Stuck between two cruises

[glituner32]

Posted this over in Carnival thread, but wanted to hear what RCCL customers had to think.

 

Stuck between two cruises. So here is the dilemma. My wife and I have a newborn she’s 3 months now. We plan on taking a family cruise when she’s either 8 months old in December. My parents will also be coming on the cruise so we will have help. My choices are to either keep it local or fly to FL. We live in DC area.

 

Choice 1: Take Carnival Pride out of Baltimore 7 day cruise, port canaveral, Freeport and Nassau. This would be the cheaper option.

 

Pros: Don’t have to fly, Cheaper. Drive to port.

 

Cons: Ports are okay , 7 day long cruise not sure if it might to be long for the baby.

 

Choice 2. RCCL Allure of the seas. 5 Day cruise, FLL, Ports Nassau and Cozumel.

 

Pros: Better ship, more things to do.

Cons: cost more, have to fly.

 

I’m mostly not worried about the cost of the trip but for if you guys had an infant which itinerary would you choose.

 

Thanks

Stan

[DonnaK]

You should post on the family board. Folks there can give you specific info regarding these ships with an infant.

 

Allure has a splash zone for infants (most ships do not have swimming facilities for children who aren't potty trained).

[Ourusualbeach]

Not sure if you noticed but the prices dropped on the Allure 5 day cruise earlier today by about 10%.

[perkli25]

We are taking our daughter who will be 18 months on Oasis in February. The kids pool was a big factor. Plus just having the ship be a destination since we didn't know how she would do in port. Also, we sailed Allure 2 years ago with friends who's son was right at 8 months. He did great. The dining room crew was great with him. He enjoyed the kids pool and the nursery had toys he and his parents could go play with.

 

Allure has a nursery that offers babysitting service as well. Don't know if that is something that is important to you.

 

 

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[jsfromsc]

The Carnival Spirit class ships are my favorite, but I'm not keen on those ports. I've never cruised with an infant, and usually I'd vote for the longer cruise, but perhaps with your infant, a shorter one would be better. If there were any problems, you'd be home quicker. On the other hand, if Carnival is cheaper, maybe you could afford a larger room where you'd have more space for all the baby items. I'm sorry not to be more help by giving you a definite opinion one way or the other. These are just the things I would think about when traveling with an infant or small child.

[cincicruisers]

Be thoughtful on the time of year to cruise. Going out of Baltimore you will have chilly weather the first and last day.

[glituner32]

Not sure if you noticed but the prices dropped on the Allure 5 day cruise earlier today by about 10%.

 

Thanks, I checked last night it was still a little more then what i paid. Maybe it went back up last night

[micmacmissy]

Definitely pick Allure.

 

Pros:

1- it's not carnival

2- newer bigger ship

3- entire cruise will be warm

4- better itinerary

 

Cons:

1- you have to fly. But so what? Unless it's xmas week flights in Dec aren't terrible. And you could get there a day early and relax.