Cruise Booked! Now...how to get there???

[amandajean06]

Hello everyone,

 

Myself, my husband, our 13 month old son, and my parents will be cruising the Enchantment of the Seas in March. We all love to cruise, and we know that adjustments will need to me made to our expectations, but we are ok with that!

 

The real issue is, we cannot decide how to get to the port. We live in Indiana, and the trip to Port Canaveral is lengthy regardless of the mode of transportation. We are stuck between two options: myself, my mom, and the baby flying while the guys drive down (hubby is flying-phobic) and driving through the night and part of the following day in the hopes that the baby would sleep most of the trip and it would be bearable.

 

I was originally for the flying option just because it would be much less time in a confined space for the baby, but have since wondered about driving as a viable option for us all. Has anyone else made a similar trip with a similarly-aged toddler? What do you see as the best option? Generally, my son isn't a very sound or reliable sleeper at night, but then again, there are still 6 months to go until cruise time, and that could change.

 

Any personal experiences or ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks! :)

[Tagong]

You're going to get a lot of varied response to your question. You need to figure out which one best suits your family and your situation. For my family we flew and our lil one did fantastic both times. Our first was at 8 months and the second she was 20 months. Our experience was that despite some hesitation on our part our lil one adapted perfectly. We had early morning flights both times (on embark day) which required us getting her up around 2/3am. She slept in car to the airport. Woke up during check in and fell asleep on the plane. Couldn't have worked our better.

 

A little bit about us for context. Heck a little about her for better context. She is a good sleeper but only when she's in her bed (crib or pack n play). Sleeps well in the car as well but in short stints (45min to 1.5hr). She can do long drives but we'd need to be prepared to play with her when she's not sleeping, have snacks at the ready and always be open to stopping for a stretch. For those reasons we though a 3hr flight was our best option. It was.

 

I hope you get the answers you desire and that they put you in a position to make the best decision possible for your family.

[kitkat343]

Can you get a direct flight to the port? How long is the flight? Are there flights available near your son's nap time?

 

We have flown 3 times with our son, and on short 3 hour flights near his nap time he slept almost the whole way (his earliest flight was 24 months). He is generally a good and fairly sound sleeper though.

 

Your child would be more likely to sleep if you purchase a seat for him and install his carseat (you will need to make sure the carseat model is FAA approved for flying).

 

I haven't done long car rides with my son, so I can't help you with that option.

[Lerin]

That's really a personal decision as none of us know your family or the dynamics.

 

We've done up to 18 hour flights(including layovers and such) with a baby and toddler as well as 3 day drives with a child of the same age. They all worked out fine and there were pros/ cons to each.

 

It's always an adventure and takes some planning.

 

Good luck and have fun.

[flhokie]

Flying with DD after she was mobile would have been very rough (did 10 flights before 8 months and then not again until 3 years), but I would take that any day over a long car ride. We did an 8 hour car trip (broke it up on the way there) when she was 15 months and it was awful--very hard to keep entertained & kept wanting out of her seat. I would rather have flown (even with a connection).

[boulders]

I used to drive 520 miles with my son to visit my father when he was that age. I would have to stop every 2 hours to do diaper changes, have snacks , stretch legs etc. Same thing when his little sister came along. What was estimated to be an 8 hour drive, would be more like 11 hours.

 

According to googlemaps, a drive from Indianapolis would be 17 hours+. That's with no stops. It's almost 1200 miles. With a toddler, stops will add 50% to the time estimate. That would be 2 days in the car, driving for 12+ hours each day. I'd fly.

[cb at sea]

I would fly...give hubby a tranquilizer! The trip TO port will be exciting, but the trip home will be a royal pain!

Edited October 1, 2014 by cb at sea

[Warm Breezes]

We've flown with our kids that age and the one thing I would suggest is talk to your doctor about something to give the child before flying to help with the ears (and maybe even make them a little sleepy). Our doctor always recommended orange triaminac but I am not even sure they make that anymore since my kids are now 17 and 20.

[mdjohn5]

For my family, we would deffinatly fly.

 

We have done both plane and road trips. At least the plane is something different and more of an "event".

 

I can't even drive the 30 mins to grandmas house without hearing "are we there yet" and "This taking too long!" about 100 times... :)

[14ersco]

Much of the decision comes down to how good of traveler is your child. We took our first road trip with our son at 3 months old and about 4,000 miles R/T. We did these drives for a number of years and mom spent a lot of time in the back seat keeping him entertained. We started flying to relatives about age 3 and like mentioned earlier, getting him his own ticket/seat and using his FAA approved car seat made the trip more enjoyable. Also by bringing along something for him to suck on when the air pressure changes (take-off, landing, turbulence) really helped.

 

The big negative I see to driving for your trip is that you are going in March; with the potential for ice storms and slick roads. If you do decide to fly I would avoid the Chicago airports, even if they have direct flights. I've done the drive between O'Hare and Indiana and that is a stressful drive.

[Roz]

Also keep in mind that you'll be flying into Orlando, and then have to drive or shuttle over to the port. I lived for year in IN, and the potential for ice storms that time of year is high, and can occur in KY and anywhere in the mts. you'll be crossing. Heck, it could even snow! Much too much time in a car for a baby, IMO.

 

Roz