We just came back from a Caribbean cruise on a Princess ship with our ten month old daughter. We had such a wonderful time that we are now planning our next cruise vacation.

Planning for your trip is essential. There are so many things to consder and travel with a baby means that you need to pack more than you would without a baby. Here are the things that we thing you absolutely have to have when going on a cruise with a young baby.

1. The most valuable thing that we took with us was our stroller. Our daughter loves being in the stroller and it was also great that our stroller folds – that way it was easy to take on an airplane, and it didn’t take up much room in our cabin on the cruise ship. We used the stroller all the time. Every morning we walked our daughter on the promenade deck; we used the stroller every day to go to the ship’s pools and dining rooms; we even used in the evening so that we can all enjoy the exciting evenings on board. Every evening after dinner we bathed our daughter, then put her in pyjamas, and then placed her back into her stroller. We then walked the ship with her, went to some clubs on the ship with her and before long she would fall fast asleep.

2. Diapers. Make sure that you pack enough disposable diapers. The way that I figured out how many to take was to the week before our trip I kept track of how many diapers our girl went through each day to get an idea of how many diapers are needed per day. Based on that calculate how many are required during the vacation. We didn’t purchase the diapers at home. We had time between our flight arrival in Ft Lauderdale and the time to board the ship so we took a cab to a Target store and purchased them and some other supplies before getting another taxi to the ship. That way we didn’t have to carry them onto our airplane.

3. Take some swim diapers. All cruise ships have a baby/toddler pool. Babies and toddlers are allowed in the pool if they are toilet-trained or if they wear swim diapers. Our daughter went into the kiddies pool every day – and she always wore swim diapers.

4. If your baby is on formula make sure that you bring enough formula with you for the length of the cruise. We brought powdered formula since it is more compact than pre-mixed formula. Rather than bring it from home, we purchased the required formula in Florida before embarking our ship. Keep in mind that any formula entering the ship must be sealed & in the original container.

5. Kettle – taking a kettle (with an auto shutoff) on the trip means that you can boil water and know that you have safe water to mix with the powdered formula.

6. Formula dispenser – having a powder formula dispenser means that you can fill the bottles with clean water and when baby is ready to eat, you can just pour the pre-measured formula into the water and shake the bottle.

7. Scented bags for dirty diapers. Because you will not have a diaper dispenser for dirty diapers with you – taking a supply of these bags will help reduce any bad odours in your room. They can be purchased at a dollar store or Babies r Us.

8. Soap for baby’s bath. Most cruise cabins don’t have a bathtub – ours did not. What we did was plug the drain on the shower and put enough water in the shower in order to give our baby her bath.

9. If you plan on spending much time in the sun with your child during the cruise you may want to purchase before your trip and bring with you a lightweight sun cabana before your trip. We used ours on two beaches and on the pool deck near the kiddies pool. It kept us and our baby comfortable and protected from the sun. To rent a cabana on the private island that our ship stopped would have cost us about $80. The cabana that we brought with us cost less than $50 and we use it all the time.

10. Zip lock bags – these are great for everything – snack holders, put really dirty/soiled clothes away until you get home. Use for things that leak – (ex. medicine). Use the bags on the ship to pack bibs, spoons to go for dinner so when they are dirty you can throw in the bag & clean when you get back to your room.

There are more items to consider – but these are the top ten items that you can’t leave home without.