Our daughter is 9 months old, and we just came back from a fabulous week-long cruise on the Crown Princess ship. We will be going again and when we do we will do some things different, but for the most part we did a lot of things very well. Our pre-planning for the trip really helped to make the trip very successful.
People with young babies may wonder like we did what would it be like on a cruise vacation with a young baby - so I thought that parents like us would be interested in reading what our typical day on a cruise ship was like.
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.
We changed her into some dry clothes and then my hubby would get out the stroller that we brought with us on the trip and take our daughter to the wrap-around promenade deck of the ship for a half-hour or so stroll. During that time I would clean up the cabin a bit and then get myself ready for the day - have a shower and organize the diaper bag for the day. 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.
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 swimming it was nap time for our girl. Either my husband or I would stay in the cabin while she slept and the other one of us would go off and have some solitude time. It was very important to us that the child-care responsibilities be shared equally - so we made a point of taking turns staying with our daughter during her nap periods.
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.
For dinner we always went to the formal dining room. It was the highlight of the day. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and would head off for a pre-dinner cocktail at about 5:30 and then go for dinner at about 6:00 p.m. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
On our way to dinner we would do a quick detour to the buffet area and pick up some melon pieces to take to the dining room for our daughter to snack on 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 enjoy watching all that was going on around her. After 30 minutes or so 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.
Cruising with a young baby is wonderful (at least in our experience) - it does take some advanced planning. It is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family.
People with young babies may wonder like we did what would it be like on a cruise vacation with a young baby - so I thought that parents like us would be interested in reading what our typical day on a cruise ship was like.
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.
We changed her into some dry clothes and then my hubby would get out the stroller that we brought with us on the trip and take our daughter to the wrap-around promenade deck of the ship for a half-hour or so stroll. During that time I would clean up the cabin a bit and then get myself ready for the day - have a shower and organize the diaper bag for the day. 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.
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 swimming it was nap time for our girl. Either my husband or I would stay in the cabin while she slept and the other one of us would go off and have some solitude time. It was very important to us that the child-care responsibilities be shared equally - so we made a point of taking turns staying with our daughter during her nap periods.
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.
For dinner we always went to the formal dining room. It was the highlight of the day. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and would head off for a pre-dinner cocktail at about 5:30 and then go for dinner at about 6:00 p.m. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
On our way to dinner we would do a quick detour to the buffet area and pick up some melon pieces to take to the dining room for our daughter to snack on 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 enjoy watching all that was going on around her. After 30 minutes or so 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.
Cruising with a young baby is wonderful (at least in our experience) - it does take some advanced planning. It is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family.
About the Author:
BabyTravelPlanet is in Canada and they sell 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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