Disney Cruise with a 1 year old

[MommyOfSophia]

Hi! My husband and I are going to be taking a Disney Cruise on The Dream in Dec. 2016. At that time, our daughter will be 1 year old. Can anyone give me some tips and advice that has been through this ??? We have been on the DCL as a couple years ago but not with a 1 year old lol. Thanks in advance

 

[Matlockbel]

Hi! My husband and I are going to be taking a Disney Cruise on The Dream in Dec. 2016. At that time, our daughter will be 1 year old. Can anyone give me some tips and advice that has been through this ??? We have been on the DCL as a couple years ago but not with a 1 year old lol. Thanks in advance

On our first cruise my youngest grandson was 15 months old. it was not bad at all. the nursery staff were excellent and my daughter booked a few hours each day so she could either have a decent dinner or see a show depending on baby's mood that day. she followed the advice of some people on here and brought her own stroller and used it a lot on the ship. even took the sleeping grandson to dinner in the stroller. you can take your daughter to the open house of the kids clubs to play and they have sessions aimed at the younger set like wake up with disney junior etc. food was not a problem. you can take a few extra snacks from the buffet like milk and fruit to keep in your room and my daughter also ordered room service probably twice a day to have juice, milk, fruit or whatever you will need available. There is a fridge in the room to keep everything cold. bringing a few sand toys or other small toys for the room is always useful also.

 

[Sarah O.]

It will be great! We were on the dream with our 14 month old and he had a blast. At that age, he was so happy just to take everything in. The fridge in the room was great for milk, and having a pack and play and diaper genie were awesome. Our service staff gave us cartons of milk at dinner time so we could easily fill a sippy, and were happy to bring more food or even stuff off the menu. If they're still crawling, go to Jack Jack's diaper dash. It's their time to shine!!

 

[MommyOfSophia]

On our first cruise my youngest grandson was 15 months old. it was not bad at all. the nursery staff were excellent and my daughter booked a few hours each day so she could either have a decent dinner or see a show depending on baby's mood that day. she followed the advice of some people on here and brought her own stroller and used it a lot on the ship. even took the sleeping grandson to dinner in the stroller. you can take your daughter to the open house of the kids clubs to play and they have sessions aimed at the younger set like wake up with disney junior etc. food was not a problem. you can take a few extra snacks from the buffet like milk and fruit to keep in your room and my daughter also ordered room service probably twice a day to have juice, milk, fruit or whatever you will need available. There is a fridge in the room to keep everything cold. bringing a few sand toys or other small toys for the room is always useful also.

Thank you so much for the insight!! It's crazy thinking she will be eating fruit by then lol. She's only 5 months old now and toothless lol. They grow sooo fast !!!! It's nice to have a fridge!! We will definitely bring our umbrella stroller

 

[MommyOfSophia]

It will be great! We were on the dream with our 14 month old and he had a blast. At that age, he was so happy just to take everything in. The fridge in the room was great for milk, and having a pack and play and diaper genie were awesome. Our service staff gave us cartons of milk at dinner time so we could easily fill a sippy, and were happy to bring more food or even stuff off the menu. If they're still crawling, go to Jack Jack's diaper dash. It's their time to shine!!

Thank u for sharing your experience!!! I am looking forward to watching her soak everything in and seeing everything through her eyes!! Our last trip was all about my husband and I and very romantic. But we really want this trip to be focused on her. This is our first trip as a small family since she is our first !! She is only 5 months old now!!! I can't imagine her a 1 year old lol. I think that's why I'm so anxious !!!

 

[cruisingtwins]

We went when our kids were 19 months. We did not use the nursery as our kids had separation anxiety so our experience was probably different than most. They were also terrified of characters. At the end of the day no regrets and we had a great time but I feel the ship is lacking in things to do for toddlers. We were bored a lot just walking on the hallways back and forth. The splash are is cute but it gets overrun by bigger kids running around and you really have to be right next to them so they don't get hurt by bigger kids. For some reason the open houses had really odd hours and we were only were able to go there a couple of times and it was fun. There is a toddler play time thing which is a bunch of plastic toys thrown on the floor It was ok and the kids had fun but again it was only a couple of itmes in a 7 day cruise. We went is september and it was really sunny and hot so we did not spent lots of time in the outside decks.

 

[MommyOfSophia]

We went when our kids were 19 months. We did not use the nursery as our kids had separation anxiety so our experience was probably different than most. They were also terrified of characters. At the end of the day no regrets and we had a great time but I feel the ship is lacking in things to do for toddlers. We were bored a lot just walking on the hallways back and forth. The splash are is cute but it gets overrun by bigger kids running around and you really have to be right next to them so they don't get hurt by bigger kids. For some reason the open houses had really odd hours and we were only were able to go there a couple of times and it was fun. There is a toddler play time thing which is a bunch of plastic toys thrown on the floor It was ok and the kids had fun but again it was only a couple of itmes in a 7 day cruise. We went is september and it was really sunny and hot so we did not spent lots of time in the outside decks.

Yeah, not sure we will use the nursery. Our daughter is pretty clingy lol. Plus I'm a first time mother and very reluctant to leave her. Maybe by the time she is one I will be better with it lol. She's 5 months now and I won't even hire a babysitter or nanny. ;-)

 

[rwthompson82]

My son was 15 months on our recent Dream cruise.

He loved the characters and the splash pad. He also loved Andys room at the open house times. He didn't do well at dinner, so we booked him at the nursery for 1.5 hours every night. He did okay, but not great. He does go to daycare at home, but he didn't really like the ship nursery. When we boarded, there was mail at our door with a summary of toddler activities on the cruise, but we never found ourselves lacking. I personally love the downtime of afternoon naps, so I was happy to take that on!

For the shows, we were fortunately traveling with my parents and mother-in-law, so we took turns missing shows so he could sleep. We had a verandah room so we could sit outside with a drink after the shows.

 

[PackYourPixieDust]

Thank you so much for the insight!! It's crazy thinking she will be eating fruit by then lol. She's only 5 months old now and toothless lol. They grow sooo fast !!!! It's nice to have a fridge!! We will definitely bring our umbrella stroller

Um- your kiddo will likely be eating all food by 1 my son is almost 3 and he's been on 6 cruises- 4 with Disney. (We like to travel.)

I didn't give my son any food until after he was 6 months old and he was eating everything in small cut up pieces by 1. I don't even think we were using the puréed food still. Disney will steam whatever you need though. They are great. I'd bring some jarred foods for the first day or more depending on how she is doing with food. She'll probably have a favorite. And then if she's still on formula, you'll bring that. Spending in if you'll be switching her or not to her next beverage. That's right at the transition time to whole milk, or a different kind of you aren't doing whole milk. We ultimately chose whole milk vs goats because we travel so much but you have some time to decide that. Just know Disney only carried whole milk- and probably something for people with milk allergies but they won't have almond or goats. Now he slips in the couch bed with guard rails but when he was younger we brought our own pack and play sheets and blankets. We also always bring some toys for our cabin. My kiddo is a home body. No matter where 'home' is (a hotel room, cruise cabin) he wants time in the room. So we plan accordingly. She'll have fun toddling around. My son started walking in his first birthday. But before that we would have to let him just crawl around. We really like babyganics as a good hand sanitizer without alcohol.

Sorry this is a long random stream of consciousness post. Some other thoughts. We'd bring a bucket for him to play with on the private island and would also use it to wash his sippy cups, bottles, silver wear. Plan to bring your own of those things because Disney won't have secure enough cups, etc. we also use disposable bibs which I buy on Amazon. I think pampers has the brand we like best.

 

[Sarah O.]

Yeah, not sure we will use the nursery. Our daughter is pretty clingy lol. Plus I'm a first time mother and very reluctant to leave her. Maybe by the time she is one I will be better with it lol. She's 5 months now and I won't even hire a babysitter or nanny. ;-)

I was fully expecting for our little one to spend some time in the nursery (was totally keen on the idea of alone time), but we never really found any time where we didn't want him around. There were plenty of fun things to do with him! Granted, I never saw any of the adults only areas (my husband did once or twice), but I don't feel like I missed out. Will just be more fun to experience in subsequent trips! Enjoy!

 

[MommyOfSophia]

Um- your kiddo will likely be eating all food by 1 my son is almost 3 and he's been on 6 cruises- 4 with Disney. (We like to travel.)

I didn't give my son any food until after he was 6 months old and he was eating everything in small cut up pieces by 1. I don't even think we were using the puréed food still. Disney will steam whatever you need though. They are great. I'd bring some jarred foods for the first day or more depending on how she is doing with food. She'll probably have a favorite. And then if she's still on formula, you'll bring that. Spending in if you'll be switching her or not to her next beverage. That's right at the transition time to whole milk, or a different kind of you aren't doing whole milk. We ultimately chose whole milk vs goats because we travel so much but you have some time to decide that. Just know Disney only carried whole milk- and probably something for people with milk allergies but they won't have almond or goats. Now he slips in the couch bed with guard rails but when he was younger we brought our own pack and play sheets and blankets. We also always bring some toys for our cabin. My kiddo is a home body. No matter where 'home' is (a hotel room, cruise cabin) he wants time in the room. So we plan accordingly. She'll have fun toddling around. My son started walking in his first birthday. But before that we would have to let him just crawl around. We really like babyganics as a good hand sanitizer without alcohol.

Sorry this is a long random stream of consciousness post. Some other thoughts. We'd bring a bucket for him to play with on the private island and would also use it to wash his sippy cups, bottles, silver wear. Plan to bring your own of those things because Disney won't have secure enough cups, etc. we also use disposable bibs which I buy on Amazon. I think pampers has the brand we like best.

Wow!! Thank you for those tips!!! Being a first time mother, I can use any advice I can get!! I cannot wait to see her walking and actually eating real food!! She is eating oatmeal cereal once a day now and she loves it!! She's just starting to look interested in the food my husband and I are eating lol

 

[hswillia07]

Don't forget that you can request a Diaper Genie in your room- very helpful We requested both the diaper genie and the pack n' play for our then 9 month old. An umbrella stroller is great, and so is a sling. Also, we have always used bathing suits with rash guard tops for our girls - slightly less sunscreen for baby's skin I 100% did not intend to put our youngest in the nursery on our cruise, however, she was not happy during dinner time so by the third night, my husband told me it was time and he took her lol. They were FANTASTIC. They put a little name sticker on the baby's back that shows name and a drop off and pick up time. You have your room phone that you can carry with you so that they can contact you should their be any issues. At the time, I was struggling to get her to sleep at night time, and the nursery staff was able to accomplish this in the 1.5 hours that they typically had her. Really wonderful. Have fun

 

[schmass]

You will all have a great time! We took our son on the Fantasy when he was 16 months old and it was SO easy. I truly think a Disney cruise is the easiest vacation you can take with a baby. We are going next month with DS who will turn 3, and DD who will be 9 months.

The servers are awesome, and while I was busy feeding DS, they would even cut my food up for me! There is a link to my TR in my signature - there might be some helpful information in that for you!

 

[amybethchristiansen]

If your child is still on baby food, they will puree anything you ask for. My youngest (who is almost 8 now, yikes!) went on his first dcl cruise when he was 9 months. The first night, the waiter asked what I wanted pureed for him. It took a little while, but it happened. But, for every other night, they asked the night before, and there was a full bowl served the night before. No need to bring any jars at all! I had them do meat/veggies and then a fruit. So like a bowl of turkey and greenbeans, and then a bowl of apples. DCL is the absolute best with kiddos!

 

[AtticusandArella]

My daughter was 11 months and 2 weeks when we were on Dream last December. I took some fruit that in pouches with us and sure it was helpful. Be sure to get some milk and put in the fridge for emergency night time feeding. My daughter did eat some of the food that they have available but she was concentrating on things around her more so night time feeding was necessary. Don't forget to enter into Diaper Dash if she is not walking yet by that time. It's the little race for crawling babies. Fun and cuteness overload at the same time.