Cruising the Caribbean was our first travel experience as a family of three. We cruise with David’s extended family almost annually, but this time Baby C joined us! We typically visit the Caribbean during the winter months, as its dry season is between mid-December-April. It was pretty amazing to escape the freezing Midwest temps this February!
Something that we like about cruising in general is that it’s a great style of vacation for a group. Members of our family choose which activities and excursions they wish to do on each trip and sign up accordingly. Sometimes these excursions are enjoyed together, sometimes apart. Later that evening, everyone dines together as a whole in the main dining room (as opposed to the buffet or specialty restaurants, which are also great options) which allows us all time to catch up and hear about each other’s adventures. It’s a great blend of togetherness and independence 🙂
Overall, we had a wonderful trip, and it’s one that I would definitely choose to do again. There are some important things to note about cruising with a baby, however, so hopefully this overview of our experience will prove to be helpful!
Our Cruise: 9 night Caribbean cruise
Our Ship: Celebrity Equinox
Departure City: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Itinerary:
- Day 1: Departure from Florida
- Day 2: At Sea
- Day 3: Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4: At Sea
- Day 5: Oranjestad, Aruba
- Day 6: Oranjestad, Aruba
- Day 7: Willemstad, Curacao
- Day 8: At Sea
- Day 9: At Sea
Excursions:
For those new to cruising, when you dock at a port destination, you have the option to get off the boat and book a tour with an independent agency at that port. These are typically much cheaper than booking through the cruise line. However, your ship will sail a its scheduled time whether or not your tour group makes it back in time. For this reason, we always book our excursions through the cruise line. They use trusted agencies and if something were to go wrong while you are out (flat tire, tour running long, etc.), the ship WILL wait for passengers who booked through them.
Our Excursions
Grand Cayman: Beach day at 7 Mile Beach
The 7 Mile Beach at Grand Cayman is indeed the picturesque scene you paint in your mind when you imagine a serene Caribbean beach. Its beautiful, soft sand beach stretches for, yes, almost 7 miles, and it is all public land so you can walk its length if you wish. The water is clear turquoise, and because this beach forms a crescent shape, there are no waves – aka perfect for young humans!
Grand Cayman is a port where passengers must tender to shore. This means that the ship stays in the sea while smaller motorboats transport passengers from the ship to land. Once on land, our tour group drove us to the beach via a shuttle bus. This meant that we did not need to bring a car seat.
Our particular excursion included drink tickets and beach chairs, but this may vary from cruise line to cruise line. Typically, passengers will be given beach towels prior to a port visit, to be returned to the cabin steward that evening. So save your valuable luggage space and leave the beach towels at home!
Oranjestad, Aruba, Day 1: Butterfly Farm, Natural Bridge, and Eagle Beach
This excursion was a three-in-one. We enjoyed each component, but we were feeling pretty tired at the end of the day! Similar to the previous excursion, a shuttle bus picked us up from port and drove us to each stop in this tour. Our guide was with De Palm Tour Group, and we had an excellent experience.
Our first stop was to the Butterfly Farm. We carried Baby C in a baby carrier for this activity and it worked out great. She loved the butterflies (and we did too)! There was such a variety and they would flutter all around as you walked through the man-made exhibit.
The second stop was to the Natual Bridge. Not long ago, this natural rock formation that formed a bridge over the pounding ocean waves had collapsed. However, there is a smaller, sister bridge that we were able to see. This area is very beautiful. The power of the waves as they crash against the rocks was stunning.
Our last stop of the day was to Eagle Beach. While a very lovely beach, it was WINDY! Sand flew in our eyes and coated our skin. We ended up wading in the water before getting right back out again and calling it a day. Thankfully we had a water bottle with us so we could rinse the sand off poor C’s face. This isn’t a beach I would recommend, especially because we had a much better experience the following day at a different beach!
Oranjestad, Aruba, Day 2: Aloe Factory and Baby Beach
We began the day with a tour of the island’s Aloe Factory. It was interesting to see the aloe plants that they farm and the process they use to transform these plants into luxurious products. We were able to handle aloe plants that had been peeled, and it left your hands feeling soft and smooth. At the end of the tour, we were able to explore the store where their products are sold
Our next stop was my favorite of the day – Baby Beach! This beach was much calmer and more enjoyable than the previous day, and I would definitely recommend it! The water was clear and beautiful, the sand was soft and clean, and you could walk pretty far out and the water remained shallow. It could be that we were too far away to notice, but I don’t recall seeing much in the way of food/beverages, which you may want to keep in mind if you travel with snackers!
Willemstad, Curacao: Hato Cave Tour and Mambo Beach
I was unsure what a cave tour would look like with an infant strapped to me, but I am so glad we signed up for this activity! It was nice to get out and move after enjoying relaxing beach time the previous days. There were definitely steps to get in and out of the caves, and the terrain inside the caves was uneven, but this was a very mild cave exploration and we had no issues. We saw some beautiful formations and some bats!
Mambo Beach was one of my favorite beaches of the entire trip. Our excursion tickets included beach loungers and drink tickets, so we were able to kick back with our rum punches before cooling off in the beautiful, calm water.
Tips:
- Most cruise lines require children to be 6 months old to board (not turning 6 months during the cruise, but 6 months by the first day!) so be sure to check your cruise line’s age requirements
- Stay in your port city the night before your ship departs. TRUST ME ON THIS! We had an unfortunate experience in the past because we failed to do this
- While we LOVE the Celebrity cruise line, I wouldn’t recommend it for kids. There is a kids club on board, but the hours were limited and we couldn’t always count on it being open. Also, children who are not potty trained are not allowed in the pools/hot tubs
- If you have a child who will be using a pack n play/crib, my advice is to leave yours at home and reserve one at both your departure city hotel room, as well as in your cruise cabin. Give yourself plenty of time to reserve, just in case your hotel by some chance doesn’t offer them. I would, however, bring your own set of baby sheets because they typically just tuck a flat sheet around the mattress and it can be loose. It is so nice to not lug around a pack n play through the airport!
- Bring a collapsible umbrella stroller. We gate-checked ours at the airport and it was great to have when exploring around the ship (and taking C with me on our morning coffee run!). The collapsible feature is awesome, especially because it saved space in the small cruise cabin. We use the Inglesina Quid Stroller (see it here: https://a.co/d/0z2cP1X) for almost all our travels.
- If you can swing it, spring for a veranda room- that is, one with a balcony. I find being able to look out at the horizon helps with sea sickness and it’s nice to have natural light to regulate sleep schedules. Our cruise cabins have always had great room darkening shades, so don’t worry about the light sneaking in!
- Just a heads up that cruise cabin showers are very narrow. We ended up bringing an inflatable baby bathtub with us and it worked out great. At the end of the day, C was very sandy and it was a relief to have a place for her to soak. When we weren’t using it to bathe her, we set her in it to play with toys while getting ready, etc. and that worked out well!
- If planning to dine in the main dining room, be prepared for the meal to last a while. It may be helpful to have toys, snacks, and any other favorite items to keep kids busy while waiting!
- Celebrity cruise line has their own app you can download prior to boarding. Once onboard, shows and activities are updated so you can always know what’s going on around the ship! It also has its own messaging app, which is a great way to communicate with your group while on board (service is non-existent out at sea).
Cruising with a baby is rewarding and doable, it just takes some preparation! If you’d like a copy of the packing list we used for this trip, click below!