Going on a cruiseeeeeeeeee!!! please hit me with your tips

[daisy13]

We will be going on a cruise ( Royal Carri bean 7 night) this weekend ( dont ask! last minute!). We(DH/I) will be going with DD ( 3.25 YO), Bil/ Wife , FIl.

I know food is included and always available. What should I take for my toddler apart from the usuals ( sunscreen , hats etc)? Should I carry a lot of snacks?

Hit me with your tips pleaseeeee

[kaharris83]

Have fun!! We love to cruise!! You can get food at pretty much anytime on a cruise so I wouldn't bring a lot of snacks, if any. We cruised with my 18 month old last year and I didn't pack any snacks. hope you have a great time!!

[bigpassport]

Yay for you! We did a 14 day transatlantic (Barcelona to New Orleans) on Royal Caribbean in November. DS was 3.5. Here are some ideas.

A pool toy or two. DS played with plastic drinking cups. I wish we had had something else for him to play with in the pool. Also, it would have been nice to have a robe for DS. On RC, you check out towels at the pool and have to return them at the pool. It's easier not to take them back to your room then bring them up to the pool the next time. But DS would be cold after swimming, so we'd take the towel back down. A little robe would have been perfect.

I didn't take a lot of snacks. There was plenty for DS to eat between the buffet, room service and cafe (cookies!). They have little boxes of cereal you can grab and throw in your bag for shore excursions. Take some empty ziploc bags so you can take snacks from the ship with you. Milk was a little bit of a challenge. I had to remember to get a little carton from the buffet before going down to our room each night.

Something to make sleep easier/homier. Our cabin steward was awesome. He made up the sofa as a bed for DS every night and put towel animals on his bed. Sometimes he would put DS's toys around the animals. So cute!

Can your DD pee/poop on the toilet? If there was one thing I wish I brought was a potty. It was unrealistic for us to bring one (flew to Barcelona), but that was the biggest problem on the ship. DS was constipated between traveling, different foods, and being scared to sit on the toilet. Speaking of pooping, maybe some Miralax. Or maybe 7 days isn't enough to have a serious problem.

Like any vacation, I'd take tylenol, ibuprofen, bandaids, etc. just in case. Murphy's Law, if you bring it, you won't need it.

We loaded some movies and his favorite shows onto my iPad. that made him much more comfortable in our cabin. Also entertained him in the dining room:bag

I read on my phone or iPad while DS was napping. It was great to be able to have the room dark for a nap, but still be able to read myself.

I'm sure I'll think of more. I'm so jealous!

[Tondi G]

Take Lysol or Clorox wipes ... wipe down your remote control in the stateroom and any other surface you feel could use a quick wipe down. Take childrens meds ... Tylenol, advil, benedryl, bonine, Sudafed, cough syrup, saline nasal spray neosporin. My DS2 ended up with a fever on the last night of our cruise and I was thankful to have a full bottle of childrens advil at the ready. lots of sunscreen (you will use more than you think). I wouldn't worry about too many snacks unless your kiddo is really picky.... you can grab dry cereal at breakfast to keep in your room for quick snacks ... oh and you can grab fruit too apples, bananas etc.

I would bring some beach toys ... small pail/shovel, maybe a beach ball, inflatable swim ring(it's fun to have for the pool on the ship).

take a couple of highlighter pens ... when you look at the activities for the day you can highlight the ones you don't want to miss .... they pack a ton on to those little sheets/booklets every day!

Is your kiddo still using sippy cups or straw cups? You might consider bringing some take and toss style cups ... if they get lost or funky no biggie.

We knew there would be soft serve ice cream up by the pool and my kids think root beer floats are the coolest treat so we brought our own root beer along and they were thrilled to have their special treats by the pool! We also brought some bottled water... big bottles with sports tops.

Is your kiddo completely potty trained? They don't allow swim diapers in the pools on RCCL. They have to be completely potty trained for the pools and for the kids program.

Hope you have a wonderful time! If you have some extra time I highly recommend checking out the family cruising board over on Cruise Critic! You can also check the boards for the ports you will be visiting.

[weech]

Whenever we cruise, we bring a power strip because there's never enough outlets. Also consider bringing one of those over the door shoe organizers to organize all your toiletries and other odds and ends. There's never much storage space in the bathroom.

Like a pp mentioned, grab fruit, boxes of cereal, etc at breakfast in the morning. Great (free!) beach snacks.

[ZeeBaby]

We did a 7 day cruise on Carnival last August. We brought snacks for the room. We brought the fruit squeezers and crackers. Not much because food is readily available, but our kids are big on snacking between meals and we wanted to make sure they would have snacks when the dining areas are closed.

The kids club is great. We only used it once when we left the ship, but we used them pretty much everyday we were on the ship and they were having activities. Sometimes we would do a quick dinner with the kids and then drop them at the kids club for us to have dinner by ourselves. That worked really well.

We also brought power strip. We used one that had a circuit breaker. Definitely check out Cruise Critic. They have tons of info. I was on them daily before we cruised.

[egoldber]

Also consider bringing one of those over the door shoe organizers to organize all your toiletries and other odds and ends.

Just FYI, at least Disney has recently banned these. Apparently the ones that hand from a hook or in a closet are still OK to bring.

[weech]

Just FYI, at least Disney has recently banned these. Apparently the ones that hand from a hook or in a closet are still OK to bring.

Huh, good to know. Do you know why they were banned?

[daisy13]

Ladies- all this is so useful.. I am taking notes . I also checked out cruise critics- such a wealth of information there!!


Thanks a lot. She is completely potty trained ( thank God!)- so looking forward to enjoying the pool. She also drinks pretty well from a cup- so no sippies yeay!


I will take minimum snacks - maybe for the flight and transit times only.

Keep the tips coming! thanks again..

[echoesofspring]

Room service! Our last cruise was before kids, but taking advantage of the room service when it was available was so much better than always having to deal with the buffet for food, especially in the morning, I think we did one breakfast buffet and room service every other morning.

[Mermanaid]

Take one of those small foldable boxes to keep all your "stuff" in on the desk. Cuts down clutter.

Eat some honey stung chicken for meee!!!!

[daisy13]

Take one of those small foldable boxes to keep all your "stuff" in on the desk. Cuts down clutter.

Eat some honey stung chicken for meee!!!!

Will eat :)

What small foldable boxes? do you have an eg?

[Mermanaid]

Oh and for storage keep on mind that luggage can go under the bed. That way you have more room in the closet. It took me two cruises to figure that out. :)

If you want pictures then go early. Otherwise you will be waiting in line for some time. And know that pictures are taken on several decks at a time. There are so many backdrops to choose from.

If you sign up for the crown and anchor club you get a coupon book in your cabin. It may be too late to get one though. The gold book usually has a B1G1 drink coupon, free champagne, 5 mins of free Internet and a b1G1 photo.

You won't be able to get to your cabin until 1 or 2p on Sunday but you can usually board the ship around 11ish and head to the Windjammer buffet for lunch. Or just explore the ship.

If you want to schedule excursions then you will need to go straight to the excursion desk when you get on to see what is available.

[Still-in-Shock]

I would take either a folding laundry basket or a bag to hang in your closet for laundry. Royal Caribbean doesn't have a laundry room, so keep in mind that you will pay someone else to do laundry if you need to have it done. It might be worthwhile, depending on how much you want to pack.

Here is some info on what's available for kids:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_kids_teens_and_fa milies
Disney has a well-known children's program, but I think Royal's is almost or as good.

I was going to recommend the over the door shoe holder for the bathroom door, but I need to find out if Royal Caribbean still allows them. The RC bathrooms do not have a lot of storage compared to other cruiselines, and these are great for storing toiletries, etc. I tell people that the shoe holder saved our vacation, since I could always find whatever I needed. UPDATE: As of 3 weeks ago, they were still allowed. Someone I read about someone who packed it already filled up, but I think it works better if you pack it flat, and then fill it up once it is hanging on the door.

You didn't mention which ship you are on. The larger ships have a water park, but they all have a children's pool - and maybe more important, a grown-up pool!

A PP mentioned the Crown and Anchor Society. I believe you have to have cruised once with them to join, but it's been a while since I've been on RC. And see if you can book excursions via your television. That was available on most ships when we sailed on this line.

[Mermanaid]

Will eat :)

What small foldable boxes? do you have an eg?

I'm sorry working from my phone so I can't pull a link. I was thinking those itso type boxes from Target. One that you can fold in your suitcase but unfold to collect loose change, receipts from onboard purchases (keep these to double check your account on your stateroom tv, etc).

Oh and the kids club sent dd and DS back to our room with a ton of crap. DS brought back model magic, pirate bandanas, etc. a small box could be a way to tame all that too.

[daisy13]

I would take either a folding laundry basket or a bag to hang in your closet for laundry. Royal Caribbean doesn't have a laundry room, so keep in mind that you will pay someone else to do laundry if you need to have it done. It might be worthwhile, depending on how much you want to pack.

Here is some info on what's available for kids:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_kids_teens_and_fa milies
Disney has a well-known children's program, but I think Royal's is almost or as good.

I was going to recommend the over the door shoe holder for the bathroom door, but I need to find out if Royal Caribbean still allows them. The RC bathrooms do not have a lot of storage compared to other cruiselines, and these are great for storing toiletries, etc. I tell people that the shoe holder saved our vacation, since I could always find whatever I needed.

You didn't mention which ship you are on. The larger ships have a water park, but they all have a children's pool - and maybe more important, a grown-up pool!

thank you! we are going on "Allure of the seas"...

[Still-in-Shock]

You will have a blast!
Here is a link from Cruise Critic with tips on what to do for the Oasis of the Seas. It is the sister ship to Allure, same design, most of the same restaurants.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1831825

The itinerary is probably different, but there's a ton of similarities.

This is one of the ships that has the water park are that they call the H2O Zone, with sprinklers, water cannons, etc. The camps for the kids are near the front of the ship, on the deck below this and the pools.

You may want to study the deck plans before you go; there's tons to do just on the ship. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=05&shipCode=AL&ship

[bigpassport]

She is completely potty trained

Good! The Royal Caribbean kids club starts at 3 y.o. and they have to be completely potty trained. I think the hours for sea days are 9-noon, 2-5 and 7-10. Your DD can go during any of those hours. On port days, I think they are open the whole time you're in port so she can stay on the ship if you want to do an excursion without her. We had a lot of sea days, so we would eat a late breakfast, drop of DS from 10-noon and go play trivia, we'd pick him up at noon, go to the jacuzzi/pool as a family, then get some lunch at the buffet, then take a nap in the afternoon. DS would come with us to the dining room at 6. RC has a program where the kids club would pick him up at 6:40 from the maitre d' station. We just let the server know to bring DS's meal out quickly. Usually, we would still be on our entree at 6:40, so we'd take him up to meet the kids club staff, then go back to our table to enjoy the rest of our dinner and dessert leisurely. We'd go to trivia or a show after dinner, then pick him up by 10. I thought the kids club did a great job of entertaining DS. They do crafts and have theme days. And for the 3 year olds, they provide you with a pager that works on the ship. If your DD has a problem, they will page you and you can just pick up a courtesy phone to see what she needs. We got paged only twice in 14 days, and neither time was really a 'need' but because the staff thought he missed us and needed us to stop by and say hi.

[egoldber]

Huh, good to know. Do you know why they were banned?

They said it was scratching the paint on the doors causing excess wear and tear.

[daisy13]

how many swim suits should I take for me?
I am taking 3 for my DD.. should I take hall of my 3 suits too?( even the ratty one that I still have from college ;))?

[daisy13]

Also- has anyonegone on a carribbean cruise at this time of the year? Is it pretty warm? Should I just stick to shorts/skirts for DD? or will she need pants/ full sleeve shirts in the evenings?

[Still-in-Shock]

I recommend checking the weather for the ports you are going to before you leave to make your final decision. That said, I would also take a windbreaker of some other kid of jacket/ raincoat just in case.

Adults are not allowed to wear shorts in the dining room at dinner, but I don't know the rules for kids. I thought Royal's website gave recommendations, but I could be remembering a different cruise line.

[MamaMolly]

Also- has anyonegone on a carribbean cruise at this time of the year? Is it pretty warm? Should I just stick to shorts/skirts for DD? or will she need pants/ full sleeve shirts in the evenings?

Not on a cruise but we are living in the Caribbean. And it's hot on the island now. I have no idea about out at sea. ;)

[Mermanaid]

It can be chilly on deck at night with the wind. I would take a hoody or something similar. You may not need it but nice to have if you tend to get cold. We went on a Dec western Carib cruise and were glad we had it. By now you may not need it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[Melbel]

Have an amazing time! We went on RC Liberty of the Seas when it was brand new, about 6 years ago (DS was 7, DD1 5). We would love to cruise again now that DD2 is older. The RC kids programs on the larger class ships is very highly rated. We tended to use the kids club so that we could enjoy kid free dinners after feeding them off of the buffets. They loved the kids programs and would have gladly gone for more hours.

We packed a case of water (not sure if this is still allowed).

I would love to hear a post cruise review!

[karstmama]

not that i would suggest you do this, but i took clear adult beverage helper in water bottles. don't use shampoo or conditioner bottles - i speak from my s-i-l's experience. ;)