Can I Have Fun on a Cruise With a Baby?

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Hey traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. This week I'm answering the question: can I have fun on a cruise with a baby in tow? Let's just jump right into it. Yes, yes you can. And I laugh at this because this is a question that I have been asked multiple times, and then someone actually submitted this—thank you, Samantha, for the podcast specifically. And I just have to say, you can have fun on a cruise no matter where you are, no matter who you're with, but with a baby, things are just a little different. So let's get into kind of what that looks like.

First of all, most cruise lines—in fact, all that I can find, the ones that we sell—require infants to be at least six months old on embarkation day. So that means the day that the cruise is going to first set sail, the infant needs to be at least six months old on that date. The exception is for longer cruises. So if you have a cruise that maybe is doing the Panama Canal, maybe it's a Hawaii cruise—so you're looking at like Hawaii to Vancouver or Seattle, that sort of thing—or a transatlantic, specifically those long cruises, those are going to require children to be at least one year old on embarkation day. Royal Caribbean has a little bit of a specific rule, and for each cruise line, you'd want to look closely if you're getting ready to sail. But Royal Caribbean says any cruise that has three or more days in a row at sea, the child needs to be at least a year old. Obviously, because they do have doctors and emergency facilities on the ship, but if you have someone that is younger than a year old, the equipment is going to be different needs, the situation could be more difficult, and they may not be well versed and ready to treat that. So they say one year and up, you're golden.

So baby gear, let's talk about it, because you're going to need it if you're traveling with a child six months to a year, even until like two and a half, three years old, maybe. You can on Disney Cruise Line, you can get Diaper Genies, bottle warmers, bottle sterilizers, pack and play cribs, playpens, strollers, beach wagons, and there are high chairs in the restaurants. If your child is still on baby food, like the jar baby food, or the pouches, that kind of thing, you can bring that on in your carry-on bag. But it's just like any other food products, it needs to be in unopened, original containers. And you have to have food that you don't need to prepare in a kitchen, because you can't take your food and ask them to prepare it in the ship's kitchen. And you also don't have microwaves in your rooms, so keep that in mind.

You also should know that with Disney Cruise Line, at least they will puree fresh vegetables and bring it to you in the dining room, or even via room service. So like if you are thinking like, 'Hey, you know what, I would really love some pureed squash for my infant,' you can get that. Just keep in mind that they don't always have all the things, right? So if you were like, 'Oh, I want to have peas,' they may not have peas. So you're at their mercy. So I do recommend in most cases bringing your own food makes the most sense, especially if you have a preference for organic vegetables or if you really like one brand of baby food over another.

This is a good opportunity to mention that you can't bring homemade baby food onto a cruise ship. Remember, it has to be in original containers and still sealed from the manufacturer. So homemade things that you've made and pureed, that doesn't work. The merch shops also carry all the needs that a baby might have as far as diapers, swim diapers, rash cream, ready-to-feed formula, and shampoos, but as you might expect, they are extremely expensive. So all of that I highly recommend you bring with you, that way you have the things that you want. You know, you're not going to find it's not a Costco where you're going to find five different brands of formula. So you want to make sure that you just have all of that yourself. In a backup in a pinch, it's fine, but you will pay through the nose if you want to get like swim diapers from the gift shop. Not surprising.

All of the things that they provide complimentary for you can be reserved ahead of time. The exception is a pack and play and a Diaper Genie, because they have plenty of those. And if you're coming on board with a six- to eight-month-old baby, even a year-old baby, they know that you're going to need that. But always let me know that you are going to need certain things and we'll do everything we need to do to have it ready for you. Now, let's talk about activities on the cruise ship for babies and toddlers. Every cruise line does this a little bit differently, but none of the cruise lines provide nursery care—so that's like six months to two and a half, three, depending on the cruise line—none of them provide that free of charge. There always is a charge of some sort for that service.

On Disney Cruise Line, it's called 'it's a small world' nursery, and it accepts children six months to three years. In order to go to the kids' clubs when they turn three, they have to be potty trained. So this is something that you want to consider for that next stage. But obviously in the nurseries, they understand that they're not potty trained or they may be potty training, so they're ready for all of that. So there's a fee. Generally, it's between nine and 10 dollars per hour for the first child in the family. They do have a little bit of a discount if you have multiple kids that you're sending to the nursery, and all of the cruise lines offer something like that. The minimum reservation time is an hour.

Why this matters, okay? Because two things: if you're bringing a baby on board, you may want time where you and your partner, you and your friends, or you and the older children are going to go take part in activities that won't allow an infant to be there, okay? The first one that always comes to mind is like you might want to go have that special adult dinner at Palo or Remy or Enchanté. And if you do, you can't bring a baby in there at all, so you might want to bring them to the nursery. I'm not saying you have to though. And that's one of the big things that I think is important for people to know. You can have fun with your baby on the cruise ship and just never leave them if that's what you want to do.

'it's a small world' nursery and all the other kids' club facilities do have open house hours, when you're allowed to go and use those spaces together as a family. Many, many of my clients will do that. They may not feel comfortable leaving the infant for long on the cruise ship, so they might do it in the evening once or twice, but it's not a daily occurrence for them. But they do love to go to those open houses. And I'm going to share some pictures on Instagram and TikTok because I got to go into the 'it's a small world' nursery on the Disney Treasure. And I have some really cool pictures. I actually was playing in there with other adults on our preview sailing and thought this would be a really fun place for parents to be able to let infants and toddlers just go to town.

You obviously are supervising them, I'm not suggesting that you're not doing that, but it's a place where you don't have to worry about them touching outlets. You don't have to worry about them falling from heights. It's all designed for their little bodies and for free exploration, so it's a fabulous place. I did not travel with an infant; my daughter's first cruise, she was 11, I believe. And so it was a little different for us, but I've helped many, many clients do the cruising with a baby for sure, and they have had an incredible time. Royal Caribbean does a decent job, depending on the ship. Some of their cruise ships, they actually only ever have a space that you can visit with your baby—there's no drop-off care for babies. It's a little blah, it's a little bland. But that doesn't mean that you can't have fun, right? Babies are going to have fun as long as the people they're with are fun, so that's a good thing.

Keep in mind that on Disney Cruise Line, you can reserve childcare space in the nursery before your cruise. The day that it opens for you to book is going to be dependent on your Castaway Club level. So there's all those details, but I can get that for you when you're ready to actually do it. In terms of the fun activities on board, I have to say that one of my favorites is they do a Jack-Jack's Diaper Dash on the ship. So basically if you have a child that's six to 12 months, maybe 14 months before they're actually running, they line them up usually in the grand hall and then you let them go. I'm doing this vision here with a slot car race, but you basically set them down and they go towards the target and they have prizes, and it's really fun to watch. I will say I don't have any footage of that because I don't feel right recording other people's babies like that, but just picture it in your mind—it is a whole lot of fun. And I think that parents and the kids tend to get really into it and it's a good time.

There are also splash pads on all of the ships that children that are not toilet trained are able to use. You do want to have a swim diaper on them for those spaces, but they have little slides, they have little water spouts, and they're themed in different ways, different things. On some of the Disney ships, we have the nephews, Donald's nephews. We also have Dory's Reef and Nemo's Reef. One of my personal favorites is on the Wish class—it's themed after Toy Story. It's just adorable. They're all so cute and they don't allow larger kids in those spaces, so you're going to have kids under three and that space is reserved for them and their parents. So it is a really fun place and I've kind of gone by and watched the babies and their parents and the expressions are just pure joy. So if you're taking a baby on a cruise, you definitely want to make sure that you bring a waterproof camera so you can get pictures of your kiddo in that environment having fun.

It is important to note that on all cruise ships, no matter what cruise line we're talking about, infants and children that are not potty trained are not allowed in any of the main pools. So if a pool day is your most important thing, then you probably don't want to take a baby on a cruise. However, if you're cool with the splash pad area, go for it—such a fun, fun experience. There aren't any reasons not to cruise with a baby as long as you're in the right headspace for it, right? So if you're willing and interested in bringing your child to the childcare space, great. Even if you're not, as long as you are willing and interested in participating in the activities that they can partake in, you're going to have a blast. I really wish I had been able to take our daughter when she was that little because we did do Disney World with her, and there is nothing like those moments when things just blow their mind—completely blow their mind. And at that tender age, that under-three spot, they're just excited by all the things. Um, so yes, can you have fun with a baby in tow on a cruise? Yes, yes, yes, do it.

And if you have questions about it, if you've got concerns or things that are worrying you, I've got you. Just reach out and I will give you any of the answers. I'll allay your fears or, in your situation, I might even say it might make more sense to wait. Alrighty then, that is one more question unpacked. If you have a travel stumper you want me to tackle, or if you're ready to let a pro handle the heavy lifting for your next getaway, send me a text to the show or come find me at mickeyguru.com. I'd also really love to have you join the conversation over on Instagram and TikTok too. See you next week where I'll be answering the question: is Disney's Lightning Lane Premier Pass worth the money? See you real soon, traveler.

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