Looking for 6-month-old-cruiser stories

[ringpop]

While my son is only a few weeks old at the moment, we're looking at taking a warm weather vacation once he passes the 6 month milestone in January. Reading through these boards, there are a lot of wonderful stories, advice and comments regarding very young children on cruises. I'd love to hear more of these stories, since it's clear that some of you have had both very positive and very negative experiences.

 

I'm trying to compare a cruise with an all-inclusive or an unscripted Caribbean vacation with one or two sets of grandparents in tow. My wife and I have previously cruised with Celebrity. We're not really interested in parties, rock climbing, or other shipboard events, but we love a good meal followed by an evening with the jazz quartet. For this trip, we'd be happy with decent food, ocean air, and maybe a beach or two. We're not looking to escape parenthood for a week (that's for another trip). We're also not really interested in Disney at this point... maybe in another year.

 

Whether you love or hate kids on cruise ships, I'd appreciate any advice/comments on which lines and itineraries you thought were appropriate (or not). How did children change the way you vacation, or did nothing change? What was frustrating, and what was smoother than expected? Did you feel like you missed out on events and excursions? Was it worth the money in the end? etc.

 

Looking forward to your replies!

[bliss_fully_happy]

When my DD was exactly 6mo we took a NCL cruise. There are no diaper pools there, but a 6mo does not care if they are in a pool. (Brought the duck tub) They just like love an attention. Which is VERY plentiful on a cruise ship. I cruised the Jewel and we had access to the Courtyard area as we were in a suite. I think this made all the difference for us. We had no one to go with us. It was nice to have breakfast and lunch served to us in the VIP restaurant and if we could not leave the room, the butler would bring dinner right to the room or the balcony. To date this has been my favorite cruise. Though we are going on the Oasis in December with a 11mo and a 3yo. My husband cannot talk me into a land vacation. There is just so much to do on the ship. I found that navigating the buffet can be difficult, so I tend to do main seating breakfast and lunch when not in a VIP situation.

[INeedAMaiTai]

We took our then 6 month old and 3 year old on a Panama Canal cruise. Though, it was a lot of work (being mom and all), it was so much fun and everyone loves to see a little baby on a cruise. I, too, brought my parents and my in-laws, which helped in some areas; but neither of us wanted them to "babysit" the whole time. I have so many tips, and ideas that did and didn't work, it would take forever to type. If you have any specific questions, or would like to see packing lists, etc., please feel free to email me at lizcmatthews@gmail.com.

[geegee1]

We took our daughter when she was a 7 month old and it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We got lucky that she finally started sleeping through the night a month beforehand. If that didn't happen the cruise would not have been nearly as good.

[Jen&Joe]

We took our son on the Eurodam (Eastern Caribbean) when he was 6 months and it was fantastic. The staff was so great with him! There were no issues dining in the Pinnacle Grill with him either (the wait staff did tricks for him and brought him sliced banana's).

 

We found it easy getting around the ports (Grand Turk, Half Moon, St. Thomas and San Juan) and there were lots of activities that we could do with him.

 

He was great on the ship and had no issues with the movement. We had a pack n play that HAL provided but didn't use it due to space constraints so he just slept in bed with us.

[cb at sea]

For your child to get the full "Disney" experience, you'll need to wait more than a year! Around 6 is the best age for the 1st trip. Before that, they really don't appreciate the "magic" that Disney offers!

[Woodmnky]

I haven't cruised with a 6mo, but I have a 7mo currently. Honestly, last month would have been a great time to cruise. DS wasn't really mobile yet and still didn't mind being held or sitting on the floor in a small area One or two toys and some attention and he was happy. Now, he is starting to try and walk and is not really happy to sit still for long periods of time. A vacation is what you make of it. For me, I am a stay at home mom so being with DS all day is nothing new, at least on a cruise I get beautiful scenery, food cooked for me, and people to help clean up after me. For me, this is a vacation.

[cruzinlisa]

I can't give you a perspective on cruising because we have not taken our daughter cruising yet, but we just returned from a land vacation (literally a couple of days ago) and our dd is 6 months old. What I noticed which was different from other vacations we have taken alone is really that you just have to be adaptable with your plans. For example, we went to Florida and its hot and dd is very fair skinned so we could not spend too much time outdoors during the days. We just planned around it, did short outside trips and spent time on the balcony in our hotel room. You somewhat have to work around their schedule, but my experience is babies that age are pretty much go with the flow. If you have a carseat or stroller and they get tired, they will fall asleep there, on the go, so you aren't tied to a room all the time for naps. I know our dd, like most babies her age, loves attention. I imagine on a cruise everyone really would have been fawning over her. As far as any other challenges, its not really anything that different from being at home. You still have to feed, diaper, and everything else that you would have to do. The only thing to possibly consider is feeding. If you are formula feeding you would want to make sure you have bottled water available. It is supposedly filtered, but if you are anything like me, I won't use tap water anywhere that I don't absolutely know that its safe. Also, that is about the age that babies are starting to eat baby food, so you have to consider that and what they are going to eat. Really though, I think its a good time to take a vacation, because they really do just go with it. I would imagine that an older baby/toddler could be more difficult because they get into routines and stuff. And really, even if there are some limitations on what you can do, its still going to be good. Yes, you have to take care of your child's needs, but you would no matter where you were. The difference is at home, you have to take care of your own needs too. On a cruise, someone else does that for you. So that's a huge break already.

[B_Mc]

We had a great trip with a 10-month-old, just the three of us, no grandparents in tow. It was only a 4 night trip, I think any longer than that and I might not be saying it was a good trip! We also traveled in January. Here's the link to my little review:

Review!

 

We're traveling again this January but with grandparents and family in tow, but I would do it again alone!

[ringpop]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I think the question of "was it worth it?" is the most pressing question for me, and my wife particularly appreciates the replies that even if vacationing is different, it's worth having someone take care of you while you care for your child. It's also nice to see that someone thought cruising with a 6 month old was their favourite cruise!

 

I think that from these and other posts I've read, it might be worth putting off actually booking a vacation like this for a bit longer until we have a better understanding of our son's temperament and willingness to travel. Dealing with a wailing child in closed quarters (or fear thereof) and only being able to enjoy ourselves between naptimes were both factors steering me towards a land-based trip.

 

Thanks for the cruise review, B_Mc, I think that put us over the edge into thinking this was a good idea. We're pretty happy sitting on a balcony by ourselves, and it's nice to see how you managed "shifts." I'd been looking at longer cruises, but maybe a short trip would be a better experiment.

[GoldenRose]

We cruised with our son the first time when he was around 7 months old, and while it wasn't as relaxing as cruising without children, it was more relaxing than staying at home! We were on RCCL, who had a playtime scheduled each morning for children who were too young to go to the kid's club. We brought a stroller and a baby bjorn, and we took him with us on some of the shore excursions we booked, and we left him with my mother at a couple of ports while we did less kid friendly outings. (On one memorable excursion, she must have called and left messages on my cell phone half a dozen times, saying that he was fussy without us and we needed to come back. Um, we were hours away from the ship, on a kayak in the middle of a swamp with no cell phone reception. We didn't even get the messages until hours later and we were returning to the ship, and by then he'd fallen asleep.)

 

We had a great trip, and it felt like half the people (guests and crew) got to know our son. People would come up to us in the elevators and greet our son by name. It was a little disconcerting, actually.

 

We enjoyed it enough that we cruised with him again when he was 15 months old. He was more mobile then, obviously, but he also absolutely adored the cruise. Both trips were on RCCL, both trips were a week long, and my mother came with us on both trips. Having another adult in our party, even to just watch him for a few hours every other day, was really wonderful.

 

We wouldn't have enjoyed the baby age cruises nearly as much if we hadn't gotten a balcony. We could put him down for a nap, then go out on the balcony, and we never felt like we were trapped in the room and unable to enjoy being on a cruise. We got a lot of room service, which we'd never really taken advantage of on a ship before.

[AMR40509]

We've been working ourselves up to a cruise with our new son (he is also our first child).

 

He was born 03/03/11, so he is 5 months old today.

 

When he was 14 weeks old he accompanied my wife an I on a trip to a work related convention I attend every year in FL. This involved a 2 hour direct flight each way, and 3 days of hanging out by the pool/beach for him and my wife. We had a great time (well I had work related things to do...THEY had a great time). We had an ocean front room and could sit out on the balcony at night after putting him to bed. Typically we extend this trip and stay longer in South FL, or take a short cruise while we are down there. We decided not to this time, and it use it as a trial run of traveling with our son. Honestly, we should have gone ahead and extended the trip, it went very smoothly.

 

 

Last week we took a, spur of the moment, beach trip for 5 days (so he was JUST under 5 months) that involved a 10 hour drive each direction. Again, we had a fantastic time. This time we rented an ocean front 2 bedroom condo so that he could have his own room, this gave us the run of the place after he was in bed.

 

What we learned from this two trips so far is that you CAN have a lot of fun with a baby in tow. But we also were reminded of how early he goes to bed (ours sleeps though the night well, and goes to bed between 7:30-8PM) and how important it is to have a plan for after that. I think that sitting in an inside cabin in the dark every night after 8 would NOT make for a fun cruise.

 

We booked a 7 day cruise for December, so he'll be about 9 months old. We choose an aft balcony so that we'll have some place to hide out while he sleeps, and expect to have a great time.

[ridlee]

For your child to get the full "Disney" experience, you'll need to wait more than a year! Around 6 is the best age for the 1st trip. Before that, they really don't appreciate the "magic" that Disney offers!

 

 

I'm sorry because I know this is not what the topic is about but I have to disagree with the comment about 6 being the best age for disney. I took my 21 month old son this past March and everything was amazing to him. It was the most magical vacation.

[JMB22]

I honestly think it depends on your child.

 

We traveled when DS was 6 months old and it was really tough. He didn't sleep well because he wasn't home in his crib. He still woke up once/twice a night. He missed his routine and was overwhelmed with all the new people/places. He also got sick from all the new germs during traveling.

 

However, I have heard that other babies sleep really well in PNPs, love all the attention from new people, and don't mind all the changes. On a cruise, at least you have someone that will clean and cook for you, and you'll be in beautiful locations.

 

So, I think it all depends on your baby's personality.

[cantw8togo]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I think the question of "was it worth it?" is the most pressing question for me, and my wife particularly appreciates the replies that even if vacationing is different, it's worth having someone take care of you while you care for your child. It's also nice to see that someone thought cruising with a 6 month old was their favourite cruise!

 

I think that from these and other posts I've read, it might be worth putting off actually booking a vacation like this for a bit longer until we have a better understanding of our son's temperament and willingness to travel. Dealing with a wailing child in closed quarters (or fear thereof) and only being able to enjoy ourselves between naptimes were both factors steering me towards a land-based trip.

 

Thanks for the cruise review, B_Mc, I think that put us over the edge into thinking this was a good idea. We're pretty happy sitting on a balcony by ourselves, and it's nice to see how you managed "shifts." I'd been looking at longer cruises, but maybe a short trip would be a better experiment.

 

We went on our first cruise when our eldest was 6 months old, and was it worth it? YES!, especially since it was in the middle of Toronto winter. Unless you have a particular ship and intinerary in mind, I would wait to book in case you discover that your son's temperment or sleeping patterns aren't condusive to a trip in a confined space. We almost always book less than a month in advance unless there is a great deal on the cruise or the airfare. The money that you save booking later often means a balcony or higher category are more affordable and having a balcony definitely makes the trip more enjoyable.

 

At this age, choose a cruise line for the features that you want. Before you know it, your DS will be old enough to have his own opinions about which cruise line you should go on! :D Celebrity is my favourite cruise line, but my kids, now 11 & 8 prefer the bells and whistles on Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.

 

All of the cruises that we have been on, (5, all on different cruise lines,) have been seven days long. Once you factor in the time and cost of the airfare from TO, a shorter vacation would feel like you just got started when it would be time to go home. The exception would be if you did a shorter cruise and then several days at a land resort. We made the mistake on our first trip of underestimating the time and distance to the embarkation port in Aruba. We had no idea that it was five hours non stop. :eek: We were lucky that DS napped through a good chunk of the flight.

 

If you bring a reclining umbrella stroller, then you aren't neccessarily limited to the cabin at nap time. You can often find quiet, shady spots that you can park yourselves during nap time, including quiet cafes, lounges and decks over looking the sea. At night, we would either take in a show, taking seats near an exit in case we needed to duck out early, or we would take turns staying in the cabin. If DS hadn't already fallen asleep and was too tired and cranky to be out in public, I would take him back to the cabin and nurse him to sleep while hubby explored the ship and then I would go out and catch a show or just explore.

 

You have to go with the expectation that you have to be flexible and that you can't always do what you want when you want. Book the early seating for dinner. We thought our even keeled, easy going baby would quietly nap in the stroller while DH and I enjoyed a quiet dinner together, but boy were we wrong! At our first meal he screamed while DH tried to console him and that's when the mait're d came over to ask if he could help and proceeded to cut up my husband's dinner so he could eat while holding our fussy DS. Be prepared to leave the restaurant if DS gets fussy, and depending on how far into the meal you get, you can either ask for it to go or you can order room service (although sometimes it can take a long time for room service to come). Don't avoid trying the MDR just because you have a baby with you. Take along some small toys to keep him occupied and go for walks between courses. Keep to DS's regular eating and napping schedule or else you will pay the price with a cranky baby and resentful parents.

 

In port, we would often just wander around town or we hired a taxi, (don't forget the carseat). It gives you the flexibility to head back to the ship if baby gets cranky. By all means check out the local beaches, but keep in mind that babies and excessive sun don't mix. We took our Baby Trekker carrier and used it extensively, especially in the older parts of old cities. It is so much easier not having to navigate over cobblestone streets and into stores with a stroller. Travelling in Jan or Feb isn't usually too hot to use a carrier, but in the end you have to do what is right for your family. And speaking of doing what is right for your family; one last suggestion, if your DW is nursing, try not to wean before you go, nursing while travelling is so much easier.

 

Hope this helps,

 

N.