Babies on a cruise

[Lerin]

Yes and I have taken babies (and toddlers, preschoolers...) on cruises several times. It's not difficult as some have made it to be upthread.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is has your daughter already paid for a cabin? Adding another person can be difficult. They possibly won't let her so she'll have to cancel anyway and rebook a cabin for 3.

 

Regardless, the decision lies with she and her husband and no one else. Not me, not other posters...not you. Invite her to cruise critic to make the choice herself.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Lerin

[cherriebomb18201]

Yes and I have taken babies (and toddlers, preschoolers...) on cruises several times. It's not difficult as some have made it to be upthread.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is has your daughter already paid for a cabin? Adding another person can be difficult. They possibly won't let her so she'll have to cancel anyway and rebook a cabin for 3.

 

Regardless, the decision lies with she and her husband and no one else. Not me, not other posters...not you. Invite her to cruise critic to make the choice herself.

Thank you and we have a balcony room

 

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[nascarcruiser]

Thank you and we have a balcony room

 

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Just because they have a balcony room doesn't mean there isn't an occupancy restriction. If the room will accommodate 3 passengers they should be ok but need to add the baby now. The issues come with life boat occupancy. Just because it's a baby doesn't mean the cruise line doesn't have to ensure there's a seat on the life boat. Even if the child will be held there still has to be a seat for them even if the technically aren't in it. The upside is with a balcony the parents can hang out while the baby sleeps

[Slugsta]

How pregnant is your daughter? Babies often come late and the cruiselines rarely (if ever) make exceptions for an infant that is just under 6 months on the day of sailing.

 

Is this a first child? Do you have any idea whether your daughter is a 'relaxed and take it as it comes' sort of mum, or one who will worry about everything? The first type is likely to find travelling with a baby easier than the other!

 

I had post natal depression after my son, in the first year I needed time away from him more than anything. I would not have been able to enjoy a holiday unless I had someone else taking on most of the baby care (except for feeding). Will that be you? Are you happy with this?

 

As with so many things in life, I don't think there is a single 'right' answer, just what is right for your family.

[nwo4life]

This question gets asked a lot. I can summarize the answers. Those that have cruised with babies will tell you to go for it. Those that have not cruised with babies will come up with 100 reasons why you should not.

[TrinaLC]

Are the three adults booked in one room? Even assuming you can add a fourth, you couldn’t pay me enough to cruise in that situation.

 

 

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[Badfinger]

I have a ? We booked a cruise for oct 27 2019.well we just found out my daughter is having a baby. Would you still take the cruise with the baby?

 

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No.

 

I cannot imagine it would be any fun...all that baby crap piled into a small cabin...ugh.

[woozles]

We are making plans to take our son, daughter-in-law and grandson who will be 11 months old on their first cruise. It will be a short one intentionally. Visit the family board here for tips. Really it is entirely dependent on your temperament and babies temperament. At least two people need to be prepared to be caregivers for baby.

 

Also, I would HIGHLY recommend travel insurance. One - you want to be able to cancel for any reason if necessary. Two - you want the health coverage just in case.

[Bookworm1985]

I would make sure if you go to set up boundaries. Grandma will watch baby X number of hours in a day, but the parents have to do the rest of it. People tend to take advantage of the grandparents as free babysitters, and as much as you may like your grandchildren, its your vacation too and you deserve time to do what you want sans baby.

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

You said 'we have a balcony. Is that your and husband, or all four of you? Because if is is all four, chances are you can't add a fifth person to that room. You would have to get a second cabin. Also consider, someone will have to be with the baby 24/7, unless you have chosen a ship that has a nursery. When it is time for the baby to nap, you can't put him/her down in his/her room and go to anothr part of the house. There wouldn't be any place close that you could hear it cry. And no, baby monitors don't work farther than across the hall or next door. Too much steel.

As far as baby supplies go, you cannot buy them on the ship. However, Bermuda is not a third world country. People there have babies too, and wear diapers, feed formula, etc. It might not be the brand you prefer, but it is available. EM

[KarimaJ]

Same here there is no insulation in the walls between cabins ,, Carnival did give us 30% off our next cruise ,because of the crying next door ,, Us and the people on the other side of crying baby ,, Security did go to there room and let them know they needed to do something about the crying

 

 

 

Well, sometimes there’s not much you can do about a crying baby unfortunately. They just cry because they’re tummy hurts and so on.

 

I wouldn’t bring a baby since I like a relaxing vacation and that is a lot of work. I wouldn’t want to be confined to the cabin for naps and early in the evening. Sounds selfish I know, but it is vacation.

I would be nervous about viruses and being exposed to a lot of people. And if something went wrong, no easy access to medical care.

 

But to each his own. Maybe these things don’t bother everyone.

 

 

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[rainbowflag]

We did without incident and even enjoyed a night in the Supper Club David's with our wee one. Carnival is the family friendly, inclusive cruise line and they have no minimum age requirement in the Supper Club to back up that policy.

[disneylover89]

Well it's daughter the husbands and me. I dont mind being with the babies. It just we dont get to do things like this. And i dont know if they would even let me cancel with no problems.

 

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How many babies and how old? It can be difficult dealing with different sleeping/feeding schedules in a small room. Their supplies take up a lot of room and if multiple cribs are needed floor space would be tight.

Personally, taking an infant out of the US would scare me too much. You just never know.

[easypeasy55]

My daughter was going to take her 1 year old on a Caribbean cruise and her pediatrician advised against it. Primarily because of the mosquito born viruses. Not sure about Bermuda.

 

 

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[Roz]

Babies on a cruise...anything like snakes on a plane? :rolleyes:

 

OK, let's get serious. People I've talked with on cruises with a baby in tow say it's the easiest form of vacationing with a little one, but takes some planning and it's going to be a different kind of cruise experience. I say go for it.

 

Just make sure you have the right size cabin. Don't assume that because the baby is tiny you just slip it in there. :)

 

Roz

[camohatdude]

Carnival offeres pack and plays for infants to sleep in in the room. We sailed when my daughter was literally 6months old the day of departure. We also had a 3 year old with us. Which did make it more difficult cause the 3 year old wanted to constantly be going but the 6month old wanted to stick to her scheduled sleeping times.

 

 

 

Yes we did not get to do as much as we wanted with the kids there. But they had a fun time and we also had a very large group go so many people took turns watching the kids.

 

 

 

Only downfall with the 6month old was that camp ocean didn't have as much time to drop them off as the older one.

 

 

 

Bonus is if you go to one of the shows they give stuff away for the oldest cruiser and the youngest cruiser. My wife got a bottle of wine and daughter got a free build a bear from them. Overall the cruise ship staff loved seeing the baby and they went to great lengths to help us with anything we needed.

 

 

 

Just weigh out what you want from the cruise as others have stated.

[cmukid87]

I can only say our experience. We went with a 9 month old and it didn't slow us down too much. The MDR staff were always great with our little one and many passengers are usually happy to see a happy baby.

[Fergus]

We traveled a lot with our first child - she was a very easy, laid back child. But at this point, you don't yet know what you're going to get in the baby lottery. My sister had a child with a serious digestive issue - he cried constantly for 9 months, they had to use multiple meds at every feeding, etc. You don't know if you'll be facing any serious issues that come with the baby - they do happen. Also, my first thought when I saw your post was what if someone in your party gets roto virus and has to be confined to the room? You don't want to expose the baby to the possibility of getting something like that, plus another poster mentioned things like zika - and there are so many germs and viruses floating around when you're plunged into a pool of thousands of people all coming from other places in the world.

 

Could the other grandma provide child care for the week? If it were me, I'd look into either postponing the cruise, going without the daughter/son-in-law/baby, or making other arrangements for someone to care for the baby.

[bingomamma19]

I have a ? We booked a cruise for oct 27 2019.well we just found out my daughter is having a baby. Would you still take the cruise with the baby?

 

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I definitely would. I am a mom of 3 and since birth have always taken my kids on vacation --everywhere. I don't need nor want an adult getaway, so that's not an issue for me...everyone is different though.

 

I have never left them with anyone for a trip and would never personally be comfortable on a trip without them. They are now 28 26 and 12--so its just the 12 year old DD that I still take.

 

It will all be dependent on how comfortable you all are with traveling with a baby and the challenges that can bring...lots of extra stuff, temperaments, schedules etc. Make sure you all talk about expectations of who is doing what and make some kind of schedule/list of what you want to do, if babies are appropriate for that activity and who will watch the baby at what times.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose and have fun

[Surrealistic]

Yes and I have taken babies (and toddlers, preschoolers...) on cruises several times. It's not difficult as some have made it to be upthread.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is has your daughter already paid for a cabin? Adding another person can be difficult. They possibly won't let her so she'll have to cancel anyway and rebook a cabin for 3.

 

Regardless, the decision lies with she and her husband and no one else. Not me, not other posters...not you. Invite her to cruise critic to make the choice herself.

 

Good advice.

[shlbil]

I wouldn't just because of the cost to have them on the cruise. They aren't free.

[MomtherOfDragons]

I would not cruise with a baby for health reasons.. Their little immune systems will be exposed to a lot of germs. Even grown, healthy people get sick on cruise ships. I would wait until the baby is a bit older, at least a year or two.

[wondercustard]

The youngest I would ever cruise with is 3 or 4 years old, because the minimum age for the kids clubs is 2.

[bbtbear]

Also, my first thought when I saw your post was what if someone in your party gets roto virus and has to be confined to the room? You don't want to expose the baby to the possibility of getting something like that, plus another poster mentioned things like zika - and there are so many germs and viruses floating around when you're plunged into a pool of thousands of people all coming from other places in the world.

This. I wouldn't be worried about behavior or many of the things other posters have raised. But my own daughter got Rotavirus as an infant and it was super scary. Her little body just couldn't hold enough fluids in to keep her from dehydrating. Her system crashed. We took her to the emergency room and she ended up hospitalized for 2 days while they pumped so much fluid in her she looked like a tick ready to pop when they released her to go home. Their immune systems can be pretty delicate, and their little bodies aren't as resilient as ours. After that experience, I wouldn't risk it.

[A&Jfamily]

Personally, as a grandparent I would cruise with my kids and their babies - enough adult hands to manage and still relax. As parents with an infant without support, no. I would chose a US land resort and have a beach vacation based out of a house or condo.

 

 

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