Help - cruising with a 17 month old

[philtracip]

My family has decided that this years vacation will be a cruise. This upset me because my son will only be 17 months old. Too young for the pool, too young for the Camp Carnival, etc etc....not too young to charge us for him though!!

 

I have some questions that hopefully you can help me with:

 

1- How strict are they about not swimming in the pool? If he has on swimming diapers what is the big deal?

 

2- Do they have any activities at Camp Carnival for younger than 2?

 

3- Do they provide high chairs in the restaurants?

 

4- Do the cruise or excursions provide car seats for baby when at port?

 

5- His nephews will all be at Camp Carnival - so what do we do with a 17-month old by himself?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as well as any reviews on Carnival Victory?

 

Thanks

[ninkb]

Unfortunately I've not sailed on Carnival but I can answer from experience on other lines. We've sailed with DD and her family, which included a 16 month old at the time.

 

No one threw the baby or mom out of the pool. However, I think they are more strict than before about babies in adult pools, even with swim diapers on.

 

The high chairs were always available in restaurants, the staff loved having a baby around and would take her for walks during meals in the Lido restaurant. Sometimes she came back with an empty ice cream cone to chew on.

 

Because there were 6 adults and only 1 child in our party, there were plenty of opportunities for the baby to socialize and for the parents to have some vacation time.

 

There were no car seats available on shore excursions, but neither was there a charge for the baby, as long as she sat on an adult lap. We didn't book excursions that took a long ride . . . or else the baby stayed with another adult who was not taking that excursion.

 

For me as grandma, it was a great experience to have some time with a grandchild I get to see only a few times a year. We'll be cruising again in January with this family - with a baby brother added this past April.

 

I hope your family will help out with the childcare for this little one who will love the music, people, and action but probably won't have activities planned for his tender age of 17 months.

 

Enjoy the cruise! It's the best way to vacation!!!

:):):) ninkb

[crusinmama06]

My family has decided that this years vacation will be a cruise. This upset me because my son will only be 17 months old. Too young for the pool, too young for the Camp Carnival, etc etc....not too young to charge us for him though!!

 

I have some questions that hopefully you can help me with:

 

1- How strict are they about not swimming in the pool? If he has on swimming diapers what is the big deal?

 

2- Do they have any activities at Camp Carnival for younger than 2?

 

3- Do they provide high chairs in the restaurants?

 

4- Do the cruise or excursions provide car seats for baby when at port?

 

5- His nephews will all be at Camp Carnival - so what do we do with a 17-month old by himself?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as well as any reviews on Carnival Victory?

 

Thanks

 

You do not sound happy to be cruising. :( Why not hold off?

 

If you do decide to go, it is doable. I can try to answer some of your questions...

 

1. The "no diapers in pool" rule SHOULD be strict because it's not like land based pools that hyper chlorinate the water in baby pools to kill the germs. If one child has an accident, the pool is shut down for the day. Been there, experienced that (not my child) and it wasn't fun for the rest of us. So bring an inflatable pool.

 

2. Yes, Camp Carnival has babysitting times for "Under 2's" and "Family Times" for Under 2's. They do charge for the babysitting times for the Under 2's.

 

3. Yes they have highchairs.

 

4. Nope, you need your own car seat.

 

5. What do you do with a 17 month old at home by yourself? When you are at home, is he at Camp Carnival? ;) :p Bringing a baby on a ship is always better for me cause it means someone else is cooking, cleaning and taking care of us...that doesn't happen at home. ;)

 

I won't lie to you though. A WALKING toddler is tougher than a younger infant. Walkers can run away from you. They are always on the go. So if you have any reservations then tell the family you need to postpone this cruise until the baby is older, at least Camp Carnival age.

 

Most of your questions are answered in detail at my blog...

http://www.cruisingwithchildren.blogspot.com/

[CruizinMom2c]

we used the babysitting during the day for under 2's....it was from 12-2pm and I think 6 dollars an hour...that was a good enough time to go the casino one day...go lay out another. And our son had a good time playing with all the toys.

[onthelake]

Just another hint - my son was about that age when we started taking him on cruises - My DH loves an afternoon nap so he and my son went down right after lunch and I had the afternoon free. If you go to the beach in port or take part in morning activities, maybe you can work out a similar 'deal' with your husband, MIL or other relative.

[Julienatul]

My family has decided that this years vacation will be a cruise. This upset me because my son will only be 17 months old. Too young for the pool, too young for the Camp Carnival, etc etc....not too young to charge us for him though!!

 

I have some questions that hopefully you can help me with:

 

1- How strict are they about not swimming in the pool? If he has on swimming diapers what is the big deal?

 

2- Do they have any activities at Camp Carnival for younger than 2?

 

3- Do they provide high chairs in the restaurants?

 

4- Do the cruise or excursions provide car seats for baby when at port?

 

5- His nephews will all be at Camp Carnival - so what do we do with a 17-month old by himself?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as well as any reviews on Carnival Victory?

 

Thanks

 

1) They are not that strict but as previous posters have mentioned one accident can ruin it for everyone. The fantasy class ships (Inspiration/Imagination) now have water parks with sprinklers that non-potty trained can use.

 

2) Camp carnival has "under 2" time on sea days from noon-2pm where you can go in and play with them or leave them for babysitting at $6 per hr. Babysitting is also from 10p-3am nightly. You can also particpate in any of the family activities such as kids welcome aboard party, build a bear activites etc as long as you remain with them. Go to the orientation the first night and check the kids capers.

 

3)Yes, highchairs are provided just ask a waiter and they will bring one for you.

 

4)No excursions have seats so you must bring your own or hold him on your lap if taking a shuttle bus.

 

5) Explore the ship, climb stairs(that age loves to climb up and down stairs), go to an empty lounge and play ball, fill a blow up tub/pool and splash around with tub toys, color, bubbles, stickers..anything you do at home that is easily portable.

 

We took our DD at 18 months and had a great time. It was more difficult than when we cruised with her before she could walk but we definitely still had fun.

[cantwait2cruise]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say that we are taking a 17 month old next March and share some of the same concerns. Our whole family (my side) is going and hubby almost pulled the plug when we found out it was going to cost us $500 to take her. But several family members, including my parents, were booking mainly b/c we were going so we decided to book anyway. It's not that often that we will be able to get this big of a group together to go. I am counting on having a lot of help and our daughter has become a bit more flexible with bed time, etc. in the last month or so, so hopefully she can deviate from her usual routine a bit while we are on the cruise.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!