How young is too young?

[raina*faith]

I'm new to the idea of cruising with a young one. I have 2 girls 15 and 16 but didn't start cruising til they were 14 or so. I'm expecting now and want to cruise in December. Will that be to early to cruise with a new baby? (I'm due late June/early July)

Thanks for your help. :D

[Keith1010]

I think it really depends on the parents. If you feel that the baby will not be too much for you to handle and you can still enjoy the cruise then by all means plan to cruise. We often see young babies on our cruises. Again, this is really a personal decison and only you and your family can decide what is best.

 

Keith

[CanadianTwosome]

A lot (okay, most...) will depend on the baby. I could easily have taken my daughter anywhere at 6 months and enjoyed myself and had fun. I took a short trip with her when she was 3 months and we did a car trip with her when she was about 16 months and she was a dream. If it had been my niece, neither would have been possible because she had screaming fits until somewhere between 18 and 24 months... I guess if it were me, I might wait until after I met my baby before making the booking. If you plan to take time off during that week, you can wait and evaluate how you think your baby will do, then book in October or even November... you might even get a deal. :) If your baby is colicky or for some other reason you think it won't work out, then you've got a week off to do as much relaxing as you can at home.

[rebeccalouise]

I wouldn't book a cruise until after the baby arrives.

 

If all goes well with the pregnancy and the baby is fit for travel- then I suggest doing a short cruise the first time.

 

I did a three night cruise and brought along a group of teenagers (my son and two of his friends) who were more than happy to skip the formal dinners and eat in the buffet. So they babysat for me for me in shifts. It worked out great. There were no problems at all and we (group of 10) had a wonderful time. It was the Norwegian Majesty.

 

Since then my baby (now 7) has been on 13 cruises!

[NoelsCat]

I have to agree with the pp's. It depends on your new baby's temperment.

 

My baby was/is so mellow that we began traveling when he was barely three months old. We have never had any trouble bringing him along or going anywhere -- although from 17 to 20 months was challenging...

 

My girlfriend and her spouse are coming on our upcoming cruise with their 11 month old son. He is a very happy and friendly baby -- so I suspect that they will have no problems either. :)

 

I agree to wait for the baby to be here to decide.

 

And, btw, congratulations!!! I am envious!

[sailinglisa]

Also, check with each cruise line you are considering, as some have minumum ages for infants.

[raina*faith]

thanks guys. I probably will consider waiting! thanks. My thought was alawys bringing a new baby to an island. Then I thought I would just stay on the ship with the baby??? :)

[MommaOML]

My son was just 6.5 months on his first cruise. He is really a low-maintenance kid, so cruising with him is a dream. Our first cruise was a 5 nighter, and we definitely could have done longer!

 

I would honestly wait to see what the baby's temperment is, because you wouldn't want to be stuck on any kind of vacation with a colicky, high-needs baby. A cruise with a baby isn't necessarily a vacation for momma, but it's nice to not have to cook & clean for a few days. I'm more than willing to pay the money for that perk!

[Cruisin' Chick]

As sailinglist pointed out, each cruiseline has a minimum age, so you'll want to check the lines' websites.

 

My hubby was reluctant to take our girl on a vacation as she was very high maintenance as a baby. She even started "teething" long before she got her first tooth. And each tooth was a real adventure in parental patience. We finally took her on a three day cruise when she was 23 months on a Carnival Baja cruise. Worked out great even though she was a month too young to be in Camp Carnival. She stayed with us the whole time. We used the dining room...and she behaved herself with help from the kiddie menu and crayons, and saltine crackers. We added on a stay in San Diego for her first hotel stay and that worked out too.

 

It just takes a lot of planning. But I would wait until your child is born and then start planning a cruise.

[kitty9]

My goddaughter isn't a good candidate for a cruise. At 13 months, she still doesn't sleep through the night, screams for hours and because of that, the neighbors on either side of the cabin would be angry. As others have said, wait and see what happens once your child is born and see what the temperment is, then decide.

[calikak]

We cruised with some friends who had a 5-month old--it was us, our friends, our friends' parents, and another couple. I think it helped having all of us there to help out--we could sit with her at dinner so they could have a chance to eat, and make faces at her to keep her occupied on excursions. We did mainly bus/van tours we booked independently, and those all worked out great. She was a very laid-back baby who just wanted to chew on things and smile at people most of the time. When she got tired, she'd fuss, but otherwise she was fine. Most cruise lines have a minimum age of 4-6 months, though, so check with your TA before getting your heart set on a particular sailing. Carnival's age limit then was 4 months, not sure if it still is but it was last February. I think Disney allows kids as young as 12 weeks.

[notentirelynormal]

I think it depends on the destination too regarding age. We will be taking my 6 month old GD to Australia in March (made the cutoff by 4 days) but my 3YO GS will be on his 3rd cruise. I really agree with calikak - the more people the better. We had a large enough group that when he fussed someone took him for a quick walk and no one ended up being to inconvenienced. People were beginning to wonder who he really belonged to :D

[rubegoddess]

This might be a little off topic- but how do I make sure I get one of these mellow easy going babies you are all speaking of!? ;)

[wanderingfool]

We took DS on his first cruise when he was 5, almost 6 months old (in fact he turned 6 months old while we were in Alaska!:)) We didn't book until he was almost 4 months old, once we knew he was a low-maintenance baby.

 

It was just my husband and son and while it would have been nice to have an extra set of hands at times, we truly enjoyed ourselves as a family - in some ways it was nicer to just have the three of us ;).

 

We were on Royal Caribbean and took turns taking DS to AquaBabies at 9:30 a.m.; one parent would take care of baby and the other parent got some extra sleep (mostly me I should add!:p) We took DS on shore at all the ports we visited, and carried him in a snuggly carrier - he was perfectly happy and was still young enough to fall asleep on our chest and not be bothered by what was going on around him. I was exclusively nursing him at the time and that worked out fine too - I was glad I didn't have to lug along bottles and soap and whatnot. :)

 

We braved the formal dining room (late seating no less) and took turns holding him to eat - sometimes the waiters wanted to hold him too (homesick for their own kids) so we got to eat at the same time - he wasn't quite ready for a high chair yet. We found that the dining room provided the best "toys" ever for a six month old - soup spoons! We were fortunate in that he didn't have any sort of melt downs at all at supper time, and we had a few people come up and tell us that they didn't even know there was a baby at dinner (which was meant to be a compliment I guess! :rolleyes: )

 

It worked out well and we leave in a few days for another cruise - this time DS is 9 months old and very active and mobile so it should be interesting! Lots of easy beach excursions planned this time. :)

 

If you know that you will probably miss out on things going into it, you will be fine. If you are worried about not being able to go out late or swim in the pool with your little one (no diapers - adult or baby swim ones in most ship pools, if you didn't know that already) or go on the more adventurous shore excursions then maybe your daughters might be able to help you out. Just work out a baby sitting schedule in advance so that no one feels like they are missing out.

 

Good luck and congratulations!

[Justcat]

While I could have taken my boys (twins - now 5) cruising any time I agree with waiting. I can barely take the stress from taking my friends twins (now 1) out for a few hours - they just dont' travel well. At home they're angels - out....:eek: