New Infant and Pregnancy Policies

[TWELVEOHONE]

Please be advised that effective immediately, the following two policies are in effect for all sailings on Azamara CruisesSM,

Celebrity Cruises® and Royal Caribbean International®:

Infant Policy

Infants sailing on a cruise must be at least 6 months old as of the first day of the cruise/cruisetour. However, for

Transatlantic, Transpacific, Hawaii, select South American cruises/cruisetours and other selected cruises/cruisetours, the

infant (as of the first day of the cruise/cruisetour) must be at least 12 months old.

As of April 22, 2008, the list of cruises to which the 12 month minimum age requirement applies (in addition to all

Transatlantic, Transpacific, and Hawaii cruises) is as follows:

• Celebrity InfinitySM - January 31, 2010, February 14, 2010;

• Mariner of the Seas® - January 4, 2009, January 19, 2009, February 3, 2009;

• Splendour of the Seas® - March 30, 2009;

• Legend of the Seas® - October 23, 2009, November 4, 2009.

Any cruisetours associated with these cruises are also subject to the 12 month minimum age requirement.

Denial of boarding for infants who do not satisfy these minimum age requirements may also result in the denial of boarding

for one or more guests sailing with that infant. No refunds or other compensation shall be due from the cruise line to

anyone as a result of the denial of boarding to an underage infant or other accompanying guests. If you have a guest with

an infant that does meet these requirements that has already booked a cruise, please contact yoyur travel agents or 1-877-222-2526 for

Azamara CruisesSM, 1-800-437-3111 for Celebrity Cruises®, or 1-800-327-6700 for Royal Caribbean International®.

Pregnancy Policy

Azamara CruisesSM, Celebrity Cruises® and Royal Caribbean International® cannot accept guests who will have entered

their 24th week of pregnancy by the beginning of, or at any time during, the cruise or cruisetour. A physician's "Fit to

Travel" note is required prior to sailing, stating how far along (in weeks) the guest's pregnancy will be at the beginning of

the cruise and confirming that the guest is in good health and not experiencing a high-risk pregnancy. The “Fit to Travel”

note should be faxed to the Access Department at 1-954-628-9622. Please contact us at 1-866-592-7225 or at

special_needs@rccl.com if you have a guest that has already booked a cruise and does not meet this requirement.

[FinelyCruising]

This release indicates 'as of April 22, 2008', several weeks ago. Did they just release this today and use that dating?

[berryhappy24]

So, if you booked before these rules were announced, are you affected by them? Wondering if this will cause people to have to cancel their cruise and lose all money.

 

Ok, so I read more clearly. It does say effective immediately. Interesting that the smokers get a 6 month advance notice, but the pregnant women and young children are banned immediately.

[FinelyCruising]

I think with the recent put off of a ship of a young family with a sick baby they are not going to wait for time to pass with the potential of more incidents to occur that they cannot handle in their medical center. Possibly there is chaos in some peoples lives right now though....

[emptynest1]

Just curious, what is the problem with an infant under 6 months? At least they don't run around like idiots. I can understand the limitation of 24 week pregnancies. Way too much liability if someone goes into preterm labor.

[smeyer418]

Isn't it ridiculous that because of one sick child everyone else with a baby has to suffer.

[Sky Sweet]

Our granddaughter, who just turned one, will be taking her second cruise this summer.

 

Needless to say, I don't agree that babies don't belong on cruises.

 

However, we don't cruise on a Celebrity ship when we take our granddaughter with us because we prefer to take her on a cruise line that is more kid friendly, such as Holland America.

[Polydonald]

Isn't it ridiculous that because of one sick child everyone else with a baby has to suffer.

 

...Until that one sick child is your child and you are upset, or worse, because the doctor has limited experience with kids, the medical center is lacking the necessary equipment or medication, and your 300 miles from the nearest hospital.

 

Adults understand the concept of implied risk that is inherent in travel. Teens are usually fairly hardy. Even a child at age 2 or 3 can point to "where it hurts" to give the doctor a clue.

 

As a shareholder, I'm happy that RCCL is trying to minimize risks.

[FinelyCruising]

Although I am speculating, the one incident we heard of might not have been the first issue with someone so young getting sick. It was pretty drastic that the cruise line put them off, and I imagine that is why we hard of this, yet I think they did so for the caution for the child. I also think they are pretty much done with worrying about these kinds of things and are taking this new position for everyone's pleasure and well being.

[kitty9]

Actually, this is the second time something terrible has happened with an infant. On our Constellation cruise this winter, a young couple brought their infant on board, with a respiratory infection, and the baby stopped breathing and had to be revived. I think these two incidents, along with the woman who had to be medically evacuated when she went into premature labor, are the reasons why they felt they had to implement these new rules.

[FinelyCruising]

Good insight Darcie.

[smeyer418]

...Until that one sick child is your child and you are upset, or worse, because the doctor has limited experience with kids, the medical center is lacking the necessary equipment or medication, and your 300 miles from the nearest hospital.

 

Adults understand the concept of implied risk that is inherent in travel. Teens are usually fairly hardy. Even a child at age 2 or 3 can point to "where it hurts" to give the doctor a clue.

 

As a shareholder, I'm happy that RCCL is trying to minimize risks.

 

 

So should every one over 90 be denied boarding-given that a good portion of them are no longer compus mentus? The supreme court has already agreed that malpractice can't be imputed to the cruise line. I think this has more to do with what you think of kids on a ship than the cruise lines liability of which there is none.

[Sky Sweet]

So should every one over 90 be denied boarding-given that a good portion of them are no longer compus mentus? The supreme court has already agreed that malpractice can't be imputed to the cruise line. I think this has more to do with what you think of kids on a ship than the cruise lines liability of which there is none.

 

Hi smeyer :)

 

I agree with you, especially in light of all the cruise critic posts from people that complain about children who ruined the ambiance of their cruise. That is one of the main reasons why my husband and I sail on other cruise lines when we take a cruise with our daughter, son in law, and grandchild.

 

The likelihood of a senior citizen having a medical emergency at sea, that cannot be treated by the ship's medical staff, is much greater than a baby having one, so I doubt that is the real reason.

[FinelyCruising]

Wow, I didn't read in that one post a veil of kid bashing, maybe because it was absent of it from my perspective.

[dkjretired]

Wow, I didn't read in that one post a veil of kid bashing, maybe because it was absent of it from my perspective.

 

 

I agree, there was no kid bashing in anyone's post so that post was really uncalled for. The analogy to adults over 90 is not really similiar because they usually have someone who will influence them not to go on a cruise. Just don't see that as happening very much.

 

This issue IMHO is basically about the lawyers making decisions probably based upon a couple of bad incidents. That's usually how it works...

[Sky Sweet]

There may not have been a lot of kid bashing on this particular thread, but it has been an ongoing situation on this board.

 

A substantial number of people who post on cruise critic have made it very clear that they prefer Celebrity to other mass market cruise lines because it provides an adult experience, and get very upset when they take a Celebrity Cruise that had children who they feel belong at home.

 

I am personally more concerned about the behavior of a passenger than their age. I'd much rather share a ship with well behaved children who are carefully supervised by their parents than an adult who has had too much to drink, or a group of people who act as if they own a section of the ship.

 

Even though a medical emergency at sea can happen with a very young child, the odds are greater that it will happen with an aging adult.

[kitty9]

A medical emergency can happen at ANY age, so that's not the point. The real point is, the medical staff they contract with are not pediatricians---heck, from my experience the "doctors" they hire seem to have barely graduated medical school. Taking care of very sick infants is vastly different from taking care of an elderly person with a heart condition or high blood pressure. At least with those issues, they do have medical equipment to handle those things. But there's not a ship out there with the equipment to revive a person under age 1. Things needed to take care of a very sick infant is vastly different, and specialized, than that of an adult.

[Sky Sweet]

Since the topic of dementia and cruising came up, I would like to say a few words about it.

 

I agree that if a person's dementia is obvious to their loved ones, they probably would not be on a cruise

 

Unfortunately, Alzheimer's Disease, which is a type of dementia, is very incidious and it usually takes a long time before it is obvious to others.

 

Therefore, it is very possbile for a person with dementia to be on a ship, and consequently do things during that cruise that they wouldn't do if they were competent.

 

However, since there are a number of people who live to be 100 without ever developing dementia while some have it by the time they are seventy, there would be no way for a cruise line to determine if a passenger is incompetent by age alone.

 

I personally know quite a few people in their nineties who are as sharp as a tack.

[smeyer418]

Since the topic of dementia and cruising came up, I would like to say a few words about it.

 

I agree that if a person's dementia is obvious to their loved ones, they probably would not be on a cruise

 

Unfortunately, Alzheimer's Disease, which is a type of dementia, is very incidious and it usually takes a long time before it is obvious to others.

 

Therefore, it is very possbile for a person with dementia to be on a ship, and consequently do things during that cruise that they wouldn't do if they were competent.

 

However, since there are a number of people who live to be 100 without ever developing dementia while some have it by the time they are seventy, there would be no way for a cruise line to determine if a passenger is incompetent by age alone.

 

I personally know quite a few people in their nineties who are as sharp as a tack.

 

 

But very few infants get ill. Surely less than 90 year olds(the demetia part had to do with their ability to give an informed consent and a waiver-since a infant can't give a waiver). The point of this was that banning all infants is surely throwing the baby out WITH the bath water. Applauding it being done because of liability issues frankly show true ignorance and a prejudice against infants. the medical staff are not geritricians either.

[Ma Bell]

Our granddaughter, who just turned one, will be taking her second cruise this summer.

 

Needless to say, I don't agree that babies don't belong on cruises.

 

However, we don't cruise on a Celebrity ship when we take our granddaughter with us because we prefer to take her on a cruise line that is more kid friendly, such as Holland America.

 

I have seven grandchildren and have found Celebrity to be very child friendly. On our cruises, we find that the children have a wonderful time and the staff does an outstanding job with them. Since you haven't taken your grandaughter on a Celebrity cruise what would make you think they are not child friendly?

 

I can certainly understand the risk-liability issue and would agree with the 6 month restriction.

[Sky Sweet]

But very few infants get ill. Surely less than 90 year olds(the demetia part had to do with their ability to give an informed consent and a waiver-since a infant can't give a waiver). The point of this was that banning all infants is surely throwing the baby out WITH the bath water. Applauding it being done because of liability issues frankly show true ignorance and a prejudice against infants. the medical staff are not geritricians either.

 

Hi smeyer :)

 

As you probably know from my previous posts on this thread I agree with your take on this issue.

 

In my opinion, banning all infants because a few might get ill is just as wrong as banning all passengers over a certain age because a few might have dementia or die at sea.

[mdmourges]

I would be willing to bet that there are very few 6 month olds on cruises, period. Therefore I am surprised at some of the responses people are leaving. This impacts very, very few people and does reduce exposure for RC, which at the end of the day benefits a significant number of people. Supply and demand kind of thing.

[dkjretired]

Hi smeyer :)

 

As you probably know from my previous posts on this thread I agree with your take on this issue.

 

In my opinion, banning all infants because a few might get ill is just as wrong as banning all passengers over a certain age because a few might have dementia or die at sea.

 

They are not banning all infants, they are setting a common sense age limit which should be followed. I mean honestly, what responsble parent would bring less than a 6 month old on a cruise. Also, if you notice the 12 month old ban is for cruises where they are probably for a a significent portion of the cruise way out at sea and may be out of reach of air rescue. These comments come from someone who has always supported having children on board ships.

[Sky Sweet]

I would be willing to bet that there are very few 6 month olds on cruises, period. Therefore I am surprised at some of the responses people are leaving. This impacts very, very few people and does reduce exposure for RC, which at the end of the day benefits a significant number of people. Supply and demand kind of thing.

 

 

I agree there are very few babies on Celebrity, but that is not true on other cruise lines.

 

In addition, there are a substantial number of baby boomers who frequently take three generation cruises with their married children and grandchildren. As more baby boomers become grandparents, this segment of the cruising market will continue to grow.

 

In my opinion, this is an important market for cruise lines to cultivate because in addition to keeping the grandparents as clients, the adult children of these baby boomers, who like the product, are likely to give that cruise line business for many years to come.

[smeyer418]

look reasonable people can disagree. I just suggested to someone on the AFrica-mideast thread that they don't take a 10 month old to Egypt but that should be an individual choice not the big brother cruise line saying no. Its not a liability issue. Would I take my 5 month old to Bermuda on a cruise maybe(especially since its NCL and the only thing they charge is taxes) but that is MY ChOICe not the cruise lines. Not everything should be based on liability- when there is none anyway. My point is people should decide for themselves a blanket ban is just an upsurd response to one incident...

BTW going to a doctor on land doesn't mean you'll get the right diagnosis either. My son when he was three got sick at Disney World. We took him to the emergency clinic right outside the gate(you think they would be used to trating childrem) they made us call our pediatrician to make sure he had his shots up to date- the doctors spoke. he had a rash and a high temp. they diagnosed it as a virus. When we got back we took him to the pediatrician and what he had was Roseola - a mild form of scarlet fever. He was contagious. I hate to think how many kids we infected at Disney as we were told it was ok to take him out- the treatment for the virus and roseola is the same.