Disney Fantasy with a 9mo old

[libra]

Hello,

I am booked to travel on the Disney Fantasy 7 day cruise in August with my 9 month old son... I am wondering if anyone has any tips that would help us out! We have sailed once before on the Magic in 2008.

Any help is appreciated : )

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

What worked for me:

keeping DS as close as possible to his normal schedule. I made sure he received his two naps a day. We ate dinner around the time we did at home (late seating).

We didn't over do it. We didn't make any shows because DS needed to nap before dinner.

We didn't try to do all the character meets, just Mickey and pals (minus Daisy & Donald Duck).

A verandah room made being in the room for naps nice.

Next time I will request our own table. They put another baby and two small children at our table. It was not good. We need less distractions.

An umbrella stroller with a large shade. I'm so glad I didn't bring my stroller from our travel system! When the "maid cart" was in the hallway, I had to squeeze the umbrella stroller past it. The larger stroller would have been a pain.

The tub was great for washing DS. He loved it, it was like his personal mini garden tub.

Loved the diaper genie elite!

The pack n play wasn't the greatest, but I only used it for DS to play in, because we co-sleep.

Enjoy your cruise! We created some great memories on that cruise.

 

[ahain]

[.............An umbrella stroller with a large shade. I'm so glad I didn't bring my stroller from our travel system! When the "maid cart" was in the hallway, I had to squeeze the umbrella stroller past it. The larger stroller would have been a pain....[/QUOTE]

OMG yes.... (vent follows ) You would not believe how many people we've seen (or had to wriggle around) that bring full sized - or even DOUBLE - strollers and try to wrangle the things up and down tight hallways, through the cramped shops, in and out of already crowded elevators, and through the dining room aisles. It's absolutely ridiculous. While I certainly understand the convenience of having a full-sized stroller that baby can sleep reclined and comfy in, they are just not practical on a cruise ship. When DD was young, we always used the umbrella stroller when traveling - much easier to fold, unfold & stow when necessary and much more agile in tight quarters.

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

[.............An umbrella stroller with a large shade. I'm so glad I didn't bring my stroller from our travel system! When the "maid cart" was in the hallway, I had to squeeze the umbrella stroller past it. The larger stroller would have been a pain....

OMG yes.... (vent follows ) You would not believe how many people we've seen (or had to wriggle around) that bring full sized - or even DOUBLE - strollers and try to wrangle the things up and down tight hallways, through the cramped shops, in and out of already crowded elevators, and through the dining room aisles. It's absolutely ridiculous. While I certainly understand the convenience of having a full-sized stroller that baby can sleep reclined and comfy in, they are just not practical on a cruise ship. When DD was young, we always used the umbrella stroller when traveling - much easier to fold, unfold & stow when necessary and much more agile in tight quarters. [/QUOTE]

Honestly, I don't know how they got them in their rooms. DS's umbrella stroller barely fit through the door.

 

[Cptnkirky]

We went with our 13 month old last cruise. A little different in age, but we had just started walking and some other big milestones...
-Incase you didn't know, DCL will provide a diaper genie to your room. If you child has an allergies/sensitivities; bring your own sheet for the PnP.
3rd on the small stroller. Don't feel bad about using it throughout the ship, there will be plenty. You can also rent/borrow one from DCL once on ship if you choose. They are nice CityMini's
-No Diapers in the pools or aquazones, only in the splash area. My daughter loved that anyway
-Don't feel like you have to do MDR everynight. It does take a long time, and if your LO is crashing, ask to have the rest of your dinner sent to your room OR eat up in Cabanas (its really nice and quiet) OR take to nursery then go back to MDR. Dinner is a long ordeal.
-If you are not going with a big group, call DCL and request a table in the MDR alone! This helps it go faster and helps (a lot!)
-Book your nursery times early (now) if you want to use them. They are great.
-Like others said, try and stay on a normal schedule. Naps when needed, many things on the ship are repeated. Characters are all the time. Don't overdo it
-Look for the toddler events, they are great fun. There is a toddler meeting time, diaper dash and couple others. Good times for the little ones and memorable
-bring a sponge or towel,covered in liquid soap and dried, then cut into pieces to wash bottles and other items. Makes washing in the stateroom easier
-If you need to save luggage, use the baby item delivery service. Prices are a little more then you would pay, but worth not taking all the diapers/wipes/milk/snacks/foods etc.
-DCL will make any veggie (maybe food?) pureed for babies if you ask
-take a small sand toy for the beach at CC
-wagons are available once you get off the ship at CC on the left side. Just have to get them early on, but keeps from bringing stroller

If I think of any more I will post. 9 months will be a great time (hopefully before walking). Once they are on the move, it is rough! Have a great time!

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

If you need to save luggage, use the baby item delivery service. Prices are a little more then you would pay, but worth not taking all the diapers/wipes/milk/snacks/foods etc.

DCL no longer allows things to be delivered onboard the ship. Also, the business that used to provide this service, Babies Travel Lite, is no longer in business.

I have a friend who lives in Orlando, so she took me to the store the night before, to buy diapers, wipes, & disposable swimmers for the splash area and CC. At the end of the cruise, I boxed up the leftover stuff and my friend mailed them to us. You can also mail the items to your hotel, if you're coming in the night before.

Another thing that worked for me...

Disposable bibs!

 

[lspst8]

My family and my sisters family went on the Fantasy in April, and her son was 9 months old then. They had a great time ..... We had early dining, and everyone made a fuss over him. Our waiters made sure he had puréed food and plenty of rolls to know on. They never missed dinner in the MDR because they were able to order his food the night before so it was ready as soon as they got there. They would even wrap up any leftovers for breakfast.

They brought a small stroller but mainly used their Ergo carrier.

Don't miss the Diaper Dash .... My nephew came in second! It was so much fun to watch all the little ones racing.

Don't worry about using the nursery. The workers are so friendly and take really good care of the kids. My nephew and my 2 year were in the nursery almost every afternoon just so the adults could have some kid free time.

 

[genki3]

Diaper Dash is so cute!

For those that don't know, it is a fun competition for crawling babies. Once they take their first step, they no longer qualify to participate so if your baby is a crawler, sign him up! It's really cute, and amusing for us to watch. I'm not sure if only the winner gets the prize or every baby that participates. When I saw it, the moms at the end of the finish line were holding Baby Incredible dolls to entice their babies to come to them. And the dads...they were huffing and puffing, giving their all to get their baby to crawl but many babies were just content sitting at the halfway point or moving real s...l...o....w