Crusing with or without infant....

[MandyGirl]

 

My point in all this is simply to say that each child is unique unto himself or herself, and there's just no way that a one-size-fits-all "policy" on whether or not to travel with children will work. Everyone needs to do what is best for them.

 

Absolutely! That is pretty much what I said in a previous post on this thread ("when someone tells you toddlers do not travel well, I definitely know that they cannot be referring to ALL toddlers because our's have traveled so much with much ease."). One person will say 'toddlers don't travel well', and another will share their own personal experiences (like me) that things aren't necessarily a negative in that area. Each child is unique - whether it is how they travel, how they sleep, what they eat, when they cut teeth, etc. Just sharing my own personal travel experiences with our two children so far to point out not all toddlers are bad travelers. :) And no, we do not use medication at all like a pediatrician had suggested to us. Just rest, available food, and go-with-the-flow.

[alj1208]

My vote is, wait and see how you feel after the baby's born. If the choice is between cruising with a baby versus a toddler, I'd go with the baby. Toddlers can be very tough to travel with, especially if they are the active type, like my DS. I think the Oasis has a nursery for a little alone time if you are comfortable with that.

[milton333]

If you're looking at Oasis or Allure, you should know that these ships (along with Freedom, Liberty, Radiance, and Splendour) have (or soon will have) the Royal Babies and Tots nursery. It is a daycare-style setup where you can leave a child between 6 and 36 months, for an hourly fee. Some of those who traveled with kids and didn't like it did not have anywhere to leave kids for a few hours of grown-up time, because the ages for the free kids' clubs are typically 2 or 3.

 

We're planning to do Freedom this fall when my son is 20 months, and never considered leaving him at home. We do plan to utilize the Royal Tots nursery to get some mom and dad time, however. For us, we'd rather have some time at the pool and a quiet dinner alone without having to be completely without DS for an entire week. We both work, we want a vacation to be a time to reconnect as a family as well as couple time.

 

I really think it's possible to have both. Yes, you may have to be an early riser, but can drop kiddo off at the nursery and take a nap together. It really comes down to parenting style, and while you should have some ideas of how you will parent now, a lot of things become less theoretical and more immediate once your child is in your arms.

[AandBmom]

I had a cruise on Oasis planned for Aug. 2012 (that we booked last year on our Liberty of the Seas Cruise) but recently found out that I am preggo and will be delivering in Dec. 2011. I want to push the trip to 2013 and possibly take my baby. By that time he /she will be over 1 years old and can walk some. My husband does not mind pushing the cruise back just for money purposes but really does not like the idea of taking the baby on a cruise when one of the granmothers can watch him / her and plus he does not want the baby to be exposed to stuff (I dont know what the hell he is talking about as far as that goes. I am guessing germs and norovirus or something). I personally feel that I would be sad the entire time leaving my baby for a week. My main question is has anyone cruised without their little one before? Did you feel guilty? Thanks

 

I think you need to consider if you will be breastfeeding for the recommended whole first year. If so, leaving your baby for a week is out of the question.

 

As for taking your child. Well he/she will be exposed to tons of viruses if you plan to ever leave your home, heck, even in your home so tell your husband to do some research on that one and calm down. I have 4 children and have cruised with 3 out of 4 of them. I can tell you that I would 100% rather cruise with an infant than a toddler. The infant will likely not be on the go yet and will be much easier to manage. We just cruised with our 8mos old and she was a dream. She fell asleep in her stroller when she was tired and we were able to be out and about doing stuff around the ship or in port. We were never afraid of her getting out of our sight or going near the edge of the ship b/c she wasn't mobile yet. It was much easier to fly with her napping on our laps, than squirming to get down and walk around. I felt we were able to still enjoy the trip ourselves rather than spend the week chasing a toddler.

 

Just my 2 cents. Enjoy either way and good luck with your birth.

[Katiebug430]

We chose to take our baby on our cruise with us for a few reasons. She'll be 10 months old when we cruise next month.

 

1) She's breastfed and while I could leave her for 6 days, I have absolutely no desire to do so. I'd have to pump at least 5-6 times a day and would need to dump most of the milk due to lack of appropriate refrigeration. She's at peak age for nursing strikes and I don't want to risk that, either.

 

2) DH works 2nd shift and the baby is in daycare while I'm at work, so the three of us don't get much time together as a family. I am so excited at the prospect of spending a week with my husband and our daughter. :)

 

 

We didn't offer to pay for the grandparents to come or anything like that; we don't have the money to do so and I don't want them feeling like they're only coming to babysit. Plus my mom can be a bit overbearing at times when the baby's involved, and frankly I don't feel like arguing with her. :o

 

It will be a different cruise experience than our previous vacations, but if one of us really wants to go to one of the late night shows then the other will stay with the baby. We can get room service and even drinks sent to the room in the evening. :D There's a TV and we're bringing our portable DVD player and Kindle for in the cabin once the baby goes to sleep - we were never big party animals anyways. I think our expectations are reasonable; it's not going to be how it was before, but it's still a 5 night cruise where I/we don't have to cook, clean, or go to work and we can just enjoy time together.

[rin1]

Katiebug430 - We chose to bring DD at 8 mo for similar reasons and had reasonable expectations, like you appear to. I think that's the key to having a good time. :-)

[lolakat]

I've done it both ways. I cruised with DD at 6 mo, 7mo, 18 mo, 2.5 yrs and 3.5 yrs and without her when she was a little less than 2.5 yrs old. I generally take 1 week of vacation without her yearly with either my husband or mother.

 

Cruising with a toddler is fun in its own way but it is also a lot of work. We were on NCL and more recently DCL. On NCL there were no babysitting options so we had DD with us all the time. at 2.5 and 3.5 yrs old there have been options but DD does not like to be left there without us and I won't force her to do it. On RCCL you will have the option of in room babysitting or the nursery on the newer ships. If you/your child feel comfortable with those options you might get some time alone. If not you will be on mommy duty 24/7. (not that that is a bad thing its just very different than cruising with out kids) Some kids will nap in their strollers while you do activities or grab a drink. My DD was never too good with that. We mostly did things that entertained her, I never really could do the shows or any type of adult entertainment or just lay by the pool. I think when cruising with young kids it is a good idea to just have a take it as it comes" attitude and not too many preconceived idea about how things will be. This is especially true since you don't have any idea what the personality/disponsition of your unborn child is at this point.

 

I have never really worried about infection for my DD on the ship. Then again, I work in a hospital and likely contact way more dangerous infections on a daily basis than what you find on the ship. Good handwashing techniques will prevent most infections.

 

When vacationing without DD I do feel a little guilty, more so now that she is older and will vocalize that she misses me. On the other hand, it does not ruin my trip and I do not spend all day thinking about her or whish she was there. I really look forward to that time to relax, recharge and have some "me" time. If it is a cruise I can enjoy peacefully relaxing by the pool, slow quiet dinners, shows, night time entertainment and shore excursions that are not appropriate for my daughter. As long as you have good safe care available for your child (ie responsible grandparents) I think you can certainly go and have a good time. Life is about finding balance.

 

I would add your DC to the booking for now to save a place on the ship. If that will give you some time to think about what works for your family. After the child's birth you may have a better sense of how you feel about things. If you deceide to cruise without the baby you can always drop her/him from the reservation prior to final payment.

 

Congrats on the addition to your family and good luck with your decision. I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip regardless of what you choose.

[MMoore1851]

Well, count me as one who would leave bambino at home... My husband and I took a 15 month old to Disney in December and it was EXHAUSTING, even though my mother-in-law came, too. She wanted to walk everywhere instead of riding in her stroller, got her nap/feeding schedule all thrown off, and was generally miserable and we were, too. I never could just relax and enjoy myself, I was watching her constantly, and it just wasn't a vacation for us, it was normal parenting that cost us $3000 for the week.

 

We took a long weekend trip when she was six months old...It was difficult, especially because I was breast feeding. I lugged two electric and one manual pumps with me and had to dump every bit of that milk, it made me sick. But I and my husband needed a little time to ourselves, and she was just fine without us. Both grandmothers came and stayed at our house and kept her and they had a ball.

 

We're taking her to the beach for a couple of days in July, but NOT on our 'big' trip in September this year.

[figgyva]

I had a cruise on Oasis planned for Aug. 2012 (that we booked last year on our Liberty of the Seas Cruise) but recently found out that I am preggo and will be delivering in Dec. 2011. I want to push the trip to 2013 and possibly take my baby. By that time he /she will be over 1 years old and can walk some. My husband does not mind pushing the cruise back just for money purposes but really does not like the idea of taking the baby on a cruise when one of the granmothers can watch him / her and plus he does not want the baby to be exposed to stuff (I dont know what the hell he is talking about as far as that goes. I am guessing germs and norovirus or something). I personally feel that I would be sad the entire time leaving my baby for a week. My main question is has anyone cruised without their little one before? Did you feel guilty? Thanks

Going back to your original posting, making the decision to leave your little one for any period of time is tough. One of the toughest decisions you'll make is taking that one opportunity to go out on your first real date after weeks (or months) of just being a baby care factory. My wife and I struggled with this through two children...and sometimes it just comes down to the fact that you need to get away to gain a little of your sanity back. Then, that first trip away will be rough, especially if you choose to take a cruise and will have limited ability to communicate back home.

 

Given that this will be your first child, you really have no idea of what your parenting philosophy will be until you're in it. My children have traveled domestically and internationally since they were each babies, and they both respond to travel differently. I do love traveling with them because I love seeing how they experience something new to them that may be old school for me, but traveling with young children on a family vacation is work.

 

I also love taking time for my wife and I to just go and feel like we're more to each other than just partner parents. With the first child, we left her with her grandparents for a week when she was just over a year while we enjoyed a cruise on RCI Enchantment. It was a rough decision, but one of the best that we've made as parents. We simply needed the time off, and the cruise was a great way to get it. With the second, we took four days to cruise with RCI Liberty when she was 18 months old, and enjoyed ourselves completely.

 

This year, we've decided to take them on their first cruise on RCI Allure (July). We know that it will be a completely different experience, but we think that it's an experience that we need to share. The older one is now 7 and can go into the kids program, and the little one is 2 and will probably be a handful.

 

I like the suggestion of putting the deposit down for three with the potential of losing the deposit. That will give you a chance to determine whether you are able to let go for a little while (remember, his/her path to independence starts the day he/she is born...it's OK to provide the experience of separation for little while). Then, decide what experience you're looking for. If you want to have an opportunity to re-engage with your husband as a married couple, then work your mind up to letting yourself go. Otherwise, if you want to share a new experience as a family, then work you mind up to the fact that a family vacation will be less of a vacation for you, but will certainly have its moments. No matter what anyone here may say, neither decision is a bad one, but you should give yourself a little time after having your baby to make it.

 

That said, congratulations and good luck!

[RedskinsCruiser2010]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am leaning toward just putting the deposit down for the extra person just in case. My husband thinks we should go alone and I can see why because he knows that soon as the baby comes it will be 100% about the little person that we made. I changed the cruise to 2013 on Allue (I know it is so far away) but it gives us time to pay for the cruise and save some money to have fun. Thanks again everyone.