What is the youngest age to cruise?

[mariakitty]

My husband and I really have the cruising bug and want to plan a family cruise. Our son is now 14 months and we have another son on the way who will be born in October. In your opinion, what is the minimum age we should consider taking our youngest son? I wouldn't consider going with him until he's at least a year, but the idea of waiting until he is 3 seems just too far away.

 

If itinerary matters, I am thinking Mexican Riviera (to avoid airplanes - we live on the west coast) or Caribbean (because it tends to be less expensive). I don't want Disney until the boys will both be old enough to appreciate it, considering the cost.

 

I have thought about leaving the new baby at home and taking our soon-to-be oldest son on a cruise next year, but not sure if he will even be old enough. Any advice?

 

Maria

[kitty9]

Most cruise lines have a minimum age for infants, which is either 4 or 6 months for regular cruises. Some lines have a minimum age of 18 months for more exotic itineraries.

 

The decision to take an infant is totally up to you. You will get all kinds of opinions, but nothing that anyone says means anything as the decision is yours alone.

 

But here are a few things to consider. If your baby doesn't sleep throught the night or cries a lot, I'd reconsider because a screaming baby can ruin an expensive cruise not only for you, but for others around you. No matter what people say, an infant will not remember going on a cruise. You and your family will remember, but it doesn't make a difference for an infant. People will love seeing your infant and treat him/her very well. But also remember, it's no vacation for you because you will still have to do everything that you do at home as far as the baby is concerned. Many cruise lines do not have babysitting for infants, and most don't provide in-room sitting. If you want sitting, it's in a group, but some lines say that the child must be at least three and they require the child to be potty trained.

 

As I said, only you can decide if this is something you want to do.

[kfleming]

For me I think what makes the difference is if you are going to have any family (grandparents?) going along to help out some. That way everyone enjoys time with the infant and then a couple hours in the casino, pool, or dinner. We are taking our 13 month old (at the time) along in October, along with her grandparents, her great-grandma and a great aunt. We are all very excited about 4 generations sailing together. I know I'm actually going to HAVE to MAKE DD's grandma go do OTHER things! She said her goal is to be "the best grandma on the face of the earth!"

 

Sorry I'm getting WAY off topic. Bottom line is it's a personal decision and depends on what your family can handle. BTW, I have yet to read where somewhere said they regretted bringing their infant along! Good luck.

[blndee77]

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/family/bringbaby.cfm

 

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/family/YouthPrograms.cfm

[inkspress yourself]

This is just my opinion but I would definitely wait until they were potty trained and old enough for the children's program.

 

We went on our first (and so far only) cruise when my dd was a month shy of 3 years old. I wish our TA had encouraged us to do something else that year.

 

We had a great time, but were on the receiving end of some poor information that made the trip a little annoying.

 

We had no idea children with swim diapers weren't allowed to use the pools. I didn't like being surprised by that when we arrived. We had also been told that we would be allowed to go into the children's area with her, just that we wouldn't be able to leave her there alone. However, when we got on the ship we were told we weren't allowed to step foot in the place. I was initially annoyed because I hadn't brought many toys, thinking we would play in the children's program area.

 

As it turned out we were so busy, we really didn't need the children's program toys or the pool but it would have been nice if we could have been involved with the children's program. They have many family activities we would have participated in. I think it would have made it easier for us to meet other families with children, obviously. My dd enjoys playing with other children so she missed that a little.

 

We are going to go on another cruise this Sept. and my dd is now 5. We look forward to participating in the family events the Children's program offers.

 

Even though we had a great time that year I think we could have had even more fun if we had waited until she could fully participate in the programs.

 

Dawn

[sherryf]

This is just my opinion but I would definitely wait until they were potty trained and old enough for the children's program.

 

Carnival allows children as young as 2 years old in their Camp Carnival program, and they do NOT have to be potty trained. That was one of the big reasons we chose Carnival for our cruise. It made a big difference to me that all of my kids could attend the children's program. My BIL and SIL's youngest child was 9 months at the time, and they had so much less freedom than we did. I think we were able to relax a lot more than they did, and ended up having a much better time because of it.

 

Sherry

Carnival Spirit - July 2001

[merela]

when it comes to travelling with infants and young children.

 

I didn't really travel much with my eldest child until she was 16M old (her first plane ride)....I just didn't think it was possible to travel with her before that time. But of course, with my 2nd child, even though it was more work, we went on his first plane ride when he was 12M old and his first cruise at 20M.

 

But my sister was willing to take her children (6M and 26M) all the way from west coast to Copenhagen for a 14d cruise through the Scandinavian countries. If she could have found cheaper plane fares for her kids, she would have gone. I thought she was crazy, but she said she has a backpacking friend (from waaayyy back when) who sails her own small sailboat from Vancouver to Hawaii with her husband and her 6M old! Now, I think that's crazy!

 

Anyways, my point is that everyone's comfort level is different when it comes to travelling with young children. Depending on your child's nature, he/she may not want to be separated from the parents and go into a kid's program alone. My almost 4YO didn't want to go into the kid's program without me (she hasn't entered preschool yet at that point), so I had both my children with me the entire time we were cruising.

 

I can't imagine travelling without my children, but I do cruise with my parents so they can help watching the kids by us taking turns going to the shows, etc....

 

DH and I enjoy restaurant hopping when we didn't have kids, so to us, the best part of cruising with kids is not having to think where we are going to eat next (or what we are going to eat). If you children are picky eaters and/or constantly grazing throughout the day at home, they'll do well on a cruise. I didn't have to worry what or when they have to eat! And seeing different ports of call is a bonus, but we don't expect to do excursions until the kids are older. Walking around the area near the ports are good enough for us.

 

I can't really see any drawbacks to cruising with young children or infants except for the fact that you have to pack and carry lots of stuff when travelling (strollers, carseats, extra diapers, formulas, etc.....)

 

So if you like cruising and you can avoid travelling by plane by going on a cruise, why not?!

 

If you are living on the West coast, do take advantage of the Mexican Riviera cruises out of San Diego, LA, and SF. Even if your child is too young to swim in the ship's pool, you can get off the ship at each port of call and go to a nearby hotel and spend the pool time there. Some of the hotel pools are spectacular with infinity pools, etc.... My children loved the pools at the Crystal hotel in Puerto Vallarta. They had a huge, clean kiddie pool that's only a foot deep so they can stand on their own in the pool. Both my children enjoyed that tremendously. All the hotel pools allow kids in swimming diapers. So we didn't mind not going into ship's pools.

 

So check the minimum age requirement for each cruise ship and have fun no matter how old your child is. In my mind, cruising is the easiest vacation for parents with small children, even if the grandparents didn't come along.

 

Also, check 3rd and 4th person fares for some cruises if your children are tagging along and NCL has a child-friendly pricing structure (I think children under 2 pays only taxes and port charges). So it won't cost you too much to take your young children along to cruise with you.

 

 

HTH.

 

Jennifer

[HOSKI]

Carnival's minimum age is 4 months. We took DD at 9 months. Camp Carnival starts at 2 and child does not have to be potty trained. Babysitting on Carnival, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and port day babysitting is open to children of all ages for $6 per hour. Make sure you take all your diapers and wipes. Also, we took the powdered formula and a gallon of distilled water for our little one.

[mommiemudd]

We took our daughter on a Caribbean cruise last year. She was 20 months old. We went with her aunt and uncle so we had some help. The hardest part was dinner because it does take a while. We went on NCL and the kids have to be 2 for the kids program. Looking forward to using the Kids Crew on our upcoming Alaskan cruise in August. We did get in the kids pool with swimmies on and never had an issue. We had a great time, the crew was wonderful with her. There is a lot of planning involved and it was a working vacation for me. I don't think I would have wanted to do it any earlier. If we had not had help with us it would have been hard.

[landshark]

I guess I win the prize! Six years ago, I took my 5 week old on The Big Red Boat. We traveled with my DH, 3 yr old, 6 yr old, mother, sister and 3 yr old neice. Honestly, she was the best behaved child on the ship. We barely even new she was there, never made a peep.

[lcord]

I took my soon when he was 8 weeks. Let me tell you, the cruise was the transition from me being an overwhelmed new mom to being easy breezy. All I had to worry about was trying to get him to sleep before dinner.

 

So now I'm going again with my 3 year old and 5 month old. We picked the cruise again because it's so easy with babies. Of course, everyone's comfort level is different, but I think it's the best, most relaxing way to go.

 

Good luck!

[Lyndasline@aol.com]

I have brought infants on 2 diffrent cruises, and thought that it was wonderful and EASY!! Our first time with a baby was on RC, and she was 6 months old. All the waitors and staff loved her! We just took the entire family on a Disney cruise (4 kids, 4 mo,3, 6, and 7yrs) and again thought it was great. (Also, allthough we never utalized it, there is a nursery you can drop off children from 12 weeks- 3 yrs) I think it was $4 an hour. Since you only pay port fees on Disney for under 3 (no cruise fare) ... we figured that even if you used the nursey a lot, you would still spend less than on some other lines, where you pay for the infants.) Just my thought!! ( I have been on a lot of cruises, 15 or so.... and of course its more relaxing without the kiddos.... but still easer on a cruise than any where else:))

[smkerry]

We took our son on a California coastal cruise aboad the Mercury in 2003 when he was 5 months old. Celebrity upgraded us upon embarkation to a family cabin, provided us with a brand new crib and offered in-cabin babysitting every evening after 8 p.m. They only charged us $8 an hour for all 3 of our children!

 

The staff on the Mercury was always accomodating. From carrying food trays in the buffet restuarant to letting our kids "drive" the tender boat, we couldn't have been treated better by staff or fellow passengers. Well behaved children and considerate parents are always welcomed aboard cruise ships.

 

I think children receive extra special treatment aboard ships because many staff members have young families of their own in other parts of the world. They enjoy interacting with children and will often share interesting stories about their children if you show interest.

 

On the Mecury, all of the family cabins are rear facing aft cabins on Vista and Panorama deck, so you don't have to worry about bothering guests w/o children. These cabins are larger, about 225 square feet, sleep up to 5, have a sliding privacy wall and have a nice large window with a great view. Outside deck access is just a few steps away, too.

 

The only bummer about Celebrity was that we had to pay 3rd/4th cabin rate for our infant son, who consumed nothing. Still worth it. Rate Celebrity's accomodation for infants A++.

 

P.S. Celebrity also does full room service. There were 2 nights when our youngest son just didn't cooperate in the dining room. Not wanting to disturb other guests, my wife was able to take him back to the room and still enjoy a 5 course meal...linens and all!

 

We're going on Carnival Conquest in 10 days. Our youngest is now 2 and we'll be taking FULL advantage of Camp Carnival! THEY EVEN CHANGE DIAPERS!!:D

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike