Cruise with 10 month old

[luddite]

I would check with the ship's pediatrician and find out how he/she feels about bringing the 10 mo old along.

[time2cruise1]

I would check with the ship's pediatrician and find out how he/she feels about bringing the 10 mo old along.

 

If only the ships had pediatricians ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[pyrogy]

I would check with the ship's pediatrician and find out how he/she feels about bringing the 10 mo old along.

 

 

If this is a joke I don't get it.

 

It is so nice to see the very positive comments on this board. On some other boards I have seen similar threads with lots of discouraging comments regarding children.

 

We have taken babies on board two or three times with no problems. Try to find a stroller that reclines but is not too wide. Other than that use common sense and have a great time.

[MMLEsq]

We took our daughter on her first cruise (a Disney cruise) when she was not quite 4 months old. Her next cruise (on the Norwegian Dawn) was when she was 12 months old. Both were fun, but it was probably easier when she was 4 months old because she started walking around 10 1/2 months, and on her second cruise she loved to walk up and down the stairs (and up and down...and up and down...) It wore us out! But, she's always had fun on cruises and we've never regretted bringing her with us at any age. At 8 and 1/2, she's getting ready to go on her 17th(? - I think) cruise next weekend.

 

I agree that a stroller that folds up easily is very helpful.

[jr_mia]

my daughter sailed with 6 and 10 months and we all had a blast.

[HardToPort]

I think young children enjoy cruising but keep in mind that sea travel is an acquired taste for some. If your kids don't adjust to the rolling of a ship you could be looking at 7 days of misery and nausea. Since my kid is 29 now she isn't as big a worry. LOL. But she traveled well when younger.

 

Some advice from an adult cruiser. Keep your kids away from the adult pool and away from groups of adults in general. Some of us choose specific cruise dates to minimize the at sea child quotient. I love my kid, nieces, nephews et al. But I drink, play cards and occasionally swear. You wont find grown ups near the kids play area. It's only fair to keep the kids from the bars, casino's and adult pool.

 

Who in the their right mind would allow their kids in these areas? Some foolish parents do it on every cruise I've been on. Because of course, their kids are special. Oy!

[oLEEander]

12 month rule only applies to cruises with 3 or more sea days in a row.

 

All facts stated below apply at the time of embarkation.

Infants sailing onboard a Norwegian vessel must be at least six months of age at time of sailing. However, for voyages that have 3 or more consecutive days at sea, the infant must be at least 12 months old at time of sailing.

 

That makes more sense. We were just told sailings longer than 7 days. Our 12 day cruise does have 3 consecutive sea days so though the reason stated was misinformation, the same out come remains. Thanks for the correct information, sorry I muddied the waters.

[time2cruise1]

That makes more sense. We were just told sailings longer than 7 days. Our 12 day cruise does have 3 consecutive sea days so though the reason stated was misinformation, the same out come remains. Thanks for the correct information, sorry I muddied the waters.

 

You did not muddy the waters. Thank you for bringing up the issue. Most know about the 6 mo rule few the 12 mo restriction.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[Vyhanek]

Have you cruised before? Do you understand how tiny the rooms are? It will be a very difficult vacation. I don't know that when it's over you would consider it a vacation at all.

 

I've cruised with my children at least 15 times. I never would have considered doing that with 2 children and one being a baby though.

 

So picture yourself in your cabin where there isn't really enough room for all 4 of you to be in there together. You're walking around single file to get around furniture and each other. Now add in your pack and play or crib, your stroller, diapers to last you a whole week, babyfood to last you a whole week. All the other kid gear necessary. It will be a major test in patience just managing yourselves for a week in one tiny cabin.

 

Now imagine you have 2 kids who need naps and who have early bed times. It's 7pm or 8pm and your kids are settling in to bed. You and husband.....what are you going to do? Sit in your room in the dark? Take turns one sitting in the room in the dark? There's fun shows going on, there's fun parties on the decks, dancing, whatever you like to do and you are in the room with sleeping babies.

 

Then there's the issue of meals. You will have to eat most meals in the buffet. The dining room service is so slow, there is no way a baby could make it for 2 plus hours to eat a meal. It really is THAT slow! So buffet it is. The room service menu is very limited. i think you'd have a hard time eating off that menu more than a meal or two. Then in the buffet there's the issue of no trays. None. So here you are a Mom trying to help 2 babies get food and you carry it in your hands. There will be no place close to the buffet to sit probably so you will have to make several trips back and forth thru the buffet to get your plates of food for you and children.

 

Then there's the issue of the swimming pool. Children are not allowed in any pool if they are not potty trained. There are NO swim diapers allowed at all. So here you are baking on the deck on a sea day and you can't even let your little one in the baby pool to cool off. Then the decks are wall to wall people, dealing with all that and crowds won't be fun at all.

 

Wait until both children can enjoy the Kids Club. Then a cruise is the perfect family vacation. Before that, seriously think about it in detail like this.

 

Take my advice. Take a nice beach vacation this year. Rent a condo on the beach where you can have your own kitchen to prepare meals. A condo will have the swimming pool steps from the door and you can walk to the beach.

[Cruzface]

Our boys are 17 and 15. They started cruising at 10 and 8. I thought that was too young. As time goes on, we can't wait until they are on their own and we can cruise by ourselves:eek: What do you think, like another 15 years and we should be good to go, right?

 

You have to look at it this way. At 10 months old, your infant is never going to remember this trip, maybe the 5 yr old will. So, you are basically cruising for yourself. If you don't mind the limitations such young children will put on your vacation, then don't worry about it. Go enjoy. But if you will be frustrated because you can't go to some of the restaurants or other activities on the ship, then it may not be worth it.

[time2cruise1]

Our boys are 17 and 15. They started cruising at 10 and 8. I thought that was too young. As time goes on, we can't wait until they are on their own and we can cruise by ourselves:eek: What do you think, like another 15 years and we should be good to go, right?

 

You have to look at it this way. At 10 months old, your infant is never going to remember this trip, maybe the 5 yr old will. So, you are basically cruising for yourself. If you don't mind the limitations such young children will put on your vacation, then don't worry about it. Go enjoy. But if you will be frustrated because you can't go to some of the restaurants or other activities on the ship, then it may not be worth it.

 

All the problems you point out are solved if you cruise with other family members. I cruised with my 9 mo old grandson and everyone got to do what they wanted. He may not remember the cruse but none of us will forget the big smiles on his face as the crew just could not get enough of him.2014 it will be the whole extended family again and he will be almost 3 and his soon to be baby brother will be just over a year. I am looking forward to another magical week.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[LegallyBlonder]

Have you cruised before? Do you understand how tiny the rooms are? It will be a very difficult vacation. I don't know that when it's over you would consider it a vacation at all.

 

I've cruised with my children at least 15 times. I never would have considered doing that with 2 children and one being a baby though.

 

So picture yourself in your cabin where there isn't really enough room for all 4 of you to be in there together. You're walking around single file to get around furniture and each other. Now add in your pack and play or crib, your stroller, diapers to last you a whole week, babyfood to last you a whole week. All the other kid gear necessary. It will be a major test in patience just managing yourselves for a week in one tiny cabin.

 

Now imagine you have 2 kids who need naps and who have early bed times. It's 7pm or 8pm and your kids are settling in to bed. You and husband.....what are you going to do? Sit in your room in the dark? Take turns one sitting in the room in the dark? There's fun shows going on, there's fun parties on the decks, dancing, whatever you like to do and you are in the room with sleeping babies.

 

Then there's the issue of meals. You will have to eat most meals in the buffet. The dining room service is so slow, there is no way a baby could make it for 2 plus hours to eat a meal. It really is THAT slow! So buffet it is. The room service menu is very limited. i think you'd have a hard time eating off that menu more than a meal or two. Then in the buffet there's the issue of no trays. None. So here you are a Mom trying to help 2 babies get food and you carry it in your hands. There will be no place close to the buffet to sit probably so you will have to make several trips back and forth thru the buffet to get your plates of food for you and children.

 

Then there's the issue of the swimming pool. Children are not allowed in any pool if they are not potty trained. There are NO swim diapers allowed at all. So here you are baking on the deck on a sea day and you can't even let your little one in the baby pool to cool off. Then the decks are wall to wall people, dealing with all that and crowds won't be fun at all.

 

Wait until both children can enjoy the Kids Club. Then a cruise is the perfect family vacation. Before that, seriously think about it in detail like this.

 

Take my advice. Take a nice beach vacation this year. Rent a condo on the beach where you can have your own kitchen to prepare meals. A condo will have the swimming pool steps from the door and you can walk to the beach.

 

 

I think this is a strange response if you had read most of the recommenations above (get a balcony room for use after bedtime, bring a blow-up pool for on deck and for baths, plan mealtimes around naptimes) since virtually all of your "issues" were already addressed.

 

In terms of space, I would actually think that traveling with older children would be way more cramped since you would have 4 full-sized bodies occupying the small space. Pack-n-plays can be folded and stowed within minutes, if you choose. Of course, since my children are still young, I can't comment directly on traveling with older children- sort of like you can't comment on traveling with infants since you never did it. I actually think cruising is one of the easiest vacations you can take with young ones, since it often does not even involve a flight, and everything is at your fingertips!

 

Finally, our vacations are certainly different than they were before children (and from how they will be when are children are older), but we love and appreciate the stage that our family is in, and we make it work. Too bad for those who consider their young children to be a nuisance on vacation- I think they are missing out on wonderful memories.