HOUSTON -- I found it quite easy to talk myself into taking a baby on board a Caribbean cruise. After a brutal ride on the infertility roller coaster, eight months of pregnancy and 10 weeks of newborn boot camp, I really needed a vacation.

Careful planning soon won over the paralyzing thought of seven days and seven nights with a seasick baby.

But Royal Caribbean’s catchy drum-beating “get out there” commercials soon had me thinking that the little guy sloshed around in my belly for months, so how is a big boat going to shake up things?

Weeks later, me, my husband, my 5-month-old son, Jonathan Dean, toted three suitcases, a Pack 'n Play, a portable electric cooler, a stroller/car seat traveler and 96 diapers on board R.C.’s Rhapsody of the Seas.

No Free Ride

The first surprise is that babies don’t cruise for free unlike the airlines where lap-riders, 2 years old and under, do not need a ticket. I naively said, "Well little J.D. isn’t going to eat meals or take up too much space." My husband Jason said, "Yes and he won’t be in the casinos, bars or the arcades racking up charges on those convenient sea passes." The baby’s fare was about one-third of one adult fare.

The second surprise is that many cabins have refrigerators so it was not necessary to haul the travel cooler with the AC/DC converter. Opened baby food spoils if it’s not kept cool.

Also, our stateroom attendant informed us that most ships have portable cribs available for families. I could not confirm a crib or refrigerator in our cabin prior to our trip, so I had two unnecessary pieces of luggage.

Balcony Boys

A cabin with a balcony is a must not only because of the additional time spent in the room but the sound of the waves was rather hypnotic for the baby and the husband. Both boys crashed out on the balcony for countless naps. We took a portable DVD player and about six of J.D.’s movies as well. Jason hooked it up to the TV for at least two hours of entertainment each day and honestly we enjoy watching our movies in our room. Yes, we watched Poseidon on the cruise ship!

Dinner For Two-And-A-Half

We thought we would be ordering room service every night, but unbelievably, all three of us made it to the formal dining room every single night. Our strategy was to catch an early event or reception then race up to the room around 8 p.m. We would bathe J.D., put him in his pajamas and take him to the dining room in his car seat. Our superb dining staff warmed J.D.’s bottle and by the time the entrée arrived, he was fast asleep in his seat. Now this only works for an infant 4 months to about 9 months old. I can’t see this strategy working once the baby is mobile. Lucky for us our head waiter, who is expecting a son, enjoyed carrying J.D. around the dining room on the two nights that he struggled to sleep.

Baby-sitting

For the most part, other families with babies less than 1 year old had relatives traveling with them so someone stayed with the children while the parents went to the dining rooms. The parents of an 11-month old boy named Noah had great things to say about R.C.’s baby-sitting service available in the cabin. The charge is $8 per hour for a minimum of two hours. These are the ship’s staffers who sign up to baby-sit during their off hours. Many of the ladies were from the laundry service. Sign up early because these folks book up fairly fast, especially on formal nights. You can also team up with another family for a group sit.

What, No Microwave?

Without a microwave, my idea to bring an electric coffee mug-warming wand for J.D.’s formula failed. He will drink cold formula but he falls asleep with warm formula. (I brought a gallon of purified water on board). We would add an ounce or two of the hot water from the coffee/tea service that’s available around the clock on the pool deck.

Cruise Camp

“Ninety-nine percent of the kids who try Adventure Ocean the first day will return every day,” said John Buckingham, the ship’s youth program director. That’s pretty impressive but I heard nothing but great things about the ship’s youth programs. Everything you can think of at a top-notched day care is available at sea for children 3 to 17 years old. Buckingham said the No. 1 request is for more activities for little ones 3 and under.

Aqua Babies

Currently, Royal Caribbean has teamed up with Fisher-Price for 45-minute programs called Aqua Babies. There is a session for 6- to 18-month-olds and one for 18- to 36-month-olds. An Adventure Ocean staffer supervises the well-organized playtime with Fisher-Price toys, of course. We had a lot of fun, especially talking to other moms and dads about their experiences. One mom said her little girl had her days and nights mixed up. She was exhausted but she had family to come to her rescue. Despite the title, there’s no water involved with Aqua Babies. By the way, J.D. went for an illegal swim in the main pool. We were told no diapers in the pool, including those mind-boggling water diapers that don’t swell up and drag down their little keisters.

Cozy Cabin

The cozy cabin award goes to the Messners from Phoenix, Arizona. These folks stuffed two adults, a 7-year-old, a 4-year-old, and an infant all in one tiny inside cabin, basically a family of five in a closet. Kristi, who was nursing her 4-month old son, said the problem wasn’t with her hungry baby, but with her older children. It seems they overdosed on the omnipresent sugary delectables on board, to the point where they were vomiting. Mrs. Messner didn’t leave the ship. Her husband took the older kids on port excursions.

Hit The Deck

We went on the cruise with zero expectations so that we wouldn’t be cruelly disappointed. But we actually made it off the boat in Key West. J.D. was an angel in his heavy-duty stroller. By sunset, my advice is to get the kids back on the boat because Key West turns into a tropical New Orleans Bourbon Street. At Grand Cayman, J.D. and I played on the ship while Jason went swimming with the stingrays. Having experienced this twice before, I really wanted him to go on this excursion. In Cozumel, we dared to take the baby on a 45-minute ferry and a bus ride to an adventure park called Xcaret. We loved it except for the heat. I was constantly putting a damp burp towel on J.D.’s chest to keep him cool. I intensely watched for any signs of heat exhaustion, which can come quickly for infants. Jason and I took turns going into the various water venues including the fascinating underground rivers. Xcaret is a gorgeous, rugged tropical paradise but it is also stroller/wheelchair friendly, if you don’t mind hard-packed sand pathways. Excursions require very careful planning. We were a little put off by an eight-block walk up hill on the way to the bus in Cozumel. Luckily we had the cumbersome stroller.

Life Savers, Guilt and Good Guys

Paranoid first-time mom that I am, I brought my own infant life vest. Royal Caribbean provides vests in all sizes by the way, with the glo-strips and lights. But I wanted J.D. to have his own on ferry rides and water activities off the ship.

In summary, we were quite pleased with the cruise staff that by-and-large went out of their way to make our trip enjoyable. We over-tipped our stateroom attendant -- a little embarrassed about the baby formula in the carpet, the diaper bombs in the trash, and bottles and bibs laid out to dry each day. Alwyn said, “Don’t worry, families are my specialty.” I smiled, thanked him and truly felt like he knew I was mom in need of a guilt-free change of scenery.

Everyone including J.D. made this a memorable trip and now we can daydream about taking a toddler Trans-Atlantic. Europe here we come.

Kym Alvarado-Booth is a reporter at KPRC Local 2.