as dinner takes to serve (3-4 course meal)

At least for us, Flounders does not call the parents unless it is a true emergency. DD screamed for almost a hour, no call. We just happened to check on her early. I understand they want you to enjoy your time alone, but I was a little distressed over this. The staff is absolutely wonderful and did everything they could for DD, though.

This is just my experience. I don't want to put a damper on your plans, but give you a realistic idea of what to expect.

Sincerely,

-joy

 

[richard3330]

Thank-You ever so much for all of your replies.

We are only doing the 3-night cruise, so if it really doesn't work out it is only for 3 nights. We have booked a Family Suite with Veranda, so there should be quite a bit of room and like some of you have said - it will be great to get the fresh air and just relax out on the veranda. We will be travelling with our DS who is 3 as well.

Thanks again!

Richard.

 

[TiggerPU88]

Hi!

I hope you have as great a time as we did on our 4-day. (It sounds like a week is harder than a short cruise with an infant!) Here are some other places to play with your baby on the ship:

Mickey ear (for babies) early in the morning
Route 66 -- there is a great carpet with a map on it. It is open to under-18 duing the day
Castaway Cay - family beach in the morning
Atrium lobby -- lots of fun, especially when the characters were there
Corridors -- we ran up and down them many times
Deck 4 -- great for long walks, both with and without stroller

On food, our DS was a little bigger, but we really enjoyed being in the restaurants. They were easier than the buffets.

Having a nice, relaxing room is definitely an asset. Wise choice!

Just be flexible and prepared and I am sure you will have a great time. Be sure to ask any other questions you might have.

 

[richard3330]

Thank-You so much TiggerPU88 for all your suggestions. I'm making sure I defininitely print them off for reference!

Thanks again,
Richard.