josh,katie,janie,&baby Posted May 25, 2007 #1 Share Posted May 25, 2007 First time cruiser. First time poster. I am due with our second baby in early November and my extended family (which is only about 20 of us) is planning a South Carribean/Panama Canal Cruise on Holland America for early February. Here are my big concerns: Taking a 12-week old on a cruise where they will be susceptible to getting sick. Taking a 12-week old (and a three-year-old, for that matter) into cities in Central America. I don't consider myself paranoid when it comes to my kids. We travel often and confidently. But this is entirely new territory!!! Suggestions please! Katie in Seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twingirlmomma Posted May 25, 2007 #2 Share Posted May 25, 2007 12wks? Yikes. You may want to do a little research on vaccinations in the countries your visiting. Even on a cruise ship there are so many people from other countries who don't have the same vaccination regulations that the US has. The babies immune system isn't fully developed at that age so ask the opinion of your pediatrician. Good Luck to you, Happy sailing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carol54 Posted May 25, 2007 #3 Share Posted May 25, 2007 I have to agree with the previous poster. Have you checked with your pediatrician? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted May 25, 2007 #4 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Most people I have talked to said the Panama experience was best from the ship. They regretted getting off in the ports. They didn't feel A. Safe and they said that there was nothing of interest for them. Very poor. As for a 12 week old- if you are breast feeding then your baby's immune system will be very good. It sounds like a family vacation and you will have plenty of helpful hands. I doubt your pediatrician will be able to advise you to go since the baby hasn't been born yet and the cruise will have to be paid in full before the baby is born. Buy trip insurance just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 25, 2007 #5 Share Posted May 25, 2007 First time cruiser. First time poster. I am due with our second baby in early November and my extended family (which is only about 20 of us) is planning a South Carribean/Panama Canal Cruise on Holland America for early February. Here are my big concerns: Taking a 12-week old on a cruise where they will be susceptible to getting sick. Taking a 12-week old (and a three-year-old, for that matter) into cities in Central America. I don't consider myself paranoid when it comes to my kids. We travel often and confidently. But this is entirely new territory!!! Suggestions please! Katie in Seattle I dont know that I would travel with a 12 week old. From what I have read, and from my own DS situation, babies under 16 weeks old need a set schedule and a LOT of sleep. But I would not be too worried about disease or illness. Dont eat or drink any locally cooked food or beverages and dont let the kids "loose" in high traffic areas where they could touch surfaces and then touch their own eyes/nose/mouth and get themselves sick. I too was worried about crusing with DS at 6 months and norovirus. But I knew that norovirus wasnt going to kill him and I also knew that he would be the last person likely to pick it up, as he would be in my arms, or daddy's arms, most of the time. I did consider bringing 409 and wiping down the cabin when we first got there, just in case. But I resolved myself to see how I felt about it once i got there and, if I still felt a small cleaning was in order, i could use DS's wipes to do it. Happy Sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 25, 2007 #6 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Ironically enough - taking our 6 month old on a 5 night cruise allowed him to finally get a break from the recurrent colds he had kept catching from daycare! The break didnt last long as he caught another one 2 weeks after we got back - but it was fun to be able to enjoy him as a healthy baby for 3 weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas80 Posted May 25, 2007 #7 Share Posted May 25, 2007 check this site out for more information http://www.cdc.gov/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukeswalker Posted May 25, 2007 #8 Share Posted May 25, 2007 I'm not sure if you've thought of this yet...but you might want to consider nursing your lil' one - since at 12 weeks they wont have many of their vaccinations yet and their immune system is no where near complete (takes a few years) - nursing will allow your child to receive lots of protection and antibodies from you...thus keeping him happy, healthy and safe. Plus, you would never have to worry about bottled water (and finding some) to make formula, wash bottles, nipples etc....I think I would feel ok bringing a 12 week (and a 3yo) if I was nursing the lil' one....and there were no complications. Heck - I traveled with my 1st at about 12 weeks and it was the easiest trip with kids I've ever taken - all they really want/need is mama.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bewitchedwitch Posted May 25, 2007 #9 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Umm..besides all the other obvious reasons that the previous posters have stated, I think that most cruise lines do not even allow babies that young to travel on a cruise. You might want to check into the age requirement of a baby for the cruiselines you are looking into before getting your hopes up about any kind of cruise. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmgaritty Posted May 25, 2007 #10 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Did you check with the cruise line to see what the age limit is? On some cruises the infant age may change from 3 mos to 6 or 9 months depending on the lenghth/destination of the cruise. Buy insurance just in case you deliver late and the baby is less than 12 weeks! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh,katie,janie,&baby Posted May 25, 2007 Author #11 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Thanks to all for your thoughtful responses! Holland America does have a minimum age of 12 weeks, believe it or not. Surprising since some require children to be 6 months or even a year old (Princess). I am planning on nursing, and baby can have a flu shot that young, so both of those are positives. I'm really not too concerned about travelling with the baby- my pre-schooler will be far more high maintainence, but luckily grandma & grandpa will be with us! Again, thank you for all the advice! Katie in Seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted May 26, 2007 #12 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Wow yeah I would say to get cruise insurance and check to see what happens if the baby comes late and isn't 12 weeks (minimum for Holland). Will the insurance pay for trip cancellation? Is the airfare covered under that trip insurance? Make sure your insurance is 100% iron clad before you even attempt it. I've had some BAD experiences with cruise insurance. Not to scare you but my youngest (8 months old at the time) caught something onboard the Disney Magic, she stopped breathing, seized (for 40 minutes) and had to be medically evacuated after spending 2 days in the ship's hospital. The doctor at Port Canaveral (where we were sent to) couldn't clear us to fly when we were suppose to (on Saturday), he needed us to stay till Monday. So we thought the trip insurance (handled by the AAA travel agent) would cover everything. I was very specific with my TA that I wanted the insurance to cover EVERYTHING. Well US Air has a no-cancellation policy even WITH medical emergencies. So we all had to buy NEW tickets (x5) and of course it was the most expensive ticket ever because we were buying them 2 days before leaving. We had to pay for the hotel to stay in. And of course all of the ship's medical expenses and the hospital medical expenses. The insurance ended up covering NOTHING. My TA didn't link the air to the cruise. :mad: Then the insurance wanted a letter written by the doctor stating that we couldn't fly on the day we were suppose to. The hospital wouldn't allow the doctor to write the letter because "If our doctors wrote letters than they would have no time to see patients." :rolleyes: I am a little wiser now. And that TA is gone. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted May 26, 2007 #13 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Yeah, I think it might be ill-advised to book a cruise like that at this time unless you know for sure that you will be able to cancel with the cruise insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted May 26, 2007 #14 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Eeek and I JUST noticed the time you are sailing....prime cold/flu season. That was our problem with our youngest on the Magic. We were sailing during her sister's 5th birthday in February 2005 and it seemed like the whole darn ship was sick...everyone was coughing. (And my children were both breastfed till age 1 so that didn't ward off the illness on a cruise) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted May 26, 2007 #15 Share Posted May 26, 2007 After reading all the posts here- I would say not to go on this particular trip and perhaps the family could do another at a later date. I know how you probably feel. My parents would have paid for my two sons to go to South America on a 15 night cruise in January. It would be about a $ 15,000 vacation. But because my sons are in school at that time I won't be able to go. I am sure that I won't be receiving the cash instead! Sometimes, in life these trips just aren't in the cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellie100 Posted May 27, 2007 #16 Share Posted May 27, 2007 First time cruiser. First time poster. I am due with our second baby in early November and my extended family (which is only about 20 of us) is planning a South Carribean/Panama Canal Cruise on Holland America for early February. Here are my big concerns: Taking a 12-week old on a cruise where they will be susceptible to getting sick. Taking a 12-week old (and a three-year-old, for that matter) into cities in Central America. I don't consider myself paranoid when it comes to my kids. We travel often and confidently. But this is entirely new territory!!! Suggestions please! Katie in Seattle Hi Katie, I traveled with our 12-week-old and a 3-year-old kids in November (plus my 3-yr-old and 5-yr-old nephews - it was a family cruise as well). We did an 11-day cruise to Mexico. These are really great ages for travel. A 12-week-old is a particularly good age because they are not on the ground, crawling, walking, putting things in their mouths, etc. You can basically control who and what they touch. I put my baby in a sling-carrier and didn't let people really touch her much, especially in port. And I breastfed, which made it even that much easier and sterile, since I didn't have to deal with mixing water for formula, bottle cleaning, or stuff like that. I'd let her sleep and eat in the sling, so it was easy to protect her and control her environment. We still did lots of fun kid shore excursions (there were 6 ports), mostly beach excursions where my son had a blast. The only time having a little one really slowed me down was having to be in the cabin by about 8:30 or 9 every night, or she'd get really cranky. So, I'd lay down and nurse her to sleep and then read and relax on the balcony. I could have gotten a sitter, but, honestly, the extra relaxtion time was nice. And then I'd wake up rested and fresh every morning. We always got room service for breakfast, too. Then we could eat leasurely on the balcony when we got the kids fed, dressed, sunscreened, and ready for the day. Sometimes I'd even get coffee before everyone woke up and drink it on the balcony. Yeah, that's the life! I would definitely do another cruise with an immobile baby - they are so much easier before they crawl and walk. I would of course get the appropriate level of cruise insurance in case things go astray, but I would even recommend travel insurance for people traveling without little ones. Have fun, I wish it were me!!! Shellie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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