Cruise line of choice for 9 month old

[FoodiesAtSea]

My husband and I have decided to go on a cruise in January to the Caribbean, and will be bringing our (will be) 9 month old with us.

 

We have decided against Disney because we aren't loving their itineraries during the time we have available. So it seems to come down to Carnival or Royal Caribbean. The pro of Carnival seems to be the ability to get a bigger suite for cheaper and the potential for babysitting until 1am. The pro of RCCL seems to be toy lending and ability to use the splash pad in a swim diaper and (we think) a better boat.

 

We are pretty active, our son is used to coming with us to a variety of activities in his carrier, and we love good food.

 

What would you do if you were us? Thanks in advance!

[Ashland]

Welcome to Cruise Critic:

 

Do carefully consider RCI...Their Royal Babies & Tots Nursery is amazing and you can easily leave you little one there until midnight if you so desire.

 

We just cruised with our 17 month old grandson and the nursery worked out so well for us...the staff is amazing.

[CruisingTeacher19]

We have gone on royal with our son when he was 13 months. The toy lending was awesome and the splash pad was his favorite thing. They also have great programs for babies. We are doing oasis in January with our 22 month old.

[packyourpixiedust]

So, at 9 months- he is still pretty young, and probably wouldn't notice not playing in the water. I cruised with my son at 7 months, 10 months, and will again at 19 and 22 months. (We like to get away in the winter.)

 

At 7 months we cruised Celebrity. I love Celebrity, and at that age he just needed a place to crawl. The dining room did a GREAT job. The only caveat- I don't know if they do in room babysitting for that age group- we had grandma with us in her own room. Celebrity allowed us to preorder baby food and even our special organic formula. They were great, and they have a drink package going on with booked cruises booked by a certain date in December, but cruising Feb and beyond. Celebrity does a toy lending program, and although they don't have programming for under 3, they have open house in the kids club and you can go play there. We were able to borrow whatever we wanted. They had a REALLY nice leap pad music table thing that we checked out. It was great. At that age it was more important for us to have some things to do for him, but a better experience for us. We also brought a blow up tub to use on the balcony if he wanted to play in water. We ended up never using it for that, he would just crawl in and out of it dry and sit and play with some toys in it... literally everything became a playground and a toy.

 

The 10 month old cruise was Disney and that was booked the week before under a special promotion. We did use the splash pad, but honestly, we could have done without it, he wouldn't have noticed... Obviously they have a lot to offer younger kids, and he was amused just looking around, plus he loves characters.

 

Now going forward, the ship in terms of entertainment is more important for our son. Even though we are elite on Celebrity, we won't cruise them again until he is old enough to use the pool (potty trained) and potentially old enough for the kids club (3 years old.) As such we are doing another Disney cruise and an RCI one later this winter. I picked RCI because on Carnival diapered babies are not allowed in the splash pads, and since he is not yet 2, he wouldn't be old enough for their kids club either. RCI has a splash pad area for the little ones, a toy lending program, and character parades, etc. on some ships. That is all perfect for my LO. Obviously Disney is great with the little kids, but if you weren't cruising multiple times a year, or every year, then I would wait until the child is older to cruise them. It is just so expensive.

[Tagong]

Not all RCL ships are created equally. Only Freedom and Oasis class offer a swim area for the diapered ones. It should be noted that the area for diapered kids is a little wading pool enclosed within the splash pad area. The "no diapers in the splash pad" rule was enforced whenever someone from the kids club was on the pool deck...which was about 50% of the time. My family did Celebrity Silhouette at 8 months and RCL Indy of Seas at 20 months. At such a young each either ship would be fine. We brought an inflatable tub for our little one that we used to bathe her in as well we brought it to the pool deck so she could splash around in it.

[rolloman]

At nine months, hands down Disney. We cruise about 5 times a year and my DD first cruise was at 5 months with Disney. They have superior staff and accommodations for children. In the event your child would need medical assistance, Disney is the only one I would trust. My second choice would be either RCCL Freedom or Oasis class, based on splash pool area and nursery option. In room babysitting for a child anywhere close to this age should never be an option. I have a couple horror stories related to this. When your child gets a little older, say 3 yrs....NCL offers great kids clubs on their new ships.