Traveling with 9.5 month old

[jake1004]

Hello again! We will be traveling with a 9.5 month old in December on Freedom. We will be flying into Miami the night before. Looking for some help from my experienced travel friends who have traveled with a baby and how to logistically “master” this feat looking for advice for flying, getting from the airport to hotel then the ship the next day, etc. Thank you in advance! Sincerely, first-time-mom-who-can’t-wait-to-get-back-onboard

[Matt]

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/05/12/eight-lessons-i-learned-going-cruise-kids

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/04/07/introduction-bringing-toddlers-royal-caribbean-cruise

[Fuzzywuzzy]

I can't help you with this but God bless you for giving a new generation an early start on RC cruising. Though it probably won't  be remembered.

[RCIfan1912]

I can't help with the travel part as we sail from NJ where we are from but we sailed last year with a 6 month old. He was just old enough to sail. 

It's not he easiest thing in the world but well worth it. We had a blast at Coco Cay and especially the awesome spray park. We also have a 10 year old, 9 last year at the time of sailing and oh boy did he have fun. The swim up bar pool, the spray park, the lagoon. Coco Cay was more than we imagined. 

Have fun and this is an awesome experience you are giving your baby and family. 

[jake1004]

Thank you so much! Definitely for family fun (extended to) and not expecting the baby to remember. But mom and dad will- hopefully for good reasons!

[RCIfan1912]

14 minutes ago, jake1004 said:

Thank you so much! Definitely for family fun (extended to) and not expecting the baby to remember. But mom and dad will- hopefully for good reasons!

Yeah I'm sure pretty sure our now 18 month old remembers Coco Cay at 6 months. Either way it was a fun time. He was having a blast at the splash park. He is a seasoned cruiser already, Coco Cay and Canada last year. Canada 9 days this year, Coco Cay again in February on the beautiful Anthem of the seas and then Canada again next October 9 days. 

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

My frame of reference is for 11-12 month olds (twice) so it should be close but might not be perfect.

To do today: Make sure you have a crib reserved for your stateroom unless you are bringing your own.  Depending on the ship these may be mini-cribs or may be pack-n-plays.  If you are particularly concerned about perfectly flat sheets and whatnot I would recommend bringing a pack and play sheet as the stewards frequently just use a regular flat sheet folded a few times, its not perfect if they toss and turn.  

For flying: You are allotted a car seat, stroller and diaper bag for the infant regardless of whether the infant has a seat.  I recommend utilizing all three, you will probably need to gate check the stroller and the car seat but once you get to Miami you can pretty much use any transportation you want.  We usually book a hotel with a free airport shuttle and then uber/livery service to the port.  Order diapers and have them shipped to your hotel.  I usually check with the hotel and ask if they would let us send them a day or two early and how they should be addressed to make sure they end up in the right spot.  Most will work with you.  If something goes wrong you still have 12-24 hours to make an emergency run to a local store to grab something if needed.  Freedom has a baby splash pad so dont forget swim diapers.

Once on board register at AO as soon as possible and sign up for your nursery slots  you are limited to a certain amount (usually somewhere between 8 and 24 hours) depending upon how many other infants are on the cruise.  Pick times you know you definitely want/need prioritizing earlier in the week.  After the first couple days they usually remove the hour limit and you can add more times. 

Everything else is more or less the same, just be mindful that you will probably be doing less due to nap schedules and limited infant/toddler energy.  

[Momof4crazytocruise]

Some things I felt very helpful.

1) Don't bring the giant stroller. There is not a lot of room in the cabin, and it take up a lot of space. Invest in a compact folding stroller. We had one that folded up the size of a carry on suit case and we could store it in the closet. Bring the baby carrier. You really won't want to fight the stroller everywhere and wait for elevators all the time. We used the stroller in port and in the Windjammer so baby could sit while we ate. 

2) Call and request a pack and play be in the room when you arrive.  The room steward will set it and a make it up each evening just like a bed, and then you don't have to bring one.

3) Bring WAY more diapers than you think you will need. If you can get in town early enough, plan a trip to Walmart or somewhere and buy a big box and just check that at the port like you would a suit case (pack 10 more than you think you will use in the diaper bag for boarding day). Or have some shipped to the hotel, but check with them first. Bring bags to put dirty diapers in and take them to the hallway or public bathroom trashcans. Those get emptied frequently and your cabin won't be stinky by diapers sitting all day.

4) We found that on some ships you could check out toys, or during the day they would set up the teen club for a few hours with toys for the babies and toddlers.

5) When you get on the ship, do not pass go, do not collect $200, go DIRECTLY to the nursery to fill out paperwork and get your reservations. The nursery fills up very quickly and you will find that it is harder to get a dinner break than you realized. 

6) if you are nursing and planning to pump - request a medical refrigerator. The ones in the room are coolers and the milk will not keep. I found using the key words "nursing mother or breastfeeding mother' got me almost anything I needed with little to no argument. 

7) visit the dining room after boarding and ask them to add a highchair to your reservation. That way it's already set up when you arrive. 

8. For flying - pack WAY more diapers than you think you will need and 3 more outfits than usual. My kids were guaranteed to have a massive blowout somewhere in the process. 

[HeWhoWaits]

On 9/3/2023 at 2:11 PM, Fuzzywuzzy said:

I can't help you with this but God bless you for giving a new generation an early start on RC cruising. Though it probably won't  be remembered.

Our granddaughter's first cruise was at 10.5 months. She remembers details of the cruise that neither of her parents, her grandmother, or her uncle recall.

To be fair, some of those details were during her special time with Gramps between 5:00 a.m. daily wakeup and 8:00 or later everybody else joins us in the Windjammer. 

[Heymarco]

We did it with ours a few months older. Do everything @Momof4crazytocruise suggested. We also had a lighter car seat for flying. Pro tip, you can have Amazon deliver diapers, etc to the hotel you are staying at prior to the cruise. Most importantly, don't let others discourage you. Each cruise with a child is very different and we have never regretted one.

[DJsMrs]

My son's first cruise was when he was 9 months old... I was a hot mess stressing out about everything.   We packed a banker's box with baby snacks (mumums, jarred baby food and formula) and that worked well.

Umbrella stroller is everything - you won't have room for a big one in your stateroom.

If you're stopping in San Juan, there's a Walgreens at the port if you run out of anything.

A towel on the patio floor made for a great play area for him while we sat outside with him

We borrowed toys on board - but that might have been princess... 

Swim diapers - if they're allowed in the splash pool, I genuinely don't remember the rules, but I'm sure someone will.

Have a plan for nap times - we would take turns, or watch a movie/read/nap on the balcony... same with evenings.   We didn't fight the hours - my husband was the gatherer... would go get snacks and drinks and we enjoyed every minute of our evenings on balcony.

Staff will go crazy for your little one...  we could barely get him back when our meals were done - at first I struggled (nervous first-time mum), but most are missing family at home and are so happy to have a munchkin on board they love holding the littles and showing them off to other crew

We had a blast - it was definitely a different cruise than we have now that the boys are older, but I'm so glad we travelled with our kids when they were little - I hope you have SO much fun!   Take videos - pictures are good, but you'll be thankful for quick little clips in ten years  

[HeWhoWaits]

2 hours ago, DJsMrs said:

Staff will go crazy for your little one...  we could barely get him back when our meals were done - at first I struggled (nervous first-time mum), but most are missing family at home and are so happy to have a munchkin on board they love holding the littles and showing them off to other crew

This factor makes it very easy to go to Windjammer without extra help at breakfast.