is 6 months to young to go on cruise?

[cb at sea]

When you have kids, you become a "family", and that's generally how you vacation.....

[Roz]

An opposing view from the Family Cruises forum:

 

I think this lady presents a very realistic view of traveling with an infant.  

 

Roz

[CruiseBride926]

37 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

When you have kids, you become a "family", and that's generally how you vacation.....

This is a little different because it’s not like op is deciding whether or not to bring her own 6 month old. She was wondering if it was worth inviting someone with a 6 month old and in her situation it seems like it’s not.

 

 

Also my husband and I will be sailing next month without our kids. No regrets. I haven’t slept in a year and I need this 😂

[OSUZorba]

2 hours ago, marci22 said:

The thing I would worry about is medical access. If you're on a ship you are limited to onboard services or what you can find in port. 

There are many land based vacations in the US that would also put you pretty far away from high quality hospitals, such as most national parks. But on a cruise ship you are always only minutes away from emergency care that is pretty capable as opposed to maybe an hour or more on land.

[mayleeman]

9 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

My 3.5 year old still remembers the cruise she did at 18 months. She still remembers and very actively talks about Disney trips from more than a year ago.

I hope she continues remembering. Our grandson remembered all types of stuff from 3 to 5. Now he is six, and many of those memories seem to have faded now. We were shocked, but I think as he has entered school and has so much filling his brain besides family it may be a normal progression.

 

Keep showing her all those pictures and videos, and it may help keep the memories alive. This is certainly something we as kids never had in the massive amounts everyone has today!

[marci22]

1 minute ago, OSUZorba said:

There are many land based vacations in the US that would also put you pretty far away from high quality hospitals, such as most national parks. But on a cruise ship you are always only minutes away from emergency care that is pretty capable as opposed to maybe an hour or more on land.

There's a reason they limit the ages for infants and I'm guessing it's logistics. 

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

There are many land based vacations in the US that would also put you pretty far away from high quality hospitals, such as most national parks. But on a cruise ship you are always only minutes away from emergency care that is pretty capable as opposed to maybe an hour or more on land.

I wouldn’t take a 6 month old camping in Yosemite either 

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, marci22 said:

There's a reason they limit the ages for infants and I'm guessing it's logistics. 

 

 

It’s for safety. They know what they can and can not handle medically on the ship; similarly they do not allow pregnant woman to cruise after a certain gestational point 

[JuliaMS]

Totally depends on the parents comfort level with taking baby places. I took my daughter camping in the dessert at 2 weeks old and at a lake at 2 months old. Others won't take their kids anywhere until they are much older. It's more work obviously and they should be ready to walk out of the restaurant with a fussy baby.  But, I would say as long as she doesn't have medical issues sure!. 

 

[soozles]

On 9/2/2019 at 8:28 AM, Roz said:

An opposing view from the Family Cruises forum:

 

I think this lady presents a very realistic view of traveling with an infant.  

 

Roz

Hey that’s me! But as I said in my post, I’m glad we took our son. Yea he won’t remember it, but he also won’t rememver going to the aquarium or to the park, but we still do it. Yea there’s a risk of germs, but their chance of catching anything is much less before they’re actually mobile and trying to get into everything. At 6 months, it’s not like the baby will run and lick the handrail. As I said in my post, not the typical cruise we are used to. We didn’t go to many shows, and the nightlife was reading inside the cabin after the baby fell asleep, but as long as you adjust your expectations you’ll have a good time. 

[Iamcruzin]

On 9/2/2019 at 1:13 PM, JuliaMS said:

Totally depends on the parents comfort level with taking baby places. I took my daughter camping in the dessert at 2 weeks old and at a lake at 2 months old. Others won't take their kids anywhere until they are much older. It's more work obviously and they should be ready to walk out of the restaurant with a fussy baby.  But, I would say as long as she doesn't have medical issues sure!. 

 

We had to do this a few times once on Christmas Eve when my mother insisted that we go out to dinner instead of the traditional meal at home. I left with my younger son and my wife and older son stayed. Maybe it was at that point that I decided not to cruise with toddlers and infants. If you had to leave the MDR because of a fussy baby thank you for being considerate to others, many aren't.  

Edited September 5, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[vrive012]

We took our daughter on the Harmony when she was exactly 6 months old. We had a blast! Of course, it was a different cruise/vacation than we are used to but it's our new reality! I will say that ships that have a nursery and splash pad make a huge difference. We were able to leave her at the nursery multiple times ($6 - $8 hr) for some alone time. We were able to go to shows alone, dinner, lay by the pool for a bit, etc. If not sailing with other family, the nursery is probably a must for us 🙂 We are leaving on the Harmony this weekend again with our now 19 month old and we are so looking forward to it! As with anything, do what makes you happy and screw what others think 😉 

[gerif]

On 9/2/2019 at 7:51 AM, cb at sea said:

When you have kids, you become a "family", and that's generally how you vacation.....

Yet again you failed to read even the first post. It is not their child and, no, I would not consider taking the grandchildren on every vacation. I’d rather see parents leave their kids home than dumping them in AO as soon as it opens and expect that they will stay there until bedtime (sorry, different thread). 

[kimstoess]

I think 6 months is the perfect age. It’s actually easier when they are that young compared to our now 1 and 2 year old. We took the first when he was 6 months and 1 week and it was one of our favorite cruises. They love seeing everything and sleep really well. Then we went when he was 18 months and our daughter was 6 months and that was a challenge because of different nap times but it was still worth it. Going on next cruise in 2 weeks and can’t wait!

[atush]

On 9/2/2019 at 2:36 PM, OSUZorba said:

There are many land based vacations in the US that would also put you pretty far away from high quality hospitals, such as most national parks. But on a cruise ship you are always only minutes away from emergency care that is pretty capable as opposed to maybe an hour or more on land.

I'd look into this more.

 

They arent capable of a lot of things, and there have been recent reports that put me off- incl a woman who had a stroke just after leaving FL.  Instead of choppering her back to the usa and good hospitals, they choppered her to Nassau- where the hospital couldnt deal with her well enough due to lack of equipment and they transferred her to the USA.   She therefore went several days w/o proper medical attention that meant her outcome was poor.

 

I used to Live in Nassau and wouldnt go into hospital there.

 

PS 'they' was NCL i think

Edited September 5, 2019 by atush

[gerif]

15 minutes ago, atush said:

I'd look into this more.

 

They arent capable of a lot of things, and there have been recent reports that put me off- incl a woman who had a stroke just after leaving FL.  Instead of choppering her back to the usa and good hospitals, they choppered her to Nassau- where the hospital couldnt deal with her well enough due to lack of equipment and they transferred her to the USA.   She therefore went several days w/o proper medical attention that meant her outcome was poor.

 

I used to Live in Nassau and wouldnt go into hospital there.

 

PS 'they' was NCL i think

I’ll agree with you there. I came down with strep throat on a Celebrity cruise once. The doctor (and I’ll use that term loosely) was totally clueless, gave me completely inappropriate meds and I was miserable until the end of the cruise. Couldn’t wait to get home and see a real doctor who had me back to normal in a couple of days. Now, I’m not saying there might not be a really stellar doctor on board but you never know. 

[sjb317]

14 minutes ago, gerif said:

I’ll agree with you there. I came down with strep throat on a Celebrity cruise once. The doctor (and I’ll use that term loosely) was totally clueless, gave me completely inappropriate meds and I was miserable until the end of the cruise. Couldn’t wait to get home and see a real doctor who had me back to normal in a couple of days. Now, I’m not saying there might not be a really stellar doctor on board but you never know. 

But that can be true at any hospital/clinic with any doctor in the US.😂. As a nurse for over 40 years,  mistaken diagnosis and/or treatment can happen anywhere.

 

Sherri🙂

[mayleeman]

3 hours ago, soozles said:

there’s a risk of germs, but their chance of catching anything is much less before they’re actually mobile and trying to get into everything. At 6 months, it’s not like the baby will run and lick the handrail.

 

This a really good point, but the risk of germs is also from stuff you and other may touch before handling the baby, and that may be less controllable. Elevator buttons, door handles, stair railings, utensils in the buffet, all pose a bigger risk of germ transfer. Note:  Just an "on the other hand..." post, not being critical of you. More to remind parents who do bring one to be especially careful in washing their own hands.

 

My grandfather always said, "Well, how do you think you will get immunity from anything if you are so worried about germ exposure?" It has become a standing joke in our family when we get a cut or anything....

[soozles]

15 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

This a really good point, but the risk of germs is also from stuff you and other may touch before handling the baby, and that may be less controllable. Elevator buttons, door handles, stair railings, utensils in the buffet, all pose a bigger risk of germ transfer. Note:  Just an "on the other hand..." post, not being critical of you. More to remind parents who do bring one to be especially careful in washing their own hands.

 

My grandfather always said, "Well, how do you think you will get immunity from anything if you are so worried about germ exposure?" It has become a standing joke in our family when we get a cut or anything....

Yea but that’s true anywhere.... if anything I feel better on the cruise because there’s purell everywhere. And I also keep sanitizer in the stroller so at least I know my hands are clean. I should give the caveat that I’m actually a pediatrician myself, so I’m pretty confident handling most things myself, and I did take an entire baby pharmacy with me. Now if he got super sick, yea I can’t do much with my Tylenol and pedialyte, but I would have hopefully noticed him getting sick before it got that bad. 

 

You can’t keep your kids away from germs. It may be a joke, but it’s true that they need the exposure to build immunity. Now my son is at the age where he thinks it’s hysterical to share toys with the dog. There’s only so much you can do. 

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, gerif said:

Yet again you failed to read even the first post. It is not their child and, no, I would not consider taking the grandchildren on every vacation. I’d rather see parents leave their kids home than dumping them in AO as soon as it opens and expect that they will stay there until bedtime (sorry, different thread). 

I think you failed also...No,it isn't their child it's their grandchild and the parents are also going on this cruise. That's who they should be asking this question of, and then the parents can make the decision.

 

They said nothing about "dumping" their child in AO all day...This baby is too young for AO and the ship they've opted for has no Nursery.

If you knew that specific part of your post was aimed at an entirely different post then why include it in this one.

 

None of us know this family and the reason it was even being considered to include the "whole" extended family.

We certainly don't take ours on "every" vacation but the ones we do end up being wonderful memories that we all share.

[LMaxwell]

Years ago we took our son on his first cruise at 10 months old; did a 4 night cruise.  Things went pretty well.  Would I do it again?  Yes, but definitely take heed that you need to bring EVERYTHING.  By day 3 we were low on a couple items and fortunately in a port that had what we needed close by.  We did not bring any other family with us.  I don't think I would do a cruise longer than 4 or 5 days total at 6 months; it was a lot of work and exhausting.