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DCL raises minimum sailing age to 6 months


elephant98
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Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere. But, I thought others would like to know that, effective immediately, DCL is raising the minimum age to 6 months on most cruises that depart after January 1, 2015. I received a notice from DCL because my wife is pregnant and we happen to be booked on a cruise next year. If the baby arrives on time, he/she will be under 6 months old at the time of sailing. The email I received from Disney stressed that this restriction applies to new bookings, so our current reservation will not be effected.

 

Here is the text of the email I received from DCL an hour ago. (I simply cut and pasted the email; hence, the reason for the typos therein):

 

 

Thank you for selecting a Disney Cruise Line vacation for your family.

 

We are glad that you will be joining us in 2015, and want to share with you some information about a change in the the minimum age to sail. As a Guest currently scheduled to sail with an infant in 2015, we want to assure you that this change will not apply to your current reservation referenced above.

 

Effective July 18, 2014, for all new bookings on sailings commencing after January 1, 2015, the minimum age to sail aboard Disney Cruise Line ships will be 6 months of age on most itineraries. The minimum age for Transatlantic, Hawaii, and Panama Canal itineraries will increase to 1 year of age.

 

While this change will not apply to your current 2015 reservation, we wanted to advise you of the change and the exception that is being made for your existing reservation. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-939-2784.

 

It is also important to mention that the restrictions on the length of pregnangy have not changed. Women who have entered their 24th week of pregnancy as of their embarkation date or who will enter their 24th week of pregnancy during their cruise are not allowed to sail.

 

We look forward to sailing with you next year.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Cast and Crew

Disney Cruise Line

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I may have to call Disney to get the answer to this but we currently have a reservation for ourselves, children and grandchildren to sail in December of 2015.

If one of our daughters gets pregnant between now and then and has a baby in the fall of 2015 will that qualify under "existing reservation"? We obviously have no reservation for that non-existent child as yet but his/her mother, father and sister DO have a reservation.

:confused: ... :confused: ... :confused:

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I may have to call Disney to get the answer to this but we currently have a reservation for ourselves, children and grandchildren to sail in December of 2015.

If one of our daughters gets pregnant between now and then and has a baby in the fall of 2015 will that qualify under "existing reservation"? We obviously have no reservation for that non-existent child as yet but his/her mother, father and sister DO have a reservation.

:confused: ... :confused: ... :confused:

 

Want me to guess? Obviously, you'd have to call Disney to confirm...but my logic would say that you do not have a reservation for this non-existent child, so the new rule will apply. If you had a "TBD" reservation, then it likely would not. The good news is that unless you have concierge reservations, you can cancel any or all of the reservations up to 75 days before embarkation and get a full refund.

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Id be interested in knowing the reason behind the change.

 

It just brings them more in line with what the other cruiselines do. Probably has to do with liability issues, especially since DCL has added the longer, more distant cruises than they used to do.

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While I'm not aware of any recent issues involving illness in very young children, I suspect it has to do with DCL's ability to provide appropriate medical care to them in a timely fashion and their liability should they fail to do so.

 

The docs on board are not pediatricians, and a illness in a young infant is harder to diagnose and can progress more quickly than in an older child.

 

As noted, these policies are more in keeping with the regulations on other lines. DCL's policy changes tend to be reactive--"XYZ happened. How can we be sure it can never happen again OR that we are protected if it does?"

Edited by moki'smommy
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Im inclined to agree. DCL is giving up some revenue opportunity (albeit likely small by the number of affected cruisers who would use the nursery) by not having the family with a <6 month old on board. Plenty of demand that it will not result in empty staterooms so just eliminate the risk.

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I just called Disney.

We're grandfathered in because we have the reservation for the parents.

Good thing we booked last week! :D

 

Oh and as far as the amount of work with a baby - we took our oldest daughter on her first cruise when she was 9 months old.

It was so easy!!! (Of course then the room steward was allowed to babysit in the evening if we wanted to go to the evening entertainment.)

Edited by chamima
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Hello Chamina' date='

 

To each their own of course, but I am afraid I would agree with Ms. Daisy on this. I just would not take a infant or any child under 3 on a cruise...........just to many things can happen.

 

AKK[/quote']

 

My son had been on 4 cruise before he was 3. Anything could happen anywhere & personally, I thought it was safer to take him on a cruise.

 

Can't believe they've raised the age, I was due to book a Disney cruise tomorrow, with the plan of taking a baby around 4-5 months old on it - missed out by 1 day!

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I strongly suspect that there was some sort of incident or illness that resulted in this change. I have NO basis for this other than knowing what lead to the change in the kid programming rules a couple of years ago.

 

Basically, there was an incident involving one "adult" guest who had been allowed into the teen programming. DCL legal got involved and the result was the policy that we have today....and the wording of the policy was very much "lawyer-speak."

 

Since DCL does make serious money from families with infants, my guess is that there was some sort of illness or injury in a young child that the ship was not prepared to handle.

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My son had been on 4 cruise before he was 3. Anything could happen anywhere & personally, I thought it was safer to take him on a cruise.

 

Can't believe they've raised the age, I was due to book a Disney cruise tomorrow, with the plan of taking a baby around 4-5 months old on it - missed out by 1 day!

 

 

 

As I said, too each their own! The difference with anything happening ashore where you are likely to be near full medical and pediatric care and being miles at sea, with a limited medical staff and facilities is the basic reason I would not take the chance.

 

 

AKK

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I took my 18 month old earlier this year and we had so much fun! I don't really mind the policy change though, I wouldn't have taken her before she was a year though. Thats seems too you to really enjoy it.

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Chamima -- If one of your daughters is planning on getting pregnant and having an infant prior to the cruise, I would suggest adding an infant as TBD now, then worrying about it later when it may be too late.

 

We just booked a cruise for October, and we are trying to conceive. The Disney Cruise Consultant advised to reserve room for the baby, because there could be an issue where there isn't room on the ship, as they take into consideration life jackets, ship capacity, and life boat capacity in the area of your stateroom. You can always get a refund if/when you know there will be no baby.

 

For those of you stating you couldnt imagine going on a cruise with a child under 3, it is absolutely enjoyable! This will be our first Disney Cruise with our family, but we took a 7 day NCL cruise with my then 2 year old, and it was great! We brought along the in laws so we could get a break when we wanted to, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat, and we are! With possibly a 3-4 month old too! Of course it's not the relaxing vacation that you might imagine without kids, but I couldn't imagine leaving my kids behind for a week. Maybe it's the former airline employee turned travel agent in me, but I think it's good for them. Start em young! :-)

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Even if they self-insure, they will often purchase catastrophic reinsurance to cover lawsuits, etc.

 

I believe DCL is self insured to a VERY HIGH amount.....I don't think this would be a issue for the policy.

 

AKK

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Chamima -- If one of your daughters is planning on getting pregnant and having an infant prior to the cruise, I would suggest adding an infant as TBD now, then worrying about it later when it may be too late.

 

We just booked a cruise for October, and we are trying to conceive. The Disney Cruise Consultant advised to reserve room for the baby, because there could be an issue where there isn't room on the ship, as they take into consideration life jackets, ship capacity, and life boat capacity in the area of your stateroom. You can always get a refund if/when you know there will be no baby.

 

For those of you stating you couldnt imagine going on a cruise with a child under 3, it is absolutely enjoyable! This will be our first Disney Cruise with our family, but we took a 7 day NCL cruise with my then 2 year old, and it was great! We brought along the in laws so we could get a break when we wanted to, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat, and we are! With possibly a 3-4 month old too! Of course it's not the relaxing vacation that you might imagine without kids, but I couldn't imagine leaving my kids behind for a week. Maybe it's the former airline employee turned travel agent in me, but I think it's good for them. Start em young! :-)

 

Thanks Samantha for the idea.

I'll ask our TA about it on Monday.

This cruise is for December of 2015 so said "infant" isn't even a twinkle in his/her parents' eyes.

I just brought up the possibility because his/her older sister will be 2 1/2 so I know there is a chance our daughter might be thinking about a second child right around then.

We are going with all of our extended family (grandparents, 3 aunts, 3 uncles and 5 cousins) so everyone will be around to help .

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As I said' date=' too each their own! The difference with anything happening ashore where you are likely to be near full medical and pediatric care and being miles at sea, with a limited medical staff and facilities is the basic reason I would not take the chance.

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

 

I agree.....to each their own. Just not my feelings when I had young kids.

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I just called Disney.

We're grandfathered in because we have the reservation for the parents.

Good thing we booked last week! :D

 

Oh and as far as the amount of work with a baby - we took our oldest daughter on her first cruise when she was 9 months old.

It was so easy!!! (Of course then the room steward was allowed to babysit in the evening if we wanted to go to the evening entertainment.)

 

When my oldest daughter was little, we traveled and took advantage of some of the finer hotels' in-house babysitting services, but I couldn't relax, knowing a stranger was locked in my hotel room with my child. I'd go out long enough to eat, and then go right back to the room. After the first few times, I never did it again.

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For those of you stating you couldnt imagine going on a cruise with a child under 3, it is absolutely enjoyable! This will be our first Disney Cruise with our family, but we took a 7 day NCL cruise with my then 2 year old, and it was great! We brought along the in laws so we could get a break when we wanted to, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat, and we are! With possibly a 3-4 month old too! Of course it's not the relaxing vacation that you might imagine without kids, but I couldn't imagine leaving my kids behind for a week. Maybe it's the former airline employee turned travel agent in me, but I think it's good for them. Start em young! :-)

 

 

We started ours young, dining out, flying to visit relatives.....but never a cruise, hotel or Disneyland until they were 3. For several reasons.

 

It was enough work for me to chase three of them at HOME, let alone out....or keep them quiet at night so that others aren't disturbed.....

 

I HATE strollers on ships and in the parks. When my kids were little, I think I gave them whiplash, because I was constantly dodging, to stay out of people's way. These days, people pushing strollers are like steamrollers....they'd sooner run you over than to move aside. The strollers on ships are parked in hallways, in dining room entries....it's miserable to have to maneuver around them.

 

We took my oldest on trips until the next child was born, then we took her when she reached age 3 (to Disneyland.....she'd been flying to Grandma's since she was 3 weeks old) and after our last was born, we didn't go to the parks until he was 3 years old.

They don't remember it, they're hot, cranky, tired....and so are mom and dad. And a cruise? There are no excursions to speak of for kids under three, so you're spending money that to me, is wasted. If you can't visit the ports and enjoy what they offer, then you're not getting your money's worth. I'm not saying the whole time on a cruise or at Disney would be horrid for little ones, there are always some bright, happy moments....just not enough to make it worth it.

 

I do agree....we only left them home one time, with my parents, while we went to Belize....so I wouldn't have left them at home while I went to Disney or took a cruise. We just did other things as a family until they were old enough to truly enjoy it.

 

Our youngest son was 8 when we took our first cruise (Disney Wonder) and he doesn't remember any of it. He DID have fun while we were there, so it was worth it for that moment in time, in our memories and in pictures....

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I HATE strollers on ships and in the parks. When my kids were little, I think I gave them whiplash, because I was constantly dodging, to stay out of people's way. These days, people pushing strollers are like steamrollers....they'd sooner run you over than to move aside. The strollers on ships are parked in hallways, in dining room entries....it's miserable to have to maneuver around them.

 

..

 

The strollers in the hall are a real problem. For the guest who owns the stroller, there is the issue of vandalism--I've seen tweens take them for a joy ride. But the bigger problem is for the stateroom hosts and mobility impaired guests. Pushing a wheelchair and needing to move someone's stroller in order to get by is a real problem. I feel bad just touching their property, but my traveling partner has a right to be able to get down the hall.

 

Bottom line--people rented a cabin, not a chunk of hallway. And no, we don't leave a wheelchair in the hall (motorized or not).

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The most likely scenario is their insurer either eliminated or raised the cost for coverage in these cases prohibitively.

 

That was exactly what I was thinking.

 

FYI, DCL doesn't completely self-insure. They effectively have very high deductibles and handle all claims under those thresholds through AON, Old Republic, and several other claim servicing entities.

Edited by ducklite
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My son is 13.5 months old and had been on 2 cruises (both 7 nights) and to Disney twice. I get to travel for work and so we make it a family affair. My son had LOVED every trip. He won't remember but we will. He has loved spending that whole week with us or us and other family members including grandma. We get a little bigger/better room since we spend a good amount of time there. But it's great. And neither my husband not I would take the time off work and just stay home with him. We've been to all the ports a million times so those are super important anymore either. A pp mentioned it would be a waste and she is very wrong. It had always been perfect!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Edited by LovesVaca
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