Snorkeling with Baby

[Bill McNeal]

We are a couple with a baby, now about 2 months old, and we need a vacation!

 

I'm looking at a cruise for the December-ish timeframe, when the baby will be around 6 months old. Also, the main purpose of the cruise is to do offshore snorkeling, so I'd love to find a desination to Belize, Roatan, or other snorkel hotspots. My plan is to drop the baby off during the day at the on board nursery and dive for the day (either through the cruise or separate operator), then pick the baby up in the late afternoon.

 

Any lines or destinations you can recommend for this?

[donaldsc]

We are a couple with a baby, now about 2 months old, and we need a vacation!

 

I'm looking at a cruise for the December-ish timeframe, when the baby will be around 6 months old. Also, the main purpose of the cruise is to do offshore snorkeling, so I'd love to find a desination to Belize, Roatan, or other snorkel hotspots. My plan is to drop the baby off during the day at the on board nursery and dive for the day (either through the cruise or separate operator), then pick the baby up in the late afternoon.

 

Any lines or destinations you can recommend for this?

 

Are you sure that you can leave a 6 month old at the nursery. You better verify that with whatever line you are taking.

 

DON

[paul929207]

Some lines will take a 6 month old others will not. You said "around" 6 months. Less than 6 months is probably not going to do it.

[fishywood]

On most lines the minimum age for a closed loop cruise without any consecutive sea days is six months. And it is enforced: if you sail on December 15 and your baby was born June 16, you will be denied boarding. For cruises with consecutive sea days the minimum age could be anywhere from 12 to 24 months depending on the cruiseline--the issue of course being if an infant becomes ill they need to be able to evacuate them quickly.

 

As for babysitting, based on what I have read on these boards the only lines that will watch babies in diapers are Disney and Royal Caribbean. All other lines have higher minimum ages and if a child uses diapers require one parent to be onboard at all times the child is in the kid's club to be paged when a change is necessary.

[Ehpride]

Keep in mind that depending on the cruiseline, the baby won't be allowed to cruise unless it is 6 months or older.

[spunkyhungry]

I feel like it is really risky to leave your child onboard while you are snorkeling. What if you missed the ship? It happens.

[LetsGoDutch]

Also, with some cruise lines, even though you put them in babysitting, at least one parent must be onboard with them in case there is a medical or some other emergency.

[iheartbda]

OP, this may not be as easy as you think, I know one line for sure will not will not change diapers so you need to be onboard to do it.

I suggest you take your question to the Family Cuises board.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=43008237

[5326jan]

Have you talked to the mother about this plan? :confused::confused::confused:

[dsrdsrdsr]

I feel like it is really risky to leave your child onboard while you are snorkeling. What if you missed the ship? It happens.

Well, they won't leave the baby on the quayside. Someone will look after it. (Might be expensive, though.)

[spookwife]

Some lines will take a 6 month old others will not. You said "around" 6 months. Less than 6 months is probably not going to do it.

correct

less than six months old( to the day) would not be allowed to board at all.

 

 

as for leaving the ship?! no way would I even DREAM of doing that, even on a ship's sponsored excursion. not with an infant on board, let alone in the nursery( which may or may not even be open during port calls at all)

 

if you need a vacation that badly( and I do not doubt that you do) take a shorter cruise and leave the kid with the Grandparents.

[frisbeewife]

if you need a vacation that badly( and I do not doubt that you do) take a shorter cruise and leave the kid with the Grandparents.

 

I agree. Taking a 6 month old baby on a cruise is not a vacation, either for you or the child. You will be seeing all the other people relaxing and enjoying themselves while you are still a slave to the baby's schedule and needs, and the baby will be jolted out of his/her routine and surrounded by strange people/noises/smells, etc. And what if one of you came down with the dreaded norowalk virus, or even a run-of-the-mill childhood bug that can't be dealt with very well on a ship?

 

If you can't leave the child with a responsible adult, then you might want to consider taking a different type of vacation and saving the cruise for a couple of years down the road.

 

I know, that's not the advice you were looking for or wanted to hear, but a baby is just not a good cruise companion if you really want a vacation.

[Hlitner]

Ok, lets try a scenario (not totally far fetched). Parents go off the ship snorkeling and leave baby onboard with a baby sitter. Something goes wrong on the snorkeling trip and both parents miss the ship. Next step? I might get flamed for this, but we question the wisdom of taking a baby, at that age, on any cruise ship. It is just not the best place to have a tiny infant. I certainly would not want to have a cabin next to a tiny infant who cries anytime night or day (crying is a normal activity for an infant) and its never fun to be watching a show or dining only to be interrupted by a screaming baby. And as to nurseries and sitters, I know that DW never would have left our daughter, at that very young age, in the care of total strangers. But guess that is just us....as we understand this is now the "we" generation.

 

Hank

[donaldsc]

We are a couple with a baby, now about 2 months old, and we need a vacation!

 

?

 

I am going to be totally harsh. When you have an infant, you do not get vacations. You should have thought about that before you signed up to be a parent.

 

If you need to get away somewhere, rent a cottage somewhere.

 

DON

[disney521]

I must admit, I am a fairly laid back person, I do let my (then) ten year old go the the arcade with his friend (a family that was along on vaca with us, who was 9) while on board last February, a little freedom, and yes we did "sneak" checks on them, but never would I leave them alone on the ship while I went on shore for the day, why would you leave an infant in the nursery for the day?? Baby would be better off at home with loved ones if you need some adult time to enjoy, which every parent needs.

[SadieN]

With a few exceptions you will be paying the full 3rd person fare for your 6mo.

 

You can always go snorkeling alone and the other parent watching the child.

[kitty9]

Depending on what ship, they don't have babysitting unless the child is 12 months. And they don't do group sitting for infants in a group setting on port days on most ships. Before you book you need to do your research.

 

Like others said, the child must be 6 months on the first day of the the cruise.

[TC1957]

I am going to be totally harsh. When you have an infant, you do not get vacations. You should have thought about that before you signed up to be a parent.

 

If you need to get away somewhere, rent a cottage somewhere.

 

DON

 

+1,000,000.

 

The kid is only 6 months old and you need a vacation so badly that you would consider leaving the infant with a complete stranger, in another country while you go off to have a good time? Really? Wow...

 

I'll may even go a step further than Don and say you need counseling...maybe even a visit from someone.

[bplazo]

As a parent you forgo some activities.

 

I agree with one poster who said they would not want to be in the next cabin. We did not take a vacation until my daughter was seven.

[navybankerteacher]

It is hard on OP, but refreshing to me to see now many others seem to have a grasp on what it should mean to be a parent. I could not imagine leaving a baby on a ship while both parents do anything off it. Parenting is a full time occupation - sure, you need a break now and then, but not as much as a six month old baby needs committed parenting. With my four, vacations were in rented cottages until the youngest were about six.

[kellylw]

Wow, if so many of you are against children on cruises you really need to find different lines/vacations. Babies are allowed on cruises just like everyone else. Some lines will require the baby be six months, but others say 12 weeks. Carnival changes diapers and does have a policy for under-twos on port days.

 

Now, with that said, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my child on the ship while both parents go ashore unless we have other family on the ship. Even then, I don't think I could do it.

 

Some private excursions will be more than willing to allow the baby to go on the excursion and the parents could trade off snorkeling. We saw a young family do this on our first cruise and they had a great time. And it didn't impact a single other person on the excursion.

 

And being in a cabin next to a baby is no worse (and even better) than being next to loud drunken adults. Most parents would immediately do what they could to calm their child.

 

To the OP, while you may not be able to have the cruise you had before baby came, you will have a wonderful time.

[dsrdsrdsr]

+1,000,000.

 

The kid is only 6 months old and you need a vacation so badly that you would consider leaving the infant with a complete stranger, in another country while you go off to have a good time? Really? Wow...

 

I'll may even go a step further than Don and say you need counseling...maybe even a visit from someone.

I think congratulations are in order. That is the most spectacularly judgemental post I have ever seen. It's one thing to think that other peoples' ways of bringing up baby are inferior to yours; but to suggest that people who disagree with your way have some form of mental health issue, ...

[TC1957]

I think congratulations are in order. That is the most spectacularly judgemental post I have ever seen. It's one thing to think that other peoples' ways of bringing up baby are inferior to yours; but to suggest that people who disagree with your way have some form of mental health issue, ...

 

Glad you liked the post. Now show me where I said the OP had mental health issues? I was referring to parental counseling. It appears to me they are willing to take a huge risk after just a few months of parenting. I am not saying they should not take vacations, but to leave their child with a stranger in another country tells me they were unprepared for the demands of being a parent.

 

Like it or not...it is a lifetime commitment. They should have thought of these types of things before they decided to make a baby.

 

And if I owned a company offering snorkeling trips they would not get on one of my boats unless they had a life jacket for the baby...probably not something most companies provide.

 

Your opinion may vary...

[cruzeluver]

So to the original poster: aren't you glad you asked? :D

 

Post some other questions so some more complete strangers can offer you parenting advice.:p

[navybankerteacher]

I think congratulations are in order. That is the most spectacularly judgemental post I have ever seen. It's one thing to think that other peoples' ways of bringing up baby are inferior to yours; but to suggest that people who disagree with your way have some form of mental health issue, ...

 

Do you realize how judgemental your post is? Perhaps you should, first, re-read the post which you found do bad, and then explain why suggesting that someone who might need counselling is stating that they have mental health issues.

 

Do you think that someone who needs so badly to get a break from a baby they have had for perhaps six months, that they would leave the infant alone with sitters on a ship while they go ashore, is really accepting their roles as parents?

 

I think someone should point out to them that they have assumed awesome responsibilities - and that pointing out might best be referred as "counselling".