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cruising with infant - need opinions


sunquest76

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Hi. We have found that MSC will take kids at 3 months. We are very interested in doing a cruise with our baby, but are getting lots of negative feedback from our family. They all think it is too young to take a baby out of the country. Of course we will buy the deluxe medical insurance, and will not expect to be going on excursions or anything she can't handle. We are just looking for others who have experienced a cruise with a little baby. Any help would be appreciated. TIA!

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I am not one to answer this, but I will....lol. (my youngest at 8 months old was medevacced from Disney ship because she stopped breathing/seized/etc)

 

Make sure you have your medical cards in place. Make sure your insurance includes EVERY aspect of your trip, from the minute you get on a plane to the minute you land back home again.

 

I know you are excited about crusing, but in all honesty, and this is ALOT coming from someone who eats/sleeps and breathes cruising with kids....you should wait until the child is 6 months. And then you should go on a mainstream cruise line....not MSC.

 

The reviews coming in from MSC have been dismal at best. I wouldn't waste my money.

 

Sorry :(

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I know you are excited about crusing, but in all honesty, and this is ALOT coming from someone who eats/sleeps and breathes cruising with kids....you should wait until the child is 6 months. And then you should go on a mainstream cruise line....not MSC.

 

The reviews coming in from MSC have been dismal at best. I wouldn't waste my money.

 

Sorry :(

 

Agree totally with crusinmama06. Welcome to being a parent, sunquest76 . Sometimes you just have to do what's best for your child, not what you want to do. Wait until your baby is older and in the meantime, read this review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=898868

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I would have to agree with others. MSC is a pretty dismal cruise line and I think that's probably the reason why they do the kids sail free and the babies at 3 months---they're having problems filling their ships. Also, I really do think 3 months is a bit too young and there are no services available for a child that young, no babysitting either. Wait for a while, let your little darling get a bit older and then sail away. And, from my experience, the doctors they have on board these ships are not pediatricians and can handle just basic services for children that young. I was on a cruise where we had to turn the ship back to port because an infant became so ill and they had to bring a local pediatrician on board.

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I don't think I'd take a baby that young on a cruise or out of the country, either. (Unless I was going to a very modern, civilized country!)

The ship's doctors are ok for tummyaches, scratches, sprains, etc.... but they are NOT pediatricians by a long shot!

Why not leave baby with the grandparents and you and hubby get re-aquainted? Baby won't remember a THING about the trip, you risk him/her picking up a nasty bug, and it will severly limit what you can do on the trip!

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I'll be the dissenting voice here. We are leaving in less than 2 weeks with our 4 month old (and 4 other kids) on MSC! She just got her 4mos shots today and our pediatrician gave us his approval. Michelle - not at ALL to diminish what happened to your daughter, but was it something caused by cruising or something that just as easily could have happened at home? Either way, I am sure it was incredibly scary. (Please know I respect your advice and truly consider you an expert on cruising with children!). My son spent a month in the PICU when he was 3 mos old for a freak thing. I agree that it is not wise to take unnecesary risks, but I think ANY medical emergency is a rarity and I am not going to put off vacationing just because something MIGHT happen. However, I do think Michelle's advice is very sound - make sure you have good insurance and a good contingency plan. We actually chose not to purchase insurance for this cruise, as we felt the price we paid was not something we couldn't "write off" if for some reason we needed to cancel our cruise at the last minute. (The insurance would have cost us more than 15% of the cruise cost). My husband and I are of the mindset that most insurance is to cover catastrophic situations, and while we do want it available if/when we need it, we would prefer not to give extra money to insurance companies, which is why we carry high deductibles on our home/car ins. That said, we do have incredible health insurance that will cover us out of country and will also cover a portion (if not all) of a medically necesary flight home (we checked!).

 

I can't really give you a true opinion until I return, but I say go for it. (However, I do reserve the right to change my mind if we have a horrible experience :) ). I don't care about the lack of babysitting for a young infant because I wouldn't leave her anyway. She is exclusively breastfed and is rarely far from me at home. The only place I "leave" her is at the Child Watch at our YMCA while I work out. They know exactly where I am at all times (and the Y is much smaller than a cruise ship) and can get me within minutes if need be. Otherwise, I haven't even left her with our babysitter at home yet.

 

Anyways....just wanted to give another point of view. I'll post when we return in a few weeks.

 

J

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If you weren't traveling quite so far, I'd say go. I think the flight alone is too much with a baby. Their little ears are still very weak.

 

I did travel with my then 3 month old on a three night cruise out of Miami on NCL and experienced no problems but the flight was only two hours from Baltimore and if we had had to cancel at the last minute we would have only forfeited about $ 800 for the cruise. (the air on Southwest can be cancelled and used later). One scarey moment on the cruise though was when we tendered from NCL's private island. It was extremely rough and everyone on the boat was so worried about me and my little babe in arms. As soon as we were able to leap from the tender to the ship- all the passengers insisted that I go first and it was quite dramatic as all the shipmates were there to catch me if I were to fall. So, looking back on it- probably wasn't wise tendering at all with an infant. If you do get off the ship- don't tender. Stay onboard.

 

It is always dicey traveling with little ones in general. I think being closer to home, might be best for the time being.

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I'll be the dissenting voice here. We are leaving in less than 2 weeks with our 4 month old (and 4 other kids) on MSC! She just got her 4mos shots today and our pediatrician gave us his approval. Michelle - not at ALL to diminish what happened to your daughter, but was it something caused by cruising or something that just as easily could have happened at home? Either way, I am sure it was incredibly scary. (Please know I respect your advice and truly consider you an expert on cruising with children!). My son spent a month in the PICU when he was 3 mos old for a freak thing. I agree that it is not wise to take unnecesary risks, but I think ANY medical emergency is a rarity and I am not going to put off vacationing just because something MIGHT happen. However, I do think Michelle's advice is very sound - make sure you have good insurance and a good contingency plan. We actually chose not to purchase insurance for this cruise, as we felt the price we paid was not something we couldn't "write off" if for some reason we needed to cancel our cruise at the last minute. (The insurance would have cost us more than 15% of the cruise cost). My husband and I are of the mindset that most insurance is to cover catastrophic situations, and while we do want it available if/when we need it, we would prefer not to give extra money to insurance companies, which is why we carry high deductibles on our home/car ins. That said, we do have incredible health insurance that will cover us out of country and will also cover a portion (if not all) of a medically necesary flight home (we checked!).

 

I can't really give you a true opinion until I return, but I say go for it. (However, I do reserve the right to change my mind if we have a horrible experience :) ). I don't care about the lack of babysitting for a young infant because I wouldn't leave her anyway. She is exclusively breastfed and is rarely far from me at home. The only place I "leave" her is at the Child Watch at our YMCA while I work out. They know exactly where I am at all times (and the Y is much smaller than a cruise ship) and can get me within minutes if need be. Otherwise, I haven't even left her with our babysitter at home yet.

 

Anyways....just wanted to give another point of view. I'll post when we return in a few weeks.

 

J

 

And I can't wait to read your review when you get back. :p

 

But sadly, no, if we weren't cruising with her when she was 8 months, then it wouldn't have happened. She caught a virus onboard, had a complex febrile seizure that lasted 40 minutes, had to be intebated by the ship's doctor and we spent the night in the ship's hospital before being taken back to the states and Port Canaveral Medical Center.

 

She was breastfed. She didn't step foot in the nursery onboard. No one babysat her for us. It was the 6th day of the cruise so she no doubt caught it on the ship. The first symptom of the virus was that she started seizing. So she wasn't sick before that. :(

 

So for me, I can't tell you the immense guilt that I had over putting her at risk. :(

 

And it's just not that you have to worry about having the money to cover the cruise if you don't have insurance. Please make sure you have a high credit card limit. We had to pay the medical bills on the ship before got off. We also had to pay to replace the airline tickets since we weren't cleared to fly the day we were suppose to come home. And we had to pay for the hotel room to stay while the baby was in the hospital.

 

It didn't stop us from getting back on a ship when she was 2 though. ;) She's all set to go on her 6th cruise. :D

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OMG...how scary! I am so glad she is ok now. I hope you don't think I was trying to discredit you, and I am glad you kept cruising. Maybe we will regret taking this cruise, but I hope not.

 

Did your cruise insurance cover ALL of your expenses? I argued with my husband that we SHOULD get it this time, because I was pregnant when we booked the cruise and I have a history of high risk pregnancies and preterm deliveries, so if something had gone wrong with this preg, it is likley that we would have been unable to cruise. (For instance, if we had another preemie and she was still in the NICU or recently home, I would definitely not cruise). But my husband felt the insurance was not worth the money since we paid so little for the cruise and airfare anyway. I even read him several stories of situations on here that people were glad they had insurance, including stories of medical evacuations. That was when we foundout our own medical insurance would cover all of those costs, but of course not the cost of missing the cruise or airfare. I doubt they would reimburse our travel expenses if we had to change flights either. But again, our risks of those events occurring are pretty small so he convinced me it wasn't necessary.

 

Thanks for sharing your story.

J

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More than anything the incredibly BAD reviews of MSC in the Caribbean is what would keep me from sailing them.

 

I admit I am very nervous after reading all of the negative reviews. However, we are sailing in less than 2 weeks so it is too late to cancel. Both DH and I have traveled numerous times to Europe (DH is originally from the Czech Republic) and are aware of the differences in European customs. Many of the complaints seem to stem from Americans wanting things the way they are used to. Again, perhaps we will regret this cruise and call it a lesson learned. however, the mere fact that I do not have to cook and clean for 8 days makes it worthwhile for me! That, and the fact that it is 20 degrees and we have over a foot of snow here. I do agree with waiting to book on MSC until they have been here for a while. If they get some of their kinks worked out, then go ahead and book. I promise to post an honest review when we return, good or bad.

 

J

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I admit I am very nervous after reading all of the negative reviews. However, we are sailing in less than 2 weeks so it is too late to cancel. Both DH and I have traveled numerous times to Europe (DH is originally from the Czech Republic) and are aware of the differences in European customs. Many of the complaints seem to stem from Americans wanting things the way they are used to. Again, perhaps we will regret this cruise and call it a lesson learned. however, the mere fact that I do not have to cook and clean for 8 days makes it worthwhile for me! That, and the fact that it is 20 degrees and we have over a foot of snow here. I do agree with waiting to book on MSC until they have been here for a while. If they get some of their kinks worked out, then go ahead and book. I promise to post an honest review when we return, good or bad.

 

J

 

Don't sweat it. You'll be fine. Just heed the warning about the tenders. I have had trouble with tendering twice. Once in 2000 and once in 2005. In 2005 it was so rough that the metal ball that they tried to tie the ship up with- ripped off the ship. The linehandler was nearly smashed between the ship and tender but thankfully two quick-witted crew members picked him up from his armpits. We all gasped as we drifted away from the ship. After an hour sitting in the hot sun, we did finally tie up to the ship. Both of these happened in the Caribbean and both were on clear sunny days. Sometimes the waves are choppy.

 

So I will say this very strongly- do not tender with infants. It is too dangerous to try to jump back onboard with an infant.

 

By the way, my Mother spent 21 days on MSC last year and loved it.

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I'm sorry,.... but some times I wonder if some parents have their heads screwed on right:confused:.

 

I can see why someone would make this comment. We American women tend to be very strong and think we can handle any situation that comes along. For the most part- this is true and we all live to tell the tale. Nothing serious has ever happened while on a cruise. In fact, the only time my son was hospitalized (for a seizure) was at our local beach resort when he was 2. It took a long time for him to get any medical help. If we had been on a cruise- he would have had immediate help.

 

But I think flying from Alberta for a cruise with a 3 month old might be too much too soon. Just wait a bit longer.

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Did your cruise insurance cover ALL of your expenses?

 

Nope, not even close. :( But that was the TA's fault and not the fault of the insurance. The TA didn't link the air with the cruise. She said she didn't want to cost us more money. :rolleyes:

 

This was 4 years ago and before I knew any better. ;) That TA is long gone. So we received a few hundred for "trip interuption" during the cruise. But nothing else.

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But I think flying from Alberta for a cruise with a 3 month old might be too much too soon. Just wait a bit longer.

 

I agree. Im an ER/trauma nurse. I have worked with nurses and doctors who have worked on cruise ships. They are not pediatricians and often not even board certified emergency physicians. I really would not fall into a false sense of security.Just because a cruise ship allows 3 month olds to board does not mean they have all the medical facilities to help the baby should some unfortunate bad thing happen.

 

Im not one to avoid doing most things because something could go wrong.

I understand wanting to vacation and dont think its unreasonable to take your 3 month old with you somewhere. I would just keep it closer to home (as in even just a USA trip vs. cruise).

 

On land you are much closer in general to trained medical help with proper equipment.

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Also just to add....

 

Being a cruise ship doc isnt the greatest job in the world and quite frankly, often does not attract the "best" docs. Sure theres probably many out there who may be semi retired docs with some actual experience but still.

 

As for cruisinmamas story of having her 8 month old being intubated while onboard. She states it happened on a Disney cruise which Im sure has much more medical supplies for young kids and docs with more peds experience.

Im sure theres a minimum amount of medical supplies a cruise ship needs for certification purposes or whatever. But I certainly would not chance my YOUNG babies health on hoping a bargain basement cruise line will have even basic life support supplies or the know how to use them.

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As for cruisinmamas story of having her 8 month old being intubated while onboard. She states it happened on a Disney cruise which Im sure has much more medical supplies for young kids and docs with more peds experience.

 

Im sure theres a minimum amount of medical supplies a cruise ship needs for certification purposes or whatever. But I certainly would not chance my YOUNG babies health on hoping a bargain basement cruise line will have even basic life support supplies or the know how to use them.

 

Oh you are absolutely correct. :) Even though we were on Disney Magic, which should have docs who were trained as peds...the docs onboard were Australian ER docs. That's not a bad thing...it's just what we had.

 

They had a very hard time finding her tiny veins. They also had to pull out the directions on the meds to figure out how much to give her for her small weight.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for their quick response. Her oxygen sat levels were at 79% when they hooked her up. :eek: So in my mind, they saved her. But they did have a harder time with her because she was so young.

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If you MUST cruise with a baby, here's what I would recommend (as a doc and eventually a future parent)... Go on a 3-4 day cruise to the Bahamas/Key West. Frankly, you are not terribly far from the US mainland AND your time on the sea will be short enough for most viruses to be "incubating" until you get back. Plus, it's a reasonable trial for longer cruises as the baby grows.

 

Babies under 2 years old CAN be really hard to stick if those delivering medical care do not routinely place IVs in little ones. Medication dosages are by weight, so every medication must be calculated (and can easily be overdosed in times of panic). Intubations on most children are not terribly difficult, but once again....they ARE difficult for docs who rarely intubate adults, much less babies. (Plus, they have to know appropriate ventilator seeings for the baby, etc.)

 

Frankly, I can stick and intubate a baby (and manage their care). BUT, I wouldn't want to do it to my own child or stand watching someone who wasn't experienced enough.

 

I think the parents have to make the right decision for them, but I think the best cruises for babies under 1 year old are probably the shorter ones. (Hopefully I'll still feel that way when we have our own!)

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I would have to agree with everyone else. 3 months is just too young. RSV (a virus that is airborne meaning all you have to do is breathe the air that someone coughed in to catch it) would create a situation where your little one would need medical attention. It is rampant in January/February, 99% of all kids have had it by age 2 and 98% will get it twice. For adults/older children its a minor cold but for babies that young they need to be hospitalized on oxygen and respiratory suctioning since their airways are so small. This is the reason pediatricians say not to take out your young baby for the first few months. By 6 months their immune systems are a bit stronger and they are better able to handle this bug. I too just had a baby and cant wait to cruise again believe me but we will wait until summer when the baby is at least 6 months old. I know you are 2 weeks away and there is no turning back so just try to keep the baby away from the coughing crowds, pick open decks and not around lots of kids. I am anxious to hear your review of MSC. Good luck! I hope you have a great sailing.

 

Julie

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We did an Alaska cruise with our daughter at 5 months (before the age limit on HAL was raised) and had no problems. Cruising with her at 5 months was a lot easier and more relaxing than it is now that she is 2. We took her to the dining room and on excursions and had to tender etc. The crew was great and we just never had any issues. Not saying that this is the norm or that everybody should rush out and take their infants on cruises. However, it can be and is done without issues.

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I would tell this woman to go on the cruise if she wasn't so far from home. I think a three night cruise closer to home would be fine. But she is suggesting flying from Alberta (which will require transfers)- a long flight coming and going with a very small baby.

 

If the child was 6 months old- I'd say go for it. I traveled with my son from 3 months and had no problems. And the previous poster is correct- it is much easier to travel with infants than toddlers.

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I think there are a couple of different issues here.

 

First, there's "will I have any fun on a cruise with a small infant?" That depends entirely on your point of view and the circumstances around your trip. If you're going with the grandparents or someone else who can babysit during the trip, you're probably going to have a really fantastic time, including having some alone time with your spouse. If you don't need alone time with your spouse and are going just to spend time relaxing together as a three-some, then you're probably also going to have a good time. If you're going to see museums and churches and tequila bars and have long dinners over a bottle of wine and do other things that aren't good with an infant, then no, you're not going to have a good time.

 

The second issue is, is it too risky to take a child that young on a cruise? This depends on a lot of factors too: sheer bad luck; your child's health history; what part of the world you're cruising to; etc. It also depends on how much risk you personally are willing to take. I happen to get an ulcer just thinking about anything risky--after giving birth 13 weeks early in the middle of an otherwise perfectly normal healthy pregnancy, I see danger around every corner. Others don't feel that way and think I'm completely neurotic. It really just depends on your point of view.

 

So, if you're asking each of us for our opinion, then mine is: probably not. The only itinerary I think I'd agree to would be one with minimal to no sea days and that included either the US or Canada as most of the ports. For example, I'd probably consider a Canada/New England sailing, since those have very few sea days and I would have faith that in port I'd be able to access US-quality medical services. Also, I'd absolutely-positively-100%-for-sure buy travel insurance, and I'd be sure it covered medical evacuation from all portions of the trip (including pre/post-cruise stays, if any). And, I'd probably only go if I had family/friends along that would help out with the baby. That makes it a LOT easier.

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