Cruising with small children....why?

[Brenna's Mom1]

I love kids, have had a few, and am still surrounded with scads of neices, nephews, grandkids but have NEVER cruised with any youngster under the age of 12. Vacations with the younger ones (6 to 12) have always been vacations of the kids type...Disneyland, beach trips, national parks. Anyone under 6 has been left home.

 

I frequently see families with babies (and I mean teeny weeny babies), a couple still in diapers (that can't be fun on vacation) and a preschooler or two. Mom and Dad (and the Grandparents if they are roped into coming along) spend all their time feeding, watching, running after, disciplining, cleaning up after, etc. their brood and don't seem to have any Mommy Daddy time, or adult conversation.

 

Most children don't remember what they did in life before the age of 6 and don't care about a lot until they are 12 as far as "doing" something different on vacation. So why do parents do it? Just wondering....and I'm not complaining as long as they don't cry in my ear, make stinkies during dinner, or don't knock me down as they are running as fast as they can to get away from Daddy. They are someone else's headache, not mine.

[joeyancho]

I don't get it either. Helicopter parents maybe. Besides it is expensive.

[bruisin4cruisin]

I brought my kids when they were 4 and 5 because we did a family cruise with 2 sets of grandparents, 3 nephews, a family friend with his daughter and wife. All told, 18 of us. We are now looking at doing another one next year with my step-brother, SIL, their 3 kids and our 2 kids. Ages will be 5-15 and they act well.

To me, a vacation is a cruise, going to Arkansas to "mine" for diamonds, or heading to the beach for a couple of days. I prefer taking the kids to places they will learn about different people, different cultures and see things that they do not get to see everyday.

We make it a learning experience, and believe me....DS remembers EVERYTHING.

[SteelerCruiser]

I am really sorry to see someone pi$$ed in your corn flakes! Really what does it matter to you and what do you really care about what others do on their family vacation. All you are doing with this thread is getting something stirred up for people to talk about.

[cruise_pirate]

I am really sorry to see someone pi$$ed in your corn flakes! Really what does it matter to you and what do you really care about what others do on their family vacation. All you are doing with this thread is getting something stirred up for people to talk about.

 

LOLOL :) I could care less if parents want to take their kids, they do not tell me how to spend my vacation dollars and I do not tell them how to spend theirs.

[aidansaunt2004]

I don't have children and I'm annoyed by badly behaved children, but there's an easy answer. People bring their children along because it's a FAMILY cruise for them. Everyone goes on vacations for different reasons and they go on different types of vacations. I don't think a cruise is anymore inappropriate than a land vacation. I don't plan to stop cruising when I have kids and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable going on vacation without my children. It's all about balance, doing what's right for your family and knowing when it's time to take a fussy or tired child elsewhere.

 

Some people love spending time with their children and would give up "adult time" any day of the week to spend time with their kids. I know I feel that way with about my nephew.

[klfrodo]

Because the can, and they want to. Not coming out of your pocket or my pocket, so who cares?

[Tapi]

I frequently see families with babies (and I mean teeny weeny babies)' date=' a couple still in diapers (that can't be fun on vacation) and a preschooler or two. Mom and Dad (and the Grandparents if they are roped into coming along) spend all their time feeding, watching, running after, disciplining, cleaning up after, etc. their brood and don't seem to have any Mommy Daddy time, or adult conversation. [/quote']

 

Well, I've taken 24 cruises in my life. The last 3 have been with an infant. You know what? They have been by far the BEST 3 cruises of my life.

 

It all depends on where you are in life, and what you consider a vacation to be. Yes, there was a time when a vacation meant going away and having adult fun. These days, I'm in a stage in my life where a vacation means spending time with my family and re-discovering things through my kids eyes.

 

My wife and I used to roll our eyes at our friends with kids who'd make the "pilgrimage" to Disney....that is until we had our OWN kids. We took our son to Disney for the first time last December and watching his eyes lit up in amazement as he walked through those gates for the first time was simply priceless. It brought tears to my eyes. It made me think of when I was that innocent.

 

And no, going on vacation doesn't mean that you'll spend the entire cruise feeding, changing diapers, etc, etc. The beauty of taking a cruise is that you can take a break from your kids because they have kids camp (cruise lines like Disney and Royal Caribbean will accept kids as young as 6 months of age). We'd spend the day with our son, go ashore, have fun, check out the different activities, and then at night we'd drop him off at the kid's nursery while mom and dad went out for dinner, watched a show, or just spent some time relaxing.

 

Most children don't remember what they did in life before the age of 6 and don't care about a lot until they are 12 as far as "doing" something different on vacation.

 

You're right' date=' small kids won't remember, but [u']the parents [/u]will. The memories that WE have with our infant son are priceless, and the 3 cruises that he's taken so far have been amazing! :D

 

We now have a second child, and we are gearing up to sail to Alaska with our now 3 year old son, and our 1 year old daughter. We can't wait! :)

Edited October 19, 2012 by Tapi

[partman57]

I am with you. My daughter planned a cruise over a year and a half ago....I booked along with my wife. My wife was not willing to go on a cruise because she gets ill from very little motion. Well to make a long story short my dd found out that she was expecting and was told after trying four years this might never happen. We changed cruise dates and I can tell my GD was far more of a joy than leaving her at home and everyone thinking of themselves.

The crew loved her and it brought some to tears talking about their little ones they will not see for a year. 10 of us had a great time.. Our best cruise yet.

 

PS. My wife passed away 18 days later. GD will never remember all the attention she got nor will she remember her GM but we will have the pictures and we will go again. (WITH KIDS)

[Elaine515]

OMG... I have been cruising since my oldest daughter was 6 months old and I don't regret not one day of it.

 

A vacation to me means FAMILY. I don't get to spend much time with them during the week as both my husband & I work full time so I had no problem changing their diapers, feeding them, cleaning them, playing with them, loving them and just overall enjoying every single minute of being with my children...

 

I wouldn't change one thing... My girls are now 22 and 18 and both love cruising and now go with us whenever their college/work schedules allow....

 

Cruising with/as a family is probably the best decision I have ever made after deciding to have them!!!! Wouldn't change one thing....

 

 

Oh, one more thing... MY CHILDREN ARE NOT A HEADACHE

[rockinmlb]

Well, I've taken 24 cruises in my life. The last 3 have been with an infant. You know what? They have been by far the BEST 3 cruises of my life.

 

It all depends on where you are in life, and what you consider a vacation to be. Yes, there was a time when a vacation meant going away and having adult fun. These days, I'm in a stage in my life where a vacation means spending time with my family and re-discovering things through my kids eyes.

 

My wife and I used to roll our eyes at our friends with kids who'd make the "pilgrimage" to Disney....that is until we had our OWN kids. We took our son to Disney for the first time last December and watching his eyes lit up in amazement as he walked through those gates for the first time was simply priceless. It brought tears to my eyes. It made me think of when I was that innocent.

 

And no, going on vacation doesn't mean that you'll spend the entire cruise feeding, changing diapers, etc, etc. The beauty of taking a cruise is that you can take a break from your kids because they have kids camp (cruise lines like Disney and Royal Caribbean will accept kids as young as 6 months of age). We'd spend the day with our son, go ashore, have fun, check out the different activities, and then at night we'd drop him off at the kid's nursery while mom and dad went out for dinner, watched a show, or just spent some time relaxing.

 

 

 

You're right, small kids won't remember, but the parents will. The memories that WE have with our infant son are priceless, and the 3 cruises that he's taken so far have been amazing! :D

 

We now have a second child, and we are gearing up to sail to Alaska with our now 3 year old son, and our 1 year old daughter. We can't wait! :)

 

best answer, by far! I agree with all of your points and I, too, along with my husband feel the same way. Will they remember it? Maybe/maybe not. But the memories we make with them is what i will always cherish.

 

We made a deal with our kids (now 6,8) and actually gave them the choice, that for Christmas they could either be given toys that will eventually be thrown away or take a trip each year for memories & fun. Both of my kids agreed to go on trips. We know what our kids like and we love cruising. If it turns out that they dont like cruising, our next is to fly to a nice beach somewhere. My kids are the type that like everything. They think Galveston is the best thing ever! Cant wait for them to see Cozumel

[vwrestler171]

After me and DW got back from our first cruise, my son asked if he could go on a ship like ours. Me and my wife booked our upcoming cruise and my son asked when he got to go, so we booked the Inspiration next year for the kids. My son wakes up everyday asking if today is the day he gets to walk on the big ship. Those memories will last forever.

[Oompaland]

 

Some people love spending time with their children and would give up "adult time" any day of the week to spend time with their kids.

 

This is my husband and I. We cherish every moment we have with our daughters. EVERY MOMENT! Kids grow up so fast, we do not want to miss a thing. We can enjoy our adult time when they are grown and out of the house. We are blessed with that our kids still want to hang with us!

[beckyk329]

Everyone of you took the words out of my mouth. We go on vacation to be family, experiencing those joys in life together. Mine are 13, 7, 6. It will break my heart when the day comes that we won't have these family vacations.

 

 

 

Omg... I'm just floored with OP comments. My family is what life's about! Love and laughter all around. Heck, we have a 14 hr car ride that I'm excited about! We talk, and sing... sometimes on road trips I'll read outloud. Every minute of time together is so precious. And partman57, I'm so sorry for the loss of your wife, but what a gift for the rest of you to have made that sweet memory first.

[Scott34787]

I just feel bad for the OP (and her kids).

 

Cruising with my family is one of the biggest joys

I have ever known. Her loss.

[Happy ks]

We didn't cruise with our kids until they were 6 and 9, even then I thought they would be too young. Imagine my shock to see that not only were they not the only young kids, there were tons of babies. We never considered a vacation more than 2 hours away from home before then...just didn't want the hassle of travel days with strollers/diapers/naps/etc...

 

Fast forward and now they are 20 and 23, they have been on numerous cruises and no longer have any desire to go with us again. While I treasure the times we did cruise with them as children, we're delighted we don't have to take them along any more :);)

 

I think of cruises as perfect family vacations with young kids. As long as we don't have to watch them and can move away the from misbehaving ones, we have no problem at all with them.

[grand isle joe]

i am really sorry to see someone pi$$ed in your corn flakes! Really what does it matter to you and what do you really care about what others do on their family vacation. All you are doing with this thread is getting something stirred up for people to talk about.

 

love it!!!!!!

[Warm Breezes]

I love kids' date=' have had a few, and am still surrounded with scads of neices, nephews, grandkids but have NEVER cruised with any youngster under the age of 12. Vacations with the younger ones (6 to 12) have always been vacations of the kids type...Disneyland, beach trips, national parks. Anyone under 6 has been left home.

 

I frequently see families with babies (and I mean teeny weeny babies), a couple still in diapers (that can't be fun on vacation) and a preschooler or two. Mom and Dad (and the Grandparents if they are roped into coming along) spend all their time feeding, watching, running after, disciplining, cleaning up after, etc. their brood and don't seem to have any Mommy Daddy time, or adult conversation.

 

Most children don't remember what they did in life before the age of 6 and don't care about a lot until they are 12 as far as "doing" something different on vacation. So why do parents do it? Just wondering....and I'm not complaining as long as they don't cry in my ear, make stinkies during dinner, or don't knock me down as they are running as fast as they can to get away from Daddy. They are someone else's headache, not mine.[/quote']

 

We have had both family vacations and adult vacations since our children were 6 months old. They are now 15 and 18. We love our family vacations and I have always loved seeing things through my kids eyes. My favorite cruise memory was on our first Disney cruise when DD was 4. During the production show Tinkerbell was shown on the big screen flying over the ship sprinkling Pixie Dust. Pre-cruise we had gone to WDW and DD had just seen Tinkerbell fly down from the castle so she would swear that Tinkerbell was real. She looked up at me with wonder in her eyes in the theater and said "Does this mean we can fly?" Each and every vacation we took with our kids has given me memories I will cherish forever...those memories combined with the pictures and videos are priceless to me and DH....whether our kids remember them or not.

 

We also love our adult vacations and while we take fewer of those than we do family vactions, they are time when DH and I reconnect as adults and life partners. For us the key is to balance both for a healthy marriage and family.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Jeez, really, OP? My first few cruises were BK (before kid) and it didn't bother me to see the little ones onboard, even though I wasn't into kids. In fact, we thought it was cute to see the kids at a table in the Lido, working on some crafts. It occurred to me then that cruises can be a fun time for kids, too. We were approached by one group to take part in Passenger Scavenger Hunt (where they get a chart of various qualities, such as "first cruise," "loves pineapple", etc. and they need to find a passenger to sign off on one that fits them), and we were glad to help them. The kids' program kept the kids busy and having fun, so they weren't running around, bothering the adults.

 

When our little one was 23 months old, we finally took our first vacation (other than day trips to Sea World or Disneyland) and it was a cruise, of course. Hubby was reluctant -- what if she started crying at night and bothering our neighbors, etc. We selected a three-day cruise that was within driving distance and packed our little car to the hilt with the pack n' play, a big bag of diapers/pullups as she was just starting training, etc.

 

She had a blast, exploring the ship (Carnival Holiday). She was just a month too young to participate in Camp Carnival, but on the first night, parents and their kids, no matter the age, were invited to take part in a little party. The waitstaff completely doted on her (and yes, we were prepared to take her out of the dining room if she fussed, but she didn't). We took her to the production show, sitting in the back, prepared to leave if she fussed (she didn't, if fact, she enjoyed it -- but then, we took her to a Blues Clues Live Concert the month before).

 

So what, if she was always with us. Not a problem.

 

Then we drove down to San Diego and spent a few days in a hotel, and to visit the Tall Ships that were across the way. She behaved and we all had fun.

 

Since then, any vacation over a couple of days, has involved a cruise. She has been on six cruises, for a total of 50 days, the last one when she was 13. Within the next couple of years, another two week cruise is planned.

 

She actually does remember a few images from a couple of her early cruises. But even if she didn't, any experience is good. You'll want to expose a little child to positive experiences early on, and travel is a good way to do this. It expands the mind as it increases the synapses. Plus, we have all the photos that she can see. In fact, the wall next to her computer desk has a montage of photos of her from just after birth on through first grade (it was a project that year that really the parent had to put together and each week, another kid's montage was featured on the classroom door), and includes some shots from her trip to Miami and her cruise on the Star Princess at age 5, hanging out with her "shipboard romance" from that cruise).

 

Not everyone has close-by relatives to leave their children with. And even then, not everyone wants to leave their kids behind for a vacation. It's not being a helicopter parent, it's being a family.

 

So unless you're planning to vacation at a nudist colony, or spend a week at a lab in Antarctica, don't grumble just because you see a kid someplace. That child may become President in 50 years or be the scientist that comes up with the cure for some dreaded disease in the future.

[feathersandnananose]

When I was 7 years old, my family went to an obscure place for a vacation - cabin in the mountains. (It was a 15-hour drive from home!).

 

For some blessed reason, it STUCK in my head, and when I was old enough to be able to travel on my own (19?), that was where I demanded we go to camp (with best friend and future husband) (now a 14 hour drive!). Then camped with husband every other year. But the place gets tons of rain in the summer, and staying in a tent all day can work for young adults, but not kids....so we started renting cabins.

 

Understand what I'm saying: first visit in 1959 imprinted on me. It's been a tradition for every other year since around 1969/70. Last visit- summer 2012.

 

Because of my experience, we took a family vacation EVERY year with the kids. And they are now (as adults aged 27 & 32) enthusiastic travelers (as adults, they've been - without me - to Mexico, Hawaii, Japan, England, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary..........)

 

Do not discount the effect your family vacations may have on your kids! It's an incredible gift!

[jesron1269]

Wow I really don't understand the point to this post. So a land vacation with your kids is better than a cruise vacation? You don't think mommy and daddy find some time to connect while allowing the kids to also enjoy? So you think it is better to drop the kids of with whomever and trot around the world on a cruise ship? This will be my third cruise and second with kids and I have enjoyed the prior so I doubt this one will be any different. I enjoy showing my kids parts of the world even I have not seen. My kids are well behaved and never caused a problem for anyone else. We all have fun our own way apparently most responding to OP is with their family and OP is on their own.

[notentirelynormal]

I am really sorry to see someone pi$$ed in your corn flakes! Really what does it matter to you and what do you really care about what others do on their family vacation. All you are doing with this thread is getting something stirred up for people to talk about.

 

I agree. What's it to the OP or anyone else how I decide to spend my vacation. Family time is more important to me then anything. We worked full time when my kids were little and when we went anywhere when we were home from work we took them with us.

 

We have been family cruising for over 30 years. My kids are now grown with kids of their own. My DGD was 6 months old on her first cruise. No she won't remember it but the 3 YO remembers that we flew to Australia for a cruise. He is now 7 and been on 5 cruises.

 

I'm looking forward to taking my 4 grandkids on one without parents. They will be 2, 5, 6 and 8 when we do it.

[jamessemaj]

I agree with the OP. I know enough to not even begin to tread on the illusions of parenthood. It's not about the kids. It's about the parents. What the kids enjoy, or what others enjoy, or what anybody thinks is appropriate or well spent money, the parents live in a dream world and will be offended at any question of what they do as absolute perfect parents and fellow travelers. I think a cruise experience before the age of about 10 or so is a waste of money.

[jamessemaj]

Wow I really don't understand the point to this post. So a land vacation with your kids is better than a cruise vacation? You don't think mommy and daddy find some time to connect while allowing the kids to also enjoy? So you think it is better to drop the kids of with whomever and trot around the world on a cruise ship? This will be my third cruise and second with kids and I have enjoyed the prior so I doubt this one will be any different. I enjoy showing my kids parts of the world even I have not seen. My kids are well behaved and never caused a problem for anyone else. We all have fun our own way apparently most responding to OP is with their family and OP is on their own.

 

Nobody said anything about not enjoying time with the kids, or dropping them off, or whatever. The issue is whether the best time for the kids, especially infants and pre-school kids, and fellow passengers is on a cruise.

[beckyk329]

I agree with the OP. I know enough to not even begin to tread on the illusions of parenthood. It's not about the kids. It's about the parents. What the kids enjoy, or what others enjoy, or what anybody thinks is appropriate or well spent money, the parents live in a dream world and will be offended at any question of what they do as absolute perfect parents and fellow travelers. I think a cruise experience before the age of about 10 or so is a waste of money.

 

 

Do you have kids??? I ask because before I booked this most recent one, we sat the kids down and asked them if they wanted to go back to Disney or another cruise. I had a 5 and 7 year old year pick cruise. Why would you say under 10 is a waste of money? or say the parents are in a dream world? when was the last time you asked a little one what they thought of their vacation??? My kids can't wait to get back on a ship!!:D