Cruise advice with baby

[Sunny8753]

Hi all,

Looking to book first holiday since 2019! Our baby will be 18 months when we want to go. I was thinking of a cruise from Southampton because you haven’t got the hassle of a plane then.

Can anyone please recommend the most toddler friendly cruise line?

What about food? Do they provide plenty of high chairs etc?

I’m also concerned about the drinking water situation. What age can babies drink bottled water? My health visitor said you shouldn’t make up formula with bottled water because of salt content, but she didn’t say when it’s ok. I will call to ask but does anyone know the answer to this? I know you can get low sodium ones, but if you’re stuck on a ship and they don’t sell low sodium, what do you do?

Thanks in advance!

With 18 months you should be fine re bottled water. I assume she won’t have more than 1-2 bottles per day anyway at that age?

I’ve seen lots of babies on Royal Caribbean and Disney cruises. Also check what NCL offer. I don’t think your baby will be allowed in the pools although I have seen families with little paddling pools near their sun loungers. There are plenty of high chairs and children’s menus and the staff make a big fuss of any little ones.

I’m not sure if this still applies, but when we went with MSC you could book out free babysitting, subject to availability, at set times. There was also a free Baby Club open for stay and play session packed with soft toys, bouncers, play mats etc… There were even cots and strollers to borrow. Unfortunately our dc wasn’t old enough to use the pools but we took a small inflatable pool and nobody minded. I think some of the ships have toddler splash zones. All restaurants had highchairs available.