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.
If you or someone you know is planning a cruise vacation with a young baby you might be interested in reading what our days were like on the cruise ship.
First of all it was great that Princess Cruise Line provided us with a very nice playpen for our daughter to sleep in. Our daughter is a good sleeper - so every day she would sleep until about 7 o'clock. We would take her out of her playpen, change her diaper, and bring her into bed with us for some family play and snuggle time.
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.
The three of us would than meet at the buffet area of the ship for breakfast. One of us would put our girl into a high chair (again provided by the cruise ship) and the other would go to the buffet to get breakfast.
Our daughter loves the water - so most days after breakfast we would head back to our cabin - change into our swim suits and head off for the kiddie swimming pool. On the ship that we were on babies that wear swim diapers are allowed in the kid's pool (so make sure you pack some on your trip).
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.
Once our daughter woke up from her nap we would get out the stroller, put her in it and our family would head off exploring the ship. Eventually, we would stop in the buffet for lunch - after lunch maybe more swimming - or more exploring - and then it would be afternoon nappie time.
The best part of the day was getting all dressed up for dinner and then having dinner in one of the formal dining rooms. We would leave our cabin and go to one of the bars on the ship (there are lots of them) and have a cocktail before dinner. After our drink we would go to the dining room around 6 pm. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Before going to the dining room we would make a quick trip to the buffet area and pick up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
When we were seated at our table in the dining room (again there are plenty of high chairs available) my husband and I would look over the menu, place our dinner order (we loved the food on the ship) and our daughter would munch on her fruit, some pieces of bread and on some other snack food that I brought with us.
Our daughter would eventually be ready for her real food. I fed her a jar of baby food and some cereal mixed with water. We pre-ordered the baby food from Princess about a month before the cruise. After dinner the three of us would sit and relax and enjoy being together as our daughter had her bottle.
After dinner we went back to our room. Our room did not have a bathtub it only had a shower. We would plug the drain in the shower and run some water into the shower and it was plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
After bath time we put her in her sleepers and we put her back into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship.
Our daughter loved watching all the excitement that was going on around her - and in about 30 minutes or so she would fall fast 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.
Going on a successful cruise vacation takes some advanced planning. For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family.
If you or someone you know is planning a cruise vacation with a young baby you might be interested in reading what our days were like on the cruise ship.
First of all it was great that Princess Cruise Line provided us with a very nice playpen for our daughter to sleep in. Our daughter is a good sleeper - so every day she would sleep until about 7 o'clock. We would take her out of her playpen, change her diaper, and bring her into bed with us for some family play and snuggle time.
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.
The three of us would than meet at the buffet area of the ship for breakfast. One of us would put our girl into a high chair (again provided by the cruise ship) and the other would go to the buffet to get breakfast.
Our daughter loves the water - so most days after breakfast we would head back to our cabin - change into our swim suits and head off for the kiddie swimming pool. On the ship that we were on babies that wear swim diapers are allowed in the kid's pool (so make sure you pack some on your trip).
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.
Once our daughter woke up from her nap we would get out the stroller, put her in it and our family would head off exploring the ship. Eventually, we would stop in the buffet for lunch - after lunch maybe more swimming - or more exploring - and then it would be afternoon nappie time.
The best part of the day was getting all dressed up for dinner and then having dinner in one of the formal dining rooms. We would leave our cabin and go to one of the bars on the ship (there are lots of them) and have a cocktail before dinner. After our drink we would go to the dining room around 6 pm. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Before going to the dining room we would make a quick trip to the buffet area and pick up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
When we were seated at our table in the dining room (again there are plenty of high chairs available) my husband and I would look over the menu, place our dinner order (we loved the food on the ship) and our daughter would munch on her fruit, some pieces of bread and on some other snack food that I brought with us.
Our daughter would eventually be ready for her real food. I fed her a jar of baby food and some cereal mixed with water. We pre-ordered the baby food from Princess about a month before the cruise. After dinner the three of us would sit and relax and enjoy being together as our daughter had her bottle.
After dinner we went back to our room. Our room did not have a bathtub it only had a shower. We would plug the drain in the shower and run some water into the shower and it was plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
After bath time we put her in her sleepers and we put her back into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship.
Our daughter loved watching all the excitement that was going on around her - and in about 30 minutes or so she would fall fast 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.
Going on a successful cruise vacation takes some advanced planning. For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family.
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 free ebook checklist Packing for a Cruise Vacation that is full of things to consider when planning a cruise vacation.
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