Cruising with 16 week old

[rosej85]

My family of 5 including our 16 week old will be cruising the Disney Wonder out of San Diego in a couple weeks (Oct.11). My sister, her husband and their 17 week old will also be on the cruise. I just read an article about Disney kicking off a family with a sick 4 month old off the ship in January and Disney officials stated she was too young. We are exempt from the 6 month old rule since we reserved our cruise well before they changed the policy, I just would like some reassurance we'll be fine and have no trouble getting on.

 

[Weedy]

Disney's website says a child must be 6 months old to sail. If they said you were exempted I would have the paper work that confirms that.
The medical facilities onboard are limited. If Disney feels thay are not able to care for someone infant, child or adult they will be taken off the ship to get the care they need.

A:


Your child needs to be at least 6 months of age on the day of sailing for most itineraries. The minimum age for Transatlantic, Hawaii, and Panama Canal itineraries is 1 year of age on the day of sailing.
Here is the link: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/faqs/health-safety/infant-policy/

 

[tinkerone]

they weren't removed because the child was to young exactly, they were removed because they felt they could not take care of the child which could have happened if she was 4 years old or forty years old. their facilities are limited to what they can and can not do. the ships often have to have people taken off and taken to a hospital in other ports.

 

[rosej85]

Disney's website says a child must ne 6 months old to sail. I would call Dsiney and check. What age did you say your child was when you made the reservation?

How old does my infant have to be to sail?

A:


Your child needs to be at least 6 months of age on the day of sailing for most itineraries. The minimum age for Transatlantic, Hawaii, and Panama Canal itineraries is 1 year of age on the day of sailing.
Here is the link: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/faqs/health-safety/infant-policy/

I was not pregnant when I made the reservation in early 2014 and they had not changed the policy yet, so we still apply to the 12 week policy. My son is on the itinerary and paid for already, I'm just hoping they don't give us trouble when we arrive

 

[rosej85]

they weren't removed because the child was to young exactly, they were removed because they felt they could not take care of the child which could have happened if she was 4 years old or forty years old. their facilities are limited to what they can and can not do. the ships often have to have people taken off and taken to a hospital in other ports.

Thank you!

 

[Weedy]

I was not pregnant when I made the reservation in early 2014 and they had not changed the policy yet, so we still apply to the 12 week policy. My son is on the itinerary and paid for already, I'm just hoping they don't give us trouble when we arrive

Oops I saw that after I answered your question, I changed it right after I posted it. Have a good cruise.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would have everything relevant printed out, and I would expect many MANY questions onboard...

 

[MickeyMeCrazy]

Honestly, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I too had made a reservation for a little one just in case, as we were trying, but ended up not getting pregnant. We removed the infant from our booking, however we also were "grandfathered in". I'm sure there are many cruisers that are in the same "boat" because DCL (at the time of booking) was the only cruise line accepting infants 3 months and above. I would be sure to print out the email explaining the grandfathering when you check in just in case, and you'll be all good! I highly doubt anyone would say anything to you once onboard.

 

[WDdaughter]

Hmmm, I would double check with Disney on this one. We had to cancel an already booked cruise because my granddaughter was going to be about 2 and a half months old. There was no mention to us about being "grandfathered" because we were already booked?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hmmm, I would double check with Disney on this one. We had to cancel an already booked cruise because my granddaughter was going to be about 2 and a half months old. There was no mention to us about being "grandfathered" because we were already booked?

The "old" minimum age for cruising was 12 weeks. A 2 1/2 month old isn't 12 weeks old.

 

[MickeyMeCrazy]

Hmmm, I would double check with Disney on this one. We had to cancel an already booked cruise because my granddaughter was going to be about 2 and a half months old. There was no mention to us about being "grandfathered" because we were already booked?

The "old" minimum age was 3 months and up which is probably why your 2.5 month granddaughter was not allowed. We were sent an email from DCL on July 18 2014 stating we were grandfathered for our cruise Oct 9, 2015. This is the letter I would print out and bring with.

 

[WDdaughter]

ah, makes sense

 

[tinkerone]

I find this thread interesting. is it the cruise that is grandfathered or the child. at time of booking the child was not even conceived. it makes me wonder if the grandfathering was meant for people who were either pregnant at the time of change or whose baby was already born however would not meet the required age. I would really take anything I had that said baby was allowed. cover your bases.
dcl may have taken your money for the child however they have the right to deny anyone boarding so all it would take is a cm saying nope, the cruise itself was not grandfathered.

 

[bumbershoot]

I highly doubt anyone would say anything to you once onboard.

Someone on the ship who left their small baby with relatives, or was traveling without part of their original party, because they booked after the change...you don't think they might have something to say to the OP?

I find this thread interesting. is it the cruise that is grandfathered or the child. at time of booking the child was not even conceived. it makes me wonder if the grandfathering was meant for people who were either pregnant at the time of change or whose baby was already born however would not meet the required age.

It's the booking.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2014/07/disney-cruise-lines-infant-policy-changes-effective-7182014/

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2073099

Though obviously someone who booked before July of last year for a cruise this year either put a "to be determined" baby in there, or got lucky and lifeboats/rooms weren't full when they added the baby.

 

[tinkerone]

It's the booking.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2014/07/disney-cruise-lines-infant-policy-changes-effective-7182014/

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2073099

Though obviously someone who booked before July of last year for a cruise this year either put a "to be determined" baby in there, or got lucky and lifeboats/rooms weren't full when they added the baby.

interestingly enough, both the threads you have posted refer to the reservation being pointed out because the person was presently pregnant.

As a Guest currently scheduled to sail with an infant in 2015, we want to assure you that this change will not apply to your current reservation referenced above.
and
Guests with existing reservations to sail in 2015 with a child between the ages of 12 weeks and 1 year will be allowed to sail on their existing reservations.

to me it reads that the op would have in fact have had to put a 'to be determined' baby on the reservation but different people can read it different ways. i would still take anything that says the child is allowed to travel and not depend on the fact that dcl took my money.
thank you for the links, there always good to have.

 

[MickeyMeCrazy]

Someone on the ship who left their small baby with relatives, or was traveling without part of their original party, because they booked after the change...you don't think they might have something to say to the OP

I was more referring to a CM making a comment, and not taking into consideration the possibility of other cruisers saying something. They might. It's not something that I would be concerned about though. You explain your cruise was booked prior to the age requirement change and done.

 

[CM Dad]

This past January we cruised with our 4 adult children, 2 husbands, one boyfriend, and 6 grandchildren. When we booked the cruise there were only 5 grandkids. Shortly after one of daughters found out she was pregnant, I asked our TA to add the expected baby with a TBD birthdate. She said it wasn't necessary to do it that early, but I had her do it anyway. Shorlty after that Disney changed the policy to the current 6 months/1 year minimum age. When we actually cruised she was 12 weeks and a couple of days old. No problems from anyone. Not sure what would have happened if we had not added the TBD before the policy change. Also glad that my daughter was late delivering so the new addition would not have been met even to prior policy and that family would have had to cancel. One of my other daughters made it interesting by being 23 week pregnant when we cruised. SO we almost had to have two of the families cancel.

 

[rosej85]

This past January we cruised with our 4 adult children, 2 husbands, one boyfriend, and 6 grandchildren. When we booked the cruise there were only 5 grandkids. Shortly after one of daughters found out she was pregnant, I asked our TA to add the expected baby with a TBD birthdate. She said it wasn't necessary to do it that early, but I had her do it anyway. Shorlty after that Disney changed the policy to the current 6 months/1 year minimum age. When we actually cruised she was 12 weeks and a couple of days old. No problems from anyone. Not sure what would have happened if we had not added the TBD before the policy change. Also glad that my daughter was late delivering so the new addition would not have been met even to prior policy and that family would have had to cancel. One of my other daughters made it interesting by being 23 week pregnant when we cruised. SO we almost had to have two of the families cancel.

Thank You! I definitely wanted to hear from a family who sailed with a 3 month old. I added my son TBD in April '15 and he was due in July. They asked me if he was going to be 6 months and I said no but he will be at least 12 weeks at the time of cruising. I explained to them the policy change didn't affect my existing reservation. They looked into it and said I was good and even put a note on my record.

 

[jahber]

For what it's worth, we sailed when my son was less than 6 months old and were grandfathered in, as well. No one ever asked any questions. He was on the reservation, so I assume everyone (CMs) understood he was allowed to be there. The system won't let you book an infant under 6 months now, so it would be pretty difficult to sneak a baby on without DCL's knowing.

 

[TAK]

they weren't removed because the child was to young exactly, they were removed because they felt they could not take care of the child which could have happened if she was 4 years old or forty years old. their facilities are limited to what they can and can not do. the ships often have to have people taken off and taken to a hospital in other ports.

This doesn't relate to the OPs question, but I disagree. They were removed because DCL feels they do not have adequate medical facilities to care for infants under a certain age. It was because of the child's age and their medical facilities in relation to that child's age. While the ships sometimes have to have people taken off no matter what their age is, it is also true that Disney's new policy is specifically that their facilities are not structured to care for infants under the age of 6 months.