Need tips for sailing with 1 year old

[DISFANSHAN]

We are sailing on the 3 night Wonder in May and was wondering if anyone who has sailed w/ a 1 year old has any good tips for us?

 

[WheresGoofy]

We can let you know. We are taking our soon to be 1 DD in about 3 weeks. She will turn 1 during the cruise.

 

[DISFANSHAN]

Thanks - that would be great!

 

[SuzPasq]

There have been a few similar threads just in the past two weeks that I've been reading--you might want to search back a bit.

Is there something specific you'd like to know? I've taken my children on their first cruise at 11months and 8 months, respectively. This year we'll have a 19month old and a 7yo.

 

[castlegazer]

I am booking a 2006 cruise on which I will have a one year old who is still in my belly right now.

I actually think its a great age - maybe not the best age to cruise and get the most out of it - but you will certainly get the money's worth out of it as they only pay port charges. Her brother will be 4 at the time and he is the reason we are taking the cruise among many other reasons too.

At one they eat normal food - awesome as there is no extra packing. At one they take two naps a day - awesome as it gives you some really good down time too (trust me, this is not the case with a 3 yo). At one they are able to be entertained by the fun on the ship and play in the ear of the Mickey Pool or play in the sand at a beach.

The long dinners may be a bit hard on them and you can't take them out to the clubs if they need to leave dinner. But there are so many options for feeding them.

We have opted to get a balcony stateroom as it gives my DH and I a place to hang out when the kids are sleeping. That is the hardest we have found in traveling with the wee ones. Their bed times are so much earlier than an adult would go to bed, but you can't watch TV in a small room nor have lights on - so what do you do? We sit out on the balcony, having already ordered drinks and the pie of the day or an All Hands on Deck from room service. We plan on bringing some small rechargable lanterns to read by out there.

I am looking forward to it. I think its going to be a blast with the two of them.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

The single biggest suggestion I have is to try to get a veranda.

When we sailed with our 1yo, by the time everyone was ready to leave to breakfast, we go to breakfast, and let "junior" take his time eating breakfast (it was a great time to let him try new things), it was time for his morning nap. By the time we went through it all again for lunch, it was time for his afternoon nap. So our days didn't start until 3:00. If you have a verandah and bring a monitor, you can let junior sleep on the main bed while you spend some time out on the verandha.

 

[TiffJ]

My biggest piece of advice is to bring twice the amount of diapers you think you will need! I took my son when he was 1 1/2 and it was an awesome age. Just walking around the boat entertained him. He loved walking down Beat Street during the day. Dinner, however, was not always pleasant. They dont like to sit still for that long. I said that about the diapers because although you can buy them onboard if necessary, they are very expensive and the shops are not open if you are in port. They are not legally allowed to be open. I met a mom at the Mickey pool the morning we were docked in St. Marteen. Her husband had to go onto the island in search of a store to buy diapers from because they had run out & the store was not open that morning. Now-St. Marteen is nothing like the U.S. where there is a Wal Mart or convenience store on every corner. I think he spent half the day in search of diapers. Just take them out of there bag & shove them into the nooks & cranies of your suitcase. It is easy to take a bunch that way.

 

[SuzPasq]

I definitely agree with those who said that a veranda is a must. We've always had staterooms with verandas, but also with a curtain separating the bed from the living area. This allowed the adults to be on one side of the room and the children on the other. It does buffer some noise (or maybe my kids are just heavy sleepers) because my husband often watched tv once the kids went to bed.

We also take turns at naptime so that one gets alone time while the other gets quiet time to read and relax in the room. At night, we try to see movies (together when we just had an older child and now alone since we don't want to use Flounders for our 1yo).

 

[DISFANSHAN]

SuzPasq - in reference to your first post, there's nothing specific I was looking for, just some tips from people who have sailed with a one-year-old, maybe something you wouldn't normally think of while planning your cruise.

We are booked in a verandah, I'm glad everyone said that was the way to go!

Thanks to everyone for the tips!

 

[goofyforlife]

We took a 16 mo old with us. We used Flounders Reef so that we could go to Palo. (two hours)

He loved it there. They have a climbing gym, watch Disney movies, and really pay attention to the kids.

He also had no seperation anxiety at all. So that's how I judged how he enjoyed it.

We checked in on him after dinner...He was fine...walked around the ship a little more and then picked him up.