How young is too young?

[DqALEX]

According to Carnival.. you are welcome

 

 

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.

Fly-Aweigh infants (6 to 23 months of age) will be charged the "Cruise-Only" rate as long as the infant sits on a parent's lap on the airplane. If an airline seat is requested by the parent, then the infant will be charged the standard Fly-Aweigh rate. When an infant reaches 24 months of age, an airline ticket is required by the airlines.

 

Depending on where you are going i would suggest a visit to the pediatrician- make sure no shots are needed...

 

Also Please bring a pacifier:p

Now thats the best answer I have seen yet. Well done Trock

[trock]

I too would love this option!

 

But, the OP is woundering if 26 months is to young to cruise and I think luvmytbear reply is the best unbiased one.

 

trock Thanks for the posting! I hadn't seen this wording yet as it has changed from the last time I looked.

 

Also someone made comment to pools. Is the child potty trained yet? Parents are doing this later now. If not no pool, with this be an upset for the child?

 

HI

yep no diapers or swimies in the pool (or hot tub) Child must be toilet trained. Someone suggested in another thread to bring a small blow up pool for the child in diapers.Great idea!

[3boysvus]

I think it depends on the parents and the child...our son also learned to walk on a cruise and had the cutest little swagger for months. As long as you realize it is different than cruising without them you;ll be fine.

 

BTW we also use a 'harness' for the baby b/c I too had a fear of him 'falling' through the railing.

[crusinmama06]

If the pools are an issue, then book a RCCL Freedom Class ship (sorry I know this is the Carnival board, but there are ways around to include children on a family vacation). There is an area for non-potty trained children.

 

 

And the Carnival cruise where we paid $199 for the kids...our "small" cabin looked like this...;)

 

 

And yes you can always bring a small blow up pool.

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

Wow you guys sure don't let a little thing like having kids get in the way of your cruises!:eek:

[mrcamp]

Not too young at all. My daughter was less than 2 years when she took her first cruise. We took the stroller and saw plenty strollers on board.

[Cruisinini]

I think you'll be fine. My cousins went on a cruise with Costa (owned by Carnival) a month ago with their 24 month old. Only issue they had was sitting in the dining room, he wasn't interested in keeping still for a longer period of time so they only ate there the first night after that it was the buffet for them. Being laid back people that was fine with them. They didn't really do any excursions, just went to the beaches and relaxed. Much of it is in your mindset I believe.

[smrn]

let's see... the first time my daughter cruised she was in utero. Then she cruised again at 5 months. She is now 18 months and we will be cruising again soon!!

Honestly, my kids have cruised from the beginning and love it!

We have a great time. (the umbrella stroller is priceless!)

Happy crusin'

:D

[crusinmama06]

Wow you guys sure don't let a little thing like having kids get in the way of your cruises!:eek:

 

You're right, I tend to enjoy having the whole family there on family vacations. ;)

 

bplazo - My parents took me everywhere when I was a kid. Maybe that's the reason for my obsession now. :D

[bplazo]

I have always taken my daughter on every vacation and I do think that it has made us closer. I cannot imagine going on a cruise without her.

[Kurbanfan]

Amen

what kind of car is that in your photo? looks nice:D

 

06 corvette....thanks!

[trock]

That's totally understandable! No doubt. We just went to Tampa for work 2 weeks ago and the kids stayed home. It's nice for mom and dad to reconnect. :)

 

trock - We still go on true kid vacations too. In Februrary I took them to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. Next month is Niagara Falls. July we are going to a family resort. And in September is 8 days in Disney. We just like to travel alot and that includes cruising.

 

But can I just point out the obvious? Carnival and RCCL are marketed heavily as "Family Cruislines"....so if you truly don't like cruising with kids (and that's fine) then why not try a different line that Carnival Corp runs?

 

 

Its not that i dont like cruising with kids, i dont like unsupervised kids who's parents let them run the ship and dont supervise them..

And i usually sail Celebrity... there was a period of about 4 years where we didnt cruise as my brother got very ill and died..(911 related...) during this time we moved.. did home renovations etc..

 

I think what youre doing for your kids is a great gift and giving them great memories!

 

Also unfortunately, my cruising is limited to whatever sails out of the NY Area as i stopped fly 10 yrs ago due to my plane, coming home from St Maarten -had a malfunction with the landing gear. I dont know what the pilot did, but we basically "fell from the sky" .. it was a very bad experience!

[trock]

06 corvette....thanks!

SWEET

you need to make it a profile photo, really show it off:D

[Kurbanfan]

Good to know!

do they sail out of the tri-state area?

 

I know the Caribbean Princess sails out of New York for 9 day sailings to the Eastern Caribbean from May thru Aug this year. Not sure about next year........

[fllady61]

I had it in my head that I would not take my daughter on a "special" vacation till she was old enough to remember it. When she was 6 mo old everyone kept telling me I needed to take her to Disney..... WHY????? she would not have remembered it.

 

As for cruising, she was 14 when I took her on her first cruise.... I would wait till the kids were school age if it were me... but that is just me....

 

I would not want to have to carry diapers, potty chair, baby wipes, diaper bag, tons of clothes because a kid can mess their clothes up a lot. or the hassle of not being able to enjoy the cruse because i had a little one attached to me.

 

but that is my opinion. and that is what you wanted to know..... My thoughts on taking kids on a cruise. and what age.

 

Age wise I would say 5 at least. Leave the 18 mo at home with grandma, and you and your dh use the time as a second honeymoon.

[VentureMan_2000]

II would wait till the kids were school age if it were me... but that is just me....

 

I would not want to have to carry diapers, potty chair, baby wipes, diaper bag, tons of clothes because a kid can mess their clothes up a lot. or the hassle of not being able to enjoy the cruse because i had a little one attached to me.

 

 

 

I'm with you on that. My SIL is sill stinging over their cruise 17 years ago because she was "stuck" taking care of her 1 year old child while everyone else enjoyed themselves immensely the whole 7 days.

 

The point is, taking care of a youngster is a lot of work... and not really vacation material. My point is not for anyone to blast anyone else on the cruise with her for not helping out.

 

IMHO, a vacation should be just that... a vacation away from your normal duties in life.

[MommaOML]

My son was 6.5 months when he was on his first cruise. I was his sole food source at the time, so I had no choice but to take him. However, even if I'd been bottlefeeding him, I still would have taken him. My husband and I have WONDERFUL memories of our first family vacation.

 

My son was 19.5 months on his second cruise. We were told he was the youngest repeat cruiser (too bad there's no perks for that ;) ). There was a 12 year old girl at the past guest reception who was platinum. Sweet! Anyway, my son was an absolute GEM this cruise. We ate in the dining room all 8 nights, and we never once had to leave because he was unruly. On our last night, we had many people come up to us and comment on how fantastic he was (and so cute all dressed up).

 

It all depends on what type of personality your child has. Can they go with the flow and handle change easily? How do they deal with crowds? My son was totally unfazed by the people (and would walk right through crowds at the dining room to get to our table - it was impressive!), so obviously he has the right personality to take on this kind of trip. And, that's exactly why we vacation with our kids - so that they are exposed to different places, different food, different people and different experiences.

[ezjack1825]

Our son was still baking inside mommy on his first cruise, so she couldn't drink, but I made up the slack for both of us. She had a good time anyhow laughing at me. When we were in port, we always stopped at shops to find baby clothes from the port. When we dress him in them, he doesn't have a clue or care in the world what it says, but mom and dad know all the fun we had and thinking of him the whole time.

 

We will be going with a group of 60 in November and he will be 14 months. We've had him around all sorts of people and he seems like he enjoys all the activity and faces. In the group of 60 will be the three of us, his paternal grandparents and paternal great grandparents. Built in babysitters - woo hoo!!!!

 

Almost everyone in our group of 60 is thrilled we chose to bring him as a "family event" as many of them see him on a weekly or monthly basis. We did just about puke though when we found out that it would only be about $40 less for him as the third person in our cabin. OUCH. But, he's our son and we are a family. Families do things together and this cruise will be no exception.

 

Life is what you make it - we're going to have fun.

[ccartman2]

Okay, so the carinval web site states that it is "generally" 6 months. Any idea how they count this? My wife just had a baby and we were discussing taking her on a cruise for my Dad's 60th Birthday. Obviously, he would love to see his granddaughter on his birthday cruise. Here is my question, "Do they count the 6 months from date like March 18th to Sept 18th, or by days, such as 180 days is 6 months?" Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,