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.
After changing her out of her wet diaper and into some dry clothes my husband would put our daughter into her stroller and he would go for a 30 minute walk on the promenade deck of the cruise ship. While they were gone I would have a shower and organize our cabin and pack the diaper bag for the day. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
The three of us would than meet at the buffet area of the ship for breakfast. One of us would put our girl into a high chair (again provided by the cruise ship) and the other would go to the buffet to get breakfast.
After breakfast we headed back to our cabin to change into bathing suits and off we would go to the kiddies pool. On our ship young babies are allowed in the kiddies pool if they are wearing a swim diaper.
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.
When our daughter woke up for her nap we would put her into the stroller and the three of us would walk around the ship together. Back to the buffet for lunch together - more exploring - maybe some more swimming - and eventually it was afternoon nap time.
The highlight of the day was having dinner in the formal dining room. We opted for personal choice dining which meant we could go to the dining room at a time that worked best for us. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and around 5:30 or so we would go to one of the many bars on the ship for a pre-dinner drink. After our drink we would head off for dinner around 6 o'clock. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Right before dinner my husband and daughter would go to the buffet and gather up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat 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.
After dinner we went back to our room. Our room did not have a bathtub it only had a shower. We would plug the drain in the shower and run some water into the shower and it was plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
We decided before our trip that we didn`t want to miss out the evening fun on the cruise ship. So, after bath time we put our daughter into her pyjamas and placed her into her stroller. We then headed off to see a show, or to see a comedian, or listen to some music, or just walk the ship. It was a great time of the day for all of us.
Our daughter would laugh and smile at all the people and the excitement that surrounded her - but it wasn`t long - maybe 30 or 40 minutes before 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.
Going on a successful cruise vacation takes some advanced planning. For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. - 15485
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.
After changing her out of her wet diaper and into some dry clothes my husband would put our daughter into her stroller and he would go for a 30 minute walk on the promenade deck of the cruise ship. While they were gone I would have a shower and organize our cabin and pack the diaper bag for the day. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
The three of us would than meet at the buffet area of the ship for breakfast. One of us would put our girl into a high chair (again provided by the cruise ship) and the other would go to the buffet to get breakfast.
After breakfast we headed back to our cabin to change into bathing suits and off we would go to the kiddies pool. On our ship young babies are allowed in the kiddies pool if they are wearing a swim diaper.
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.
When our daughter woke up for her nap we would put her into the stroller and the three of us would walk around the ship together. Back to the buffet for lunch together - more exploring - maybe some more swimming - and eventually it was afternoon nap time.
The highlight of the day was having dinner in the formal dining room. We opted for personal choice dining which meant we could go to the dining room at a time that worked best for us. We would all get dressed up for dinner, and around 5:30 or so we would go to one of the many bars on the ship for a pre-dinner drink. After our drink we would head off for dinner around 6 o'clock. Every dinner was spectacular and the service from the dining room staff was excellent. All the staff loved talking to our daughter.
Right before dinner my husband and daughter would go to the buffet and gather up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat 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.
After dinner we went back to our room. Our room did not have a bathtub it only had a shower. We would plug the drain in the shower and run some water into the shower and it was plenty deep enough for our daughter's bath.
We decided before our trip that we didn`t want to miss out the evening fun on the cruise ship. So, after bath time we put our daughter into her pyjamas and placed her into her stroller. We then headed off to see a show, or to see a comedian, or listen to some music, or just walk the ship. It was a great time of the day for all of us.
Our daughter would laugh and smile at all the people and the excitement that surrounded her - but it wasn`t long - maybe 30 or 40 minutes before 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.
Going on a successful cruise vacation takes some advanced planning. For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. - 15485
About the Author:
BabyTravelPlanet is located in Canada and they offer Dreamer Design Jogging Strollers to people in Canada and USA. 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.
