By 
In the spring of 2010 I had the privilege of taking my 15 month old baby on a Carnival cruise to Mexico. I had been on 10 or more cruises before so I knew what to expect. When I told my friends and family that my little boy was going on the cruise, some thought he was crazy.
We had fun! There were very few small children on board, but it is a vacation that I would recommend for families with young children, especially if you are a couple with a child who is a small child. There are a few things about the cruise that made it an ideal vacation for a young child. The flight was free for her because she was less than two years old. The price of the cabin for her was half because she was the third person in the cabin. We were in one place all week. We only had to unpack once. Everything we needed was on the cruise. We didn’t need to drive. There was always food available. There is always something to do, but you can always retreat to your booth and do nothing.
Here are my 10 tips for those traveling with young children:
Toddler Cruise Tip # 1: Try to stick to your schedule at home.
When planning your day on the cruise, consider typical meal times, naps, and sleep times. Try to plan your day around your child’s usual schedule. This probably means planning any trips to the port in the mornings, leaving the afternoons for naps (you will need that too).
I also suggest that you request an early dinner (6pm) as late dinner time (8:15 pm) generally has fewer families with children as it tends to be a bit more formal, particularly on formal nights. I generally love formal dinners, but we only ended up eating in the formal dining room twice during our cruise. The wait times between courses, the formal dining room, and even the food options were not something our boy enjoyed. The buffet was much more of his style.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 2: Ask for a balcony if you can afford it.
We did not buy a balcony, but due to a cruise line computer glitch, we were upgraded to a balcony. It ended up being a blessing because during his nap, we could sit on the balcony. In my 10+ cruises I had never requested a balcony because I never thought it was necessary, but since we ended up spending more time in the cabin with a young child, it was a nice addition.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 3: Meet the hostess for the morning breakfast.
It seems our little one thought that going on a cruise meant waking up at 5:30 every morning. I’ve never gotten up so early on a cruise before. Turns out, it’s a very quiet time of day. We went up to the buffet every morning. We got to meet our lovely breakfast hostess from the Philippines. After a couple of days he took it upon himself to have a high chair waiting for us and a plate of my daughter’s favorite fruits. Our daughter ended up being a huge hit with several team members who unfortunately missed their kids from home.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 4: Come prepared to do your laundry.
We made sure our cruise ship had a laundry room and requested that our cabin be nearby. My previous experience with cruises told me that we were going to do a lot of washing due to the heat and I knew we would need a laundry room even more with a small child. We do laundry a couple of times during the week. It gave us the opportunity to pack lighter and save space for things that could not have been easily replaced (such as diapers, blankets, lovies, soy milk, bottles, favorite cups, etc.). All sheets of detergent.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 5: Take turns with your spouse exploring the ship, swimming, going to the casino, and other activities that are not “toddler friendly.”
Toddler Cruise Tip # 6: Go to the Kids Camp area (different names depending on the cruise line) and find out what’s available for your toddler.
There is probably no programming for your young child; however, we found that we could take her to the playground at any time as long as we kept her. This was a nice, air-conditioned area to take her out.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 7: Pack twice as many diapers as you think you’ll need.
I found that our baby generally drank about twice as much as usual when on vacation. Due to unfamiliar solid foods, he tended to withdraw to his familiar milk. This happened on the cruise ship and when we went to Disney World. Fortunately, we brought more than enough diapers on the cruise. Diapers typically cost up to $ 3.00 each at tourist destinations like resorts, cruise ships, and amusement parks.
Toddler Cruising Tip # 8: Don’t be afraid to bring some kind of harness if you think you need it.
We’ve never used it again, but we bought one of those strap-on backpacks for the cruise and I’m glad we did. She was learning to run and wanted to be in motion all the time. The harness offered us a degree of safety on the cruise, particularly with all the ladders open on board. The harness also came in handy at the airport. It was too short to hold hands all the time.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 9: Bring a Pack n Play and a lightweight stroller.
Cruise lines say they have cribs available, but we were told they sometimes sell out. We already checked into a hotel before and they told us they didn’t have cribs so my advice is to bring a pack and a stroller. You can check the pack-n-play for free on the flight because you can check in a baby item and you can take the stroller on the plane as carry-on luggage. We took a medium sized stroller and we were glad we did. Unlike a stroller with an umbrella, we liked having the basket part underneath for her diaper bag and souvenirs and we also found it necessary to have a stroller with a cover due to the sun.
Toddler Cruise Tip # 10: Be prepared in the event of a medical emergency.
Get travel insurance and carry your important medical information with you in case of a serious medical emergency. This is my advice whether you are traveling with a small child or not. Our boy contracted an ear infection while on the cruise. Fortunately, our ship’s doctor was available and we were able to get antibiotics on board for a reasonable price. We had all of our medical information with us, which was helpful.