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.
Planning for your trip is essential. There are so many things to consder and travel with a baby means that you need to pack more than you would without a baby. Here are the things that we thing you absolutely have to have when going on a cruise with a young baby.
1. Number one on our list is a comfortable stroller. Comfort for your baby is important – but it also important that the stroller can be folded so that it can be taken on an airplane and so that it won’t take up too much room in your cruise ship cabin. Our stroller was in constant use from morning to night. We walked our daughter on the promenade deck every morning; we took our daughter to all of our meals in her stroller; we didn’t want to miss out on the night-life on the ship – so every evening after dinner we bathed our daughter, dressed 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. Kettle – taking a kettle (with an auto shutoff) on the trip means that you can boil water and know that you have safe water to mix with the powdered formula.
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. Scented bags for dirty diapers. Because you will not have a diaper dispenser for dirty diapers with you – taking a supply of these bags will help reduce any bad odours in your room. 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. Sun Cabana – if your cruise is taking you to a warm climate like the Caribbean purchase a very lightweight sun cabana before your trip. You can use it when you visit the beach during the cruise. Keeps baby comfortable and protected from the sun. If you rent a cabana on the beach it will cost about $80 to $100.
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.
These are the essentials that can’t leave home without. There are more items to consider, but start your list with these items.
Tags: Cruises
