For my first real post, I thought I'd write about a cruise we were able to go on this past fall. When my husband was in
residency and I was working full-time, it was difficult for us to take
vacations. His schedule was insane and I had to save my vacation time
for our perpetually sick daughter (Daycare=BIG PETRI
DISH). Sure, we snuck away for a few days here and there, but we didn't
really have the freedom to take a nice vacation. When he started his
new job, he was able to schedule several weeks of vacation over the course
of his first year with the company, which we were super excited about. We had cruised for our
honeymoon and had always wanted to cruise again, so we decided to escape
to warmer weather and give cruising another go. With peak cruising
season just a few months away, I thought I'd share some things I wish I
would have known before we went cruising with our toddlers. The
information below was originally written for a friend of mine who will
be cruising later this year with her three kids, maybe it will be
helpful to you, too.
Timing:
Because our girls are still young (13 months & 3 years old at the time), it was easy for us to travel any time of year. We decided on a cruise to the Bahamas; that included two days at sea, a day in Nassau, and a day in Freeport. Cruising in the off-season gave us a great rate, paired with a special Carnival was running at the time. We were really excited since our first cruising experience had gone so well, but when we started telling friends and family, we got a big reality check. The first question/statement every time we told someone was, "You aren't taking the girls, are you?" We take our girls pretty much everywhere with the exception of the occasional date night, we couldn't imagine vacationing without them. So that's where the planning began. What's different about cruising with kids?
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| Family picture! |
Packing is always a scary daunting task for me, but packing for this cruise took it to a whole new level. While you can find most toiletries on board that an adult may require, the prices are seriously jacked up because you are a captive audience. We paid about $10 for a bottle of ibuprofen on our honeymoon cruise and I swore that wouldn't happen again. When it comes to baby items, all I saw for sale on our ship were individual packs of wipes, and didn't see any diapers. I tried to pack everything I could think of that my girls could possibly need. We also chose to get a complimentary crib from Carnival, one less thing to pack! You can find my packing list here (soon), I chose to laminate it and cross things off as I went. I have used it as my basic packing list for other trips, too. I start packing a few weeks before and put outfits for my girls in ziploc baggies. It keeps the suitcase less cluttered and gives my three year old daughter the autonomy to dress herself. (Side note: I did find self-service laundry available on board, but it would have cost close to $10 per load and I don't think I could have more than a pair of jeans in there at a time.)
Getting There & On Board:
We drove from our home in NC to the port in Florida. We chose to leave the day prior to embarkation day, and stayed the night in a hotel. This allowed us to not worry about missing the boat, or having to drive all night. My dear husband booked us at a Microtel. It was fine for the night, but was literally smaller than our cabin on the cruise ship!! We joked that it may be a good test before cruising with your family. In the morning we enjoyed their continental breakfast before driving a few more miles to the dock. We parked and some attendants took our pre-tagged luggage to the ship for us. Make sure you have all of your important documents and carry-ons close by, you'll want them to stay with you as it will likely be several hours before you see your luggage again. We had all our documents ready in a folder and proceeded to security ready to show all our information while many parties were pulled to the side to find their documents. Security was a bit more frazzling than I had anticipated because I was wearing our youngest in a baby carrier. Unlike going through airport security, I had to take her out of the carrier, put the carrier through the X-ray machine with all our other carry-ons and the stroller (which was filled with our carry-ons at the time) had to be broken down to go through as well. Then once through security we had to readjust everything again. This was the same when we went through security in each port so just be prepared- we had it down to a science by the end.
We had purchased "Faster to the Fun" when we bought our tickets and I'm so glad we did! It's like $40 and you only have to pay for one person per room to have it to get the perks! You can board the ship faster, and instead of walking around with your carry-ons for 2+ hours while the crew prepares your room, we walked right in, put down our belongings, and were able to enjoy the ship. With this you can also leave the boat before the crowds on debarkation day. I consider myself to be pretty cheap, but it was worth it to not have to juggle two kids +carry-on bags around the ship. Our luggage was delivered before other guests, too.
Our Room:
We got a basic Ocean View room. It's the second smallest room you can get (with interior being the smallest). As for sleeping accommodations in our room, we had a king bed, a pull down bed (twin sized), and I called about a week before we set sail to get a crib delivered. My only "complaint" was that it looks like they just put a standard sized fitted sheet on there and tucked it under the best they could. If my little one was smaller, I may have been worried about it being that loose. It looks like you could pack a crib sheet from home and it'd work just fine. My oldest was three at the time of our cruise and is fairly tall, so the pull down bed worked great for her. She loved it and it has a pretty substantial rail, so I wasn't worried about her falling. The bathroom was super small, and unless you are cruising Disney, you can pretty much guarantee you won't have a tub. I just held my little one in the shower and that worked okay, for smaller babies I've seen people recommend getting an inflatable tub to bring along. Our room did not have a refrigerator, I believe some of the bigger rooms do, so keep your little one's needs in mind.
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| The girls' corner. The crib and bunk (the rail is down in the picture) |
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| With such close quarters, our girls loved playing in the closet. |
I did choose to bring some easy snacks (fruit pouches, granola bars, etc.) which we used while in port some, but otherwise found plenty to eat on board! (Tip: boxes of cereal & fresh fruit from the Lido deck are nice to take for snacks later). We did choose to eat in the "formal" dining room most nights, the food is really good and they have a children's menu available. We also did a brunch in the dining room on one of our days at sea, and it didn't disappoint either. Many people are scared off because they think you need a tux to go to the formal dining room, but that wasn't our experience. Dark jeans/khakis and a polo or a sundress was usually my attire and I fit right in. In the formal dining rooms and on the Lido deck (the 24 hour cafeteria-style dining option) they have highchairs, often with the trays available too, just ask. The tray was a lifesaver for us, and I brought disposable bibs which curbed the laundry some, too. The wait staff is super accommodating if you have kids. A friend of mine who cruises often reminded me that often times they have kids at home and miss them while they are working. When I thought about it that way, I tried to encourage the girls to wave and play back, hopefully it made their day. Don't forget about room service, too! It's included, just tip. On the mornings we got into port early and had to be ready for our excursion at 8, it was nice to have breakfast while we got ready.
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| My girl is NOT a morning person. She enjoyed breakfast in bed! |
Childcare Options Onboard:
Use Camp Carnival. They have programs for kids 2+ and they are broken down by ages (2-5, etc). I felt like I was dumping my kid while I was on vacation at first, but they have specially designed programs to keep them entertained. We typically took my oldest for an hour or two after dinner to burn off some energy in a safe place (there's only so much running they can safely do on the decks). She was actually mad when we picked her up. They often played games, read stories, and her face was painted like a different animal every night. The last night they had a little party and every kid got to decorate a t-shirt- she still wears hers to bed regularly and talks about how much fun she had. As a helicopter parent, I also liked that they give you a cell phone to use on the ship, so if an emergency were to arise, they could easily get in touch with us. For kids under the age of 2, there are open play hours when the rooms aren't being used for camp (under your supervision). They also have a night owl program where for about $6/hour per kid they will watch any age for you.. It's only after 10pm though, so we didn't use it.
Other Kid-Related Information:
Our girls' schedules were out of whack. That can happen on vacation and we just worked around it the best that we could.
As for navigating the ship with a new walker, I found the baby carrier to be the best option. Most reviews say umbrella strollers, but we hardly used ours. You will spend most of your trip waiting on an elevator and there will be some places you just won't be able to go (not to mention that some halls are very crowded at times). I prefer a soft structured carrier, like this one from Ergo.
Excursions:
As for the excursions, we had flexibility because it was just the four of us. It would probably be harder with a big group, but we just waited and booked our excursions once we were on board. We did this because if the weather was bad, I didn't want to be out a bunch of money. If we were cruising during peak season, I don't know that I'd recommend this, but it worked out for us. There are excursions offered by private companies you can find online, and ones you can book through your cruise line. The ones you book through your cruise line often cost more, but they usually come with a guarantee and if the excursion runs over or something happens, the boat won't leave without you. It's important to note that most excursion consider "infants" kids under 4 years old, this saved us some money for sure!
Days at Sea:
Our days at sea we browsed the ship, caught a few shows, and enjoyed as many naps as our girls wanted to take! We would watch newer release movies on our cabin TV, or nap ourselves! We also visited the water park on the ship, but the water is pumped in from the ocean (and filtered), but was VERY cold that time of year.
Debarkation:
On debarkation day you have two choices- self-assist or check your luggage. Self assist means you carry off all of your luggage with you. When we went on our honeymoon we did that, but with two girls I don't think we could have managed that this trip. We decided to check our luggage, which meant we had to pack our bags and put them outside our cabin by 11pm the night before. We put out our two big suitcases, a smaller carry-on bag, and the stroller. We kept a carryon bag and the diaper bag. We carried them to breakfast with us then ate while we waited for our turn to leave the ship. With 'Faster to the Fun' we were the first folks off the boat after those who chose self-assist. We walked off the ship (you'll need your sign and sail cards handy), gathered our luggage, and then walked through customs (have your claim form filled out and passports handy). We were back in our van in about 30 minutes.. Not too shabby.
Here's the most important thing I want people to remember when vacationing with kids-- Whether it is a cruise or not, there is always some point during your vacation where you will say to yourself, your spouse, or maybe even out loud, "What were we thinking?" So laugh, have an adult beverage if that's your thing, embrace it, and remember that vacation amnesia will set in when you get home. The struggle can be real, but the memories are totally worth it. Listening to our oldest talk about getting ice cream around the clock with Mommy and swimming in the ocean with Daddy, I would do it all again in a second... but that's just my two cents...
