Would you take your 7 month old on a cruise

[Fouremco]

We are currently booked for a family cruise next March. We originally were considering this past March, but decided that at seven months, our youngest grandchild would be too young. Our daughter's major reservation was that, should her child have become sick, most ship's medical facilities are ill-equipped to deal with it. Maybe we are overly cautious, but waiting a year didn't seem to be a big problem.

[DnA2010]

Wow I'm really glad that I came on here- I'm currently pregnant and we were discussing a cruise in March when baby will be 7months ish- we were thinking a cruise would be the way to go with being all- inclusive and all. Will def be doing some more research. We would book one of the ships with the Nursery.

[BigHouseFootball]

I would never do it. Not with the prices Royal would want to charge me. Talk about flushing money right down the toilet. When the day comes where my wife and I have children we will be doing vacations where infants/babies are free.

[sjb317]

I wish we had had the money to cruise with our children when they were young. The best we could do was camping (in a tent!), cruising would have been so much easier!

 

Sherri:)

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Hi,

 

Me and my wife plan to take our daughter on a cruise this summer. She will be 7 months at the time we take the cruise.

 

I've gotten mixed reactions from friends and family. Do you guys think shes to young to go on a cruise? I'm not worried about the amount we have to pay for 3rd passenger. I'm more worried about safety and heath.

 

Thanks

Stan

 

My 12 year old daughter has been cruising since she was 4 months old. Her first 18 months of life she was on a cruise, trip to Rome (loved gelato), Hawaii, and Brockville, Ont. She is a traveler on her 3rd passport. We have never had any issues with her traveling. Sure at 7 months, dinner is hit or miss but she will be with you and be just as happy as if she was at home. Start her traveling now!

[Pratique]

Some may say that as a childless couple me and my DW have no business injecting our opinion into these matters - and it is true we are one of those couples who gets irritated at screaming children in the restaurants after 8 pm - but I had a few thoughts anyway.

 

I used to work at Walt Disney World, and all too many times I saw unhappy families in the parks with children who were clearly ready for a break, but instead insisted on making the most of their vacation in the sweltering heat and long lines. It occurred to me that a cruise is probably a better environment than a land-based vacation because you can run at any pace and still enjoy the voyage without feeling the pressure to "take it all in." Also, you are never more than a few steps from your room when your child needs a break, and you probably don't even need to use a stroller every time you leave your stateroom. That being said, I would not recommend taking any shore excursions because you are a captive audience until the tour returns to the ship. Also if anyone gets sick you are also stuck on the ship with nowhere to go.

 

So think about what you want out of the vacation (the kid doesn't care where you go or what you do) and maybe a cruise will make more sense for you than a trip to the theme parks. On the other hand, a hotel by the beach in Hawaii seems like a good option too (my 18 MO nephew has already been to Hawaii four or five times, I lost count lol but they always have a great low-stress vacation on the beach). YMMV.

[trevordentist]

We've been traveling with our first son since he was about 3 months old. He is 3.5 now, and he's been to Mexico, Jamaica (twice), Germany and Israel, as well as tons of places in the USA.

 

We are going on the Oasis in September with our first son, and also our second son (who will be 10 months old). We brought both kids to Disney World when our second son was 4 months old.

 

I LOVE traveling with the kids. Both my wife and I work really hard and the only time we can really enjoy being a family is when we are on vacation. My wife is very type A, and the only time she relaxes is when we are on vacation. Sure, traveling with kids is tough, but it is so much more enjoyable than NOT traveling.

 

Just plan ahead and you'll be fine. Like everyone said, bring lots of diapers, toys, clothes, etc. Your kid will probably be eating babyfood by then. I'm not sure if they can puree things for you on the ship. It might be a good idea to bring a ton of the food pouches.

 

Also, be prepared to have lots of down time for naps. Things will be so much smoother and easier for you if you follow your schedule that you have at home. Keep the same nap times. Don't push it. No one has fun when your baby is screaming his/her head off because you tried to keep him/her up an extra hour to see a show or something.

 

My wife and I discovered how much fun it is to catch up on movies and shows and books on my iPad while the kids are napping. Sure, we'll miss the shows, and trivia, and things like that. But there is plenty of good stuff to watch on Netflix.

 

FYI, what I'm planning on doing for our cruise on Oasis is flying in to Ft. Lauderdale the day before and staying at the Embassy Suites. There is a supermarket right next to the Embassy Suites. Rather than bringing everything with us on the flight, we'll go to the supermarket, buy a box of diapers, and baby-food, and table covers, and wipes, etc... and just slap a luggage tag on it all and bring it on the ship.

[dpostman]

I'm also surprised and how many "NO"s. I think it greatly depends on the individual child. Breastfeeding also makes it way easier. Readily available food and always at the right temp. But at 7 months, will probably have started on some baby food.

 

We used to camp a lot. My son first went on a 3 week camping trip in a tent trailer at 3 months old, and my daughter was on her first 3 day weekend camping trip in May at 9 days old. If you plan in advance for all of the important stuff, it is amazing what you can make due with the things you have on hand, especially on a cruise ship.

 

So at seven months, the biggest challenge I would foresee is Teething. Some go through it like a champ, some are cranky and miserable for 3 months straight. Hard to tell in advance.

 

dp

Edited May 3, 2016 by dpostman

[JimAOk1945]

Speaking from my own perspective and experience, I would say no. If you can leave the baby at home, do it. Your wife will enjoy the cruise much more and you will, too.

 

When the wife is happy, everyone's happy! :D

[bmsm6]

We cruised with our son when he was 9 months and it was great! Sure you have lots of extra baby stuff to pack, but he hadn't yet learned how to crawl so he was happy to be pushed around in his stroller (we had a strap-on larger sun shade and clip on fan) on the ship and in ports. I say 7 months is a perfect age because once the baby starts crawling and walking they aren't as happy to be in stroller or held the whole time. Our next cruise was when our son was 5 and daughter was 3, and that was more challenging in some ways than just having the baby. I say go ahead and take the cruise and enjoy it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Paul65]

:eek: wow, I am surprised at the previous posters. I know when we just had one child, we traveled quite a bit with her. I think as long as you practice good hygiene, health wise you are covered. You come into contact with lots of people everyday when you go to the grocery. Do you take your child out generally in public? I would recommend researching a baby life jacket to keep in your cabin to know that you have the proper size for an infant. Would it be the same vacation as without a baby, no but going in with proper expectations, I say go & enjoy!

 

"Out generally in public" is not the same as being somewhere in the middle of the ocean with limited access to medical care. It's up to each individual (or set of parents) to make decisions like this for themselves, but I would be in the "No" camp, as well, in answer to the OP's question, which was, "Would you....?"

[JetsFanCruiser]

I did it...no issues....

 

and don't worry too much about whether the CC community would do it......Everyone is different.....Just ask yourself if the benefits outweigh the risks...

[Summerknight]

My vote is no.

[bigsky]

For us, we never did until they were old enough to remember and enjoy it. Too much work for me. I'd rather go and totally relax. This is what a vacation is all about.

[kjmjrm]

I vote no. 2 kids, now 17&13, both diamond on their own. Love family time when we travel, but started at 5. Every one in your family will get less enjoyment than you hope for with kids that young.

Edited May 3, 2016 by kjmjrm

[tamilyn]

Absolutely not!

[TheMastodon]

I suppose it depends what ship you are cruising. I would only do it if the ship has a nursery. With that being said, I've seen infants on every cruise I've been on! Some of our friends have cruised with there 6-9 month olds and said it was great since they aren't crawling around just yet.

[missholly24]

My boys ages 7 and 9 have been on 4 cruises. The oldest went when he was around 1yrs old. We had the unique experience of him getting very sick (vomiting and diarrhea). He did not have NORO because no one else in our room (4 adults total) got it and it was day 4 of the symptoms. Looking back I think it was the transition to milk maybe their brand didn't agree with him? I'm not sure. However, I tell you this not to scare you off, but to say that the Medical Center was great in helping me. They assessed all the factors, did NOT quarantine us, and gave us loads of pedialyte. What I learned from the experience is to travel with an extensive "just in case" kit (powdered pedialyte, Benadryl, Childrens motrin, etc, etc.). I do that to ward off bad things. LOL....anyways. Don't listen to the naysayers. Traveling anywhere can be dangerous. Pediatricians are not the savior of all illnesses as well. Statistically you will be fine!! Go with your gut and YOLO...:p

[elephant98]

If you are willing to take your 6 month old on a land based vacation, then I wouldn't hesitate to take your child on a cruise vacation. So, I think that is the first question. Do you want to take your infant on a vacation? Because not all infants sleep very well when they aren't in their own crib. And infants are typically more happy when they stick to the same eating and sleeping schedule. when traveling. On top of that, simply because you have an infant, you don't have as much freedom to do things as a couple because one (or both) of you will back in the room with the child for rest time. That is, unless your child sleeps well in a stroller. (More on that later.) So, if you are willing to schedule your vacation around your infant's typical daily schedule to keep him or her happy, then I think you will be happy too even though you won't be able to do as much as you would if your child were older.

 

Assuming you are desperate for a vacation, the next question is how long a vacation are you willing to take? For us, because of the aforementioned issues you encounter when traveling with infants, we chose to stick with 3 or 4 day vacations until our kids turned 1 years old. Things like the weekend trip to Disney World, a four day stay at a resort . . . and cruising. But, a 7 day vacation is doable too, though more stressful.

 

For us, cruising has turned out to be a alternative to a vacation on land because it was much more convenient by comparison. All Disney ships and Royal's Freedom and Oasis class ships have nurseries which offer supervised care (which includes feeding, diaper changes, and cribs for napping) for a reasonable hourly rate which will be just as good, if not better, than what you will pay back home. And if there is any problem at all, you can stop whatever you are doing, go to the nursery, and return back to your activity in a 5 to 10 minute span. You can either leave your infant in the nursery for meals. Or, take them with you to the dining room/buffet where the wait staff will be incredibly attentive and helpful.

 

On that note, we found that we could actually dress up and go out to dinner on a cruise. Back home, that would typically entail a 10 minute car ride, waiting 15 to 20 minutes to get seated at the restaurant, another 10 minutes to put in our order, another half hour to get served . . . and then the extended waits for waiter to come with our bill and then with our receipt/change. Our kids simply didn't have that kind of patience. Inevitably, the crankiness would set in just about the time we ordered because of the ordeal we encountered just to get there and get seated. With cruising, in less than 10 minutes you can leave your cabin, be seated in the dining room and place your order. For the most part, we found we could at least get through the entrée before our infants' patience had finally run out and we got the dessert to go. Or, we skipped the waiting altogether and ate in the buffet at night, where they typically serve a lot of the same food as the main dining room. Disney even has casual, table service in their buffet.

 

We also found that by cruising it was much easier to keep our kids on their sleep schedule, largely because there isn't any need to travel in a car or long waits to go from destination A to destination B. You can be back in your stateroom in a flash. Also, because getting our kids down for naps was sometimes difficult because they preferred their own crib over a pack n play, I often found myself taking them for long walks on the air conditioned promenade or the windy jogging deck. Some of my fondest cruise memories are taking a leisurely stroll with a drink of the day in one hand, and the stroller handle in the other. As for not wanting to be stuck in the cabin the whole time during naps, and having to go to bed very early, we strategically booked our stateroom close to a public area where we knew our video baby monitor would reach. We could sit 10 to 20 feet from our stateroom in the "library" and read a book or play a game. Or, as the case may be, actually sit in the Central Park area. When our second child was born, we opted for connecting staterooms.

 

Yes, you do need to pack extra of certain things because you can't simply run to the corner drugstore to pick up something you've ran out of (i.e., formula, diapers, medicine). So take care to create a detailed list of just about anything you can think of. (Note that Royal's nursery has a toy checkout program, which is free. You can check out a bag of age appropriate toys to take to your cabin.)

 

Seeing the entertainment onboard can be challenging, especially since most of it will be at night. But, we always managed to use the nursery at least one night of the cruise so we could see a show together. Or, we split up and one of us stayed behind in the stateroom. Not ideal, but nothing is when you are traveling with small kids. In our experience, Disney ships and Royal's Oasis class ships tend to have many more daytime activities that are family oriented. Royal even has matinee shows for the ice shows.

 

On the whole, our experience was that cruise vacations were more enjoyable, and less stressful, than land based vacations of similar lengths when traveling with an infant.

[marci22]

Maybe a Disney cruise, where there are lots of children, otherwise, no. My biggest concern would be a medical emergency of any kind. My next would be if the baby cried a lot, disturbing neighboring cabins. We did our first Disney cruise when my youngest was 4 and that worked out well.

[Paul65]

Don't listen to the naysayers. Traveling anywhere can be dangerous. Pediatricians are not the savior of all illnesses as well. Statistically you will be fine!! Go with your gut and YOLO...:p

 

You know what - this is about asking everyone's opinion, and I had no problem reading your opinion, until you felt the need to attack others as your closing remarks.

 

That said, I don't think a single person said (nor implied) that pediatricians are the savior of all illnesses. Some, including myself, indicated that limited access to health care, when you're in the middle of the ocean, is one reason to be hesitant about bringing an infant along.

 

Glad things worked out for you, but I'm sure you recognize that Pedialyte is not the savior of all illnesses, either. And with an infant who can not verbally express what they're feeling, some people would prefer not to venture too far from the availability of full emergency care, even if, statistically, it is unlikely you'll need it. That, too, is a valid opinion.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Paul65

[Norway2]

I have three kids who are all grown up now. When they were little we did land based vacations. Some were good but a lot of the time I personally was miserable. It was not what I would call a vacation. Would I have taken them on cruise? Probably not, that is a lot of money and I don't think it would be worth it. Its your choice to make, but no matter what anyone says caring for a child is a full time job. They give you great moments of joy and unconditional love but their needs are constant. I would choose a wonderful family member to leave them with and enjoy yourselves. Take the child when they are a little older and can remember and enjoy the great experience. JMHO

[cincicruisers]

I think it depends on what type of vacation you want. Do you want to go to shows and activities? If you do take the baby then I would stress the need for a balcony cabin. Little news take naps and the balcony will give you freedom to read/relax while the baby sleeps.

 

I could vote both yes and no,,,

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[John&LaLa]

7 months = No

7 years = Yes

 

That is all.

[atlaturne]

No way