4 Tips & Tricks for Cruising with Baby

This post contains some affiliate links, which means – at no additional cost to you – I will earn a commission if you click through a link for a product that I wholeheartedly recommend and make a purchase.

This week, we took our first cruise with our sweet boy.

At 9 months old, everything I’ve read told me not to cruise with a baby. But you know what? We love our cruises, so we’re bringing our boy with!

Here are a few tips and tricks I learned prior to our trip and along the way.

1. Do your homework

Each cruise line does something a little different when it comes to traveling with little ones.

We love Royal Caribbean, so we specifically chose a Kids Sail Free weekend and family friendly destinations. I also did a little research to find out whether we could bring our own beverages (read: water for Roman) and how food needed to be packed.

Other things to look up include: options for babes with allergies, kids playrooms/nurseries and onboard nannies, family excursions, and so on.

2. Don’t forget you’re co-sleeping.

We don’t co-sleep with our son. He has his own bedroom and his own bed, where he spends every nap time and night time.

On a cruise, you’re (once again) sharing your room with your little one. Noises, light, and ship movements are going to be part of the process, so it’s important to get ahead of things.

Our (thank goodness!) perfect situation ended up being a pack n play, mattress, and this wonderful invention: the SlumberPod. The SlumberPod was, in a word, incredible.

This baby tent will block sound and light so that your babe can seemingly have their own room in your stateroom. We used a sound app to give Roman his normal noise routine, which of course also helped block out excess noise.

3. Plan your meals.

Just like on land, planning meals is important when you travel with a baby. It’s even more important at sea.

I make all of Roman’s food from scratch, so I packed frozen purees and thawed every meal time. (For those of you who like doing this too, I kept everything in separate Ziploc bags and labeled breakfast/lunch/dinner, so we could grab and go. I also brought a small Tupperware container and spoon to thaw and serve. At meal time, we either got or requested a small bowl of hot water and thawed for the meal.)

For older babies, I noticed that fellow travelers were able to request special meals for their babes and the cruise staff brought it directly to them!

free download

Ready to create harmony in your busy life?

4. Bring your peeps.

Having some backup is no joke on a cruise. While Roman was the best mini travel companion, Dave and I wouldn’t have been able to ever go out together after bedtime if we didn’t have Dave’s parents along with us.

Having friends or family along with you means that everyone can tag team during both waking and sleeping hours.


Try these 4 tips and tricks and let me know how they worked for you in the comments below!

Want more helpful posts like this?