SA/Antarctica with child

[taffeyb]

We're looking at booking for the Dec 2009 SouthAmerica/Antartica on the Amsterdam. We intend to bring our son who will be 8 1/2 years old at that time. Any feedback from those who had brought their children as well? Another post mentioned that there were ~ 35 children visited by Santa so there will be a handful of kids.

I'm worried about the length of the trip in particular...

Thanks!

[RuthC]

I've taken this cruise twice (both times in January) and don't remember ever seeing a child on board. I expect that due to the length of the cruise, as well as the ports of (dis)embarkation, that even in December there will be few, if any, children.

If I were you I'd be asking myself how much experience cruising does my son have? How long were the cruises? Does he do well in very rough seas? How well does he do if there are no other kids? How is he with lots of sea days? Will he appreciate the educational aspects of the cruise, or will he only want to play? Will his schoolwork suffer?

You are looking at a 20-day cruise. You will need to fly down in advance, plus need some "recouperation time" when you get home. You should plan for a rough crossing (or two ;)) of the Drake Passage, and hope it's smooth.
As an adult I was thrilled with this cruise, but I think a child could easily see it differently.

[middle-aged mom]

I've taken this cruise twice (both times in January) and don't remember ever seeing a child on board. I expect that due to the length of the cruise, as well as the ports of (dis)embarkation, that even in December there will be few, if any, children.

If I were you I'd be asking myself how much experience cruising does my son have? How long were the cruises? Does he do well in very rough seas? How well does he do if there are no other kids? How is he with lots of sea days? Will he appreciate the educational aspects of the cruise, or will he only want to play? Will his schoolwork suffer?

You are looking at a 20-day cruise. You will need to fly down in advance, plus need some "recouperation time" when you get home. You should plan for a rough crossing (or two ;)) of the Drake Passage, and hope it's smooth.
As an adult I was thrilled with this cruise, but I think a child could easily see it differently.

Very good observations, and excellent questions that I, as a parent, need to keep in mind; especially your last sentence. I have been guilty of assuming that because I enjoyed the educational, exploratory, and social aspects of a cruise, that my children would feel the same way. They don't. My youngest daughter's favorite cruise was a Caribbean/partial Panama Canal Holiday cruise. She liked being able to go to the beach at most of our port stops, and playing with all the other kids in Club HAL. That was her take on our cruise:). She couldn't have cared less about cruising through the Panama Canal. I have come to the conclusion that cruising to exotic destinations works best for children who are older and have already done a fair amount of travel. Just my two cents:)

[betonic]

I have travelled the last few years with my son to Europe and he has even taken a 16 day transatlantic. Robbie is almost 9 now. I have never been on the cruise that you are talking about but I think it really depends on your child and his expectations. We live at the beach so for my son that is not an attraction. That being said, I do a lot of research to find tours and activities that he will find interesting. There are some tours that I would have liked to do but passed because I didn't think he would tolerate it well. I also always hire private tours so we can stop and go at our own pace.

Whether or not taking my son out of school will be a problem also needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. We live in a world of tourism and the private school where my son attends is very acustomed with the fact that most parents here can't go away when kids are out of school. In October the school gave me his work and he also made a presentation about all of the places that he had been that counted towards his grade.

I would not be able to leave my son at home while I took a 20 day cruise so I would take him if this is a cruise I really wanted to take. I generally choose cruises 100% on the itinerary and it doesn't matter to me if there are only 2 kids on the entire ship. Robbie has fun being on the ship, in the ports, with the Club HAL counselor's and most of all just being with his Mom.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[BldLvr]

We did this cruise over the holidays in 06/07 and we were VERY surprised at all the kids onboard. Most all were from SA because it was summer to them. It did look like they were enjoying themselves but there were some who were very unruley and the parents did nothing to correct them. But we did not let this spoil any of this amazing adventure for us. I think it is up to you and how you feel your child will react. Happy cruising....Marian