Planning first cruise with babies any help welcome

[FSU Girl]

I haven’t gone on a cruise since 2019 before I had my babies. My oldest is now 3 and I have a 4 week old. I want to plan a cruise around when my baby is 6 months, my parents said they’d like to sail with us and they’ve never gone on a Disney ship but are experienced cruisers.

So first, which ship should we go on? I was leaning towards the Wish since I haven’t been on it yet and we could do a 4 night. I’ve been on the Magic, Dream and Fantasy and liked them all, not sure if one of them is better for babies?

What do I need to do in preparation for the cruise? I know I’ll need to get passports for my babies although technically not a requirement on a closed loop I’d feel better having them. How long do those take to get for kids?

Room type, what would work best? I loved sailing in concierge, but my parents would never pay those prices so I don’t think it would make sense to do that with them in a regular room. I like the balconies, but are the doors secure? My toddler is tall and loves opening doors so that makes me a little nervous. Would we be better off with a window room instead?

And sleeping arrangements the baby would be in a pack n play, the ship provides this or we bring our own? If it’s theirs do we bring our own sheets and is it comfortable? Our toddler sleeps in a regular bed with guard rails, does Disney provide those?

What fun things are there to do with babies on the ship? And excursions I’m guessing are limited with a baby. What do you do about the baby and a car seat going places on the islands?

Also is it hard to get first dining this close to sailing? It’ll be 6 of us at the table and 2nd seating wouldn’t work at all since my toddler goes to bed at 7.

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[sponica]

I'll answer what I can.

For passports, we went to our post office and did all the paperwork/photos on November 25th. Passports arrived on December 9th, the cards arrived yesterday, and the supplemental documents are on their way back. We did routine processing and not expedited.

We're with a 7 and 3 year old, and we have a family verandah booked. I think the upper lock is pretty high
. You can request a pack n play/bed rails along with a booster seat/high chair




I assume the PnP is pretty similar to the ones the resorts use, my kids never had a problem sleeping in them, even at 20 months. But that's what they normally slept in when they visited their grandparents home.

We're not doing excursions, so no comment on the car seat question.

 

[Anna131517]

So first, which ship should we go on?

I think the Wish would be easiest for you because it only goes to Castaway Cay and Nassau - which means no tenders and it’s very easy to get on and off the ship with a baby.

What do I need to do in preparation for the cruise? I know I’ll need to get passports for my babies although technically not a requirement on a closed loop I’d feel better having them. How long do those take to get for kids?

I’d give yourself 3-5 months to get the passports just to be on the safe side.

Room type, what would work best? I loved sailing in concierge, but my parents would never pay those prices so I don’t think it would make sense to do that with them in a regular room. I like the balconies, but are the doors secure? My toddler is tall and loves opening doors so that makes me a little nervous. Would we be better off with a window room instead?

Family room verandah with a pull down bed. That will give you extra room to put the pack n play.

And sleeping arrangements the baby would be in a pack n play, the ship provides this or we bring our own? If it’s theirs do we bring our own sheets and is it comfortable? Our toddler sleeps in a regular bed with guard rails, does Disney provide those?

Yes, DCL provides pack n plays. When we got one on the Fantasy it also can with a slip cover thing that can be washed.

What fun things are there to do with babies on the ship? And excursions I’m guessing are limited with a baby. What do you do about the baby and a car seat going places on the islands?

Pick excursions that are in walking distance or provide bus transportation. This is why I say sail on the Wish. You don’t need anything for Castaway Cay and you don’t even need to get off at Nassau if you just want to enjoy the ship.

Also is it hard to get first dining this close to sailing? It’ll be 6 of us at the table and 2nd seating wouldn’t work at all since my toddler goes to bed at 7.

Yes, getting early dining may be difficult if you book late. Could adults take turns watching the toddler? You could feed them earlier on the top deck.

 

[Sleepyluke]

Feel free to cringe and flame me, but first of all forget the bedtime. Yes we are terrible parents. Take a small umbrella stroller and let them sleep wen they need to during the day. We had a couple of nights that our the 3 year old napped in the dining room on a bed made of chairs made by the servers. We put her pj's on when we got ready for the show, but we have pictures of her playing in the atrium with Pluto and her little stuffed Pluto she got from the gift shop at pretty much midnight one night. He played with her for probably 5 minutes with no one else around. We napped by the pool while watching movies, and let her eat when she was hungry. Yes it changed our pace, but we loved every minute of it. It is a few days to a week, it wont hurt them, but it sure can put smiles on them and you. Don't try to force anything, just accept and go with the flow of some of it and let yourself enjoy some of the chaos that will appear!

 

[RedHead0186]

Pick the itinerary, not the ship. Any ship will be good for babies. Find the port you want to leave from, then look at itineraries from there that fit your needs.

Verandah doors are very secure. There is a lock way at the top of the door. While not 100% secure, the doors are also very hard to open so that can be a deterrent as well.

Excursions will be a little limited, as some have specific ages they accept. Transportation on the islands can be more open air, so I would not try to bring/count on using a car seat, unfortunately. You might be able to use one in a cab, but again, I wouldn't bank on it.

Put in a request for early dining as soon as you book. No guarantees, but a lot of people do get moved up closer to sailing. You can also go to dining services once onboard to see what they can do.

 

[Dug720]

Feel free to cringe and flame me, but first of all forget the bedtime. Yes we are terrible parents. Take a small umbrella stroller and let them sleep wen they need to during the day. We had a couple of nights that our the 3 year old napped in the dining room on a bed made of chairs made by the servers. We put her pj's on when we got ready for the show, but we have pictures of her playing in the atrium with Pluto and her little stuffed Pluto she got from the gift shop at pretty much midnight one night. He played with her for probably 5 minutes with no one else around. We napped by the pool while watching movies, and let her eat when she was hungry. Yes it changed our pace, but we loved every minute of it. It is a few days to a week, it wont hurt them, but it sure can put smiles on them and you. Don't try to force anything, just accept and go with the flow of some of it and let yourself enjoy some of the chaos that will appear!

Also, if she's going to bed at 7, that will mean you're all missing the shows since those are inverse to dining - late dining goes to early show; early dining goes to late show. And honestly even early dining may not be done by 7.

 

[mjkacmom]

Feel free to cringe and flame me, but first of all forget the bedtime. Yes we are terrible parents. Take a small umbrella stroller and let them sleep wen they need to during the day. We had a couple of nights that our the 3 year old napped in the dining room on a bed made of chairs made by the servers. We put her pj's on when we got ready for the show, but we have pictures of her playing in the atrium with Pluto and her little stuffed Pluto she got from the gift shop at pretty much midnight one night. He played with her for probably 5 minutes with no one else around. We napped by the pool while watching movies, and let her eat when she was hungry. Yes it changed our pace, but we loved every minute of it. It is a few days to a week, it wont hurt them, but it sure can put smiles on them and you. Don't try to force anything, just accept and go with the flow of some of it and let yourself enjoy some of the chaos that will appear!

I had 5 kids in 6 1/2 years, naps and bedtimes were not negotiable, it would’ve been insane! Our first family cruise was DCL, only a 3 night and with the grandparents. The youngest (twins) were almost 5 so no more naps, but we stuck close to our usual schedule. The kids were amazing sleepers and really didn’t want to stay up too late. Turns out the twins hated fireworks so we’d leave the parks early with them on our WDW stay before the cruise.

Balconies are a must with small children, nice to sit out there while the kids sleep.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Schedules go out the window on vacation for us. We don't stick to bedtimes or naptimes and go with the flow. It fits our lifestyle and, thankfully, our child is extremely flexible. This goes for cruises, Disney, Spain, the beach.

At 2.5, he was partying on the cruise deck on Pirate Night at 10:45pm, just like he was dancing in the snow on Main St at midnight at Mickey's Christmas party that same year.

When we cruised at 3.5, I had to pull him out of the kid's club at closing time

He probably gets it from his mama We love a vacation!

But I also realize some kids cannot deviate from their schedule, which would give me pause on a Disney cruise. The activities ramp up in the evenings. Shows, big character events, kid's club fun activities, pirate night, fireworks, dinner, deck parties, etc. At least with WDW, you can go hard early and turn in early but the cruise "best-of" activities are later in the evening IMO. I would have a hard time justifying the cost if my child didn't get to experience those things that set Disney apart.


We've booked our last 2 cruises less than 2 months out but neither were close to selling out so we easily got early dining. Honestly, I've been avoiding the Wish because it's selling out and seems to be really popular with families with small children (realizing we ARE a family with small children!). Being on a more "diverse" ship itinerary was a plus for us in the last year. I do agree the itinerary would be appealing for an infant, though! I would do walkable things in Nassau (if you even get off - I don't), and of course don't need anything on Castaway.

We felt 100% safe with a veranda and he's quite tall. The latch is high.

 

[justme0729]

We are booked to go with an almost 3 year old and a 14 month old. I don’t think a specific ship should make your decision… I would book one with 2 stops at castaway or lighthouse with a baby. We chose a 6 night itinerary with 2 stops at castaway and 1 at lighthouse point since they will be the easiest ports to have an easy, safe beach day with little kids. We booked a very forward oceanview room because it has a larger layout so that we can separate the kids a little bit while sleeping instead of right next to each other. We plan on our priorities being to enjoy our 3 beach days, meet lots of characters, see at least 2 shows if they enjoy them (might skip dining room those nights if we find they can’t stay up late for them), make it to at least 4ish sit down dinners, and adult pool during naps.

 

[Mommb]

A few thoughts:
Apply for the passports now. It may take just a few weeks, but it may take longer. On our last application, my daughter’s photo was rejected, so we had to send another one. Since you will need to send a birth certificate with the passport application, you will want everything done well before the cruise to avoid having to get a 2nd official copy.

The veranda door will be difficult for a 3-year-old to open, especially if you keep it locked when not in use. The latch is high and the door is heavy.

You can take both kids to open house at the nursery and Oceaneer’s Club. There is sometimes a Diaper Dash contest for crawlers, but your baby may not be ready for that yet. Be aware that 3 year olds must be fully potty trained to be admitted to the Club on their own. On our first cruise with my 3 year old, she wasn’t quite there yet, so she went to the nursery when my husband and I went to Palo.

 

[lscrivan18]

I just sailed with my son who's 3 and my piece of advice is to make sure he is potty trained. Children must be 3 and potty trained to go in. The baby will not be allowed in even with swim diapers.

3 is a great sweet spot because they can go to the Nursery or Kid's Club if potty trained. Your older one can choose which they prefer or you may like to have them both in Nursery so they're together. The nursery also has cribs so they can sleep there too.

Side note - my son has been in daycare full time since he was 1 and refused to go alone to the Nursery and Kid's Club. Wasn't surprised, he's clingy to us in new surroundings. Just want to temper your expectations, you can never tell how that part will go.

I'd choose connecting balcony rooms for you and the grandparents so it's easy to go between rooms and also gives you somewhere to go when the kid's are sleeping.