best cruises out of NY/NJ w/ a 1 year old baby?

[NJfoodie]

I've been trying to find a reasonable vacation for our family and was considering a cruise out of our local port to avoid the cost of flights, fees for each bag, and praying that my active non-napping baby behaves on a flight w/o driving our seat neighbors to kill us all. Our family is just my husband, me and our 9 month old son. By the time we took this vacation though, he'll be probably 12-15 months old and toddling, but not potty-trained or old enough for most programs. Almost all the major lines now sail out of either new york or bayonne, but I was trying to decide which one would be a good choice for traveling w/ a baby in order to still have an enjoyable trip for all of us. It looked like RC and Carnival were the main lines that offered anything at all for the under 2 crowd in terms of programs or babysitting, but I also like how NCL has the lwoest 3rd person fare I've seen so far, a little more flexibility w/ dining and is almost completely non-smoking in public areas. (Although it's been a few years since we've cruised so that may have changed on the other lines) What cruise line/ship would you recommend?

 

Also do you have any tips for cruising w/ the little one? I'd love to hear other parent experiences.

[cb at sea]

Both Carnival and RCI now offer "anytime" dining, so don't let that be a factor!

 

I would look into who has the best babysitting availability and costs....that's something you will most likely use!

 

Traveling with a small child is totally different from a "couples" cruise, as you will have to take into consideration the child's schedule! Most folks will recommend getting a balcony cabin, so when baby is napping, you have some place "to be", without sitting in a darkened cabin!

Also, either bring some sort of tub for bathing baby or get him used to being washed with a hand-held shower....few, if any, cabins have tubs, unless you book a suite!

Aside from a few logistics, a cruise with a small child is no different that any other vacation with them....

[shortm]

I'll be watching this with interest as we are looking for pretty much the same thing as you - except we are flying from UK to New York. I'm loving the idea of taking a little blow up pool that I read on another thread just now, could even use that for bathing too.

[A&Jfamily]

I am not a RCI fan, so my choice is Carnival - more bang for your buck. Personally, I think cruising with a child under 2 (CCL takes them in Camp @ 2, I think most other lines are 3) would be difficult, though I know may on here have. For me, the joy of cruising lies in being able to use camp for free - so that I can have some down time - usually after breakfast. They spend the morning in camp, and then I leave it up to them whether they want to go back to camp, or to the pool or putt-putt with me after lunch. They always want to go back to camp at night so DH and I can go to shows, or a bar. So, if it was me, I would pick a land based vacation such as a beach for now and save the cruising until your little one was 2.

 

But if you have your heart set on going, from Crusinmama, it appears that RCI or Disney would be your choices since they have water areas for kids that aren't potty trained. Now, if you picked a CCL ship with the waterworks, my guess is that a non-potty trained child could run around in the water areas under the spray, just not get "IN" on the slides. Anyone have experience with this? I haven't been on a ship with this feature yet...

[crusinmama06]

Anyone have experience with this? I haven't been on a ship with this feature yet...

 

It depends on who you talk to ;) On the CCL web site - it says no, the kids must be potty trained, even for the water works. But by all accounts, the crew is allowing it once onboard. You know how that goes.

 

NJFoodie, you have to figure out what's important to you. If having a water area available for your child, then flying to Florida is your only option. Unless you want to bring a small inflatable tub for him to splash in. The ships that allow non potty trained infants/toddlers in a water area are Royal Caribbean Freedom/Liberty/Independence/Oasis of the Seas or Disney Wonder/Magic and probably Disney Dream.

 

Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas has a nursery for Under 2's (fees apply) and the other RCCL ships have in cabin sitting at night for those 12 months and older.

 

Disney has a nursery for Under 2's (fees apply)

 

Carnival has group babysitting for Under 2's but only for a couple of hours during the daytime and after 10pm at night (fees apply)

 

You could go on Carnival or Royal Caribbean and choose the same "Freestyle" option as NCL. So don't let that guide you. The one problem I have with the Freestyle concept on NCL specifically is all of the dining areas aren't included in the price of the cruise. There just seems to be many that aren't included. And they aren't really upfront about which ones aren't covered. Go to their web site, they don't lay out the fees. The fees range from $10pp to $25pp for many of their restaurants.

 

One last thing, if you are planning to cruise out of NY/NJ/Baltimore in order to save money...don't ;) You don't save money by cruising out of the North Eastern ports since many of these cruises are higher than the ones leaving Florida. It's supply/demand. Only a few ships leave the North East, the prices are much higher. It's almost always cheaper for us to fly to Florida and cruise. :)

[shortm]

Wow, don't know whether that's helped the OP but it's helped me loads. We'd been looking at cruising my picking a destination and doing it that way, but actually I'll think we'll work backwards and see where Oasis of the Seas goes and when as the nursery for under 2s would be perfect. Don't suppose you know whether they also still have the Royal Babies program that you go to with your child ? I'm not that keen in putting DD in the nursery everyday but maybe for a couple of afternoons.

[A&Jfamily]

It depends on who you talk to ;) On the CCL web site - it says no, the kids must be potty trained, even for the water works. But by all accounts, the crew is allowing it once onboard. You know how that goes.

 

Know exactly what you mean. Glad mine are beyond that stage so I don't have those issues. But it good to know for others who may be asking.

 

One last thing, if you are planning to cruise out of NY/NJ/Baltimore in order to save money...don't ;) You don't save money by cruising out of the North Eastern ports since many of these cruises are higher than the ones leaving Florida. It's supply/demand. Only a few ships leave the North East, the prices are much higher. It's almost always cheaper for us to fly to Florida and cruise. :)

 

I have to second this - run a price check and you will see that the rates are $500+ more per person, especially in the summer months. With SW and AT, you can fly at 1/2 that per person. Though I would dearly love to cruise out of Balt. since it is 4 hrs from here. The exception I have found is NY to Cananda in the summer, and the Fascination out of JAX (that is only an 8 hr drive for us, so when you take into account the drive to the airport, early arrival, flight time etc, it is worth driving).

[patseacruiser]

Yes they have Royal Babies

[crusinmama06]

Wow, don't know whether that's helped the OP but it's helped me loads. We'd been looking at cruising my picking a destination and doing it that way, but actually I'll think we'll work backwards and see where Oasis of the Seas goes and when as the nursery for under 2s would be perfect. Don't suppose you know whether they also still have the Royal Babies program that you go to with your child ? I'm not that keen in putting DD in the nursery everyday but maybe for a couple of afternoons.

 

I do have to warn you, Oasis is very expensive right now because it is brand spanking new.

 

Every RCCL ship seems to have the Royal Baby/Tot program. I haven't heard that Oasis is any different.

 

I would try the in cabin sitting using Freedom/Liberty/Independence. The prices of those ships have been better ever since Oasis was released.

 

 

I have to second this - run a price check and you will see that the rates are $500+ more per person, especially in the summer months. With SW and AT, you can fly at 1/2 that per person. Though I would dearly love to cruise out of Balt. since it is 4 hrs from here. The exception I have found is NY to Cananda in the summer, and the Fascination out of JAX (that is only an 8 hr drive for us, so when you take into account the drive to the airport, early arrival, flight time etc, it is worth driving).

 

Exactly, that's why we did Triumph. And even looking at the Glory out of NYC for June 2010, prices are starting at something like $229 for Canadian cruise.

[Boatingmom]

You're limited if youre only willing to go out of the NJ/NY area. You also have at least a day sailing the rougher Atlantic. I suggest you book a cheap flight to FLa and do a Disney cruise. Their infant/toddler program appeared to be more hands on. I dont recall the other lines really dealing with infants. Remember...Dont expect an adult cruise. Its a different experience sailing with children, but managable.

 

PS I don't know why your child doesnt nap, but that can lend itself to a really cranky child in the evening and you and hubby won't be able to go anywhere. I suggest you try to get the little one on a napping schedule before the cruise for his sake as well as yours.

[cruisinsb]

I just returned from a Princess cruise with my 11 month old son. We had a great time, even though it was not as relaxing as our previous vacations. Webrought our monitor, which we could not live without. However, we had family members in the cabins around us, so when our son was sleeping, we could bring the monitor and ang out in their cabins. Since some people may take this the wrong way, I also feel the need to note that I did not leave my son alone in the cabin, unless we were right next door or across the hall with a video monitor to be able to watch him. Also, the other thing we could no live without was our stroller. We brought one that reclines so he could nap on the pool deck. Also, I brought way too many dressier clothes for him to wear to dinner. We ate after he was asleep (he slept in the stroller next to our table), so he wore his pjs every night. If you have any other questions, let me know.

[highbridge5]

Since you were looking at NYC/NJ for cost/convenience reasons, I am going to post what our costs are for our cruise out of Baltimore so you have a example.

 

We are booked through a AAA group rate on a seven day cruise from Baltimore on the Carnival Pride in late January 2010. We're doing it for about $90 per person per day.

 

We have a 3 person balcony cabin on deck 8 for $520 pp for the first 2 and $110 for the 3rd. But, each person has 159.00 in port fees and another 60.89 in taxes.

 

With taxes etc.:

Person one and two: 739.89

Person three: 329.89.

 

It comes to about $86/day per person for food and lodging. You have to throw in parking and tips etc. but those are expenses you have no matter what.

 

(There are 7 of us in 3 cabins but this cabin is the most applicable to your 3 person needs.)

 

I picked Baltimore because we can drive there. I was reluctant to spend the money to fly 5 of us to Florida and then pay for a cruise on top of the airfare. We are staying overnight the day before, just to leave room for bad weather but one hotel room is $180 for 5 of us and includes parking for the week we are gone and transportation to and from the ship and breakfast the day we embark. Parking at the port is only about $65 so the hotel is not quite a wash for the parking.

 

If this helps, great :D. If this violates the rules of the forum by posting prices, my apologies :eek:...

 

hb5