Cruising HAL Oosterdam with an Infant

[911boss]

On my part? No. Just realistic. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. If nothing nothing else, think of the health problems associated with 1500-2000 people in a closed envirement for 7 days. Also think of other passengers having to put up with the noise of a baby. Having never cruised before you don't realize that the walls in the cabins are thin enough to hear the people breathing next door. I don't care if your little one is a good quiet child all you need is one ear infection to destroy the cruise of the people next door. Remember they paid a lot of money for that cruise.

[FoxyTerrier]

Why on earth would you take a child on a cruise? It seems awfully insensitive to others. The child is not going to enjoy it. I can guarantee from personal experience that oter passengers are not going to either. Wait a few years or leave the kid home

 

Personally I love seeing children and families on cruises. I don't like unruley children anywhere land, sea, air. DS will be 18 next month and we have always travelled with him and started taking him to restaurants at 2 months. If you expose your children at an early age they will learn how to act.

 

Our philosophy was if it got bad we would remove him from the situation and have the food packed up if necessary. As a baby it was never a problem and many times when we were getting ready to leave people would ask us where did the baby come from? Was he there the entire time? YES!!

 

As a toddler it is more challenging. He had a special restuarant bag that had a few items in it - books, crayons and maybe a match box car. He was never allowed to run around the restuarant or even get down from the high chair. I can only remember one time that need needed a talking to outside the restaurant. DH brought him back in and we finished our meal. Before walking in we would ask him, "Did you bring your restaurant manors?" When the food arrived all toys were put away!!!

 

We had friends who took their child to a restaurant for the first time around age 4. He went wild - had no idea how to act. Talking very loud running around - no different than at home. :(

 

When he was a bit older and potty trained we knew every bathroom in every place we went just like all children. I had friends what would let their 3,4 and 5 years old go alone - Not me. DH would accompany him until he was much older. You never know what they are touching or who migh be lurking around.

 

So IMHO... Children can be taught how to act in public but you have to start early and no they are not perfect all the time. If they act up you just remove them from the situation as not to offend others around you.

 

BTW - DS turned 5 on his first cruise, turned 13 on his second cruise - GREAT MEMORIES for us all.

[jhannah]

We had friends who took their child to a restaurant for the first time around age 4. He went wild - had no idea how to act. Talking very loud running around - no different than at home. :(

And herein lies the problem. You are so right, Joni. Kids need to be exposed to social situations and TAUGHT how to properly function on those occasions. And it starts at home. If kids are never taught at home what acceptable behavior is, how on earth would one expect them to magically adopt it when out in public?

[SarahQ]

Inconsiderate? On my part? No. Just realistic. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.

Well...yes, maybe its just me, but I think that passing judgement about whether its appropriate to bring an infant on a 'family' vacation is inconsiderate comment. If you read the OP's post, she wasn't asking for your views on whether one should cruise with an infant, she was asking for advice from others on how to make things easier for everyone involved on the cruise she has already booked (including fellow passengers). While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, in this particular thread, it was obviously meant to be contentious, as it was not at all related to the OP's original query.

 

If nothing nothing else, think of the health problems associated with 1500-2000 people in a closed envirement for 7 days.

Not sure how this is relevant...do *you* avoid cruise ships for this reason? Its well documented that children need to be exposed to the outside world so they can build immunities, so they *aren't* always sick. A 5-month old, without any other health problems, is certainly hearty enough to withstand this type of exposure.

 

Also think of other passengers having to put up with the noise of a baby. Having never cruised before you don't realize that the walls in the cabins are thin enough to hear the people breathing next door. I don't care if your little one is a good quiet child all you need is one ear infection to destroy the cruise of the people next door. Remember they paid a lot of money for that cruise.

And here we have the "its my cruise" attitude that seems to be so prevalent. Families crusing together have also paid a lot of money for their cruise (infants are charged the 3/4th person supplement on HAL - no discount) and should be able to enjoy it without judgement. While a crying baby in the next cabin could certainly be an issue, so could a sick/drunk/disorderly/loud/obnoxious adult in the next cabin.

 

There can be issues with all ages of cruisers, from infants to the elderly and everyone in between - what's needed is a little tolerance and understanding so everyone can enjoy their cruise. Vive la difference!

[peaches from georgia]

....Its well documented that children need to be exposed to the outside world so they can build immunities, so they *aren't* always sick. A 5-month old, without any other health problems, is certainly hearty enough to withstand this type of exposure.

On this point I will have to respectfully disagree. Yes, children need to be exposed in order to build immunities, but is a cruiseship out on the open sea the right place at the right time? Infants are not able to handle the effects of viruses and infections as well as older children and adults. Infants are not miniature adults; that's why they go to pediatricians who specialize in their particular health problems and care. Fevers spike easily without warning and dehydration occurs very very quickly. (Think Noro-virus.) My problem with so quickly dismissing the health issue is that you are putting an infant, who is not able to as easily withstand the side effects of many illnesses as older children, into an environment where total health care may only be possible by medical evacuation or in a foreign country and an environment where germs and viruses spread like wild fire.

 

Chances are this won't happen, BUT it is an issue to be considered and not so quickly dismissed. I would think this over very carefully and then think about it some more before I would take an infant under 1 year old on a cruiseship.

 

Do you have children and have you gone through treating these infant illnesses with your own baby(ies)?

[SarahQ]

[illness] is an issue to be considered and not so quickly dismissed. I would think this over very carefully and then think about it some more before I would take an infant under 1 year old on a cruiseship.

 

Do you have children and have you gone through treating these infant illnesses with your own baby(ies)?

As you may have guessed from my Avatar, the answer is yes. In fact, my son is 5 months old as well. He has never had anything approaching even a sniffle (and his entire life thus far has been spent in a cold climate during cold/flu season). I'm sure part of this is luck, but I strongly believe that part of it is also that I allow him to be exposed to many people and public areas. I am not a clean freak, I do not make people use hand sanitizer before they touch my child, I only give him a bath a couple of times a week - some people might find that disturbing, but our society as a whole has become much too 'sanitized' and this has led to an increase in all sorts of nasty illnesses etc.

 

I certainly am not dismissing the idea that illness is a possiblity and I agree that it is something that should be taken into consideration (along with many, many other issues); however, I still think the chances of having a problem are minimal and not worth *not* taking an infant, if that's the decision you've made. Its a slippery slope...as a parent where do you draw the line at not allowing your child to do something due to risk? If parents wanted everything in their children's lives to be completely sanitized and risk-free they would likely end up with very unhappy and maladjusted children.

 

Many of the same issues that relate to infants relate to the elderly as well - many elderly cruise ship passengers are at great risk to infections, viruses etc., and yet judging by my previous cruises, that's not keeping them at home. You'll find many threads on the Family Cruising board relating to cruising with infants, and in not one that I've read has anyone reported their child becoming ill while on the ship. Again, it doesn't mean it *can't* or *won't* happen - just that its not necessarily (in and of itself) a good reason not to bring your infant on vacation with you.

 

It is so difficult these days to spend time together as a family that IMHO its worth a little bit of risk for the great reward of enjoying quality time with your child.

[snoogiejul]

Oh boy. Here comes the guilt. BTW- (not that I have to defend myself BUT...) I spoke with our ped BEFORE I booked. He has young children as well. He agreed that a cruise would be a suitable enviroment for a baby. He has brought his little ones on a cruise before. We did talk about Noro-Virus. Noro virus is transmitted by hand to mouth. It tends to spread in a closed enviroment (like a cruise ship) from people not washing their hands (YUCK). My husband and I are going to use hand santizer- frequently. (Although I do agree w/ SarahQ's post re: "things becoming TOO sanitized.") My ped and I discussed the posibility of illness, but he didn't think that the threat was strong enough to advise us not to book. His advice was to use hand sanitizer after touching hand rails and the like, and to bring tylenol for our baby. We all has the possiblity of getting sick in places we all have to go to live our lives; the grocery store, the bank, work, etc.

 

And yes, I know everyone pays a lot to go on a cruise, this cruise is costing us more than our last trip to Europe. On HAL I did have to pay to bring the baby. The point of this thread was to get advice from people who have had experience bringing a baby on board. (and I have received a lot of good advice.) We are not going to cancel, we are close to our sailing date, it is not refundable.

[snoogiejul]

Oh boy. Here comes the guilt. BTW- (not that I have to defend myself BUT...) I spoke with our ped BEFORE I booked. He has young children as well. He agreed that a cruise would be a suitable enviroment for a baby. He has brought his little ones on a cruise before. We did talk about Noro-Virus. Noro virus is transmitted by hand to mouth. It tends to spread in a closed enviroment (like a cruise ship) from people not washing their hands (YUCK). My husband and I are going to use hand santizer- frequently. (Although I do agree w/ SarahQ's post re: "things becoming TOO sanitized.") My ped and I discussed the posibility of illness, but he didn't think that the threat was strong enough to advise us not to book. His advice was to use hand sanitizer after touching hand rails and the like, and to bring tylenol for our baby. We all have the possiblity of getting sick in places we all have to go to live our lives; the grocery store, the bank, work, etc.

 

And yes, I know everyone pays a lot to go on a cruise, this cruise is costing us more than our last trip to Europe. On HAL I did have to pay to bring the baby. The point of this thread was to get advice from people who have had experience bringing a baby on board. (and I have received a lot of good advice.) We are not going to cancel, we are close to our sailing date, it is not refundable.

[caviargal]

 

 

Ad here we have the "its my cruise" attitude that seems to be so prevalent. Families crusing together have also paid a lot of money for their cruise (infants are charged the 3/4th person supplement on HAL - no discount) and should be able to enjoy it without judgement. While a crying baby in the next cabin could certainly be an issue, so could a sick/drunk/disorderly/loud/obnoxious adult in the next cabin.

 

There can be issues with all ages of cruisers, from infants to the elderly and everyone in between - what's needed is a little tolerance and understanding so everyone can enjoy their cruise. Vive la difference!

 

I agree that there can be issues with all ages of cruisers. However, when I have had drunks, loud adults, etc., next to my cabin, a call to security was generally (except for one really bad situation) good enough to resolve the issue.

 

A crying child, while not the baby's fault, would have a negative impact on me personally should it happen often and at times when I am trying to sleep or relax in my cabin.

 

I always ask about the cabins near to mine as I prefer to lower the odds as much of possibe of having challenging neighbors. It the cabins are only suited for double occupancy, then it is a better bet. I try to avoid booking in between quad occ. cabins.

 

I cruised the Med in July and was in a cabin next to some teenagers, whose parents had obviously done the permitted booking of one adult and one child in per cabin and then switched. These kids made more noise than I would have thought possible. From screaming, yelling and throwing things in the cabin (it genuinely sounded like furniture was being slammed against the walls) to foul language, they woke me every single night of the cruise in the middle of the night, as well during the day when I was trying to enjoy an afternoon nap. I called security at least twice a day for the entire week and things would quiet down temporarily and then start up again.

 

While this is different, I did learn the hard way that having a noisy neighbor - whether the noise is intentional or not - can really affect one's enjoyment of a cruise. I had paid for a verandah for myself for the week looking for peace and quiet, and was not allowed to enjoy either, through no fault of my own.

 

JMHO.

[scopewest]

We don't have kids. However, crying babies don't bother me as much as smart-mouthed kids (and adults). I have yet to see a baby who was screaming out foul words, pushing, shoving, hogging lounge chairs, cutting in line, etc. etc.! Enjoy your cruise.

[FoxyTerrier]

The point of this thread was to get advice from people who have had experience bringing a baby on board. (and I have received a lot of good advice.) We are not going to cancel, we are close to our sailing date, it is not refundable.

 

I hope you will post a review upon your return and let us know how everything went - good or bad.

 

Hope you have the times of your lives and take lots of pictures and videos.

 

Joni

[kryos]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Hopefully HAL will give us a private table, that would be nice. I don't know what dinner seating we have. I think we are waitlisted. I see everyone's point avout the stroller. I purchased another device today that should take care of the problem. Everytime we have brought her to a restaurant she has either slept through it or sat quietly. I hope will will have the same luck on the cruise.

As long as your baby is "well-behaved" and you are ready to take her out of the dining room if she becomes fussy, I wouldn't hesitate to eat with her in the dining room. If others at your table are not comfortable with it, tough ... plain and simple.

 

Look, I prefer not to cruise with children too. I am single and not totally comfortable with them. But, that said ... I certainly see that others do have the right ... and in fact, are encouraged ... to bring their children along on a sailing, and part of that bringing their children along means those children will be eating with mom and dad in the dining room, being in the swimming pool (assuming they are potty trained hopefully), and sitting in the show lounges. If the child is quiet and not causing a disturbance, then far be it for me to complain. If being around children is that big a problem for someone, then perhaps they need to reconsider cruising and perhaps, instead, look into adults-only all-inclusive resorts. If others don't care to eat with an infant at the table, then fine ... they can always ask to be moved, and you and your family will have lots of extra room at the table to spread out. I would certainly not let anyone on this board or anywhere else talk me into taking all of my meals via room service or the Lido just because I happen to have an infant onboard with me. If you think she can handle it, take her to the dining room. It's an experience you shouldn't have to miss and as long as baby can deal with a two-hour or so stint there ... there is no reason why the Lido should always be your mealtime destination.

 

At least that's my take on it ... for what it's worth. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[dtiger]

You might want to consider the casual dining some nights as the formal dinner is 1/2 to 2 hours and that is a long time for an infant to sit still.

You can also have room service which can be very relaxing.