Cruising with babies

[Hflors]

You also need to mindful of your neighbors. There is nothing worse than being awakened in the middle of the night with someone else's baby crying... Been there, done that.

[A&Jfamily]

You also need to mindful of your neighbors. There is nothing worse than being awakened in the middle of the night with someone else's baby crying... Been there, done that.

 

 

 

I have never been woken by a baby. I have more frequently been awakened by rude adults returning in a drunken stupor and yelling in the halls and slamming the doors at all hours of the night. I have had adults try to turn the corridor into a family reunion at 11 pm. And had a couple have a screaming fight at 9 pm that ended in a marriage proposal followed by squeals and at 7 am security posted outside their door which was propped open.

 

Thanks but I will take the baby any day! At least they don't know better....

 

 

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[evandbob]

If you bring a pre toddler on a cruise, and then do annual 7 or 8 day cruises after that, he/she can be Platinum by the time they are 10 or 11.

[Saint Greg]

I have never been woken by a baby. I have more frequently been awakened by rude adults returning in a drunken stupor and yelling in the halls and slamming the doors at all hours of the night. I have had adults try to turn the corridor into a family reunion at 11 pm. And had a couple have a screaming fight at 9 pm that ended in a marriage proposal followed by squeals and at 7 am security posted outside their door which was propped open.

 

Thanks but I will take the baby any day! At least they don't know better....

 

 

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People being loud at 9pm? That's an outrage! :')

[A&Jfamily]

People being loud at 9pm? That's an outrage! :')

 

 

 

I didn't say being loud. It was a top of the lungs screaming (and cursing) fight next door. Very rude. What if I was trying to catch a nap before a late dinner and show? I was raised that you kept daily noise to a minimum before 9 am and after 9 pm, but this was WELL beyond that. Yelling in your cabin, slamming doors and hall parties are never acceptable.

 

 

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[Homosassa]

I loved cruising with our daughter as an infant and wouldn't do a thing differently if I had a do-over.

 

My daughter always cruised with us and now may be starting a new stage in her cruising career. She is on her honeymoon cruise.

[Pugs&Kisses]

I have traveled with my children a lot. My 6 year old is going on her 3rd cruise (will turn 7 on it). My 3 year went on her first one when she was 7 months old. My 13 month old is going on his first on.

Plan correctly and it is easy.

We loved it.

[MistyRo76]

We took an 8-day cruise on the Breeze with our then 14 month old and we had a blast! It was our first cruise with a little one (other than when we took my husband's older kids - 7 and 10 at the time). It was definitely a different experience than we were used to but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Our daughter did great! We did travel with a larger group including my mom and sis who were big helps. If you have that option to travel with family, take advantage!

 

Some of our experiences/tips:

Don't pack diapers. We purchased a box of regular diapers a pack of swim diapers on CVS in Miami, taped them together, put a Carnivl luggage tag on them and checked them in at the port.

 

If you can help it, don't pack food. Our daughter was eating plenty of solids by then, so we would take some extras from the buffet or from room service to keep with us if she got hungry. Fruit, yogurt, dry cereal, etc. we only packed a few little food pouches to keep in our bags. We also brought her a refillable sipping cup for water.

 

A slim umbrella stroller is a must! Great for airports and the ship and in port. Ours folded up easily and sat right in the corner of our room. Bulky strollers can be a challenge in the walkways on the ship and getting through the cabin doors. We got the Summer Infant 3D Lite. It reclines and has a basket underneath for storage.

 

We didn't bring our car seat. I booked shuttles from airport to hotel/port and back and found companies who would provide car seats.

 

Some will say to bring an inflatable tub for baths. We did and never used it. I just held her in the shower and then handed her to hubby when I was done with her to continue my shower. Waste of suitcase space!

 

A balcony was our savior! Great place to hang while she napped at after bedtime. Wish I would have packed her monitor though. We couldn't hear her or see her well from the balcony.

 

Since she was under 2 we couldn't drop her in Camp Carnival. And she couldn't use the pools or splash park since she was in diapers. So that limited our daytime options. But with only two sea days it wasn't a huge deal.

 

We took her to dinner every night (and late seating even). She did great and when she got fussy, she'd lay in her stroller and doze off. The dining staff was awesome with her!!!

 

Actually, ALL staff were great!!!! So good to kids!!!

 

And most importantly....go with the flow!!!!

[Tapi]

I don't regret taking our first son on his first cruise when he was 13 months old. But I'm not going to sugar coat things and pretend that it was this amazing, wonderful experience. Yes, there were times when we absolutely loved having or little guy with us, but there were also many times when we asked ourselves if we'd lost our mind when we decided to bring a baby along. More than once we considered cutting the cruise short and going home. It was heaven at times and it was hell at others.

 

The good news is that we learned from this initial experience and by the time we had baby #2, we'd mastered the art of cruising with small children.

 

On that first cruise, the good times did outnumber the bad, otherwise we would've never considered taking another cruise. Every time that we cruise with our kids, it keeps getting easier and easier. They are now 7 and 5 years old and are on cruise #6 and on cruise line #4 with cruise #7 on cruise line #5 coming up in a few short months.

 

 

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[caryatid]

I did a lot of traveling with my kids when they were babies and toddlers, but cruising is something I put off until they were a little older. We went cruise with extended family this summer and I seeing how much harder it was for my SIL with my 2 year old niece, made me realize I had made the right decision. It was really tough since my niece couldn't go in the pools, didn't have the attention span for the shows, and there wasn't a lot of space for her to run around safely. My kids were terrible sleepers and eaters and overall very active, so if you have easier kids, it would probably be a better experience. We waited until the both our kids were able to go into the kids club and could be trusted to sleep without issue and I'm very glad we did, otherwise I'm sure we would have had a miserable vacation.

[JTfromGA]

We have cruised many times with our children and grandchildren. I think the biggest issue you would have is your mindset. If you go on a cruise knowing that you will not be able to do everything you want to do (late night comedy, bars, dancing, lots of alcohol, hot tubs, quiet dinner, etc...) but knowing it is a family cruise, then you will be fine. My children did occasionally ask us to watch their children and had their older children (2 up) go to Camp Carnival/Camp Ocean so they could have some time for themselves, but a cruise is like any other vacation. At a resort, you would still have to put your child down for a nap, have to stay with them, feed them their favorite foods, go to room at their bedtime, etc... Our last cruise we had 14 of us (all 6 grandchildren,1 1/2 to 9 yrs old), 5 connecting rooms/balconies and we had a wonderful time. You can make your cruise wonderful too, it's up to you.