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.
First of all it was great that Princess Cruise Line provided us with a very nice playpen for our daughter to sleep in. Our daughter is a good sleeper - so every day she would sleep until about 7 o'clock. We would take her out of her playpen, change her diaper, and bring her into bed with us for some family play and snuggle time.
After the family play time we would wash our daughter up, change her into some dry clothes and then my husband would put our daughter into our stroller (we brought one with us - don't leave home without one) and take her for a walk on one of the outside deck - either one of the top decks or the promenade deck. While they were gone - for 45 minutes or so - I would hop into the shower, get dressed, pack the diaper bag for the day and tidy up the cabin a bit. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
Our family would then head off for breakfast. We did not go to the dining room for breakfast - instead we thought it was easier to eat at the buffet area. The Princess ship had high chairs throughout the dining areas - so it was always easy to get one. My husband would get a high chair and get our daughter set up in it while I went to the buffet to get some food for the three of us to start on. The buffet line was never very busy so it just took a minute or so to get the food.
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 swim time back to the cabin for a morning nap for our daughter. One of us would stay in the room while the other took off on their own to explore the ship. We took turns doing this.
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.
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.
Before going to the dining room we would make a quick trip to the buffet area and pick up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
When we were seated at our table in the dining room (again there are plenty of high chairs available) my husband and I would look over the menu, place our dinner order (we loved the food on the ship) and our daughter would munch on her fruit, some pieces of bread and on some other snack food that I 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.
After bath time we put her in her sleepers and we put her back into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship.
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.
With our daughter now fast asleep in her stroller my husband and I would continue doing things until we 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.
For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. The secret to a successful cruise vacation is to do some advanced planning, and don`t try to be too busy on the cruise. - 16463
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.
First of all it was great that Princess Cruise Line provided us with a very nice playpen for our daughter to sleep in. Our daughter is a good sleeper - so every day she would sleep until about 7 o'clock. We would take her out of her playpen, change her diaper, and bring her into bed with us for some family play and snuggle time.
After the family play time we would wash our daughter up, change her into some dry clothes and then my husband would put our daughter into our stroller (we brought one with us - don't leave home without one) and take her for a walk on one of the outside deck - either one of the top decks or the promenade deck. While they were gone - for 45 minutes or so - I would hop into the shower, get dressed, pack the diaper bag for the day and tidy up the cabin a bit. When they returned my husband would have his shower and get ready for the morning.
Our family would then head off for breakfast. We did not go to the dining room for breakfast - instead we thought it was easier to eat at the buffet area. The Princess ship had high chairs throughout the dining areas - so it was always easy to get one. My husband would get a high chair and get our daughter set up in it while I went to the buffet to get some food for the three of us to start on. The buffet line was never very busy so it just took a minute or so to get the food.
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 swim time back to the cabin for a morning nap for our daughter. One of us would stay in the room while the other took off on their own to explore the ship. We took turns doing this.
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.
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.
Before going to the dining room we would make a quick trip to the buffet area and pick up a few pieces of fruit to take with us to the dining room for our daughter to eat during dinner.
When we were seated at our table in the dining room (again there are plenty of high chairs available) my husband and I would look over the menu, place our dinner order (we loved the food on the ship) and our daughter would munch on her fruit, some pieces of bread and on some other snack food that I 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.
After bath time we put her in her sleepers and we put her back into her stroller and off we would go to a show, to see a comedian, listen to some music, or just walk the ship.
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.
With our daughter now fast asleep in her stroller my husband and I would continue doing things until we 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.
For us cruising is a wonderful way to have a stress-free vacation, enjoy our daughter and enjoy being a family. The secret to a successful cruise vacation is to do some advanced planning, and don`t try to be too busy on the cruise. - 16463
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.
