My husband and our 10 month old daughter and I just returned from a wonderful one week cruise in the Caribbean on the Crown Princess cruise ship. We wondered how difficult it would be to cruise with a young baby - it turned out that it was actually quite easy. Sure there are some things that we would do differently, but for the most part we did a lot of things very, very well. We are now planning our next cruise.
I thought it would be beneficial to other travellers planning a cruise with a young baby to read about our typical day on a cruise ship.
Princess Cruise Line was wonderful to us. They provided us with a very sturdy, clean and safe playpen for our daughter to sleep in. We positioned the playpen out of the way in the small hallway in our cabin near to the cabin's washroom. Our daughter sleeps very well - her normally waking time is 7 am. When she woke up during the vacation we would give her a quick change of clothes and then the three of us (baby, dad and me) would snuggle in our bed for a while waking up and playing.
After the family play time we would wash our daughter up, change her into some dry clothes and then my husband would put our daughter into our stroller (we brought one with us - don't leave home without one) and take her for a walk on one of the outside deck - either one of the top decks or the promenade deck. While they were gone - for 45 minutes or so - I would hop into the shower, get dressed, pack the diaper bag for the day and tidy up the cabin a bit. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
We would then all head off for breakfast. Before leaving on our trip I called Princess Cruise Line inquiring about the availability of high chairs in the dining areas. There is absolutely no problem with their high chairs. They are very sturdy, clean and safe - and they are available in all the dining areas. I would go to the buffet to get food for all of us to start on, and while I was doing that my hubby would get a high chair and get our daughter comfortable in it. It was all quite easy since there was never a very long line up at the buffet during the breakfast period.
When we finished our breakfast we went back to our cabin and changed into our swim gear. Our daughter wears swim diapers under her bathing suit. Off to the kid's pool where on the Crown Princess children are allowed if they are wearing a swim diaper.
After swim time back to the cabin for a morning nap for our daughter. One of us would stay in the room while the other took off on their own to explore the ship. We took turns doing this.
After nap time we would put our daughter into her stroller and we would walk around the ship together just exploring. We would have lunch together in the buffet area, maybe go for another swim and then it was afternoon nap time.
The highlight of the day was having dinner in the formal dining room. We opted for personal choice dining which meant we could go to the dining room at a time that worked best for us. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and around 5:30 or so we would go to one of the many bars on the ship for a pre-dinner drink. After our drink we would head off for dinner around 6 o'clock. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Right before dinner my husband and daughter would go to the buffet and gather up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
Once in the dining room my husband and I would order our dinner (the food on Princess is soooo good) and our little girl would eat some of her fruit. We also gave her some small pieces of bread and some other snacks like Yum Yums (that we brought with us).
At some point during dinner our daughter would be ready for her dinner. Before we left to go on the cruise (about a month before) I had pre-ordered baby food from Princess. At dinner when she was ready to eat I fed her a jar of baby food and some cereal mixed with water. When we were all finished eating our little family would sit and relax and enjoy being together as our daughter had her bottle.
When we left the dining room we would head back to our room. It was time for her evening bath - since our room did not have a bathtub (it only had a shower) - we plugged the shower drain and ran some water into the shower making it plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
Being out and about during the evening is one of the great fun things to do on a cruise ship - and we didn`t want to miss out. So, every evening after our daughter`s bath time we put her in her sleepers and settled her into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship. It was fantastic.
Our daughter would laugh and smile at all the people and the excitement that surrounded her - but it wasn`t long - maybe 30 or 40 minutes before she would fall asleep in her stroller. We adjusted the stroller seat so that she was reclining as she slept.
As our daughter slept we would continue doing things on the ship until my husband and I were ready to call it a day. We would back to our cabin, tuck our daughter into her playpen for the night, and then tuck ourselves into bed as well.
For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. The secret to a successful cruise vacation is to do some advanced planning, and don`t try to be too busy on the cruise. - 15266
I thought it would be beneficial to other travellers planning a cruise with a young baby to read about our typical day on a cruise ship.
Princess Cruise Line was wonderful to us. They provided us with a very sturdy, clean and safe playpen for our daughter to sleep in. We positioned the playpen out of the way in the small hallway in our cabin near to the cabin's washroom. Our daughter sleeps very well - her normally waking time is 7 am. When she woke up during the vacation we would give her a quick change of clothes and then the three of us (baby, dad and me) would snuggle in our bed for a while waking up and playing.
After the family play time we would wash our daughter up, change her into some dry clothes and then my husband would put our daughter into our stroller (we brought one with us - don't leave home without one) and take her for a walk on one of the outside deck - either one of the top decks or the promenade deck. While they were gone - for 45 minutes or so - I would hop into the shower, get dressed, pack the diaper bag for the day and tidy up the cabin a bit. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
We would then all head off for breakfast. Before leaving on our trip I called Princess Cruise Line inquiring about the availability of high chairs in the dining areas. There is absolutely no problem with their high chairs. They are very sturdy, clean and safe - and they are available in all the dining areas. I would go to the buffet to get food for all of us to start on, and while I was doing that my hubby would get a high chair and get our daughter comfortable in it. It was all quite easy since there was never a very long line up at the buffet during the breakfast period.
When we finished our breakfast we went back to our cabin and changed into our swim gear. Our daughter wears swim diapers under her bathing suit. Off to the kid's pool where on the Crown Princess children are allowed if they are wearing a swim diaper.
After swim time back to the cabin for a morning nap for our daughter. One of us would stay in the room while the other took off on their own to explore the ship. We took turns doing this.
After nap time we would put our daughter into her stroller and we would walk around the ship together just exploring. We would have lunch together in the buffet area, maybe go for another swim and then it was afternoon nap time.
The highlight of the day was having dinner in the formal dining room. We opted for personal choice dining which meant we could go to the dining room at a time that worked best for us. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and around 5:30 or so we would go to one of the many bars on the ship for a pre-dinner drink. After our drink we would head off for dinner around 6 o'clock. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Right before dinner my husband and daughter would go to the buffet and gather up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
Once in the dining room my husband and I would order our dinner (the food on Princess is soooo good) and our little girl would eat some of her fruit. We also gave her some small pieces of bread and some other snacks like Yum Yums (that we brought with us).
At some point during dinner our daughter would be ready for her dinner. Before we left to go on the cruise (about a month before) I had pre-ordered baby food from Princess. At dinner when she was ready to eat I fed her a jar of baby food and some cereal mixed with water. When we were all finished eating our little family would sit and relax and enjoy being together as our daughter had her bottle.
When we left the dining room we would head back to our room. It was time for her evening bath - since our room did not have a bathtub (it only had a shower) - we plugged the shower drain and ran some water into the shower making it plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
Being out and about during the evening is one of the great fun things to do on a cruise ship - and we didn`t want to miss out. So, every evening after our daughter`s bath time we put her in her sleepers and settled her into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship. It was fantastic.
Our daughter would laugh and smile at all the people and the excitement that surrounded her - but it wasn`t long - maybe 30 or 40 minutes before she would fall asleep in her stroller. We adjusted the stroller seat so that she was reclining as she slept.
As our daughter slept we would continue doing things on the ship until my husband and I were ready to call it a day. We would back to our cabin, tuck our daughter into her playpen for the night, and then tuck ourselves into bed as well.
For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. The secret to a successful cruise vacation is to do some advanced planning, and don`t try to be too busy on the cruise. - 15266
About the Author:
BabyTravelPlanet is located in Canada and they offer Dreamer Design Jogging Strollers to people in Canada and USA. Visit their site to get their no cost ebook checklist Packing for a Cruise Vacation that is full of things to consider when planning a cruise vacation.
