carygirl

My 11 year old was Cat in the Hat for Halloween, I teach preschool and 3-5 year olds all love Cat in the Hat, at least it has an educational based theme and not obnoxious cartoons from t.v. Harmless fun.

Green eggs and ham is an annual breakfast event at my kids' elementary school during Dr. Seuss birthday and a lot of families enjoy this activity. It isn't gross - just food coloring in the scrambled eggs. I would rather see Cat and the Hat than Sponge Bob.

Second This!

My 20 month son loves to be read to, run around with his friends and play, and hates TV. I am very much okay with that. Since he isn't into TV he doesn't know the Disney or Nick characters, although I image he might find them entertaining on the other lines. He loves Dr. Seuss and reading the books to him really bring back my own memories as a child.

Details of the program are somewhat slim at this point, but if all they did was something as simple as a lending book program and a character breakfast we'd really enjoy that as a family.

Sorry but I don't believe Florida requires a car seat if you're in a taxi..we were just told this from a taxi driver..said they had to be either belted in or sitting on your lap belted in.

If you do a quick web search you'll see many articles stating a car seat is required in Florida by law for children under 3. You may find a taxi driver that will take you without one, but I'd be wary of that. The motor coaches / buses however don't require them I believe.

Hi everyone! We're thinking about booking a 14 night Caribbean cruise through HAL in December. Husband and I will be going with our son who will be 9 months and my parents (mom is super helpful with baby.) I have a ton of questions I'm really hoping you all can help with. We've cruised a ton but never with a child!

 

1. Are we nuts?!? Lol... Seriously wondering if 14 days is just crazy with a 9 month old.

 

2. Overall, are cruise ships (HAL in particular) accommodating with babies? Will my son be allowed in main dining room, etc?

 

3. Should we bring pack and play for sleeping in room?

 

4. Should we bring car seat for cabs for any excursions we would want to do? We live in LA and trip is RT out of Ft. Lauderdale so we may need car seat for airport travel...

 

5. Is it true that baby gear flies for free??

 

6. Any advice on cleaning bottles and baby food supplies on board?

 

7. Any brilliant words of wisdom? I'm very excited and also a bit scared. Any tips are sooooo appreciated!!!! Thank you!!!!!

We did a 5 day cruise on carnival with our 10 month old. While we had a lot of concerns (and our extended family had even more). The holiday was actually so easy and far exceeded our expectations.

1. Not nuts, but you may want to consider something shorter or plan for emergencies. If things don't work out and you need to fly home from a Caribbean island they'll require a passport for the baby for travel.

2. We took a Carnival Cruise and everyone loved our son, gave him lots of attention. He felt like a little star onboard and had an amazing time. we arranged with the head waiter for him to get food very fast in the main dining room. Cheerios were waiting for him every night. As an aside we are one of those families that said we'd never book a Carnival Cruise, as we did many upscale lines prior. Well we booked a Carnival Cruise and have nothing but fantastic things to say about the experience.

3. Call HAL, they should have a pack and play or crib. If it is a pack and play and you have one at home give him some practice sleeping in it overnight at home so it's something he's used it. Our son did such good sleeping with the waves at sea.

4. Florida requires a car seat for travel, unless you book a motocoach. That said carseats are a real pain to lug around. The only excursions we did were to take the baby on a stroller tours of islands. He was more than happy with that and so were we. If you want to do an excursion it may be easier to leave him with grandma/grandpa. Also many excursions can be canceled 24 hours in advance so just check the rules and change plans if you want to.

5. Depends on the airline exact rules. Carseats are free, strollers under certain weights also free to gate check.

6. We brought soap and brush and used it to clean. You can also ask them to clean it for you in the MDR, they might do it!

7. See if you can get a connecting room with your parents. Then you have a place to hang out during naps. You could also consider a balcony, but while the ships moving it can be very windy out there.

Parents have different philosophies on kids and travel. Ours was happy baby, happy family. We kept ourselves very flexible based on his schedule/mood. Sure there were excursions/things we would have liked to also do but having a good spirited baby was our top priority.

A bit of digression, but I don't believe all FAA approved car seats fit in the plane seats. Seat width varies by airline so you may be out of luck. We've heard this is the recommended solution for air travel http://kidsflysafe.com/. It weighs about a pound and is very portable.

It is not certified for use in buses, but if the bus has a lap belt and won't let you take a car seat I'd use over nothing at all.

When we lived in Europe everyone went to the Greek Islands for a cheap holiday, the same way friends here go to the Caribbean for a cheap holiday. Hence my comparison. However smaller ships will show you a different side of either destination and probably make for a better trip.

If you are interested in the archaeological digs that is something very unique to the Greek Islands. We enjoyed viewing the digs, but I do remember them being very hot with little shade so I'd keep this in mind when picking dates.

We never got to sail on the Paul Gauguin but it has a great reputation. Sailing around Tahiti on honeymoon sounds pretty good to me!

This is a hard question to answer because it really depends on what you are looking for. Most luxury lines are more formal than mainstream lines. I like the suggestion of a Windstar Cruise. I can see that being very informal and romantic.

My husband and I did a Silverseas cruise around Seychelles. We were probably less than half the age of everyone else on the ship, but we had the most amazing time. For our Safety Drill all the passengers fit in a small room. Compare that with carnival and the multiple stations / loud announcements etc.. no comparison.

We took two cruises on Regent and personally do not feel they compare to the small ship we had on Silverseas. The food was fantastic, however they are still *big* ships and for us had a big ship atmosphere. To us luxury means smaller with customized service.

Also there were many people upset with their bill at the end of one of our Regent cruises. If you get a massage package, make sure they don't upsell you without knowing it. When some guests arrived they were asked if they wanted a special massage, but it wasn't made clear there was an extra cost for this. Then they saw it the last day of the cruise on their bill. Regent said the massage service was offered by a separate company so they couldn't do anything to help. This happened a few years ago so things have hopefully changed, but still not something you'd expect on a luxury line.

My 2 cents for what it's worth... You can visit the Greek islands on many major lines for a reasonable price. We found the Greek Islands interesting, but pretty much the Caribbean equivalent of Europe. If you're going to shell out the big bucks for a luxury line consider booking one of their more unique itineraries.

I also would second St. Barts as special port. Only small ships and very very small planes can travel there. We loved that island.

Two questions:

1. I see your brought a "video baby monitor". How exactly did you use this on the ship?

2. Did your little one eat the food onboard and how did they like it? RC said they would puree food for our baby, although I haven't heard from anyone trying this service.