Norwegian crusie with baby

We are taking a cruise on the Norwegian Gem this month with our baby. She is 8 months old. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions...baby food tips, sleeping, gear, etc.
We won the trip and that is why we are going. We know it is not the ideal trip for an infant but it's free and we all need to get away!
The cruise leaves from New York and travels to the bahamas. It is a total of 8 days.
I am still breastfeeding...she doesn't get any formula...so I don't need to worry about formula or bottles. However, I am worried about prepareing babyfood. There is a fridge i room but not a microwave.

Re: Norwegian crusie with baby

I don't think that the Norwegian Gem has a splash pool so you might want to do some research on that. If not then you will want to bring a small blow up pool if you have a balcony so your child can splash around in some water. I read a lot of parents do that. One the cruiseships the CDC doesn't let children in diapers into the regular pools (this includes swimmies) - but some of the ships have splash pools that your DC would be able to go in but I don't think the Gem has one.

The best place to ask these questions in on Cruisecritic.com they have a board section and it is divided up by cruiseline, ports etc so you can ask 1 million questions there and do some research. You will also be able to get exact answers to questions on your specific ship. The people over there seem to really know their stuff and are very helpful.

I "think" if you call ahead that most cruiselines will have babyfood ready on hand if they are giving warning if not I have read that most will puree any foods requested for the baby (veggies, fruits etc). Otherwise if you bring your own you are kind of stuck either asking them to heat it if you bring it to the restaurants or just heating it in a bowl with hot water in your room.

I would bring my own pack n play if you can - they only have limited ones on board and your child might be more comfortable in her own. Also don't bring too big of a stroller b.c it will be easier to get around the ship and ports with a smaller stroller. The ships can get cold at night so make sure to bring something warmer for her to wear inside and at night.

Oh bring clorox wipes and lot of antibactial hand gel (if you are going during flu season) they get norwalk and sometimes clean from room to room with the same cloth so you will want to wipe sometimes down on your own so your DD doesn't catch anything. Also I would bring a high chair cover in case the high chairs aren't so great.

Check out cruisecritic.com they have some great advice for traveling with young kids there and you might get some 1st hand advice from a recent parent who went with a young child. Have a great trip!