small children on cruises

[Rick]

Why do some couples bring small children, EVEN babies on a cruise. A cruise should be a get away..romantic..carefree. NO, I don't dislike small kids but really don't want them under-foot on some cruises. Why not use kid oriented cruises (Disney) if you must take small children with you? DO YOU really think babies and toddlers carry about the cruise. Would'nt they be more happy staying with grandma? My wife and I have seen parents on cruise with small children and the parents did'nt look like they were enjoying their well deserved vacation . Just our opinion. Thanks

I'm assuming that my post below spurred this question, so I'll tell you why we choose to take our child on cruises with us. Our little man went on his first cruise (our 6th) when he was 9 months old--5 days out of Charleston, which is only two hours from our home. Our next cruise will be out of San Juan (he will have his second birthday on the ship), and we have already booked another for Bermuda next May.

Grandma and Grandpa usually cruise with us. They live several hours away, so cruising is the perfect time for all of us to connect for a carefree time of fun and togetherness. For us, a cruise is a FAMILY vacation, and he is part of our family. My husband and I recently DID leave him with the grandparents for a romantic getaway (3 days), and it was great. However, 7-9 days away from him would NOT be great. We're not going to take a week off work just to spend it away from the little guy who is the light of our lives.

I will say that we enjoyed every second of that cruise and having him there was never a burden on any of us. Was it different? Absolutely. I had to pack a lot more things, and we had to consider his schedule when making our own. But different is not always a bad thing. We are not big partiers and Grandpa doesn't enjoy the nighttime shows anyway, so we were able to participate in all of the activities that we would have if he hadn't been there. I can assure you that there was no shortage of romantic moments...infants go to sleep very early. ;-) Babies are not lumps of clay. Part of the fun of cruising with our new family member was seeing him respond to the lights, sounds, and people that he met on the cruise. The crew was absolutely smitten with him, as they rarely have an opportunity to see babies because of their jobs.

Why not choose Disney? I'm sure that we will go on a Disney cruise some day, but I don't WANT to cruise Disney right now. We have already been everywhere that they go several times, and we choose our cruises mostly for the ports rather than the ship itself.

I can assure you that we recognize that our child should not impose on the fun of other people, just as I expect other people not to impose on our right to enjoy our cruise. If he fusses, one of us will take him out until he calms down. He does not (and will not) run about wildly or unsupervised. Even at this early age, our child is learning to respect others and to use manners as well as a toddler can. My mom always says, "Your job as a parent is not to rear a child that you can love; it's to rear a child that other people can love too."

So, (thunk) down off my soapbox. I think I'll go work on my packing list. After all, only 16 weeks to go! I have a lot to pack, as you might imagine.

[Darlene]

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise and we took our 4 year old. She had a terrific time. Spent alot of time at Camp Carnival which she loved and also spend alot of time with us! Not everyone has grandma's that can babysit. That is our situation, however we wanted to bring our kids...this was our family vacation. Cruising is not just for couples who want to be romantic! Although we found time for that too!

[tiffany]

Jamine,

They way you are raising your son is commendable, but there are other people who let their children run wild, who do not take them out when they are screaming and think it is "cute" when the little tyke starts misbehaving. That might be what Rick was referring to.

Gosh, it the cruise ships wanted to discourage kids from coming, they wouldn't have all the kids activites, i.e. camp carnival, and other choice activites for kids.

The Disney cruise sails out of Florida, and it is too expensive to fly from LA and then stay the night, (because there are no flights that arrive timely on Sunday) and then the taxi charges, to the port, etc.

I will be able to enjoy the few hours a day I need for relaxation, and then spend the rest of the time with my son.

I, for one, would not leave my 4 year old for a week, or even 5 days.

Doesn't sound like you have kids.

We have 3 children (8, 5, and 3) . We take a weeklong vacation by ourselves every year and the kids stay with grandma. We are not unloving parents. In fact, these trips keep the romance burning and give us a greater appreciation for our kids. We get rejuenated and are better parents for it. I don't mind if others bring their children as long as they are well behaved and not kept up late to interrupt other vacationers dining or at the shows.

Did you know only Carnival and Princess have a kids program that starts at 2. Disney don't offer activities until the kids turn 3. If you don't like your vacation to be interrupted by kids, I suggest that you choose a cruise line that doesn't offer kids programs or excludes them all together. A vacation is a time for FAMILIES to spend together.

Just for the record, we're on the Carnival Spirit on October 8th with our 4 and 2 year olds. My son has also been on the QE2 when he was only 19 months. We especially waited to take this cruise as soon as my daughter turned 2 so that she could participate in the kids program.

it will horrify you to know that cruises are now being promoted by Australian travel agents as the "ideal family vacation for families with your children"

We try to take an international vacation every 2 years, and will next year take our 4 year old to Alaska. We believe it is all part of his learning.

Our initial plan was to take him to Europe, though a cruise sounded more appealing than dragging him from train to train etc, as we had done on our vacations before we were blessed with this little guy.

We have taken Thomas to Hong Kong and even hiking around Tasmania, and we feel proud that he has been exposed to so much from an early age. He has visited nearly every state in Australia.

Family vacations like this give children a chance to mingle with others from different cultures etc and will hopefully result in them being far less insular in the future. It's a BIG world out there!

our child has never been babysat and we are not about to leave him with relations in another hemisphere because this happens to be a more convenient and economical time to realise one of our many dreams.