Price for a 1 year old on cruise lines?

[CleoSushi]

Hi Everyone, im not a first time cruiser but i will be a first time mommy cruiser this summer. Im trying to figure out the pricing for infants who travel on cruises. Some cruise lines charge a third person rate (up to 999) even if the person is an infant, is that normal? Are all cruise lines like that? I don't understand why an infant should pay so much especially since ill be bringing his food along with us. Any help would be great.

Thanks a bunch:D

[jam82]

My husband never understood that one either. The ship has a total occupancy rate that they can not exceed so the infant is taking up a space that could be sold to a paying adult who might spend more money on board with drinks, casino, shopping and excursions than an infant would. All lines have their limits and they see that the infant will still take up space in the dining room and life boat. Some people will say that since the infant is the third passenger, that he/she is getting a discount. DH thought is was a total rip to have to pay for the baby. The only way I could convince him was to take the total price for the three of us and divide that amount by two and ask him if it was worth that amount to cruise. In our experience, the staff does really work hard for the baby. They played with him in the restaurants, entertained him during the lifeboat drill, babysat him and of course the room steward had to set up the crib and throw away all those dirty diapers. One room steward even washed the dirty bottles.

 

Carnival does not automatically charge tips for kids under two, and I have heard that NCL only charges port fees and taxes for the baby. That might be worth checking into.

[Cruisin Around]

I'm a mother of a small child too and IMHO I don't think that it's right that children under three who can't take part in programs or go into a kiddie pool because they aren't potty trained (yes, yes, I understand about hygiene but if they wanted to, they could provide a small place that had a little splash zone on EVERY ship, not just the huge ones that leave out of FL or the other large ports so that the little ones could enjoy splashing around) have to pay the same price as any other third or fourth passenger. Yes, they are a soul and I know they won't be spending a ton of extra money on liquor, bingo, in the casino or in the shops - but neither will I. I'm not a drinker, don't like to gamble and other than a few souvenirs, I'm not a big shopper. There's no rule that says if you are a passenger you have to spend a certain amount on board so I see no reason why you have to punish a family with an infant by charging them huge fares when the baby will not really consume anything of the ship's but maybe some milk- if they are off of formula! I'm not saying this to get blasted and if you think it's fair, I respect that and I'm not putting anyone down.

 

That being said, we took our two year old son last October and while I can't say he got his full fare worth, everyone treated him like a king and we had a great time. It is typical that most cruise lines charge that fare regardless of age. If you can afford it, I think it's still the best way to go. We are booked again for November of this year.

 

Have fun!

[poppan]

It seemed to be the norm when I looked into it about six months ago. I guess the best you can do is find a kids-sail-free promotion, or kids-sail-for-very-little promotion, or a general 3rd/4th passengers-sail-for-very-little promotion. NCL had some of the latter, MSC seems to have kids sail free all the time, and Disney had some kids sail free on specific routes (although that was a while ago that I looked).

[CleoSushi]

Thanks everyone, your info was very helpful. Im going to sit with the hubby and see what he would like to do. NCL and Disney may be our best options. THANKS SO MUCH:D:D:D:D

[queenL]

Unfortunately it is normal for some. I'm taking my soon to be 3 yr old on Celebrity Summit in March. They charged 299 plus tax for her. Not all lines charge full fare for the tiny travelers. Costa also does kids free promotions from time to time. It is true about NCL, we sailed on them in 2008 paying only port charges and taxes. HAL was the same way.

[NJfoodie]

I'm not so sure about the no charge besides taxes for infants on NCL - we're sailing on NCL in may and the quotes I got from their agents directly and on their website all charged us for the baby. That being said, they charged a lot less than other cruiselines for itineraries in the timeframe we were researching. For the 7 day sailing, no including port taxes, we were paying about 700pp for adults and $165 for the baby.