Hellobee

Mr. Chocolate and I are huge fans of cruises. Mr. Chocolate’s parents are actually the ones who got the whole family on this cruising kick. Cruising is such a wonderful way to vacation as the price includes lodging, travel, and food.  The ships provide plenty of entertainment, service is always top notch, and you wake up in a different location every day. For me cruising has an added bonus as I can’t fly (claustrophobia), so I can still see locations I wouldn’t be able without the worry of melting down on a plane.

Before Drake, we would cruise probably once every year and count down the days till we were on board again. So when Mr. Chocolate told me, weeks after Drake’s birth, that his family would like to book a trip the following year when Drake was one, I told him he was crazy. Cruising with a barely one year old seemed insane to me. Mr. Chocolate persisted. His whole family was going so we would have lots of help, and we were sailing out of New Jersey so travel to the ship would be less than an hour. And really after a year with a baby, didn’t we deserve a vacation?

In the end I relented of course, and shortly after Drake turned one he got his sea legs and joined the cruising tradition of our family.  The neat thing is Mr. Chocolate belong to the loyalty club, The Crown and Anchor Society, that Royal Carribean provides for sailing with them frequently. As our child, Drake got to have the same membership status so at the tender age of one, he became a Platinum Crown and Anchor member. Granted he didn’t really benefit from the welcome back party or the gifts, but still it puts him ahead for the future when he can sail on his own as an adult.

Drakey with his towel stingray

The cruise was nine nights and took us to Bermuda, St Thomas, St Maartan, and Puerto Rico. The ship was Explorer of the Seas through Royal Caribbean — the only line our family ever sails with.  This was the same ship and itinerary Mr. Chocolate and I had cruised before, which was actually nice because if we never managed to get off the ship, it was ok as we had already been to these locales before.  We booked our usual balcony suite — pre-Drake we always did this for my claustrophobia; the extra room and light the balcony provided helps me. But now we were a family of three with a pack and play to sleep, which can take up a lot of space in a small cabin room.

The big downside of taking a small child cruising is that the price of a child’s ticket is basically 3/4th cost of an adult ticket.  I could totally understand this for an older child who could partake in the ship’s many kids’ activities, but for a child Drake’s age it seemed ridiculous, and I voiced my complaint when booking.

Before our trip, I did some research to find out what activities Drake could actually participate in; would we have to bring our own pack and play; pool rules for children who weren’t potty trained; childcare services etc.  The forum Cruise Critic is a wonderful source of information for just about every line, every ship, and everything you can imagine for cruising.  I highly recommend using it for cruising in general, as well as asking specific questions, like traveling with a small child. I learned quite a few things about traveling with a small child forums. Here are some general notes.

– Young children who are not potty trained are not allowed in the pools on most ships (the newer ones might have changed this but at the time we went it was not allowed).  Bring along a little inflatable pool with you if you want.  Staff members are more than happy to help you fill it up or if you bring a bucket along you can do it yourself.  It also helps double as a bath tub since most rooms only have showers.

– If you need (whole) milk the best place to go is the coffee places since they have all kinds of milk.

– You don’t need to bring a pack and play since the ship will provide one, but bringing your own sheets is a good idea.

– There are activities for smaller kids but you will have to go along with them to attend.  Older kids can join the kids’ club and be left there to play on their own.

– Cruise halls are narrow so be aware of this when bringing your stroller.  Some of them might be too large or hard to navigate along those narrow corridors, and an umbrella stroller or something similar in size and weight might be better for travel as a whole.

– Some ships will provide babysitting but it is costly; you have to set it up with the ship when you are on it (usually 24 hours before you want to use a babysitter), you can’t book ahead of time, there is an age limit (for our ship it was one and over) and there is a child limit (usually 3 kids from the same family).  Also babysitting is only available between certain hours (8 PM – 2 AM on the ship we sailed).

Armed with my newfound information, I made sure to bring an inflatable pool and a smaller lightweight stroller instead of our big Graco one that came with the car seat. But I did forget the sheets.

Here is a brief summary of our trip (as best as I can recall from almost 2 years ago).

Boarding and getting on the ship with Drake wasn’t too difficult.  It helped that he was newly one, couldn’t walk yet and was still happy to sit in his stroller for the most part.  Having family around is nice as someone can always entertain him for a little while too. As custom to our family, we arrive several hours before actual boarding time. Most ships will allow you to start boarding a few hours early. Your room won’t necessarily be ready, but it’s the perfect time to hit the pools and hot tubs as they will be mostly empty.  Mr. Chocolate and I would always wear our bathing suits on and bring a small carry-on with us containing a change of clothes, sunscreen, etc. so that if it would be a while before our room was ready, we still had stuff with us. Obviously with Drake we brought his diaper bag and put him in a bathing suit ensemble too so he could join in the pool fun with the rest of the family.

First cruise yay!

Drake was not allowed in the general pools because he was not potty trained. A crew member told us immediately as we made it to the pool deck, so we broke out the little inflatable pool and set it on the side of the deck for him. Since family was around we would just take turns sitting and playing with him while other family members enjoyed the pools and hot tubs.

His own private pool

We had some issues with the stateroom not realizing that a baby was going to be in the room as there was a small cot set aside for Drake.  In the end a pack and play was procured fairly easily and quickly.

Sea air makes you tired

On one of our first sea days, we took Drake to the little program for kids his own age.  Basically it’s a playroom with toys for the younger set and a crew member who plays with them along with you.  Drake was not the youngest child on board when we sailed — the youngest was 6 months old.  Drake had a good time playing with new toys, and you could even borrow the toys with a sign out sheet if you wanted. But I had already brought quite a few of Drakes toys with us already.  This program was not available every day, but we did go a few times when it was available.

Our first port stop was Bermuda.  Mr. Chocolate’s family opted to go to Horse Shoe Bay — a beach that we have gone to a few times in the past when visiting Bermuda.  Mr. Chocolate and I decided to skip the beach that day and hang out in Hamilton, a small town a ferry away from where we ported with Drake.  We have been to Hamilton before so we just walked around, had lunch, took some photos and went back to the ship in time for Drake’s nap.

Streets of Hamilton

Drake was quite a hit with the dining staff at dinner every night.  They quickly saw that Drake liked to eat fruit, bread, and mashed potatoes topped off with a large glass of milk every night, so pretty soon there was a fruit cup waiting at our table every night for us when we got to our seat.  I don’t recall if there was a high chair option or not for little kids, as Drake was mostly passed around from lap to lap or sat in his stroller when it was eating time.

Formal night photo

The next port we went to was St Thomas. Mr. Chocolate’s sister had researched a beach on the island called Le Gallion, also known as Baby Beach.  Because of the name Mr. Chocolate and I decided that this would the perfect place for Drake to has his first taste of the ocean. Baby Beach is mostly in a bay and more secluded, so the water is quite calm and perfect for a little one. We had to hire a taxi from the ship to get there as it’s a little further from the main beaches right by the port.  The trip was easy, maybe 20 minutes or so in a van, and we told hem what time to pick us up.  Drake had to sit in our laps and be held on the ride as car seats aren’t prevalent and we didn’t bring our own.  Drake had a great time at the beach.  The water was so nice and calm and I highly recommend this beach for little ones in St. Thomas.

First touch of the ocean

Our second port of call was St Maartan. St John is only a short ferry away from St Maartan and since we had all been to St Maartan a few times, we opted to go to St John to try out one of their beaches. Drake fell asleep on the way there in Mr. Chocolate’s arms.

Napping on the ferry

The beach my SIL found was called Honeymoon Beach.  After getting off the ferry we had the option of either walking or taking a quick 5 minute cab ride there. Though the walk was said to be fairly easy and quick, it turned out not to be the case. Perhaps it was the fact that we were carrying a stroller along with a baby and the path was quite rocky, or maybe that day was just particularly hot, but the walk seemed endless.  Mr. Chocolate’s parents were having a hard time with the heat and walking as well. It took us well over the predicted 10 minutes to get there, and by then we were all sweating and tired and exhausted.  The plus was the beach was lovely and pretty calm and after 10 minutes in the water, we all felt 100% better.  Needless to say we opted for the cab ride back.

Fun in the sun

Our last port of call was St Juan Puerto Rico. Mr. Chocolate has never been a fan of Puerto Rico for some reason. He claims it is hotter than all the other islands we visit and more humid.  He never wants to stay in the town for very long, so that day we left later than everyone else to beat some of the heat and just walked around a little before heading back to the ship and hitting the pools while the crowds were still in town.

A view of the ship from town

The old forts are a big attraction in town

Poolside again

Overall our experience cruising with a baby wasn’t so different from when we cruised as just adults. The biggest difference was nap time and bed time as someone had to stay in the room once Drake was asleep.  Nap time wasn’t too bad since it’s not that long and some days Drake would nap in the stroller when we were out in the ports or even just as we walked around the ship. They also occurred during the day so someone could sit on the balcony and read during that time. But Drake would go to bed around 7ish and then someone had to stay in the room with him for the rest of the night.  There was a little curtain we could pull up to block Drake’s side of the room from our bedroom so we could use the bedside lights, but overall it was a little hard to deal with.

For the most part I stayed in the room and read my Kindle while Drake slept every night, but occasionally my MIL or SIL stayed with him so I could get out a little and see some night life too. I have to say that was probably the worst part about traveling with such a young child, and I found myself going to bed earlier than I normally would on vacation. We could have hired a baby sitter and my in laws even offered to pay for a night, but in the end I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving Drake at such a young age with a stranger in a strange place.

Someone was not ready for bed yet

We had a wonderful time and made some great memories, even if Drake was too young to remember.  Had it not been for family going with us, this trip probably would never have happened, but I’m so glad that we had the opportunity to take a vacation with Drake. Mr. Chocolate and I have talked about when we are going to cruise again, and we think we are going to wait a few years until our children are a little older and can partake in more of the ships offerings like the pools.  The ship has some great activities for kids, and we feel we would get more for our money if the kids could participate in them, and we wouldn’t have to work around nap and bed times as much.

View from our balcony

A cruise is a wonderful way to travel with children.  It’s a very relaxing way to travel since you don’t need to do or go anywhere else once you’re on the ship. Once you get on board, you are set and ready to vacation.  Mr. Chocolate and I are already dreaming of our next cruise in a few years, as we miss the call of the sea already.

Have you or would you cruise with kids?