10 Tips for Sailing on Disney Cruise Line With an Infant

I don’t have young children anymore, but my recent guest blogger Sara was kind enough to summarize her top 10 tips for sailing on Disney Cruise Line with an infant.  Here they are:

Plan According to Your Child’s Schedule

On our recent cruise, we booked early dining even though our daughter is not accustomed to sitting at a table for a long period of time. Next time, we will book late dining and utilize the “It’s a Small World Nursery” after our daughter’s bedtime so that we can enjoy a quiet dinner.

Utilize the “It’s a Small World Nursery”

Our experience with the onboard nursery was excellent. The attendants ask for information about schedules and comfort objects in advance, and do everything possible to allow you to enjoy your alone time. If your infant struggles, they will notify you after they have been unable to soothe the baby for 15 minutes. If you don’t hear from the nursery, congratulations! You now have time to enjoy all of the adult exclusive activities Disney Cruise Line has to offer!

Request Amenities Provided for Infants by DCL

Prior to sailing, you are able to request a Pack ‘n Play and Diaper Genie for your stateroom. Once onboard, you may also request one of the limited quantities of bottle warmers and sterilizers from Guest Services.

Don’t Stress About Forgetting Something

I was surprised to see how many infant items were available for purchase in the onboard gift shops. Diapers, bottle brushes, over the counter medicines, Gerber Formula and baby food, wipes, and much more. While I don’t advise planning to purchase all of these items onboard (most items were available in one brand and probably would not accommodate a very specialized need), it did seem that DCL thoughtfully stocked most easy-to-forget items. I also found that the prices were comparable to my local grocery store.

Think About How You Plan to Use Your Stroller

I struggled with the decision to bring either a small umbrella stroller, or my full sized Graco stroller. Ultimately, I decided on the Graco, because it reclined and I hoped our daughter would nap in it. It has a shelf underneath which I used to store her diaper bag. The full-sized stroller also has cup holders, which was convenient, although not instrumental in my decision to use it rather than the umbrella stroller. If you plan to use your stroller strictly for transportation, it may be better to use the umbrella stroller. If you plan on using the stroller for naps, bring a full-sized stroller.

Do Not Bring Your Stroller to Dinner in the Main Dining Rooms

Unless the baby is sleeping, do not bring the stroller to dinner in the main dining rooms.  Our server was happy to accommodate our stroller at our table the one night our baby slept through dinner. During other meals, we started out with the baby in a high chair, and our server asked if he could move the stroller. The Main Dining Room tables are fairly close together and the stroller made it awkward for servers to navigate around us. During one lunch in the MDR, the server asked to move the stroller and we weren’t able to easily locate it when we finished our meal. If we had insisted, I’m sure they would have accommodated us having it table side, but next time I will leave it in the stateroom.

Nemo’s Reef

Nemo’s Reef is the splash area available for children still using swim diapers (children using swim diapers are not allowed in the pools), but is also accessible for children up to age 8. I did not realize this was the case until I was in Nemo’s Reef with my seven-month-old. The older children did seem to enjoy themselves, but this made for a very loud and busy environment for my daughter. It was fun to see her splash around for a few minutes, but this was not the go-to-spot for our family.

Try Taking Your Infant to the Shows

I was hesitant to bring our baby into the stage shows for the fear that she would be a distraction to others. I ended up taking her and I’m glad I did! Our baby was not nearly as distracting as some of the older children, and even if she had been, the environment was relaxed enough that we could have easily slipped out of the theater.

Don’t Expect the Main Dining Room to Make Purees

In my research prior to our cruise, several blogs stated that the MDRs provide purees for infants. This may sometimes be the case, but our server did not offer them even when I asked what food was available for infants. We were not relying on purees for our daughter, so I didn’t push the issue, but it did not seem like a common request (at least not for our server).

Appropriate Pool Deck Attire

I overheard a couple discussing an incident where a lifeguard asked them to dress their daughter in swim attire on the pool deck. The baby had been wearing a swim diaper while sleeping on a lounger in the sun. Apparently, the lifeguard requested that the parents dress the baby in a swimsuit or other appropriate clothing. My guess was that this was to prevent over exposure to the sun, and while I’m unsure if this is standard procedure, it may be something to consider if you plan on enjoying the pool deck with your infant.

Those are my tips for traveling Disney Cruise Line with an Infant! Have you ever cruised with an infant? What are your tips and tricks?