Should we bring our 19 month old?

[JerseyGrl]

My husband and I are looking to book a cruise on Celebrity for their August 11 sailing to Bermuda. We have been on several cruises before she was born, but this will be our first with her. For those of you who have cruised with a one and a half year old would you recommend bringing her or leaving her home with her grandparents. Thanks!

[Amy G]

I think it depends on the vacation you want to have! Obviously if you two go alone, you will have a fabulous time being free to do what you want and having a blast as husband and wife. If you take her, it will also be great but just more challenging: meeting her needs, schedule, eating times, luggage for her, choosing the right excursions... Having said that, we can't imagine going on a cruise without our daughter, who is 20 months, and we all leave on Monday for Alaska for 10 days. :)

[RSLeesburg]

If you want a little "me" time, RCI Explorer has Royal Tots, which offers programs for the little ones (fee-based). I think Celebrity only does in-room baby sitting. Just a thought. However, we booked our first cruise to Bermuda too - going in Sep. We liked the idea of limited ports with our 3 y/o son, and between the beaches and acquarium/zoo, we will keep him occupied.

 

PS: If we love cruising, I was looking at Summit for next year, so I would not recommend against that line or ship - but our son can get into their kids club. :)

[luvsviola]

I'd leave her and take a nice relaxing vacation if it was me. I wish I had someone who could take my kiddos for the week!

 

Reconnecting with your spouse is super important and many times it gets neglected when you have little kids. That is something that has come out of a lot of family therapy for us...DH and I spend all our time worrying about the kids and take almost none for ourselves.

[cb at sea]

It's true...it will depend if you want a "couples" vacation or a "family" vacation! If you have grandparents willing to keep their grandchild (its good "bonding time!), I'd do that. The cruise will cost much less for you, the child will be happy and well-watched and you can have some important couples time!

 

If you want to do a family thing...then do it! There is nothing wrong with bringing your child at all!

[gerif]

If you want a little "me" time, RCI Explorer has Royal Tots, which offers programs for the little ones (fee-based). I think Celebrity only does in-room baby sitting. Just a thought. However, we booked our first cruise to Bermuda too - going in Sep. We liked the idea of limited ports with our 3 y/o son, and between the beaches and acquarium/zoo, we will keep him occupied.

 

PS: If we love cruising, I was looking at Summit for next year, so I would not recommend against that line or ship - but our son can get into their kids club. :)

 

The Royal Tots program on Explorer is more of a "mommy and me" play group for 45 minutes a day - NOT a drop off. They will not have a nursery until they go through retrofit late next year. Also, neither Celebrity nor Explorer has a baby splash area, so no pool for the diapered set. So, unless OP wishes to spring for in-room sitting (not guaranteed to be available), they will have their child with them 24/7 and cannot bring it into the pools.

[RSLeesburg]

The Royal Tots program on Explorer is more of a "mommy and me" play group for 45 minutes a day - NOT a drop off. They will not have a nursery until they go through retrofit late next year. Also, neither Celebrity nor Explorer has a baby splash area, so no pool for the diapered set. So, unless OP wishes to spring for in-room sitting (not guaranteed to be available), they will have their child with them 24/7 and cannot bring it into the pools.

 

Oh, my bad. I thought Explorer already had a nursery.

[Mom2B&Z]

We bring our kids, regardless of age, because we don't have anyone to watch them for that long, plus even when we're gone overnight, we spend most of the time worrying and thinking about them! We have travelled (not cruises, since they were too young) with babies as young as 4 months, and it is always more relaxing to be on vacation than at home :).

Even if we could leave them home, I don't think we would. There are lots of opportunities to "reconnect" on board, such as nap time and in the evening. We always have a cabin with a balcony so we can relax alone after the boys go to bed. Plus we have some great memories of travelling with our boys, even if they don't remember as clearly as we do. It's surprising though, our oldest remembers our trip to Cuba when he was 4 very well, and our youngest can describe the trip we did to Lamanai in Belize when he was 4...without pictures ;)

[katmandoo]

My now 9 yr old daughter came to Alaska with us at 2yrs. She remembers nothing about that trip but I wouldn't have changed it. We do weekend cruises to nowhere once a yr on our own

[lrowe70]

It all depends on you. We have never left our child while on vacation and never plan on it. However, that is us. I know some people believe it is good couple time, but others(including myself) would just spend the time worried and panicked about my child. So much so that I would not enjoy any couple time anyway, in fact I wouldn't enjoy the cruise.

If you do decide to take your toddler, it will still be a wonderful time. half of our cruises were pre-parenthood and the other half post. We have loved every cruise and just realize they will be different.

Depending on the line you choose, there may be childcare provided so you will still have some adult time. Disney does a lot of family activities where you can have fun with your child.

 

One of our favorite things about cruising with our child is formal nights. It's our only chance to get dressed to the 9s as a family. Everyone gets a kick out of our son in his tuxedo. Makes a great Holiday card. :)

 

Good luck on what you decide. If you do decide to take her, this board is a wealth of knowledge.

[Onessa]

I agree it is up to the parents.

 

If the 19MO is healthy and a relatively "easy" child; there is no reason not to cruise with him/her. But if the child has any indication of health problems, I would not chance it. If the child is particularly fussy or has considerable problems dealing with change, it may not be an enjoyable trip for anyone!

 

My DD (now nearly 18YO!) has traveled with us since she was only a few weeks old. I cannot imagine either not taking her with us or not traveling due to her. But that is a decision my DH and I made long before even starting our family.

[akcruz]

I will add my 2 cents here as well, but pretty much is the same as what you have already gotten.

 

What do you want out of your vacation? How is your daughter, is she on a strict schedule, or does she just go with the flow. Does she eat a lot of things or is she really picky, have a limited menu that she eats? These are just a few of the things you need to answer to help you make the decision that works for you. Nobody else can tell you what you should do, just give you the things to think about to help you make your decision.

 

Personally we took our first "couples" trips of a few days when my daughter was 9 months old. I struggled with it, but found that it was just what I needed. My DH and I then started doing a combination of trips, couples and family. My youngest is starting college in a few weeks and we just took a family trip (including my DD and her fiance) for his high school graduation in June on Allure. My kids still want to spend time with us, but also want to do things on their own, just like DH and I do.

[Blk_Amish]

Personally, I would leave her. We have been married 20 years, with 2 children now 18 and 15. We have always taken time to vacation not only as a family, but as a couple, solo and thier teen retreat/camp. I still enjoy alone time with my hubby and look forward to this time alone with him to refresh, renew, and enjoy vacation hmmmm;). We waited to cruise with our children because the whole idea of being stuck in a cabin with a winy child might have sent me overboard. It can be your time together or family vacation.

 

February 2013- Hawaii land vacation mom, dad, and daughter

March 2013 - cruise with son and mom

July 2013 - Hume Lake Christian camp -daughter

July 2013 - Jamaica solo;);););)

July 2013 - my house became a man cave for dad and son.

December 2013 - long weekend along the coat

[zoncom]

If you are fortunate enough to have childcare enjoy a second honeymoon by yourselves. Celebrity is not a young childrens ship. You will not be happy taking child out of MDR or theater when it cries.You will get dirty looks from passengers at these times also.

[Blk_Amish]

If you are fortunate enough to have childcare enjoy a second honeymoon by yourselves..

 

Absolutely. I am surprise how many couples neglect time alone after the kids.

 

OP- You will have countless opportunities to spend with your child but few and few alone time with hubby as parenting start to take it's toll with drops offs and pick ups. Not everyone thinks this time is important but with the kids around you are in the mommy mode and NOT the hot, hot, sexy wifey mode. We have always agreed that our time and vacation as a couple will take priority, so we go away alone just about every year for our anniversary. I am not sure how many DH wouldn't want that.

 

Let's hear from the DH:)

[Mrs.C05]

Absolutely. I am surprise how many couples neglect time alone after the kids.

 

OP- You will have countless opportunities to spend with your child but few and few alone time with hubby as parenting start to take it's toll with drops offs and pick ups. Not everyone thinks this time is important but with the kids around you are in the mommy mode and NOT the hot, hot, sexy wifey mode. We have always agreed that our time and vacation as a couple will take priority, so we go away alone just about every year for our anniversary. I am not sure how many DH wouldn't want that.

 

Let's hear from the DH:)

 

Not to get too personal here, but I must admit I have used this "excuse" way more than I'd like for when my husband is in the mood. And it's certainly true!!! You're always in "Mommy mode" when the kids are around!

 

If you have the availability to leave your child with someone, and you are ok with it, go for it!!!! S/He'll be fine and you need this time alone. DH and I have a 16.5mo old and we are taking him with us on our cruise in September, but we want him to experience it. Grandparents *wanted* to keep him, so we booked another one ;-) so they could keep him.

[Onessa]

Perhaps it is due to having only one child. Perhaps it is due to waiting until DH and I were older before being able to start our family. But we have never neglected alone time but have never needed to "get away" in order to do so.

 

Its not like we never let her out of our sight, but we don't go out of our way to get away from her. When DD was younger, my parents were still alive and occassionally when they would babysit, DD would spend the entire night at their house. She's done the sleepovers and has done her share of camps. But there has never been a situation when we have plotted a trip or anything when she was gone, nor a situation when we imposed upon anyone to take care of her for any extended period of time.

 

DH and I work full-time salaried (meaning longer hours :)) jobs but work hard to be very involved parents. We also have had more than our share of other family demands (parents, aunts, uncles, with special needs). For us, we see time off as family time. We do work hard at maintaining a solid relationship as a couple -- but again that is something we are aware of and doing all the time and does not need to be scheduled.

 

You don't necessarily need to get away from your kids to have a good time and to reconnect as a couple. I can understand if you do work to get some alone time -- but realize that you can enjoy yourself even with your family in tow and that if you don't feel comfortable leaving your child(ren) behind, rest assure that you can still have an enjoyable and rewarding time on your trip.

[Blk_Amish]

 

You don't necessarily [b]need[/B] to get away from your kids to have a good time and to reconnect as a couple. I can understand if you do work to get some alone time -- but realize that you can enjoy yourself even with your family in tow and that if you don't feel comfortable leaving your child(ren) behind, rest assure that you can still have an enjoyable and rewarding time on your trip.

 

You don't need, since going on any kind of vacation is a luxury for many people. Time alone with your spouse and even by yourself can be priceless. This has been our formula for 20 years of marriage plus 5 years of dating, time together but also time apart. DH still gets his male bonding golfing trip.

 

OP-if it's possible to leave the baby, time as a couple will very special experience, more intimate.

[JerseyGrl]

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I think we are leaning towards leaving her home, and instead of going on a 7 day cruise on Summit we want to go on the 5 day cruise of Explorer. As much as I think we could make it work with her, I don't think a cruise vacation would be the best to bring her on. She is well behaved, but she doesn't last more than an hour in a restaurant. And I think she would have a fit if she saw the pool and couldn't go in it! And I feel that we will miss out on the parts of the cruise that we look forward to. Hopefully next year we will be able to take a family cruise vacation!

[Blk_Amish]

Enjoy. We decided to book Princess cruise or Couples resort for our next anniversary. I am looking for less kids so I might consider Celebrity.

[crusinmama06]

Onessa and I have always had the same responses on these threads. I have never felt the need to get away from my girls. And the two cruises that my girls couldn't come with me were the worst EVAH! ;)

 

The first because I missed them terribly the whole time and the 2nd cruise because something happened back at home that I wasn't aware of until I turned my phone on when I pulled back into port.

 

So from now on - NO MORE cruises without my girls.

 

I have said that if my girls can't go then I can't go :)

[Blk_Amish]

Onessa and I have always had the same responses on these threads. I have never felt the need to get away from my girls. And the two cruises that my girls couldn't come with me were the worst EVAH! ;)

 

The first because I missed them terribly the whole time and the 2nd cruise because something happened back at home that I wasn't aware of until I turned my phone on when I pulled back into port.

 

So from now on - NO MORE cruises without my girls.

 

I have said that if my girls can't go then I can't go :)

 

Michele, your daughters are beautiful.

 

I must be the one-on-one reconnecting type because I REALLY get excited about alone trip/vacation, not only with hubby but each child. They appreciate the hard personal 'sacrifice', this year, going to Hawaii with my hubby and daughter (15 yrs old) , a Caribbean cruise with my son (18 yrs old), and Jamaica was originally planned with my daughter but she had Christian summer camp at Hume Lakes.

 

Anyway, lovely kids and family

 

Mrs. Yoder

[KJENN]

Perhaps it is due to having only one child. Perhaps it is due to waiting until DH and I were older before being able to start our family. But we have never neglected alone time but have never needed to "get away" in order to do so.

 

Its not like we never let her out of our sight, but we don't go out of our way to get away from her. When DD was younger, my parents were still alive and occassionally when they would babysit, DD would spend the entire night at their house. She's done the sleepovers and has done her share of camps. But there has never been a situation when we have plotted a trip or anything when she was gone, nor a situation when we imposed upon anyone to take care of her for any extended period of time.

 

DH and I work full-time salaried (meaning longer hours :)) jobs but work hard to be very involved parents. We also have had more than our share of other family demands (parents, aunts, uncles, with special needs). For us, we see time off as family time. We do work hard at maintaining a solid relationship as a couple -- but again that is something we are aware of and doing all the time and does not need to be scheduled.

 

You don't necessarily need to get away from your kids to have a good time and to reconnect as a couple. I can understand if you do work to get some alone time -- but realize that you can enjoy yourself even with your family in tow and that if you don't feel comfortable leaving your child(ren) behind, rest assure that you can still have an enjoyable and rewarding time on your trip.

 

Ditto everything here. We traveled a lot in our 20's and didn't have kids until our early 30's and now I feel like its family travel time. Plus we work fulltime and look forward to spending time with the kids...I really don't have a desire to leave them for anything more than a night right now. To me, a cruise is the best of both worlds- we chose Freedom of the seas specifically b/c they have a nursery for DD and the kids club for DS. We plan on utilizing them a few nights on the cruise so that we can have a nice dinner, drinks, shows.