Going on a family cruise with a young baby can be a wonderful trip. We know because we just came back from a Caribbean cruise with our 10 month old daughter.
There is some planning to be done beforehand, but the planning is well worth the effort. There are many things that you will need for your baby on the cruise vacation. Here is our list of the top 10 must things to have on a cruise vacation with a young baby.
1. The most valuable thing that we took with us was our stroller. Our daughter loves being in the stroller and it was also great that our stroller folds - that way it was easy to take on an airplane, and it didn't take up much room in our cabin on the cruise ship. We used the stroller all the time. Every morning we walked our daughter on the promenade deck; we used the stroller every day to go to the ship's pools and dining rooms; we even used in the evening so that we can all enjoy the exciting evenings on board. Every evening after dinner we bathed our daughter, then put her in pyjamas, and then placed her back into her stroller. We then walked the ship with her, went to some clubs on the ship with her and before long she would fall fast asleep.
2. Make sure that you have enough diapers for your baby during the vacation - but don't bring them from home. First figure out before you leave how many diapers your child go through in a normal day - and then multiply that number by the number of days on your vacation. If your vacation involves air travel (like ours did) you won't want to have to bring the diapers from home - if you do that means that they will have to be checked as checked baggage. Instead, do what we did. Our ship cruised out of Fort Lauderdale in Florida. We had time from when our flight arrived in Florida to when we had to be on the ship. So from the airport we took a cab to a nearby Target store and purchased the diapers that we needed for the cruise and some other baby supplies before getting another taxi to the ship.
3. One thing to do on a cruise ship - especially when it is hot is to go to the kiddies pool with your child and cool off in the pool. In order for your child to go into the pool they have to wear swim diapers or they have to be toilet-trained.
4. Our baby is on formula so we brought on board with us enough formula for the cruise. We opted to bring powdered formula since it is less bulky than formula that is already mixed. Again, we didn't bring it from home, we purchased the required formula in Florida when we bought our diapers. Keep in mind that any formula entering the ship must be sealed & in the original container.
5. Being able to boil water during the trip was important to us since we wanted to have safe water to mix with the powdered formula. In order to make it easy to boil water we brought a kettle with us with an automatic shut-off.
6. Baby's food is obviously very important. We brought a formula dispenser with us. We did this so that we could fill several bottles with clean water and when it was time for a bottle for our daughter we just had to pour the pre-measured formula into the water and give the bottle a shake.
7. Not having a spot to put your dirty diapers will cause some problems with odor in your cabin on the ship. Let your room steward know that you will have some smelly diapers - he will come to your room more often to remove them. And we took with us scented bags for putting the dirty diapers. They really helped control the odors in our room, and they were also useful on our air flight. They can be purchased at a dollar store or Babies r Us.
8. You'll need soap for bathing your baby. Eventhough most ship cabins won't have a tub for bathing your child - you can still do what we did. We plugged the drain on the shower and put enough water in the shower in order to give our baby her bath.
9. Make sure that you bring something to protect your baby from the heat and sun, especially if you plan on spending much time in the sun with your child during the cruise. Before we left home we purchased a lightweight sun cabana. We used the cabana on two beaches and on the pool deck near the kiddies pool. It kept us and our baby comfortable and protected from the sun. To rent a cabana on the private island that our ship stopped would have cost us about $90. The cabana that we brought with us cost less than $50 and we use it all the time.
10. Zip lock bags - these are great for everything - snack holders, put really dirty/soiled clothes away until you get home. Use for things that leak - (ex. medicine). Use the bags on the ship to pack bibs, spoons to go for dinner so when they are dirty you can throw in the bag & clean when you get back to your room.
There are more items to consider, but start your list with these essentials items.
There is some planning to be done beforehand, but the planning is well worth the effort. There are many things that you will need for your baby on the cruise vacation. Here is our list of the top 10 must things to have on a cruise vacation with a young baby.
1. The most valuable thing that we took with us was our stroller. Our daughter loves being in the stroller and it was also great that our stroller folds - that way it was easy to take on an airplane, and it didn't take up much room in our cabin on the cruise ship. We used the stroller all the time. Every morning we walked our daughter on the promenade deck; we used the stroller every day to go to the ship's pools and dining rooms; we even used in the evening so that we can all enjoy the exciting evenings on board. Every evening after dinner we bathed our daughter, then put her in pyjamas, and then placed her back into her stroller. We then walked the ship with her, went to some clubs on the ship with her and before long she would fall fast asleep.
2. Make sure that you have enough diapers for your baby during the vacation - but don't bring them from home. First figure out before you leave how many diapers your child go through in a normal day - and then multiply that number by the number of days on your vacation. If your vacation involves air travel (like ours did) you won't want to have to bring the diapers from home - if you do that means that they will have to be checked as checked baggage. Instead, do what we did. Our ship cruised out of Fort Lauderdale in Florida. We had time from when our flight arrived in Florida to when we had to be on the ship. So from the airport we took a cab to a nearby Target store and purchased the diapers that we needed for the cruise and some other baby supplies before getting another taxi to the ship.
3. One thing to do on a cruise ship - especially when it is hot is to go to the kiddies pool with your child and cool off in the pool. In order for your child to go into the pool they have to wear swim diapers or they have to be toilet-trained.
4. Our baby is on formula so we brought on board with us enough formula for the cruise. We opted to bring powdered formula since it is less bulky than formula that is already mixed. Again, we didn't bring it from home, we purchased the required formula in Florida when we bought our diapers. Keep in mind that any formula entering the ship must be sealed & in the original container.
5. Being able to boil water during the trip was important to us since we wanted to have safe water to mix with the powdered formula. In order to make it easy to boil water we brought a kettle with us with an automatic shut-off.
6. Baby's food is obviously very important. We brought a formula dispenser with us. We did this so that we could fill several bottles with clean water and when it was time for a bottle for our daughter we just had to pour the pre-measured formula into the water and give the bottle a shake.
7. Not having a spot to put your dirty diapers will cause some problems with odor in your cabin on the ship. Let your room steward know that you will have some smelly diapers - he will come to your room more often to remove them. And we took with us scented bags for putting the dirty diapers. They really helped control the odors in our room, and they were also useful on our air flight. They can be purchased at a dollar store or Babies r Us.
8. You'll need soap for bathing your baby. Eventhough most ship cabins won't have a tub for bathing your child - you can still do what we did. We plugged the drain on the shower and put enough water in the shower in order to give our baby her bath.
9. Make sure that you bring something to protect your baby from the heat and sun, especially if you plan on spending much time in the sun with your child during the cruise. Before we left home we purchased a lightweight sun cabana. We used the cabana on two beaches and on the pool deck near the kiddies pool. It kept us and our baby comfortable and protected from the sun. To rent a cabana on the private island that our ship stopped would have cost us about $90. The cabana that we brought with us cost less than $50 and we use it all the time.
10. Zip lock bags - these are great for everything - snack holders, put really dirty/soiled clothes away until you get home. Use for things that leak - (ex. medicine). Use the bags on the ship to pack bibs, spoons to go for dinner so when they are dirty you can throw in the bag & clean when you get back to your room.
There are more items to consider, but start your list with these essentials items.
About the Author:
BabyTravelPlanet is in Canada and they sell Dreamer Design Jogging Strollers to people in the USA and Canada. Visit their site to get their no cost ebook checklist Packing for a Cruise Vacation With Your Baby that is full of things to consider when planning a cruise vacation.
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