CRUISE people - make some suggestions please!

[StaceyinLA]

My daughter and her fiance want to do a cruise. They want to bring me along to hang with dgs (who will be just under a year). They'll likely do Carnival (even though I'm a Disney planner and would LOVE us to do Disney, they are paying, and need it to be reasonable).

Where are places you have gone that you loved, and places you'd never go again? Thinking of Cozumel, Yucatan, Bahamas, etc.

We just need some ideas and suggestions so we'll know what to avoid or what places are no-miss.

Looking to travel out of NO, or FL. Honestly, Galveston is an option also.

Thanks!

[MercyA]

We loved Disney's Castaway Cay in the Bahamas (sorry!). I wonder what else might be close? We enjoyed the Florida Keys for snorkeling. I have no desire to ever go to Nassau again.

[purpleowl]

We (just DH and I) did a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas a year ago (left from Port Canaveral). We had a fabulous time. I highly recommend an excursion to Ardastra Gardens if you go to Nassau - they have trained flamingos. You can walk right up to the flamingos and allow them to touch you. It was SO much fun. (There are other animals too, but the flamingos were the highlight for us.)

That's the only cruise we've done, so I don't have anything to compare it with.

[PeterPan]

4 hours ago, StaceyinLA said:

My daughter and her fiance want to do a cruise. They want to bring me along to hang with dgs (who will be just under a year).

We (ds and I) just got back from our first Carnival cruise and LOVED it. We seldom saw littles around and I think most people left their littles in the kids club (Ocean Camp). I don't actually know how young they left. So you've never cruised? Here's why I would be cautious of the plan.

-what will you sleep on? We had a king that we split into two twins for me and my mother and ds10 took the pullman and my stepfather (age 72) took the sleeper sofa. NEVER EVER EVER in a thousand million years would I have slept on that sleeper sofa. It was hard as a rock and I don't know how he did it. Well he did it cuz he went along for $300. I paid $$$ and I wanted to sleep on the nice latex mattress, which is what I did. That was not nice of me but he never complained. But where are you willing to sleep? It ain't comfortable and I'd be on land before I'd be on that sleeper sofa, just me. Or take an interior cabin so you have an actual bed. If they take a balcony room and you take an interior, you can just trot over in the morning and enjoy the view together. 

-I'm trying to think of what is little kid friendly. We were on the Magic and it was a 7 night cruise. There was almost nothing little kid friendly and having a tagalong would be a pain in the butt. People will say they do it, and sure I saw two strollers. I'm just saying it's not set up for littles. The pools are stinkin COLD. When will you go? They're not heated and they fill from the ocean every night is what I read. We never even went in them because they were just frigid. We only used the hot tubs. The Sports Court is set up for bigger kids, with mini golf, ropes course, billiards, ping pong. My ds was in absolute HEAVEN. But what would you do with a 1 yo??? I'd definitely look at your potential ship and think through it. If you stay on land with your dgs, you can do the zoo, have toys, it's just really nice. 

-how post-partum is she? Almost every woman on there under 60 will be in a bikini. I was the freak in stuff down to my knees. I talked with someone on land who cried about a cruise she had taken like 10 years ago post-partum, because it made her feel so bad about her body. 

-our cruise was quiet like a library, but it was 7 days and we were away from the atrium and everything noisy on a rather anti-social hall (aft). I've heard short cruises are much rowdier. When Carnival says they're "fun" they mean they're drinking and partying. We woke up early every morning, hit the gym, did excursions, and went to bed at 9.

-NONE of the entertainment was to our taste. Well not true, the "Make it with Michaels" crafting was nice, and we could have gone to the Hasboro game show. Most other stuff was either rated R or loud. Pool movies tended to be pg-13 and only the last night were pg (but weird, ds didn't want to stay). The bummer is if you spring for Disney the dgs is too little to remember. Another reason to consider keeping him on land. We met experienced cruisers and they left their kids. Once that kid was age 1, they just left them. Now my ds10 was independent on the boat and could play all day on his own, grab cones, have fun. Lots of kids that age. But if they were too young to do the kids program or be independent, they mostly got left behind. 

-Are you gonna haul this kid up and down stairs? You do a lot of stairs on a cruise or you wait for elevators. I was cool with doing the stairs, because I wanted to eat three appetizers and two desserts every dinner and all I wanted for lunch and not gain weight. That's what I did and it worked out. Elevators can have a significant wait (not interminable, just inconvenient) and that would be really awful to tote 30 pounds up those stairs at all. I lift, I go to the gym, you couldn't pay me to do that.

-Nothing is like you think. Like I thought food was 24/7, but it's not. On Carnival the food is, or at least was on the Magic, in windows. So you'd have breakfast buffet then things close, lunch buffet, things closet, dinner buffet, then things close. And during the closures you usually had something somewhere that was open like pizza or a sandwhich stand or a burger stand. But what happens when it's a 1 yo and you're like hello I want APPLE SAUCE? Hang it up, no applesauce. Will they let you bring it on? Beats me. Yes, you could. You could bring on the baby's food for a week. But again, why? Stay on land and his food is easy. 

Nice things.

-The pool has shallow edges that are pretty wide. No official guards, freezing cold water, strong wind, but at least the water will be shallow. We had two tiny slides in the splash area a little could use and the splash area had nice foam. He could enjoy the sprinkles, but again the wind might freeze him. Everything is pretty big scale, really better for kids maybe 7 and up. If I saw littles there (under 3) I don't remember it, and I did the slides a lot. (blush)

-he'll be safe on the balcony. There's no gap under the glass, so he's totally safe.

-They'll clean twice a day so your cabin won't smell with diapers. My ds wets at night, so we had that issue with disposable pads, needing the bed changed, etc. The stewards really kick butt on this.

Port days? 

We went to the western caribbean and we hit Grand Cayman (currently my most favorite place in the whole world), Roatan (3rd world, barely has roads, hard to traverse), Belize (3rd world, almost as hard to traverse), and Cozumel (barely not 3rd world, felt dangerous anywhere outside of the nicest tourist areas).

If you want my personal opinion, if you all want to be together, fly to Grand Cayman or the Gulf or wherever, stay on the beach, and be done with it. Anyways, back to excursions. 

The thing that surprised me was the water. In the US we go to a beach and we can walk out, swim, and it's just nice. In some of these places you walk in and the water drops off immediately (Cozumel, Grand Cayman) and is ground shells/coral and horribly uncomfortable. In Roatan the beach (Las Palmas) was sandy for maybe 10 feet and changed to grass. We went out snorkeling and saw a 4' barracuda. Didn't go swimming in Belize because we went inland to some Mayan ruins. They were amazing, and you could throw the little in a backpack carrier and do the 5 mile walk, absolutely. But that would be dad, not grandma, lol. Cozumel, like I said, felt dangerous in parts. There's really touristy stuff that is safe. The water drops off so when you see inflatables what they're really saying is the water drops off and is so deep you can't just play in it like our beaches. You could look for the excursions/beach resorts that have pools. THOSE you could do with a little. 

Caveat, my littles were both very active. Like if this dc holds your hand the whole time it won't matter. But if they're super active, then you're looking at sand time, not water, or the pools during shore days. They had nifty excursions (often $60-80 a person) where you could see sea turtles, starfish, etc. (Grand Cayman) and that would work well with a little. My ds wouldn't touch those things, so we just snorkeled. We just took a taxi, went to the beach, had our day. You could totally do that on the cheap, as it's exquisitely beautiful. 

The bummer is *you* would have an amazing time taking your dgs along on a Disney cruise. But it's just so stupid expensive. What you get is amazing. All the things we skipped on carnival (entertainment etc.) we would have done on a Disney cruise. But my cruise would have cost over double, which meant I wouldn't have gotten to cruise. You'll have fun no matter what you do, because it is very fun. But I think, just me, that sounds like a lot of work to be responsible for the 1 yo. You might go out of your gourd on the two sea days for a 7 day cruise. Some 7 day cruises have 3 sea days. That's the thing to watch, how many sea days you'll have because that's what is gonna zap you. You can make the shore days work. Hope you have fun, whatever you do!

Edited February 13, 2019 by PeterPan

[Guest]

I do not have extensive cruising experience, butn terms of ship brand, I loved NCL. Just absolutely loved everything about their food style and their itineraries make much more sense to me. To me, the main point of cruising is experiencing different ports, so I want maximum time in a port, with the ship cruising between ports largely at night. But it sounds as though you don’t have choice regarding which cruiseline. Pity, though. I only want to cruise NCL from now on. 

We went to Alaska on NCL, but it sounds like you are looking for just Carribean destinations. I have been to Bahamas and to Cozumel. Cozumel was very pretty and I personally could have spent much more time enjoying the Mayan ruins. My companions weren’t interested in that, sadly. 

If I were to plan a Carribean cruise in the near future, I would probably want to go to US Virgin Islands. 

[TheReader]

We have done Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya on Royal Carribean (out of Galveston) and Cozumel & Progresso on Carnival (also out of Galveston), and have gone and stayed in Cozumel. 

I will say that PeterPan is right on cruising with a little tiny one; when we did the Carnival cruise, 10+ years ago (gosh, 12 to 13 yrs ago) my youngest was between 1 and 2 yrs old. He was a very.busy.toddler., not a calm, sweet little baby. It was hard work. We were on the Ecstasy (hilariously un family friendly name to explain to your kids....) and there was a small "baby pool" on a separate deck from the main pool, which we did hang out in, but it wasn't open every day (weather depending), and I don't remember it being cold, but it is salty. Then again,maybe the days it was closed were when it would have been colder. 

We were on Royal Carribean Liberty of the Seas this last time, and same thing, sometimes the splash zone/kid zone would be closed due to weather. So, definitely keep that in mind. 

We took a small umbrella stroller & a baby carrier/wrap to use on the ship so we could contain DS back then; we did a lot of just random wandering around the ship, hanging out, etc. On Carnival we did not enjoy most of the entertainment, at all. We did use the paid babysitting in the evening so we could do some of it (during those hours they would take the under 2 crowd; I don't think they do during the day though when the normal kids club hours are open). Dinner.....we ate on the casual deck a LOT with him vs. the main dining room, because it was just easier. It definitely changes what you can/can't do. 

Under 1.....if he's not walking yet by then, could be okay. If they are bringing you vs. having baby stay home with you out of a "because she's nursing him".....that has its own issues, too, especially if y'all end up at a shared dinner table with other people, etc. although I think you can actually get your dining seating assignment changed if you go ask the first day, to be at a table alone. And if that's not the reason.....as much as it would be awesome for you to get to cruise, too, so much easier to stay home with baby instead. There's just so.much.stuff. you'd have to pack......

We love the places we've been, and while we're not "cruise people" that will ever be addicted to it or anything, we do enjoy it, and will likely do it again. But not with a baby/toddler. It's just not as much fun, at all. 

As far as ports....hop on Cruise Critic and look at pictures. We enjoyed Cozumel a lot, liked Roatan once we got to our destination (we went to a beach club and just hung out, had food, snorkeled, etc.), Progresso is boring, and you have a lot better options, cheap, from Florida than we do from Galveston, so Bahamas, etc. would be great.  A lot of those would be good, I bet. We've not been out that way yet. 

[Storygirl]

I love cruising and have been on a few. But I wouldn't want to take a baby, for the reasons others have spelled out.

My thought is that they would like you to go along, because they know that hanging out with baby on a cruise will not be fun, and they would rather have the fun and let you do the hanging out.

If you are okay with that, it's up to you! But I would really talk over what they expect you to do. Will you be on baby duty 24/7? Will you have some time free to go to a show or sit on deck with a book? Are you okay with it if they want to be the ones to do that, while you spend time in the room with a napping baby?

You might think that a day on a cruise ship is more fun than a day at home, regardless. That's fine!! Otherwise, I would suggest that they go off on the cruise and leave the baby at home with you. If you are spending the money for a cruise, I would want you to enjoy it more than the babysitting might allow.

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, TheReader said:

I don't remember it being cold,

You might be onto something there. We were there in early February, which is the caribbean winter. Temps were really pleasant for us, high 70s, low 80s, nothing even remotely warm. That's probably why the water was cold. So yeah, if you went when it's hot outside, the water would get warm quickly. 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, TheReader said:

we ate on the casual deck a LOT with him vs. the main dining room, because it was just easier. It definitely changes what you can/can't do. 

So for op, more info. The lido buffets for dinner are going to have *some* of the things, basically the less expensive things, from dinner. So like if the MDR had 2-3 soups, the lido buffet will have one. If it's not one you like, you're screwed. And they'll have meat, but it won't be the high end meats that were on the MDR menu and won't include the specialty appetizers and specialty desserts. So it will be food, but it's more where the crew eats. I made plates for my ds because he would play and then be ready to eat late. That worked for him. It's not going to be bad, but you won't have the variety and won't have your what you want necessarily. 

If you eat at the places that aren't the buffet, it's burgers, pizza, chips and salsa, that kind of thing. Now ironically it *would* be easy to take the little to the specialty restaurants. They're quieter, with less people. The Cucina del Capitano is DE-LISH and I'm ridiculously picky. All freshly made for you, all with good flavors. Even the kid stuff was from scratch and only $15 upcharge for adults and $5 for kids with a nice kids menu. I ate at the Cucina 3 times (2dinner, 1 lunch). Super yum. 

1 hour ago, TheReader said:

There's just so.much.stuff. you'd have to pack......

I travel really heavy because of ds' SN. I have to take pjs for every single day, extras of clothes, special bed pads, bags with medications and supplements, etc. Sometimes I take special blankets or animals to keep him comfortable. This time I went in with 3 checked bags and a carry-on and returned with 4 checked bags and a carry-on. So what happens then is going through disembarkation it's just exponential. It's VERY busy, with long lines. I had to have a porter, a huge cart, pay him. Now we did it, but if you don't do that you're gonna be pushing ALL THAT STUFF through a REALLY LONG customs line, all the luggage, the kid in the stroller. We had plenty of room in the cabin for 4 people plus all the extras ds requires, so it wasn't like that was a problem. It's just logistics (airport, disembarking, etc.) with so many bags.

51 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

Will you be on baby duty 24/7?

For op, I can tell you that the first couple days of our 7 day cruise gramps was like sure let's go do this or that. Then he started to tire and wanted breaks and realized he wanted his own time. He needed space for his mental health and only wanted to be with ds sometimes. And I can't think of where you'd put the baby down even to toddle and play while you read. Seriously. You could in the game room because the doors shut and it's carpet. Other than that, you'll be on duty keeping the child safe. And I never saw high chairs in the buffet. Surely they have them but I didn't see them.

[StaceyinLA]

Thanks for all the info! Staying on land and keeping the baby is NOT an option. He is a nursing 11 month-old (well, at the time they travel - he's 9 months right now), and has never stayed away from his mother. 

Honestly - not super worried about how I'll entertain him; he's a good baby, and we will bring him some toys. He'll be happy just walking around (he's not walking at the moment, but I mean walking around with me), checking things out, and when we can get off the ship and go to the beach or whatever, we will do that.

I'm not really a big reader, and I'm fairly used to being busy, so I'm not expecting a bunch of relaxation. I'm also not paying for the cruise - my daughter's fiance is. So basically, yes, I'll be the babysitter a good bit of the time, and that's really okay. The bottom line is, they can't/won't go without the baby, and I wouldn't encourage her to leave an 11 mo for 5 days anyway. I'm taking one for the team here.

I'm mainly just hoping for suggestions for places that are nice to exit the boat - we don't want to wind up somewhere that's dirty or unsafe.

We are doing a 5-day, and I think we will have 3 sea days. It's not like I will have the baby 24/7 since his parents are going to be on the boat, and my daughter will have to nurse him, and he'll be sleeping with them, etc.

Also, I'm going to have my own room - we won't be sharing one.

So, with that in mind, where are some good places to go, and can yall make suggestions for things I CAN do on board with a baby/toddler, no matter how lame. 😜

Edited February 15, 2019 by StaceyinLA

[PeterPan]

51 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

Also, I'm going to have my own room - we won't be sharing one.

Your own room, wow! Well can you bring along another teen or someone? It will be company and fresh hands.

The first day is embarkation, and you'll board, eat lunch, settle in your room, maybe hit the hot tub or pool for a while, and then dress for muster. Then you'll watch sail away and get dressed for dinner. At that point you'll probably be tired and hit a show or go to bed. We had two full days at sea for our 7 day cruise. That last day you're out of the room super early, like by 8:30, and people are disembarking

51 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

I'm mainly just hoping for suggestions for places that are nice to exit the boat - we don't want to wind up somewhere that's dirty or unsafe.

Do you know what ports you'll be at? Some cruise stops are quite poor locations where tourism is the main driver of the economy. We went to Roatan, and it was very poor. Belize was very bad. I thought Cozumel (Mexico) was edgy (safe in some parts, not so safe in others). Some stops are really nice, like Grand Cayman, oh my. So it's just going to vary.

No matter what, you will make safe choices and that will just vary by the port. What are they wanting to do? They want to sit on a beach or do excursions? A lot of places you can just taxi to a beach. If they want something more adventurous (submarine boats, sea turtles, snorkeling, whatever), some things will be conducive to babies going along and some won't. You can see all the excursions available through the cruise line on their website. Beyond that, you can use TripAdvisor and Viator.

Sunscreen and hats btw, lots of sunscreen. They make a reef safe spray on that works well. Unless you don't use it, then it doesn't work, lol. As me how I know. Also have a hat for the baby and spray her legs. That sun is wicked.

Which ship are you going on? Some of these are bigger than others. What I did with ds was to google "quiet places" plus the name of the ship. A whole bunch of ideas popped up and they would work with babies too. And you'll be able to see the deck plans. Babies will like the lido/buffet areas, the promenade deck, maybe the mini golf. See if the pools have a shallow splash edge. If there's a water play area, they'll have sprinkles and shorter slides hopefully. I don't remember seeing anybody do this, but there's not a reason why you can't take a bucket or squishy ball for water play. 

You'll definitely ride the elevators in the atrium. Also just explore the whole ship. You can poke out the front, but don't do that when it's in motion as the wind is strong. On the Magic, the spa elevator is BEAUTIFUL. You can get ice cream cones. The Magic had lots of boxed cereals, so snag some of those at breakfast to have for snacks. Or snag fruit and keep it in a quart bag in your frig for snacks. 

I think the cruise has portabeds or something, right? If you set one up in your room, you could read while she naps. The Magic has serenity areas with hammocks but you can't take a baby in there. Does this baby rock to sleep? Oh dear, my kids went down hard. You've got the motion of the ship. 

There's going to be plenty to look at. You'll figure it out. She'll like the sand at the beach days. If you take an inflatable, she can float in the pool on the ship. Take swim diapers obviously.

You could do numbers in the elevators, haha. The dc will come back quite smart! You could make her the darling of the crew and get her picture with people. Or use her like one of those Elf on the Shelf and take pictures of her lots of places for a scrapbook. 

They do shipwide scavenger hunts for adults and kids (bigger kids), but you could make one yourself to do with her. 

There will probably be halls of art, so they'll be something to look at and fodder for the scavenger hunt.

If she has favorite shows, download them onto a kindle or whatever before you go. The internet is not dependable for streaming. Now the tv on the ship was actually pretty good for ds. They had Paw Patrol, kids shows, things he liked. But safer to download her favs.

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by PeterPan

[TheReader]

Ah, okay, cool! 

Tips, then: We've only done the part of the Carribean with Cozumel, etc. We loved it there; in particular, Cozumel is a great wonderful awesome place with a little one -- the park there (Chankanaab) is perfect with a little tiny beach "cove" where a little one can sit and splash in the water with his grown-up, there's beach-chair food/drink service, there's a big wide stretch of sand and chairs and then a large snorkel zone with steps down into the water; baby could even be taken there to hang out and look at fish while a grown-up holds him. But great spot for one to hang with baby and the others snorkel, then swap off. Grab a taxi from the port and go. We never felt unsafe in Cozumel (have cruised there twice and spent 5 days there in a hotel on our own), but we also lived in Brazil for 6 yrs so are used to that "semi 3rd world" aspect of some of these ports. Yes, bring water shoes there, though; it's shells and rocks. 

Roatan....we did find the ride from the port to the beach a bit sketchy; that was in part because we booked our own stuff and the guy picking us up met us in person and we had to walk a ways down to his van, and none of his info had the name of where we were going......but we went, and it was fine, and I loved the place we went. 

Progresso -- meh. Nice sandy beach, when we went it was cluttered with persistent beach vendors. Be good at saying no thanks. Sunglasses are good because then you can people watch w/o risking the eye contact that signals "hey, come over here, I'm interested in whatever it is you're selling."  There was a cute little market there that we went to, which was fun. 

Costa Maya -- made-up little port town, specifically for tourists. Beach area there was nice. 

Best bet for researching ports -- Cruise Critic. They'll have the scoop on all the places; the only ones I've heard stay away from are Jamaica mostly. Bahamas, etc, should all be fine. 

On the ship -- there will be a baby pool in most of them; two months from now.....should be ok weather for using it. We were able to find lots of little random nooks & crannies when ours was small (I was nursing too, he was ~15 months). Little window areas, benches, there's usually a walking track area which has many more lounge chairs than the pool areas....the food areas when not in the middle of serving food will have areas you can hang out.....the kid zone may or may not let you use their facilities with a baby, though they will have paid babysitting at night during the main "shows" (normally) should you and your dd want to all go to a show together. Alternately, much of the entertainment rotates/is at 2 times per day so you guys could trade off if you want to see stuff. 

Big tip: If she will need to nurse during dinner time, and is normally a "totally fine nursing in public" person, make sure she asks once y'all board about y'all's dinner seating arrangements. If you've been seated with others, ask to have that changed. If alone, ask if you can be moved to an area near the edge of the room, etc. Anything in the main dining hall will be assigned seating at dinner time, so check on that (or do the "your way" dining that many offer; we always liked the assigned seating though to avoid a wait). 

There is a good kids menu if baby is eating any solids. 

Be sure and take sun hat for baby that has a strap; it will blow off otherwise, and there's a lot of sun both on the boat and in port. Rash gaurds, swim diapers, etc. Have them, or you, look at the websites for the different cruise lines if they haven't picked yet, to see what all is on board on different ships. 

Occupying a baby....board books. Toys. Blankets to put down on lounge chairs, etc, if he needs a nap in the daytime and no one wants to go back to the room to let him sleep. Umbrella stroller &/or baby wearing carrier (sling, front pack, whatever type). The showers in the rooms are teeny tiny, no bathtub; consider bringing a bath chair  (baby bath chair) for baby for in the shower &/or sticking to sponge baths for him. Would be a fun way for him to occupy himself at times, though; baby chair in the shower while you sit next to him on the floor (if there's room....the bathrooms are tiny) and let him splash in there. 

Sand toys/beach toys; these could be fun on the ship in the pool, in the room, and on the beach. Bubbles would be fun on the boat. If he'll be walking by then, and want to toddle around, I'd definitely bring a baby leash for on the ship, too, just in case. Some of the time those toddlers get up and go pretty quick. 

Toys....bring stuff that doesn't roll. So, blocks, yes; cars/balls, not so much (or keep those in the room). Stacking cups, rings, etc. could be fun and portable. Soft books like those Quiet Books activities would be good, something small, portable, with lots of options (the kind with activities on each page...zippers to zip, stuff like that...). Baby puzzles. Extra diapers and wipes. Blanket for playing peek-a-boo. Wandering the ship and finding all the hidden places  -- just going window to window in the different areas can be fun for a toddler. Toddling up & down the stairs, up & down the hall outside the room, etc., if he's newly walking by then. 

If she does use a sling to wear him, that would be my preferred carrier for this, because then he can be up, forward facing, on her back, hammock style lying down when he falls asleep, etc. (if she doesn't, no biggy, don't start now). Most of the areas around the rec sections have chairs & tables, in the shade....can easily hang out and people watch. It's definitely doable, just...going to be very baby-led. It sounds like you are okay with that, though, so should be fun. Your best tool is just going to be "change of scenery" honestly. 

Oh, remind her to take nursing into consideration on her formal night clothes. That was the biggest pain for me. Baby won't need to match dress code but packing suitable stuff for mom to wear and nurse in...check dress codes for the cruise lines and plan accordingly (&/or plan to eat in the lido deck instead of the main dining room). 

Anything "bath toy" for that age would also be good, because then it's good for the pool, the shower in the room, the beach, etc. and can be enjoyed wherever rather than bringing land toys & pool toys. Some people bring a small inflatable baby pool (like the really tiny ones) and use that on the deck near their chair (and on the beach); not sure where they fill them from, but that's an option as well if he'll sit in it/stay in it. But all the places for entertainment will have sitting areas around (some more than others) &/or stuff not too far where someone can sit & hang out with baby while others slide, rock climb, whatever, then swap off. 

Have fun! Cruise Critics boards also has a "family board" and such which may have more tips; it was 12 yrs ago I cruised with a toddler, so things have changed I'm sure (and while we did cruise this past year, I wasn't thinking toddler-stuff). 

 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My friends took their 10yo on a Disney cruise through the Panama Canal and loved it.  Now I want to do it.  It was fun for all ages, and educational as they taught all about the Panama Canal as they approached and went through.  

 

[StaceyinLA]

Thank you for all the great suggestions for the baby!!

We aren’t positive yet where we are cruising to; we have a few options, and dd’s fiancé will be picking from those.

For dinners, do you have to have dressy attire,  or are there some more casual dining spots? I don’t mean fast food casual, but casual sit-down dining. I need to. Know this I suppose because I own nothing very dressy. 

I definitely don’t want sandwiches and burgers though.

Edited February 20, 2019 by StaceyinLA

[TheReader]

56 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

Thank you for all the great suggestions for the baby!!

We aren’t positive yet where we are cruising to; we have a few options, and dd’s fiancé will be picking from those.

For dinners, do you have to have dressy attire,  or are there some more casual dining spots? I don’t mean fast food casual, but casual sit-down dining. I need to. Know this I suppose because I own nothing very dressy. 

I definitely don’t want sandwiches and burgers though.

For dining....the "Lido Deck" (called different things on different ships, maybe), typically has similar food at dinner time to what's available in the main dining room. So, you'll have the main dining area -- most nights, "dressy casual" is fine (and if you go Carnival, definitely fine) and then there will be 1 or 2 formal nights...probably 1 on a 5-day cruise. What "formal night" means on each cruise line is different, and whether required or optional also varies; on the more casual cruise lines, it's generally optional so long as you meet the regular dress code. 

On all of them, there is also the "buffet" dinner -- Lido Deck, etc. -- which has salads, side dishes, main dishes....think like a Luby's or something. Cafeteria food. Lunch will mostly be burgers and sandwiches and some other stuff, probably, but dinner options will be "real food." On Royal Caribbean we could get sushi every night in the buffet line, for example (and it was actually really good; we'd go in there, go to the show, then go to dinner in our main dining room). 

Then around the ship you'll also have stuff like pizza, burgers/sandwiches, grab & go options, etc. 

So....bottom line/long story shot -- you should be fine even w/o dressy clothes, especially if you go on Carnival or something. The websites to each cruise line will have dress code listed, and if you know what particular cruises/ports you're looking at, you can look at the ship and see specifics on on-board dining. But all will have "non-dress-up" options that include real food, for dinner, not just burgers (lunches will be more casual in the buffet, but you can eat in the main dining room for lunch, w/o dressing up, and get better food). 

[Bootsie]

1 hour ago, StaceyinLA said:

Thank you for all the great suggestions for the baby!!

We aren’t positive yet where we are cruising to; we have a few options, and dd’s fiancé will be picking from those.

For dinners, do you have to have dressy attire,  or are there some more casual dining spots? I don’t mean fast food casual, but casual sit-down dining. I need to. Know this I suppose because I own nothing very dressy. 

I definitely don’t want sandwiches and burgers though.

Even for formal nights you do not need "formal" attire.  There will be some people in evening attire, but the cruises I have been on for formal night in the main dining room, women could not wear jeans (or shorts, which they couldn't wear any night).  Any skirt or slacks would be fine.  This was especially the case on Carnival in the Caribbean; most people were wearing more resort attire--maybe a sundress or flowing caftan.  

[PeterPan]

On our 7 day cruise, people did tend to dress more formally for the first formal night, lotsa bling. They come around and take pictures of you. Nobody will say anything, but wear something you'd like a picture of yourself in. Also the food is better.

Total aside, but if you have a thing for indian food, the way to get it is in the MDR. CRAZY good. I personally wouldn't be comfortable eating the lido buffet for dinner. It tended to be more starchy, the less expensive food from the MDR menu. It's also a bit depressing. The MDR will be much more comfortable and where you probably want to be.

Edited February 20, 2019 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

33 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

This was especially the case on Carnival in the Caribbean; most people were wearing more resort attire--maybe a sundress or flowing caftan. 

I wonder if the length of the cruise also affects it. For our 7 day there was a lot of bling that first formal night. My mom had on a cute print dress and felt under-dressed. Nobody said anything, but she felt under-dressed. But I've heard the vibe varies with cruises. There was very little overt drunkeness on this 7 day cruise either. I think people were just settled in for the long haul. Lots of 50+  and maybe a little more quiet than my impression is of some of the cruises. On this cruise also a lot of people were doing back to backs (two weeks in a row). So it was pretty settled in.

Edited February 20, 2019 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, StaceyinLA said:

I definitely don’t want sandwiches and burgers though.

Ooo, definitely re-think that! Our ship (the Magic) had this sandwich stand that was AMAZING. People would line up while they made custom grilled/toasted/panini type sandwiches. You'd do an excursion and then eat/share a sandwich to hold you till dinner. You're gonna come back from shore HUNGRY! And if they have the Guy's Burgers, well those are pretty good too for people who eat beef. I just had the fries with ice cream, wow. But my ds said the burgers were awesome. Not really dinner, but worth the calories, haha.

When your SIL is picking boats, look at the specialty restaurants, definitely. The Cucina del Capitano has free lunches that are as tasty as dinner, just smaller portions or different. So you don't get all the appetizers, etc. but it's still REALLY tasty. And the upcharge for dinner is maybe $15 a person. The Guy's bbq (pig and anchor) is really good too. When it's open the lines will be crazy because it's blow your mind good. I chose our boat for the bbq, no kidding. It's only lunch. 

They serve salad stuff at breakfast, so by dinner you've eaten so healthy you can splurge.

[Twolittleboys]

We did a Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean some years ago - my kids were older so I don't know much about how it would be with a baby/toddler. But as far as shore excursions are concerned:

In Cozumel we did Chankanaab, which I loved. I definitely think it would work for pretty much any age group (with good sun protection and just to chill out).

We actually didn't do much/anything in Grand Cayman as we couldn't find the bus/were running late/hadn't planned properly. So we just checked out the port area and bought some T-Shirts.

One day was on Royal Caribbean's private island and that was great and again would work with small kids.I know you are going with Carnival but I think their private island is pretty similar. Depending on what you do this is also a fairly inexpensive day (though you could spend a bundle with private cabana, zip line etc.).

We had a stop in Jamaica and arranged a day pass to a nice resort. Definitely something I would recommend if you have a port that is otherwise a bit sketchy. We were picked up by a bus, taken there and could use all facilities (including food and drinks). The beach was not especially nice there, but they had a great pool.

I agree with others that I don't think a baby/toddler will get that much out of a cruise BUT I do think it can work pretty well and be fun as long as you have the right expectations!