Thread: Children and cruising?

My husband and I are proud parents of a 5 month old girl. We have been on 4 cruises and are just dying to go again. We want to book one for next year. By then she will be a little over a year old. I guess my question is, has anyone taken a small child on a cruise? If so, how was it and would you recommend us trying it? Please help!

We take our grandchildren on cruises and on one cruise the youngest was 2, the other 5. Several parents take young children. Your daughter will be too young for any program. There are some lines, RCI for one that has in cabin baby sitting, but I was not comfortable with that. That said we were prepared and enjoyed it very much. If you would like some free time for yourself, maybe a friend or grandpart would like to go also to give you a little freedom, but as long as you are prepared for 24 hour care it should not be an issue

My girl went on her first cruise at 23 months, one month short of being able to participate in Camp Carnival. We knew she would be with us the whole time, but it turned out to be a great vacation. It was a short cruise (three days), but the look on her face as she explored the ship and was pampered by the waitstaff and other crew members.

I have seen much younger kids on board. I guess it just depends on the child's temperament and the parents' patience whether they should go ahead and book a cruise or wait until their child is old enough for the kids' program. It does take a lot of planning as you would want to make sure you bring everything you may need (diapers, pullups, special snacks, medicine, etc.) as you may not find these things in the ship's stores.

My daughter took her first cruise at just under 13 months old.

We brought an umbrella stroller, lots of diapers and baby items... we had my older children with us and had the family stateroom on the Voyager... nice and roomy...the baby stayed in the pack n play provided by the cruiseline.

We had her with us 24 - 7... for the shows, she slept, but we stayed up back in aisle seats in case she woke up and was fussy...

Good luck,
Dolores

You would need to keep in mind of what you can and can't do and as long as you are aware of what will not be possible then I am sure you would have a great time. I find when people are not satisfied with a trip they were not going with realistic ideas.

I think the main thing would be respecting how tired your child is and not pushing that limit. We all become fussy when tired. Not just children.

You would also need to respect those on the cruise and remember some honestly came to get away from their children. I know that might seem harsh but DH and I enjoy a vacation a couple of times a year without our children. It gives us the much needed time to reconnect and it makes us much better parents. For the record, there have been few times a child has ever gotten on my nerves on a vacation. Normally it was the parent who got on my nerves.

Hi, we took my daughter on our first cruise when she was around 4. Went on Royal Caribbean, and found it to be an extremely enjoyable trip for all of us. We were seated at dinner with another couple and their 5 (?) year old (details are sketchy that long ago!). Wait staff went out of their way to make sure she was happy and I really felt that their priority was to make her feel special. My daughter has since been on 4 other cruises (one with whole family, 3 with in-laws), and we have a med. cruise in October. Between ports, excursions, and ship activities, there was always something to keep her interested. We also used the shipboard babysitting service on RC for one night, and had no problems.
Long answer, but my recommendation is that the vacation is suitable; it really depends on how well your child handles different environments, foods, etc. At the end of the day, you know your child best!
Good luck!