Minimum age requirements for children on Carnival

[taminator]

Has anyone had a problem with booking a cruise with a young child -- under one year old -- with Carnival?

 

We booked a Hawaiian cruise for May and one couple in our group has a three-month-old daughter who will be five days shy of six months when the cruise departs.

 

We were just informed via letter this week that the child cannot go on the cruise now because the Carnival booking agent made a mistake and should not have allowed the booking in the first place.

 

According to someone I spoke with at Carnival today, Carnival's policy apparently is children must be at least six months old, with the exception of trans-Atlantic and Hawaiian cruises, which require children to be at least 12 months old.

 

Eight of us have already booked cabins, airline tickets, and hotels for this cruise, but we are now being told they made a mistake and that the couple with the infant can't go.

 

Anyone else face this situation? Any suggestions as to how to escalate this up the chain of command to resolve it?

 

I checked with Royal Caribbean today and it has no minimum age requirements, so I'm not sure why Carnival has such a policy in place.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Aidansmommy2]

There policy is what it is and they aren't going to change it for your friends or anyone else so there is really nothing you can do about it at this point. I think the age limits are basically a health concern as small babies are more prone to sickness as their immune systems are still developing. I can only suggest that if you are within the time you can cancel, you do so and book with another cruise line that will accomodate a young infant. Good luck!

Happy Cruising :)

Barb

[boaterette]

It is the policy. It is unfortunate that the booking agent made a mistake but to expect Carnival to change their policy is really rather ridiculous.

[LHP]

 

I checked with Royal Caribbean today and it has no minimum age requirements, so I'm not sure why Carnival has such a policy in place.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Carnival has had a policy for years that no child under the age of 4 months was allowed on any cruise. Now that has been raised to 6 months for all general cruises and the standard 1 year for transatlantic.

 

The reason is obvious...the safety of an infant!

 

An infant can get something as simple as Norwalk and die. Adults will just suffer through the symptoms (as unpleasant as they are) but infants can dehydrate quickly and die. And when you are days away from any port for help, it is only good common sense that you would not take that kind of risk with an infant.

[SATXLady]

Per the FAQ, they will not make any exceptions. http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Infant_Policy.aspx

 

Can I sail with my infant?

 

Minimum age for sailing will be generally 6 months and 12 months for Transatlantic, Hawaii and South American cruises. This is a company policy which takes into consideration the safety and comfort of the infant as well as the other guests. Carnival has fully researched the legality of the policy and it is not discriminatory and does not violate any applicable law. Carnival will not make exceptions and do not allow for the signing of waivers or releases to make an exception to the policy.

[CynCyn]

They may change it.... I was on Fantasy last week and saw a family several times with an infant. The baby could not have been very old, certainly not six months old. It was not even holding its head up yet. I never spoke with them, so I do not know their situation. I would call and ask for a supervisor and ask for a supervisor until I got the answer I wanted. I am almost certain that they will change their tune when faced with such major cancellations. They may feel you are too far in the process for everyone to cancel, but if you tell them you will, I bet they can find a way to make an exception. I feel that this will be a case of who blinks first.

[LHP]

They may change it.... I was on Fantasy last week and saw a family several times with an infant. The baby could not have been very old, certainly not six months old. It was not even holding its head up yet. I never spoke with them, so I do not know their situation. I would call and ask for a supervisor and ask for a supervisor until I got the answer I wanted. I am almost certain that they will change their tune when faced with such major cancellations. They may feel you are too far in the process for everyone to cancel, but if you tell them you will, I bet they can find a way to make an exception. I feel that this will be a case of who blinks first.

 

Current cruises may still be running on the 4 month minimum. Carnival just make the change to 6 months and cruises already booked would be grandfathered in.

[taminator]

They may change it.... I was on Fantasy last week and saw a family several times with an infant. The baby could not have been very old, certainly not six months old. It was not even holding its head up yet. I never spoke with them, so I do not know their situation. I would call and ask for a supervisor and ask for a supervisor until I got the answer I wanted. I am almost certain that they will change their tune when faced with such major cancellations. They may feel you are too far in the process for everyone to cancel, but if you tell them you will, I bet they can find a way to make an exception. I feel that this will be a case of who blinks first.

 

 

Update: Carnival today backed down and said it will allow the infant on the cruise. To make a long story short, they admitted that there would be other passengers with infants under the age of 12 months on this cruise because they booked prior to the policy change on Jan. 1, 2008. Due to this fact and that their booking agent mistakenly allowed the reservation to be made, they changed their mind.

 

Thanks again to everyone for their feedback.

 

Cheers!

[travelerdave]

A 6 month old infant on a cruise? I don't get it. I guess I'm just old fashioned and I would be worried about all that travel with young one. How can that be enjoyable for anyone??

dave