Traveling with a baby

[chrisnic]

I live in cent. fla. so I was thinking that the disney cruise would be easy. I was thinking about the 3 or 4 day. This would be our first trip with the baby, she is 4 mos. now. I'd like to book for May if possible. I figured you can't get more child friendly then disney.
Would this be a good first trip and what room size would you recommend? Would it be worth the money to get a room with a balcony since we will probably be in the room for naps?
For meals do they provide a high chair at the table? It is hard for me to imagine, since I have been on other cruises, but none that I would feel were baby friendly.
Any other ideas or suggestions about travelling with the baby would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Christina

 

[Wonderwoman1982]

Well, I didn't take a baby on our cruise, but our friends we went with did. Their baby was about 6 or 7 months old for our trip. They had an deluxe inside stateroom, and they were happy with it. They were provided a portable crib, the cloth fold up kind. At meals, they had a highchair also. They used Flounders nursery I think twice, maybe 3 times. And the mother was very comfortable leaving her baby there as well. I'm not exactly sure of the price difference with an inside versus a balcony, but if you will be spending time inside alot for naps, AND you want to save a little more money, consider a category 8 or 9. We had a 9, and LOVED it. The window was gigantic, and we were very happy with it. The room WE had compared to our friends was pretty much exactly the same size wise, except we had a window. They had a few furniture differences, too. But that is it. Hope that helps a little.

 

[mom2grace]

Hi! We took our daughter in January on the Magic and she was 8 months old.

I would ABSOLUTELY get a verandah and here is why- it gives you a lot more space when you have the Pack-N-Play set up, you can move the table onto the verandah. Also, you can get fresh air into the room and you have a natural light source. I think this made life much easier, the fresh air helped DD stay happy and the light let her know night/day.

We would have been very cramped without the verandah. We did the Navigator's and it was very nice, because only the porthole is open, the wind was not strong so we could take DD out onto it (and she loved to watch the waves).

We also took our car seat/stroller combo, it was great and I would absolutely take it again in a heartbeat!

There are high chairs in the dining rooms, and buffet, our server was very accomodating, she steamed veggies for DD to eat, we only took formula and baby pears, everything else was table food provided by the ship!

This was a very easy trip with a baby!

Feel free to send me a private message if you want more tips/info!

Susan

 

[rlskes]

Hi Susan~

What kinda of food did they provided for the baby (veggies and fruit)? when we go in April, our little one would have just turned 8 months. The ONLY thing that I am bummed about this cruise, is that we have the later sitting. We are on a waiting list, but I doubt we will make it to dinner each night (8:30 is her bedtime even with a late nap) . Any tips that you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks~
Kim

 

[redpants]

Tip #1--

Absolutely get a room with a verandah. Not only for when your baby takes naps, but for the night time as well. When put our son to bed, instead of being "locked" in the room, we were able to sit on the balcony and enjoy the evening (with a few glasses of wine...)

Tip #2--

If you are stuck in late seating dinner, don't fret. Just sign your baby up for Flounders' nursery (8-10pm). There are cribs in the nursery where the little ones can sleep.

 

[mom2grace]

For food, they will give you whatever is available in the kitchen. We really focused on "people food" for the few weeks leading up to our cruise. She ate hard-cooked egg yolk, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, bananas, yogurt (They have plain). The cheerios are very different from the 'brand", they are made by Kellogg's but DH wouldn't eat them. I think I gave her corn flakes. I also didn't cut back on her formula like you might at 8 months so I really felt like I had a safety net if she didn't eat any food.

We had late seating and LOVED it! 8 Eastern is our DD's bedtime at home, but she adjusted. She did 3 naps a day, including one while DH and I got ready for dinner. Some evenings we took her car seat to dinner and she napped. (We were very flexible and adjusted to what DD needed). The servers were great, always bringing her dinner even if she didn't touch it, moving around the car seat/stroller (we took it right to the table). There were a ton of sleepy, cranky kids too!!

We did use Flounder's too.

The food at Topsiders for dinner looked very similar to the dining rooms, however, it is sit-down. That would be an earlier option. I would see how your daughter does though!!

If you must see the shows, take in the matinee showing in the afternoon. We only saw Disney Dreams in the evening, and she slept through it.

Also, we did category 7, the least expensive verandah. It was a few hundred more than a room with just a window that does not open (200-400, can't remember)

Susan

 

[mom2grace]

I also agree with Redpants!

The cheese and crackers plate from room service is sooooo yummy! We took our own sodas, wine, and beer to enjoy! Your room steward can get wine glasses for you.

It was fun to watch the stars while DD slept, and we even had a full moon!

Susan