Cruising with Babies

[familyfun5]

A few years ago I started a trip report that never came about. This year I am determined to finish one. For everyone with babies this is for you.

First my confession: “I Joleen Grace am obsessed with the Disboards and the Disney Cruise. “ DH is wonderful and accommodates this addiction. It all started three years ago when I just delivered our DS, now 2.5. I was home and needed to get out. DH wanted to try Disney World and I thought adding a cruise would be fun. I had never been on a cruise before. DH had, and though not excited about cruising, was willing to give it another try. (big big costly mistake on his part!) To accommodate both we combined Disney World and a Disney Cruise.

Our first cruise was Oct 2008 a four night. Then again Oct 2009 a 7 night Western, now with our new DD.

Well, I just did not have my fix so we went again in Jan 2010, 7 nights Eastern. Reasoning was we had to bring my mother and grandmother.

See how is became a costly mistake!
So we agreed that one cruise a year would be it. So we booked another cruise while on board for Jan 2011, for our one cruise. Then in June a Kids Sail free promo for 2011 came out and I just had to book that. Well I was not about to cancel our Jan cruise and give up our on board discounts, so I convinced DH that this is my graduation gift (graduating in Dec with a business degree after a rough 18 credits, kids and starting a part-time job). So, we were set to go on Jan 15 for a 7 night then again, Feb 6 for a 7 night MR. Not only was this getting pricy (thus the finding a part-time job because this obsession of mine would not let me give up a cruise) we moved the Jan cruise to a cheaper 5 night on Jan 3 ( got the 11C at 499 pp, cheaper than one cabin especially after OBC for each cabin).

Tip: To keep the onboard discounts and deposits low, I only book one adult for two cabins on a three night while onboard. That way I had two cabins and extra sailings if we chose to go and little money is tied up.

Prior to cruising Disney I was not a huge Disney fan. Yea it was fun, and sure I have been to Disney Land a few times. Heck, I grew up in Southern California. But really, Disney for me was for the kids. So to prepare for our cruise in 2009 I tried to get, then DS 16mo, excited. We watched Mickey Mouse Club House and I pointed out Mickey on everything. By the time we cruised he would run up and hug and kiss every character. I made a Disney monster out of him, and I have become obsessed with Disney.

Now introducing DS Jackson. He will be 2.5 and this is from one year ago!

Our first cruise to save money we did not even look at the pictures. But be careful they can be tough to turn away. This Jan we will not be looking at the pictures again!

Also introducing DD Sailor, she will be 1.5 for our Jan cruise and this is her one year ago. Our oldest DS seen in the earlier photos will not be going in Jan as he is going in Feb and taking his best friend (as we had one extra kid to bring for free and my sister was scared to let her kids go (a whole other story).

 

[Cheechow]

Can't wait to read more. We will be sailing Jan.22 with my son 2.5 and niece 8 and nephew 4. DS cruised this past January but not on Disney and loved it so I am excited to see his reaction to this one and my niece and nephew who are new to cruising.

 

[familyfun5]

We knew that booking a vacation in early January may have complications. DH does not know if he could get any vacation time in 2011 until the first week of December and vacations are seniority based. Here it comes. We have four weeks until sailing, we find DH cannot go. Oh boy, this is what I get for being so addicted.

Since we booked two cabins, one adult and one baby in each; I would need an adult or a miracle. I thought of buying the manager off, buying a coworker off, taking the leave unpaid……. We were in penalty and would lose a lot. I even considered taking the babies by myself, and then a trip to the grocery store made me reconsider a week on a trip with the babies alone was not doable. I called Disney a few times to explore my options. Not good I needed an adult. My last hope was to come on the dis and offer an adult ticket to someone who wants to go and add DS 12 with me and the babies. Or, I was also going to beg my mother in law to come in DH place.

Sorry but it never came to that. With 17 days before we go a fantastic coworker of DH was willing to give him the week of vacation. We will be swapping our July 4th with him (a week the coworker was bumped as it was second round of picks), plus a nice dinner we will buy for he and his wife.

He did us an enormous favor. I could not tell him enough what this means to us. After the last semester of school, we need some time together. It was my mistake to change from later in January to earlier. I forgot this was why we canceled the Panama because we were not sure we could get the two weeks off in January. In the end we did not want anyone to give up their vacation time for us, but many just take that week off because we are in Colorado, its snowy and they take off right after the Christmas rush just for time off.

Again BIG Favor!!

My next confession is: “I will never request a cruise in January again” or at least until DH seniority improves. It just turned out way unfair for DH and everyone else involved.

 

[nenner1]

I'm always in for a great TR about cruising with babies, cause I know how mcuh fun (and not fun!!) that is LOL!!!!

So glad everything managed to work out for you, we have the same deal with our vacation picks at my work and I scrambled last year for our January cruise too (even though that was later January).

The kids are adorable and I can't wait to hear how it went!

 

[familyfun5]

I tend to over book activities so we then need a vacation after our vacation. I keep evaluating our plans and paring back not only for cost but for some relaxing, unplanned time. I am not used to slow and taking it easy. I’m a planner. I plan when to plan; so to not have every min planned is a stretch for me. So here is my effort to not have everything planned.

Itinerary:
Friday - 7:00 am Head to airport
10:30 am Leave Denver
4pm arrive in Orlando
5:30 shuttle to hotel, dinner, swim at pool

Sat- 8:30 Breakfast at hotel
9:30 Sea World

Sun- 8:00 Breakfast at hotel
9:00 Pickup rental car
Head to port, play at the beach
(if up to it may go to zoo in Melbourne)

Mon- 8:30 Breakfast
10:00 Head to port
DH Return rental car

Mon- Sat Ship days!!!

Sat- 8:00 Depart ship, shuttle to hotel
9:30 Arrive, check into hotel
10:30 Animal Kingdom
5:00 back to hotel, dinner, swim, early to bed

Sun- 8:00 Breakfast
Magic Kingdom

Mon- 8:00 Breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 Swim
11:00 to Airport
1:55 Flight home

That is our plan. See, not every min is planned. Well not on paper anyway. That will be our little secret. No, let’s be serious. DH knows this is not a secret, and he still loves me.

 

[familyfun5]

In preparation for our coming cruise, I need to take a look back to help plan.

A step back in time:
Sometimes there is discussion of what to do in the port area. Once we drove down to Melbourne and went to the zoo. About a 20 min drive from Cape Canaveral, it is cheap, cute and offers a great deal. I really wanted to do this again this year but time may prevent this. DH is in favor of a relaxing day at the beach and not so go go. He deserves this and that is likely what we will be doing. I guess we will just have to come back again for another cruise. Careful what you ask for.
For those interested the zoo is great. There is a water play area, petting zoo, you can take a boat ride and a train ride and feed the giraffes.

On our first cruise in 2008 we went to Discover Cove in Orlando right afterward. Ohhhhh great place! Often cheaper than a dolphin swim as an excursion. Highly recommend. It may take some looking around but you can often find $25-$40 off and some days are cheaper than others. Tickets include entry to Sea World still I think.

AWWW the DS has gotten so big. DS was 13 weeks then for his first cruise. Now at 2.5 he has the 2.5 attitude to go with it. Sorry in advance for anyone around when his sister takes his toys, or her toys. All toys are his! She knows this though and when DS is not looking she grabs them then runs for someone for protection before DS pushes her down. He often knows he is in trouble for pushing her and starts heading to timeout before we can tell him. I guess it was worth it to him in the end. Yea, we are still working on that.

DS Seth, now 12, will be on the cruise in Feb, not this one, but I just had to throw a picture in of him. He has grown about 2ft in the last 2.5 years. At 12 he is now over 6ft. Not sure where the height came from, but it is getting expensive so maybe blocks on his head will keep him from growing. I have tried not feeding him but that only lasts a couple of hours. HAHA

And now DH who can come on the trip!!! Thank you co worker!!

For Nassau, no dolphin swim for us. I would rather do Discovery Cove any day. We are doing a tour then going back on the ship. Many people hate Nassau. Not me. I have found though that I will only do ship sponsored excursions while in Nassau. May be Atlantis on our own, but with two babies paying for Atlantis is a waste of money.

In Key West we left the babies on the ship while we did an excursion. It worked well but we knew we had a large cushion on time, and how far are you really away from the ship when you’re in Key West. So for anyone who has considered leaving kids on ship it worked well for us. In the MR we plan to do it again for three hours.

 

[familyfun5]

I'm always in for a great TR about cruising with babies, cause I know how mcuh fun (and not fun!!) that is LOL!!!!

So glad everything managed to work out for you, we have the same deal with our vacation picks at my work and I scrambled last year for our January cruise too (even though that was later January).

The kids are adorable and I can't wait to hear how it went!

Thank you. I don't think i can match your trip reports but it should be fun so I hope you all enjoy.

 

[familyfun5]

Can't wait to read more. We will be sailing Jan.22 with my son 2.5 and niece 8 and nephew 4. DS cruised this past January but not on Disney and loved it so I am excited to see his reaction to this one and my niece and nephew who are new to cruising.

Awww. We have not been on another cruise line, hope to try that when the kids are older. You should have a great time. Many people report their kids get scared from the characters. We prepared our little guys pretty well. If you get past that your trip will be even better.

Thanks for reading.

 

[familyfun5]

Past cruises, what we may have learned?

I think we have learned some tricks from cruising with the babies in the past three cruises. We will see how much we really have learned. It is like my baby cruise final. Will us parents need to start from the beginning and learn everything new? In no paticular order:

Restaurants:
We have found the restaurants noisy. Our babies are not too impressed with a lot of noise unless it is coming from them. By chance once we got some a window table and in other restaurants it led to a table on along the wall. Not only were we able to make a corral with the chairs, which was not a problem as the table next to us was never there, but the noise was less, and being along the wall if our kids had a fit (which never happens with kids this age, but in the off chance they do) we are apt to bother less people as we only have two or three sides of people rather than people on sides all around. This time we have requested a table along the wall, we’ll let you know if we get this request. Not only for the noise but the views are great.

Aside from a wall, in the past we have brought in the stroller and make a play pin, a nap area (nap part only worked once in 7 days). A stroller in the dining rooms is tight at best and unless necessary not a great option. This time we will not be bringing a stroller. SCARY THOUGHT but we are pros, right? Well, that’s what I am telling myself. Overall dinners have been more challenging in restaurants at home recently, so I am a bit worried. Those fits I mentioned happen all the time. DD does great, she actually eats. DS, hates eating. Only four bites and he has had enough. Ready to go, see what the world has to offer. His best statement “I’ll be right back,” oh no he doesn’t he will be off to see the world. Instead of living paycheck to paycheck he lives bite to bite (DH funny remark, me I try to be funny but in the end just not so much).

Our table and view. Great! Even when we were not up to the window we had a good view.

This time we have tried to have the kids in the nursery 2 of the 5 nights. So, fellow cruisers you only have to bear with us for three nights. That is our gift to you! In the past, nursery reservations fill up around dinner so plan early and get the time reserved is what I recommend.

Nursery:
On our first cruise thanks to the dis, we brought a treat for the CM’s (Wonder). DS was only 13 weeks and I think the nursery was slow. The girls loved him and he became the selected kid for the cruise. He got a hat, (I think we still have), a onesie, and a cute book. The second cruise, DS was 15 mo and DD 12 weeks. The CM’s (Magic) were not as friendly. It seemed like bringing the kids in was a chore for them. However, three months later, a few CM’s were the same. They remembered the babies and took to them much better. One child came in the nursery the first day with a cold and runny nose. In less than 24 hours or so, our kids had the same cold, as did every other kid who was in the nursery. The CM’s were troopers and had no issues with it. Maybe we caught the CM’s on a rough week three months earlier. I was not too happy with the family who brought the sick kid in, but heck I may have done the same thing.

A week or so after returning home we would get a treat in the mail from the babies and the nursery. I will not let the surprise be blown. It was a nice remembrance. We also would get a small folder of crafts that they did in the nursery before we left the ship; so cute.

This time I am again going to put something together for the nursery. Not much but a nice thank you from the babies.

Splash area:
On our last cruise we avoided even walking past the Mickey Pool so we had few power struggles over the pool area. Towards the end of the 7 days, DS became curious and it was impossible to keep him near the splash area. Apparently we did not avoid it enough. We only played in the splash area and had a blast. This year DS is almost potty trained. As an incentive to get past our last little bump is to use the Mickey Pool as a reward. He is out of a diaper all day, including naps. But poops (sorry to much info) he keeps until bed time when he gets a diaper. After two other boys I should have this down. Not so much!

DD on the other hand is just getting the idea. At 1.5 DD will sit on the potty and tries to be as naked as possible. She knows when she’s gone potty as she tells us, but only after the fact. I think she will be resigned to the splash area no swimming for her.

The adult area is great and what little time we have set aside for just us adults I hope to swim at least once. The water is warm at near 80. I just do not get why places have a pool but refuse to heat it properly making the pool useless. Disney does not do this from what I have found.

 

[adventure_woman]

I am reading with excitement! We're going on our first cruise next month - our girls are 4 and 9mths!

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I loved the pictures of you and DH spending time with the kids. It was so sweet looking at the two little ones in the splash pool frolicking around with their daddy. It reminds me of some of the qualities I love best about my dear husband.

 

[familyfun5]

The night before we were to leave Denver was hit with it’s first snow of the season. You would think being in Colorado people would know how to drive in the snow? We received about three inches and the entire city shuts down. The roads were a bit icy on the morning we left with it being a chilly 5 degrees. One car we saw made it to the airport, almost to the drop off area, to only drive into a ditch and run over a fence. Yikes, I was hoping that was not a start to his vacation. We were off to warm weather and we made it to the airport. All was starting great for us! I hope the other guy trip recovers.

DH usually drops me and the kids off to check in while he goes to park the car. Today we start this but it being soo cold outside there was no one at curb check in. So I quickly ask him to stay in the car with the babies so I can check us in. Yikes, I was shivering the entire time. You see, I am from California and though I live in Colorado I am like the drivers on the first snow. I am in denial that it gets cold and did not dress warm enough. I then take the DD into the airport with the stroller, diaper bags, our carryon’s……. while DH takes DS and parks the car. I think he got the better end of the deal as I chased and excited 18 mo old around the airport who had not been out of the house much in the last three days. Watch out everyone she is on the move and I say sorry a thousand times. For the most part we stay out of the way while we wait for DH and DS.

We start to enter the regular security check in line much to everyone’s horror. I don’t think those around us wanted to be in line for the next 15 min with two toddlers who cannot stay still, not to mention the stroller full of bags. As we enter, the guard tells us we can go through the handicap/employee line. A nice break for everyone around, though still a chore. It took us about 15 min. with most of the time unpacking and repacking everyone. We were not the only ones in the line with two young kids. There were hardly any handicapped people but the few I felt bad for. Three of us families had the entire area maxed out. So we put the kids in, stash the shoes and move out of the way.

The babies love the planes. Our plan was for the babies to sleep through most of the four hour flight. We get on this full flight with no issues to only sit at the gate for an hour. The baby’s patience was wearing thin quickly. We make it to deice and off we go. The kids fell asleep moments after getting in the air. From here it should be easy sailing. But no, silly me had my arm fall asleep while holding DD. So I softly try to reposition her. Bad idea! She is up, tired, cranky and confused. So sorry everyone! Next time my arm can fall off before I move her. The next three hours were rough. DH though was holding DS who was nicely asleep. He keeps getting the better end, how does that work? We flew Southwest and the attendant was wonderful. He brought apple juice when the kids woke up, and even a plastic spoon from his own stash; as I had thrown my other one away right before the flight. What was I thinking? Babies and no spoon?

We make it to Orlando 45 min late with warm weather. This is why I did not dress so warm. At nearly 70 degrees I was sweating. See I was thinking ahead. Yep that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

We get our rental car from Budget. I picked a small compact to barely fit everything inn. Not good, we needed much larger. Woohoo. Awesome DH fits it all and off to our hotel near Sea World. I had been looking at car rentals for a couple months. Being we were flying in on New Year’s Eve the prices for two nights in one of the smallest cars was nearly $400. I check right before we left and for two nights it dropped to $85.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn Sea World. We received a room package that included Sea World and two stuffed animals for the kids. The room was small but it worked. The pool was cold and the wind made it even colder. We checked out the pool with me holding DD hands as she stomped her feet in it just for a few min. It is a gradual entry and seemed like it could be fun. She then breaks away and runs in and falls. My first reaction is to jump in and help her stand up. Okay, so now we are both fully clothed and wet, me only to my knees though. Great fun and lots of laughs. May as well go to the room to change and check out the hot tub. Though not hot, at being mildly warm it actually was quite nice. The hot tub was large and we treated it as a swimming pool and had it to ourselves except for a dad who seemed to really miss his little girl being so small. The kids really wanted the pool and would break away and head over there to just run back to get warm. Brave DH jumped into the pool and DD braved it for about three min.

We then head to the room for snacks and bed. It was late so DS and I stayed up a bit longer to try and see the fireworks. The hotel had a great view overlooking Sea World and the fireworks all through the city. Nightly night! Tomorrow Sea World, then a day as COCO beach, then the Disney Ship!

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

Great report! We are cruising with DS next year on the Fantasy and he'll be 2.8 so I am reading, and taking notes!

 

[bombygriz]

What is the name of the zoo you visited??

Great TR!