How young is too young?

[davewilliamt]

We are thinking about doing a family cruise. We have a 1.5 y.o. and a 5 month baby. Is that too young?

 

Ages are of date of cruise.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

[beachbum6264]

Yes, the 5 month old is too young

from the Carnival website:

 

Minimum age for sailing is 6 months, with the exceptions of Transatlantic, Hawaii and South American cruises, which are 12 months. This is a company policy which takes into consideration the safety and comfort of the infant as well as the other guests. Carnival has fully researched the legality of the policy and it is not discriminatory and does not violate any applicable law. Carnival will not make exceptions and do not allow for the signing of waivers or releases to make an exception to the policy.

[gtalum]

Personally, I wouldn't cruise with a child less than 2 years old. It's nice for them to spend some time in the kids' club so that you can relax. It's also nice to be able to enjoy the nightlife aboard.

[davewilliamt]

Yes, the 5 month old is too young

from the Carnival website:

 

Minimum age for sailing is 6 months, with the exceptions of Transatlantic, Hawaii and South American cruises, which are 12 months. This is a company policy which takes into consideration the safety and comfort of the infant as well as the other guests. Carnival has fully researched the legality of the policy and it is not discriminatory and does not violate any applicable law. Carnival will not make exceptions and do not allow for the signing of waivers or releases to make an exception to the policy.

 

 

Is it full price for kids over 6months? Or is there a kiddie price?

[Thunderboomer]

Is it full price for kids over 6months? Or is there a kiddie price?

 

No difference in price between adults and children. The only break you get is that the 3rd and 4th person is cheaper when sharing a cabin.

[tbjl24]

Personally, I wouldn't cruise with a child less than 2 years old. It's nice for them to spend some time in the kids' club so that you can relax. It's also nice to be able to enjoy the nightlife aboard.

 

I am with ya! We have a 6 month old now and I don't think she will be doing any cruising til 2 years of age. It just doesn't seem like much of vacation to me!

[Perfect Stranger]

Even if the infant was old enough, have you seriously thought about all the stuff you'd have to take with you? Bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, blankets, and the list goes on. How much of a vacation would it be?

[Whimsy]

I'm an older mother, mine is grown, but I'm going to chime in here.

 

Personally I would not take children that young on a cruise unless I didn't have a reliable person to care for them back home and it was the only way I could get away. I would leave them at home and get a little R&R for mom and dad. When the kids are a bit older then I would be all for taking them. Cruising is a wonderful family vacation but I think those ages are just too young to reap any benefit for them. You and they will be limited in what you can do both on the ship and in port.

 

I wish we would of been able to cruise when DD was younger though. It sure is a wonderful way to have family time and alone time with all the programs for the kids.

[DaisyGirl55]

In August 2008, we took a family cruise. There were 10 of us: me, DH, my 3 sons (29, 26, 25), 2 DIL, and 1 of my son's GF. Also along were my 2 grandkids (19 months and 9 months).

 

We had an absolutle blast! We had adjoining rooms to help with the kids, but for the most part - they were no trouble at all. We all had time with and without the kids, even though there were too young for Camp Carnival.

 

I loved the time spent together, the fun of dressing up, the pictures, the dinners, walking around the ship, going onshore....it was all great. Will they remember this trip? No, but I will and the rest of the family will remember spending the week engaged in family fun.

 

We don't take them on every cruise, usually only about every other year. I am glad we did, and look forward to our next family cruise.

[Perfect Stranger]

DaisyGirl, with all due respect, you had four adults for each baby. ;) If it's just the parents, I wouldn't recommend it.

[Princess Ariel]

We did a 4nt cruise when my oldest was just over 7 months and it was a blast! He was an easy going baby and we were able to eat our meals in the dining room without much of a peep out of him. We went into the cruise knowing we wouldn't be out dancing all night and watching shows so we had the bar set pretty low.

 

We are now planning a cruise with our 5 year old and (maybe depending which cruise we choose) 2 year old. I do think that my 5 year old will enjoy the kids club but we like to spend our family vacations as a family so he probably won't spend that much time there. My little guy is a bit of a handful so we might not make it into the dining room for dinner every night but again we know their personalities going in so we aren't expecting much!

 

We had a blast and I am sure you will too! I loved cruising with my litte guy as he was young enough that he didn't have a say or care where he was ;) He wasn't in that wanting to walk everywhere or do things himself stage yet.

 

You know your kids personalities so you should probably have a good grasp on what they can handle!

[Kurbanfan]

We have a rule in our family........no youngins on cruises or Vegas:D

[gtalum]

In August 2008, we took a family cruise. There were 10 of us: me, DH, my 3 sons (29, 26, 25), 2 DIL, and 1 of my son's GF. Also along were my 2 grandkids (19 months and 9 months).

 

We had an absolutle blast! We had adjoining rooms to help with the kids, but for the most part - they were no trouble at all. We all had time with and without the kids, even though there were too young for Camp Carnival.

 

Having grandparents along would likely make me change my mind about cruising with a child under 2. Then it wouldn't be nearly as difficult to get some time away from the kids.

[Nunu]

We have a rule in our family........no youngins on cruises or Vegas:D

 

Wish I'd thought of that.

[Rowan555]

I wouldn't cruise with a child under 2, or a non potty-trained child. Just too much hassle, and they can't go to Camp Carnival until age 2. In addition, they can't use the pools until they are potty trained. Even if they are 2, I wouldn't cruise with a child until I knew they could enjoy being at the camp program. We cruised with some friends recently whose child cried almost every time they brought her to camp, and our friends ended up not having a very relaxing cruise. For us, the benefit of cruising is being able to let our kids enjoy the camp while we enjoy some adult time - if we had to drag them with us all around the ship, we'd all be miserable. I'd stick with a condo at the beach or something like that with really little kids.

[Rowan555]

Having grandparents along would likely make me change my mind about cruising with a child under 2. Then it wouldn't be nearly as difficult to get some time away from the kids.

 

But is that really fair to the grandparents?

[chelle74]

I don't know why taking a cruise with two small children would be any harder than LIFE with two small children. If you're breastfeeding the only extras you have to take are diapers and wipes. Babies don't need special blankets. Our youngest was 18 months when we took our last cruise and we had no issues whatsoever... other than about a zillion old ladies stopping us everywhere we went to tell us how cute he was.

 

Granted, my MIL was on the ship with us, but she only took him at one port while we went on a snorkeling excusion. The rest of the time, he was with us. It's parenting. Sometimes you parent babies and toddlers. No biggie.

 

I say, as soon as your youngest is 6 months, go for it!

[gtalum]

I don't know why taking a cruise with two small children would be any harder than LIFE with two small children.

 

For many of us, the point of vacation is to get along easier than in normal life for a bit. ;)

[Nunu]

I don't know why taking a cruise with two small children would be any harder than LIFE with two small children.

 

Unless you want to escape from that life for a few days. :confused:

[chelle74]

For many of us, the point of vacation is to get along easier than in normal life for a bit. ;)

 

Well, there's still no cooking or cleaning involved, so...

[Kurbanfan]

I don't know why taking a cruise with two small children would be any harder than LIFE with two small children.

 

 

We like to get away from every day life......while on a cruise:D

[chelle74]

I know this isn't true of everyone, nor am I suggesting it should be, but I, personally, would never have left my kids for any length of time at those ages. Especially under 1. Of course I breastfed, so logistics were involved too. We just really enjoy vacationing with the kids. Not everyone does, and that's fine.

 

HOWEVER, now that my youngest is 3 (oldest is 13)... DH and I are contemplating a 7 day without the kids sometime next year.

[chelle74]

And before anyone flips out... yes, I've left my 13 year old. And he visits my MIL in Florida for 2-3 weeks every summer. I'm an "attached" parent, but not THAT attached.

[gtalum]

Well, there's still no cooking or cleaning involved, so...

 

Hey in the end it ultimately comes down to your personal preference.

 

One of the things we REALLY like about a cruise is the opportunity for each of us, including our daughter, to do our own thing for part of the day. We also like to enjoy the nightlife That's simply not possible with an infant. In fact, I'd say the average person's dollar is better spent at an inexpensive land resort or even just by visiting family when you have an infant traveling with you. And this is coming from someone who really doesn't care for wasting valuable vacation time visiting family.

 

We don't like to leave our daughter behind either, but I still wouldn't cruise with a sub-2-year-old.

[Nunu]

And before anyone flips out... yes, I've left my 13 year old. And he visits my MIL in Florida for 2-3 weeks every summer. I'm an "attached" parent, but not THAT attached.

 

Is he a picky eater?