In December I had the pleasure of taking Miss Mia (and her
mommy and daddy) on a short cruise. Miss
Mia was 19 months old. Going into this I
had a few concerns. Like what if she
cried the whole time; what if she was miserable; what if she just wanted to get
OFF!
She showed me I had no need to worry!
We were onboard the Carnival Sunshine, with a balcony
room. We had her pack n play for her to
sleep in, and it worked pretty well. She
was probably the most rested person onboard the whole ship!
She was a happy, HAPPY baby with an infectious smile and
everyone around her had a blast!
We wondered how she would do with the motion sickness. I wore a patch! She only had one day that the waves got to
her, it was the second day. The seas
were a bit rough that day. There were several times when grownups were having a
bit of a problem with the moving floors.
Remembering that she had not been walking all that long, it was very
comical to see her standing in the middle of the room and suddenly take a quick
step trying to regain her balance…then looking up with a big grin!
As most toddlers, she is somewhat of a picky eater. You never know for sure what she will eat,
but you always knew when she was finished!
She would start singing “Clean up, Put away!” And, of course, that was your signal that you
should be done as well! The dining staff
were very accommodating with her. If we
needed three entrees and only broccoli for the veggie, they would make sure she
had it. After the first few nights, they
remembered she would drink a couple of cups of milk so they always brought a
large glass right off the bat for her.
Our cabin steward made sure we had an ice bucket in the room to keep her
milk cold.
Luckily, Miss Mia loves to dance. Give her a beat and she goes to town. Before the cruise was over, almost EVERYONE
knew her name! All the bartenders (you
practically had to walk by a bar or lounge to get anywhere on that ship!) knew
her name and would call to her when they saw her dancing! Several of the bartenders would leave their
post to come and dance with her! Every time
you saw a crew member in the hall they would call her name and start clapping
to get her to dance. And the cabin stewards…. They LOVED to give her
candy. So much that she could have
survived on the amount of candy she ate alone!
By the time we left, she had made fast friends with one particular cabin
steward… Mia would see her in the hall
and run towards her with a big grin and give her a hug!
Miss Mia had her first interaction with characters on board
the ship. Carnival has Cat in the
Hat! Miss Mia calls him GoGo Cat…and
LOVES him! She got to have her picture
taken with GoGo Cat, Sam I Am, as well as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They had a
really cool breakfast with the Dr Seuss characters and it had her favorite
breakfast food…BACON! Followed closely
by CHEERIOS! It was an instant hit!
I will say that Miss Mia was less than impressed with the
wonderful safety drill (she slept through most of it) and wasn’t as terrified
of the bus ride around Nassau that the rest of us were (she slept through that
as well) but overall it is safe to assume that she had a blast!
Some thoughts if you are planning on taking your well
traveled toddler on a cruise…
-If you do not get a cabin with a refrigerator, make sure
your cabin steward knows you have a toddler that drinks lots of milk. They will make sure there is a large
container of ice for the milk. They will
also change the ice out for you throughout the day.
-Depending on the cruise line they may have activities for
the toddler, but one of Miss Mia’s favorite activities was walking! There was something magical about being able
to just simply walk around somewhere different.
She loved to sit on the balcony and look at the water, and loved that
she could walk around on deck and see water almost every where she went. Also, look for the hidden areas. We found a cute small playground that had a
slide and a few other toys for climbing and playing. They were almost always empty.
-Note that some of the organized activities are not always
ideally suited for nap times! The Seuss-a-paloosa
parade was cute, but between it and the show immediately afterwards, it interfered
with her nap. For a happy toddler (and
happy family) it is always best to keep her schedule on track.
-Remember that it is practically impossible for a toddler to
fall overboard. The rails are taller than the toddler. The only way for her to get over it is if she
climbs up on the outdoor furniture and climbs on top of the rail…and while we
all know it is possible to do that, we also know we should watch a toddler much
better than that…Never let a toddler (or any child) go unsupervised on a
balcony…on or off sea!
-Remember to ask! If
you don’t see something your toddler will eat…ask. The staff is most happy to
help! They may even have ideas on what
they have that the ‘younger crowd’ likes to eat. For instance, Miss Mia loves
green peas…one night we had green peas in our pasta dish…the server had the
kitchen staff save out some green peas for Miss Mia. (yes, she LOVED him!)
-Take an extra person with you. Having a grandmother along will ensure you a
chance to go out to a movie or other evening entertainment while toddler stays
back in the cabin and gets a good night’s sleep! And if you are the grandmother…make sure you
load up your Kindle with some good books.
Most relaxing trip EVER!
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