Cruising with an 8,5 month or a 12 month old?

[European_CruiseGirl]

Hi, I'd appreciate your comments and ideas. :) We are planning for our first family cruise with our DD. At the moment we have two options:

 

1. Cruise when she is 8,5 months old from FLL (Southern Caribbean) - would require for us to make a 2,5h + 8h flight to FLL

 

2. Cruise when she is 12 months old from Rome (Eastern Mediterranean) - would require for us to make a 3,5 hour flight to FCO

 

Which one do you think would be better? Is it easier to cruise with an 8,5 month old than a 12 month old vv.? What about the flights? Or the itineraries?

 

Any info is very much appreciated! :)

[boulders]

It depends on which cruise line you are cruising on. Some have a minimum of 12 months for babysitting or cruising. Others it doesn't make a difference. A 12 month old will be able to eat a lot more table foods than an 8.5 month old. Throw in the shorter flight, and I'd take the Med cruise.

[NoelsCat]

I have traveled at both ages with my son... at 9 months we took an 8 hour flight -- a redeye-- without any problems. We had, however, flown with him several times before that -- so it wasn't a new experience for him.

 

At 12 months we flew 5 hours -- also a redeye -- and also had no problems. One thing I will say is that at 12 months your child will likely be a walker and so it can be harder to keep them contained than when they were younger. We spent a slightly more miserable 2 hour flight that was midday when my son was 15 months because he wanted to walk around the plane exploring...

 

Personally, if it were me, I would chose the shorter flight to Rome. It will be easier on everyone involved and depending on the cruiseline, you may well have more options such as in-room baby sitting, etc.

 

Wishing you a great cruise!

[holiday queen 500]

I agree, 12 mnth old has a lot of advantages, the in room baby sitting with RCCL is a bonus. They used to do this at 6 mnths, but changed it last year I think. We are taking granny with us to look after our 6mnth old this time.

Be aware that most cruise lines don't allow children in nappies to use the pools, this can be a shock if you didn't expect it. Either buy a small inflatable pool or use a cruise line who has specific baby area's. I know the Independence of the Sea's have a small baby area in the H2O zone.

 

As for flying, we done both and i'd say its 2 and older that the longhaul flights become more of a challenge. If you want to do longhaul get going before 2 yrs old, for one you pay very little, and they will probably still sleep for a big part of the journey.

 

Tracy