Booking for a baby not born yet

[purplemusik]

:p I know. I can't help myself but we wanted to pick out a nice, 7 day cruise with my whole family for next year ( I'm due in June ). Am I even able to put a deposit down for him yet and "secure" a spot or do I have to wait until he's born to have the actual due date? And, if I do have to do that, how does it work....he'd be whatever rate was available then? AND, I know this is a silly question that I'm SURE I know the answer to but ( with two other little ones ) I'd have to book a cabin for 5, even though he's not going to be sleeping in a bed, right?

[emelvee]

Note that I believe your baby will need to be at least 6 months old to be able to cruise. Are you planning for December?

[purplemusik]

No, this is for next year- maybe Feb/ March

[emelvee]

I guess I should have noticed "next year" in OP. :)

 

I don't know how you'd go about this...I imagine someone that does know will chime in. If it were me, I would call Carnival.

[PAPERBKWRITER]

Yor questions are best answered by a Carnival rep. If you go that route get the persons name. You always seem to get better answers when you have their name. Best wishes on the new baby.

[Ellen326]

I've done it, we had cruise credit that we had to use by a certain time, it was on Royal Caribbean though. We were able to book and they just put TBA or something until we had a name :) Call Carnival and ask about it!

[Ellen326]

Oh, I missed the other part of your post...we haven't done it on Carnival, but when my daughter was a baby, we were able to book a cabin for two since she was in a crib or pack and play...from 4 to 5 I'm not sure, but you'll be on the phone with them anyway :). You will still have to pay as a 5th passanger. It killed us to do it, especially when they weren't even eating real food yet, but we couldn't stop our cruising addiction! (And they were so nice and would bring us applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc)

[purplemusik]

Oh, I missed the other part of your post...we haven't done it on Carnival, but when my daughter was a baby, we were able to book a cabin for two since she was in a crib or pack and play...from 4 to 5 I'm not sure, but you'll be on the phone with them anyway :). You will still have to pay as a 5th passanger. It killed us to do it, especially when they weren't even eating real food yet, but we couldn't stop our cruising addiction! (And they were so nice and would bring us applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc)

 

 

Awesome. We took my son when he was 7 months old and had a blast. The crew seemed to LOVE him. I don't mind paying for the 5th passanger but when I put 5 in, it keeps bumping me to a deluxe ocean view room which is like $1000 more. I was hoping I could add him in to an inside or even outside but not deluxe because even 5th person pricing would be lower then $1000 yanno!?

[K&P Luv2Cruise]

Just a thought...

 

If you are going with family, is it possible to book one of the other children in with another family member who may need a 3 person cabin ? Once you board, it really won't matter where they sleep, and you can physically just have that child back in your cabin.

 

That way, you pay for that child in their cabin, but don't have to book the deluxe cabin.

 

The other option would be to see if there are connecting cabins where you could have the children in one, and you and DH in the other, leaving the connecting doors open which really makes for 1 large cabin with 2 bathrooms !

[CorrieCJ]

Yes... I was due in April 2011, we booked in February 2011 for a cruise in February 2012. I believe they booked it in the name of "Baby Lastname" and then when he was born, we called and gave them the name/gender. And yes, he counted as a full passenger, needed a space in the room (has something to do with lifeboats/life jackets) and we paid full price (3rd passenger) for a kid who mainly nursed and ate french fries...

[CorrieCJ]

OH and we took 2 adjacent rooms and split up (we were a family of 6) because it was much less than paying for a suite.

[purplemusik]

Great idea! I didn't even think of that ( splitting rooms ). Thanks guys!

[Zetterberg40]

This was our experience as well. We booked @ two weeks before we were due and just called after our daughter was born to give name and birthdate. No change fee. Now we sail on Saturday with our highly mobile little girl.:)

 

Yes... I was due in April 2011, we booked in February 2011 for a cruise in February 2012. I believe they booked it in the name of "Baby Lastname" and then when he was born, we called and gave them the name/gender. And yes, he counted as a full passenger, needed a space in the room (has something to do with lifeboats/life jackets) and we paid full price (3rd passenger) for a kid who mainly nursed and ate french fries...

[arpie05]

I think you can book and place a deposit for a yet to be named person but you have to include that in the deposit amount. But if you could get another adult (grandparent/aunt) to go and share the ajoining room then maybe if the kids are sleeping - you can take turns staying with them and the baby in the room.

My siblings and I have done that with my parents - we'll put all the kids in one room - that way they can sleep later and if one parent likes to go the gym early there is someone in the room with the kids - or if someone likes to stay out late and the kids need to go to bed. Plus it will be nice to have another adult - one adult per child ;)

[arpie05]

PS - sometimes if is cheaper to book the 2 rooms at a lower level room vs a more expensive room that is big enough for 5.

 

And I don't know if you are driving but we sailed once with a couple and they had brought a toddler cot with them. It looks like a travel chair/umbrella (that fit in a canvas bag) and they carried it onboard. My sister bought one at wal-mart. Perfect for 1-2 year olds.

[Tapi]

We booked our Fascination 2010 cruise before our son was born, and our Westerdam 2013 cruise before our daughter was born.

 

Both times, we already knew the names, but obviously didn't know the date of birth. We had to use the date of booking as the date of birth since the system will not allow for future dates. After our son (and then daughter) were born, we called to change the date of birth with NO problems.

 

Keep in mind that some of Carnival's rates do NOT allow name changes, so if you're booking under those rates, make sure that you can do name changes or date of birth changes without penalty (or at all).

[foxesden1]

we booked flights to hawaii when I was pg with my daughter. it went under BABY and last name

[garycarla]

heck, you could just put a name and date in there, then change the name and date later.

 

I will avoid casting opinions about sailing with 3 little ones but would suggest you visit the family cruising section here. There are challenges.

[purplemusik]

heck, you could just put a name and date in there, then change the name and date later.

 

I will avoid casting opinions about sailing with 3 little ones but would suggest you visit the family cruising section here. There are challenges.

 

 

Thankfully, I've cruised since I was 12 ( my younger brothers/sisters are much younger then me ) and I remember them at a young age ( granted some of those were on Disney which makes it a lot easier to keep them entertained-lol ) and my daughter is several years older then the younger ones so she def. behaves herself. I appreciate your input though :)

[CorrieCJ]

We had booked early saver and they did not charge us anything to change the name from "Baby" to his real name. But yes, I would ask, in case that has changed.