Club Med Cherating Beach

Hi! I am so excited, we are off to Cherating Beach in 2 weeks time. This will be our first holiday with our little girl, who will be 14 months old. SO of course, I am slightly anxious about how things will go.

Does anyone have any tips on making our stay more enjoyable with the little one? As the Kid's Clubs don't take children under 2, I'm guessing we will have her with us the whole time.

Is there the option of paying for a private babysitter?

I read that dinner starts at 7.15pm. With the time zone difference from Australia, it will mean dinner will be around 9.30pm Aussie time. As she is used to going to bed at 7.30, I can see we're in for some fun... Is it possible to take meals back to our room if she does go to bed too early?

Which is my other worry... we could only afford a standrd room, which is quite small, especially once a cot is in there too! If we had 2 kids, you get an adjoining room for free. As she still has 2 sleeps during the day, I can see my hubby and I sitting motionless on the bed, for fear of waking her up...

Do you think management would ever be lenient enough, if we begged nicely to give us an adjoining room?

We are so, so excited and can't wait to go- I guess I just have these couple of niggling concerns going around my head.

Thanks in advance for any assistance, Bek

Welcome to CMP!

I advise you to read the information on CM's web page. There is the Club Med Baby Welcome Club up to 23 months.
There is also what they call the 'Pyjama Club' (evening baby sitting) at extra cost, just to give you one example of what there is possible.

I suppose taking out food of the restaurant isn't recommended. Not very hygienic and too much of a temptation for all the critters...
In general, the Baby Club has different hours for meals. So, that this shouldn't be an issue.

Also, I would not count on an adjoining room unless you pay for it.

http://www.clubmed.co.uk/cm/resorts-asia-malaysia-cherating-beach-children-&-teens_p-341-l-EN-v-CHEC-r-6-d-000007-ac-vh.html

Hi Amberlee,
I was in Cherating two years ago. I was the only American there, although one of the GO's told me they get Americans there all the time. They had an American there 3 months before! :). However, I was really made to feel at home. I posted a detailed review that you might find useful in one of the forums here. I posted some photos as well.

Don't worry about the time difference. It lasts about 2 days, then your body is on Malaysian time. Remember, I came from Chicago, and that's about 11 time zones away.

BTW, English is the most widely spoken language there, as well as French, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean.

Obviously the GO team is different. However, when I was there, the GO's in the children's facilities were fantastic.

They do have a very shallow pool that the children use. It is next to the big pool.

Kiki is probably right, if you don't pay for the adjoining room you won't get it, but when you get there it never hurts to ask. And, of course, keep smiling.

The club itself is very beautiful, and the food is wonderful, but it is going to be humid. They have two seasons there, humid and real humid, however you are going during the dry season.

There is a real mix of nationalities, depending on the week. Also, there are a lot of expats there as well.

I think that you are going to have a lovely time there. Just dont' let the little bumps in the road bother you. I might add that the Malaysians are some of the most courteous people whom I have ever met in the world.

John

Hi Bek,
Big caveat: have not been to Cherating, only Punta Cana, but did go on a Club Med beach vacation with very little one at 15 mos in 2008 and 2 1/4 in 2009. At 15 mos, we did not enroll child in Baby Club Med at Punta Cana, even though they offer this program, as we did not book early enough to get in, so we **also** spent most of our week with our small child.

So first, if you don't get more definitive answers on this forum, I would call Cherating to ask if babysitting is available (don't see it featured on the Club Med site, but they might have it and just not advertise). This is a big trip for your family, and it would be good to verify yes/no for sure so you can plan your time. We DID get a babysitter at Punta Cana in 2008 and it was a godsend (we had the same very nice lady all week, every afternoon for naptime until dinner - did not speak English but really not an issue at that age and asked GOs to translate for us to be sure she understood the basics). Given the layout of your room, I would also ask what the Baby Welcome actually includes, and ask for things to be sure you have them in room on arrival (such as plastic baby bath tub, etc.). At that time, you can also ask if it is possible to get food or snacks for children when restaurants are not open. Can also ask if boutique sells diapers and wipes (in case of emergency) - Punta Cana has them for $$$ but since Cherating does not cater to kids <2, it would be good to find out.

Baby Welcome: Our Baby Welcome in '08 with 15 mos child included Pack n Play (for bed - they made it up nicely with sheet, blanket), and a baby bottle sterilizer (did not need), and a high chair and baby tub. (When we called to request first floor room, we also asked about the Baby Welcome and specifically requested the baby tub - not sure what is standard there.) Our Baby Welcome did not include a changing table or diaper disposal container. Since the room is cleaned daily, the diapers were removed daily from the open trash container, but I would have brought a big supply of resealable bags or other diaper disposal bags had I known.

Meals: Meals in Punta Cana (which specifically targets families with infants with the Baby Club Med child care program) were at 'adult' times - dinner was fairly late by young child standards. Both years, parents with young children queued at the restaurants with strollers to get in first!!! Meal times seem to be a perennial complaint for families with very young kids who go to Punta Cana. (In 2008, the restaurants weren't open to allow babies/kids to eat at times other than parents. In 2009, they did have an all-day sit-and-order beach-side cafe, but not clear from website if Cherating offers an open-all-day cafe or other option.) The Baby Corner was really great with our 15 mo-old. In Punta Cana, the Baby Corner was a separate area in both restaurants with tables for parents and lots of high chairs, a microwave, blender, fridge full of various baby foods, and plastic plates and bowls. We usually ate breakfast and lunch at the Baby Corner but would try for dinner with everyone else if possible (more social for everyone); basically, you aren't quarantined to Baby Corner, but it's nice for parents to have this child-friendly area to sit, especially as some kids might be cranky or in the throwing-food stage. I did bring a set of small utensils from home for 15 mo old (they did not have baby/toddler-size utensils).

Tried Pyjama Club (which starts after dinner) with our 15-mo in '09, which in retrospect was a little venturesome on our part, and although she went down fine (very tired), she woke up later on and cried b/c we weren't there and she didn't know where she was. Not end of the world, but.... We did it one evening with her at 2 1/4 yr this year, and it worked well, but she is also in daycare and knows the routine of being left. To be honest we were also very zonked ourselves by the end of the day and did not feel compelled to stay out late every night (sounds lame, I know!).

Hopefully the above is not discouraging - we had a WONDERFUL time in '08, so we went again in '09!! It's challenging to travel with little kids at times, but it I found it really liberating to get back to some semblance of 'life'!

Susannah (whrez)

General ideas of stuff to bring for your 14-mo child (beyond sunscreen, bug spray, etc.):
- Large quantity of dry snack in resealable plastic bag(s). For ex, I brought LOTS of Cheerios (some for plane, some in check through luggage).
- Disposable bibs
- Kid-sized eating utensils
- Take 'snacks' from the buffet, such as bananas, boxed kids cereals at breakfast and save for later
- Be careful how you store and dispose of food in your room (put everything in resealable bag) so as not to attract bugs
- We brought pre-measured portions of powdered milk (not baby formula, but dry milk) to mix up quickly with bottled water in room/in a pinch. If we were 'thinking', each evening we brought an empty sippy cup/bottle to dinner to refill at end of meal and immediately put in room refrigerator for early rising time next morning (always well before restaurants opened for breakfast!). We gave child powdered milk to drink prior to trip so it would not be a new thing.
- Don't hestitate to approach bar for milk or juice with a child's cup/bottle when restaurants are not open
- Bring FAR more diapers and wipes than you think you'll use (think worst case scenario, tummy problems, etc.) You might be able to buy at resort but likely very pricey, and selection limited.
- Buy small toy shovel and beach bucket and bring with you in check-through (stuff bucket with clothes). They sold beach toys at Punta Cana but very pricey. Same for inflatable beach ball.
- Bring a thermometer and any non-prescription medicines you might commonly administer in event of illness. The Cherating site says a nurse is on site, but helpful if you have your own supply of common non-prescription meds you might need.
- Special soap, shampoo, creams if you think you need them - the toiletries provided in the room may not agree with your child's skin, etc.
- If you cautious about germs, you may want to bring disinfectant wipes for high chairs, and also something such as Purell or handwipes for you and your child's hands

Finally, I did post a packing list from our trip http://puntacanamom.blogspot.com/2009/07/complete-packing-list.html - might give you some ideas for beach vacation with very small child.

Thank you, thank you everyone for your quick replies! I really appreciate you tips and advice. I'm sure we'll have a few hiccups, but hey, it will be all part of the adventure!

Bora Bora Sept 2006
Cherating Sept 2009