Baby on Celebrity Adriatic Cruise (June 26)

Hello,

My husband and I have cruised a handful of times, but are now trying to plan out first "getaway" with our almost 6 month old daughter (will be nearly 7 months on June 26).

We would like to get thoughts on bringing a baby on a port intensive cruise (1 sea day out of a 14 day cruise) and cruising on the Celebrity Silhouette with a baby.

Also, any guidance on whether bringing a baby on excursions is doable and whether the ports on the itinerary could just be done on their own. We have been to both Venice and Rome previously, but the other ports are all new to us.

Also, is it silly to book a guaranteed Conceirge class room? We are planning on bringing a travel crib, stroller, and are trying to determine if a car seat is necessary (we are comfortable not bringing, if we are sticking with large tour busses or walking)

Many thanks!!!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

This topic was discussed on the HAL board recently.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1838445

General consensus was not to bring baby. There were a few who said they took their kids everywhere even from an early age and you would be fine. If you decide to do it, I would not bother with the travel crib - they will have them on the ship and any hotels you may stay in. I would leave the car seat home also unless you need it for a plane ride.

Good luck!

We cruised the Adriatic both last October and the previous October, and saw several babies on each cruise. Very few children or toddlers, but young babies in strollers, yes!

Hello,

 

My husband and I have cruised a handful of times, but are now trying to plan out first "getaway" with our almost 6 month old daughter (will be nearly 7 months on June 26).

 

We would like to get thoughts on bringing a baby on a port intensive cruise (1 sea day out of a 14 day cruise) and cruising on the Celebrity Silhouette with a baby.

 

Also, any guidance on whether bringing a baby on excursions is doable and whether the ports on the itinerary could just be done on their own. We have been to both Venice and Rome previously, but the other ports are all new to us.

 

Also, is it silly to book a guaranteed Conceirge class room? We are planning on bringing a travel crib, stroller, and are trying to determine if a car seat is necessary (we are comfortable not bringing, if we are sticking with large tour busses or walking)

 

Many thanks!!!

We have a Roll Call going for the 26th Silhouette cruise -you can always join and ask your question there. I'm sure someone will have the answers

We did the a Mediterranean cruise when our son was about 17 months, and it was great! The most annoying stop for us was Rome, but only because we did the Colisseum and that was a lot of stairs with a stroller. The Pantheon, etc was fine though, we just should have been smarter about the sights we chose.

A lot depends on the baby's personality, but if he or she is used to just hanging out and can sleep in the stroller, I think you'll be fine as 7 months is still a pretty portable age. I agree that you won't want to bring a crib if Celebrity can provide one, and you'll definitely not want to trip over a car seat in your room for two weeks. A backpack would be a much better use of space, in my opinion.

Any kind of cruise with an infant whose needs must always come first can be a frustrating, limiting and exhausting experience for both parents and child so provided you are prepared and willing to make the necessary allowances I wish you a happy cruise. You're braver than me!

I am currently on Silhouette with nearly the same itinerary. Koper has a scenic 'old town, there are stairs up to where we started, but a longer route would take you in through the old gate without steps. Don't bother with a tour. Ravenna, get a guidebook and take the Celebrity shuttle, $14/pp all day. Wonderful mosaics, flat with cobblestones. Split is a tender port, no need for a tour. Just walk around in the old town. Kotor another tender port, small walled city with cobblestones, easy without a tour. Dubrovnik will also have a shuttle, I think it may be $12 to the old town. No tour needed. Have not done Bari yet. Corfu will have a shuttle into town, no tour needed (did that last year on Nieuw Amsterdam); Have not done Malta yet. Catania, we took tour to Taormina last year, this year just taking the transfer to Taormina. Not a lot in Catania itself. Salerno...We were in Naples last year and did Pompeii. Celebrity offers a transfer only to Pompeii, and if you are interested, get Rick Steves free audio tours from his website, for mp3 and ipod. Also good audio tours for Venice and Rome. EM

Hello,

 

My husband and I have cruised a handful of times, but are now trying to plan out first "getaway" with our almost 6 month old daughter (will be nearly 7 months on June 26).

 

We would like to get thoughts on bringing a baby on a port intensive cruise (1 sea day out of a 14 day cruise) and cruising on the Celebrity Silhouette with a baby.

 

Also, any guidance on whether bringing a baby on excursions is doable and whether the ports on the itinerary could just be done on their own. We have been to both Venice and Rome previously, but the other ports are all new to us.

 

Also, is it silly to book a guaranteed Conceirge class room? We are planning on bringing a travel crib, stroller, and are trying to determine if a car seat is necessary (we are comfortable not bringing, if we are sticking with large tour busses or walking)

 

Many thanks!!!

Welcome to Cruise Critics. We did the Adriatic last year and it is a really port intensive cruise. You can do Venice, Dubrovnik and Split on your own. We have been traveling with our children since they were 1 and 2 y/o and took them to their first Med cruise when they were 7 and 8. My only concern with your baby is the heat, it was really hot in the Adriatic last summer. I think that you will be better with short excursions, private tours or DIY. You will find good information about this ports in the Port of Calls boards, use the search engine to find private tour companies or DIY tours. Hope you have a great cruise.:):)

The biggest negative is that the child is too young for any program on the ship, even babysitting. A child must be 12 months to qualify for sitting. Is there any way to postpone for a year so that at least you could get a break and use the in cabin babysitting program?

If one of your stops is Rome, the ride from the port to the city center is at least 90 minutes, and most tours offered by the ship are full day and very tiring, a time span that I don't think is fair to the baby. Plus, only you know your child, but if its a fussy baby, I'm not sure if your fellow tourists would be happy sharing a tour with a crying infant.

You must bring everything with you as there's nothing on the ship such as diapers, wipes and all that.

There's nothing that says you need to leave the ship when its in port. But in all honesty, I think a port intensive cruise, for that length of time, is way ambitious. Like someone said, the weather could be VERY hot and humid and infants that young don't have the ability to cool themselves and can easily get heatstroke. And cruise ship doctors are not really equipped to handle infants that young. Because of that, I strongly advise you to get travel insurance that would cover medical evacuation.

I think this is the best age to take your baby. Still very portable, no opinion as to what they want to do, no need to think about what would entertain them. Yes, you should bring everything you think you will need, but you are not sailing to a third world country. Every port will have shops where you can pick up extra diapers and wipes if you run out. they may not be the same brand, and you might have to convert pounds to kilos to figure out size, but they are available. Formula would be another issue, as brands might be different. EM

One consideration that I don't think anyone has brought up is that a child this young cannot be expected to be accommodating all the time. Babies cry and usually at the most inopportune times. What about your cabin neighbors...the ones next door with the thin walls...or across the hall? From experience is isn't always possible to sooth a fussy infant...no matter how hard we might try. I, for one, would feel very embarrassed if it were my child and it would spoil my cruise and probably my ship board neighbors.

Reading thru ' all the posts, it seems like there are more cons than pros.

Thank you everyone for all your thoughtful comments, we greatly appreciate them! Especially regarding the ports and ease to DIY.

Essiesmom: how has the weather been so far? Have the ports been very crowded?

Thank you!!

We did the Med last year for 24 days starting April 30. Weather then was warmer and sunnier than it has been this year. Three days of rain after Venice, today sunshine in Dubrovnik, but cool in the shade and breeze. We haven't had a day up to 70 yet. EM

Thank you everyone for all your thoughtful comments, we greatly appreciate them! Especially regarding the ports and ease to DIY.

 

Essiesmom: how has the weather been so far? Have the ports been very crowded?

 

Thank you!!

DivFam; we really like cruising the Med at the end of May or beginning of June. Cooler weather and better crowds. July is hot and you are going to find big crowds. My teenage children like cruising in July because there are more families aboard and they make many friends. We were in the Adriatic last summer in the beginning of July and it was over 90 and close to a 100 in most ports. We booked a really bad private tour in Sicily. Their vans didn't have AC and it was awful!! They couldn't believe that we were complaining about the heat, because we come from a caribbean island. I had to explain that I work on an office with AC, I have central AC in my home and I drive a car with a functioning AC, unlike theirs. Try to search for a website called Cruiseoutlook .com, it provides a 10 day weather forecast for the ports of call in your cruise. Really cool.

We are really pro family cruising, planning is the key to success and having realistic expectations. It has work for us. Hope you have a great time.

Hi DivFam,

we cruised with children in the Med and it was no problem. In June, it should not be too hot, but definitly warm.

From my experiences, Venice is very difficult with a stroller. Dubrovnic is ok as long as you do not want to walk the old city wall, which is on the other hand very impressiv. I would bring a babycarrier for the trip. I also found it very helpful to have a portable/foldable babyseat.

We always travelled with a bugaboo and used it as a carseat too. Maybe, a small inflatable babypool for the bacony can be nice as Celebrity will not allowed a baby in the pool.

We travelled and cruised with our children a lot and I never experienced any problems and never (had to) feel embaressed ;)

I personally think, that cruising is a wonderful holiday if travelling with a baby.

We always felt very welcome at the Celebrity ships with our children and never heard any complaints.

Thank you again for all your positive encouragement! We are now leaning towards booking the cruise!!

Wurmine- we love our bugaboo, and I would love to bring it versus an umbrella stroller. Did it fit inside the cabin alright? Also, any advice for flying with it? Did you bring a carseat to attach to the bugaboo, or just the stroller seat?

We are doing this cruise too. Although my boys are now teenagers and older they have both cruised with us since they were 6 months old. I would say cruising with a 6 month old is easier than when they are just starting to toddle - ie 1 -2 years.

The thing is not to push yourself too much into doing too much. I would go select dining so you can please yourself what time your eat.

At the ports dont take any of the excursions, you wont be tied down to a timetable then and wont be restricted if you need to attend to baby.

Aim to do half days and a lot of the ports are do able on your own.

Venice - easy to walk around and amble and meander the little alleyways. might need a hand lifting the buggy up a few steps and over bridges but nothing too bad.

Koper - we have not visited before.

Ravenna - we have not visited but from what I gather very easy to DIY walk around and see the churches and mosaics.

Split - very nice place to wander the old buildings, crypts which contain stalls, a market and visit the ruins.

Kotor - a wonderful sail in and a delightful place to see, easy to walk around and a tiny public beach off to the left as you face the walled town.

Dubrovnik. Dont pay for the shuttle the local buses leave from the same bus park and cost 2euro return and drops off in town right next to the shuttle which I think celebrity charge around $12 for. AGain lovely town to walk around etc.

Bari. Again dont pay for the $12 shuttle bus if you dont mind a nice 15 min walk to the walled city. From there meander the little alleyways where people live until you find the Church of St.Nicholas (Santa Claus), then find your way through the small alleyways to the shops build within, then onto the main town high street shops. Walk to the harbour to see the fishermen and fish stalls and 15 mins bakc to ship.

Corfu - I think it can be walked but lst time we took the shuttle again lovely place to wander and nice shops.

Valleta - as above but dont take the shuttle there is a lift which cost 1 euro to go up and free coming down. The taxi drivers will tell you its broken but dont listen!

Catania - would recommend you get a Taxi to Taormina. It will cost around 120 Euros but worth it.

Salerno. Havent been here yet but we intend to do an Amalfi Coast tour by private driver. But you could easily get the ferry to Positano for a few euros.

Hope this helps.

The shuttle bus in Bari is $8. EM

No, we did not bring a car seat, but used the normal seat (not the cot) and fixed it with the safety belt. It is not perfekt, but ok for short drives, I think.

In Dubrovnic the taxi to town is 10 € and a good alternative.

Some taxis also have car seats for babies or can organise them.

The bugaboo fits in the cabin, depending on the location, we sometimes could leave it outside. If you have a cot and the bugaboo it might be pretty "cosy".But I always took it with me on cruises and we used it a lot on the ship. The baby can sleep much better in it than in a stroller, I think. We took the bugaboo with us for dinner to the restaurant or to the pool, so the babys could sleep if tired.

We always check the bugaboo in right at the gate without the bag. I did once use the bag and will do that never again. it is too big and bulky.

I would also book my time dinning, if possible. So you are more flexible. Some people prefer the buffet with children- I do not, because one of the parents is always running to the buffet and the other one looking after the child. If you take the baby with you, you can not carry anything.... So I always use the dinning room for breakfast and dinner, as I find it more relaxing.

Bring a thermos jug and something to clean the bottles(liquid and a brush) I´d advice.

In the dining room, they do not have bay food, but they are happy to purée verything from the menue.

If you are flying to and from port, you will need the car seat on the plane. If not, you will likely not have much need for one.

DD is now 17YO :eek:, but we travelled extensively with her. At 6MO I took her on a plane by myself from Wisconsin to California for a week and a half. At 8MO we did a land tour (trains) in Italy. We brought an inexpensive umbrella stroller but in both cases she spent more time in a backpack (no worries about stairs).

DD has always been a great traveller and we've enjoyed having her with us. We have adjusted our expectations of what our trips are going to be like to make certain that all of us have a great time. When she was 6MO or 8MO, early nights never bummed me out -- I pretty much needed the sleep as much as she did! :D

You sound like the kind of parents who really want to spend time with their kid -- and the cruise you have picked will give you that opportunity. While your 7MO may not remeber visiting specific spots, she will absorb the differences in surroundings and enjoy spending time with you. It will be a great experience.

One consideration that I don't think anyone has brought up is that a child this young cannot be expected to be accommodating all the time. Babies cry and usually at the most inopportune times. What about your cabin neighbors...the ones next door with the thin walls...or across the hall? From experience is isn't always possible to sooth a fussy infant...no matter how hard we might try. I, for one, would feel very embarrassed if it were my child and it would spoil my cruise and probably my ship board neighbors.

 

Reading thru ' all the posts, it seems like there are more cons than pros.

We had a crying newborn next to us an entire cruise...did not sleep much...we were highly irritated...no offense to parents , however a newborn is not appropriate for a cruise...people can argue this, but no way...

The baby is at a great age for cruising. I did it with a grandchild who was 8 months. A good stroller is a must. The toughest part was bringing baby stuff.....formula, diapers, toys, sheets, etc. we cruised from a port where we drove to the ship. Put baby supplies in boxes and used a hand truck to wheel them onto the ship. The cruise line will provide baby supplies. Cost is high. Baby will be no problem. Have a nice time. Celebrity does have babysitters on an hourly rate.

I don't know why anyone would travel on a cruise with an infant. TA travel at best, is a logistical nightmare. Its supposed to be a vacation - yes disposition matters but i personally don't understand why someone would put the effort trotting an infant or toddler around the`world. Rome, like most ports, are a significant endevor even for most able bodied adults. I hope your child likes to sleep.

JK

Since the OP took this cruise six months ago, it would be nice if she would come back and tellus how things went. EM

One consideration that I don't think anyone has brought up is that a child this young cannot be expected to be accommodating all the time. Babies cry and usually at the most inopportune times. What about your cabin neighbors...the ones next door with the thin walls...or across the hall? From experience is isn't always possible to sooth a fussy infant...no matter how hard we might try. I, for one, would feel very embarrassed if it were my child and it would spoil my cruise and probably my ship board neighbors.

 

Reading thru ' all the posts, it seems like there are more cons than pros.

Thank you for mentioning this. During our June 2013 Alaskan cruise, the baby (approx 7-8 months old) cried constantly. the baby cried so hard you could hear him choking when he sobbed. the parents would sit on the balcony and let the baby cry for an hour (not kidding). We finally did say something after 3 days of crying as we could not take it anymore. to us it was quite rude. it was loud and would just echo. :(