How young is too young for babies on a cruise?

[Mom of 2 by 2]

Hi, I used to be a regular on the boards before our last cruise. My current question is: has anyone brought babies younger than 1 on a Disney cruise? I am expecting twins in May 2003, and would like to book a cruise when they're about 9 months old. I will be travelling with DH, DS-16, DD's-8+8, and the twin baby's. I would like to go on excursions with the older children, has anyone left the ship while they had children in day care?? This worries me, even though Disney Cruise says they allow it. What do you do if your away from the ship on an excursion and your beeped? Any and all opionions are welcome on this. Thanks

 

[dennisnlisab96]

I would also love to get some info on this. I will be booking a cruise for next March 6 this weekend and will have a 8 month old when we go. My other kids are DS12, DD10, DD7, DD4, DD2!!!

 

[CamColt]

We cruised with an 8 month old, and he did fine However, we never used Flounders so I cant help you there. Just wanted to let you know he did very well, in fact better than our 3 1/2 yo did.
Good luck and congratualtions!

 

[kellyb2000]

I'll let you know how it goes if you want to wait until September! My son will be 9 months old then. I'm a little nervous about it but luckily my whole family is going so I will have reinforcement. The only thing we plan on doing is Atlantis on our own (no excursion) so we won't have to be without him.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

I can let ya know in a month. We are sailing on March 29th with our wee little one. She will turn 10 months on the trip, but close enough.

As far as the shore excursions go and using Flounders, we will be using it while we are on the ship, but I am too much of a paranoid Mommy to leave her while we are on shore.

Two sets of twins? Wow! Good luck to you!

Kathy

 

[OurDogCisco]

We took our one year old on a cruise not Disney but Norweign and she had a blast. They didn't have a nursery so, we just took her everywhere with us. She went on all the tours with us and not a problem. My understanding is that flounders is open limited time during the day that you might want to take your kids with you on some excursions. We brought the babyback pack thingy. It worked great so, we really didn't have to worry about the stroller.

Hopefully someone will come along with Flounder experience during a tour.

Good Luck!

 

[cathyrob]

We went on the Magic back in February. I brought my 15 month old and my sister brought her 4.5 month old. The 4.5 month old was very easy. My sister did use Flounders and it worked out great. My niece slept most of the time in the nursery. When she was awake, they would give her a bottle or play. The staff was nice and good with the kids. Flounders is typically open from 8-1, then 5:45-12 or 1(Give or take an hour). On the days that you are at an island, Flounders sometimes has extended hours to coincide with Excursions, allowing you to enjoy the excursions while your child is in Flounders. On the first day of the cruise when you go and sign up for care, they will give you a schedule of the excursions and whcih ones care is available for. We both signed our children up for two time slots a day each day of the cruise, and we were given all the times. Although, half the time we cancelled. If you don't cancel 4 hours prior to your time, you do have to pay 50%, if you cancel on time you pay nothing. Hope this helps.

 

[Mom of 2 by 2]

Thanks for the advice. I still wonder about excursions. For those of you who took the baby's on excursions with you: What were they? The kids really want to do the Stingray excursion, which you have to go on a boat to get too, would yu take the baby's with you?? Just all sorts of questions. Any continued advice is welcome. thanks

 

[cathyrob]

The only excursions that we noticed that would allow young children were beaches, some hikes if child was in backpack, and other land ones. I noticed that the ones which required a boat strongly recommended that the children be at least 4. We talked to one family who had to cancel a boat excursion because their child was too young. You can call the DCL excusion reservation number and ask about the specific excursions you are thinking about, they will give you better info.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Well, our excursions were very low key. Nothing that was physically challenging in nature at all. I think, it would be tough to handle a baby on boat or stringray event (Just my humble opinion). We mainly did sightseeing type tours and beach days. We had to tender a couple of times on the Norweign and even that was tough. I think, just in case something were to go wrong it would be easier to get back to the ship if you were on land as oppose to being on a boat. I always made sure I had a backup plan just in case my kid got sick or too fussy to stay on with tour. Things will happen so, I'd just keep an open mind about your expectations. Things will go wrong so, I'd just keep an open mind about your expectations.

I kinda prepare myself for the worst. ON our Norweign trip I forgot to pack the baby wipes. I only brought the ones in the diaper bag. At our first stop on Sunday we went searching for baby wipes to find out all the stores were closed on Sunday. The next day was a day at sea. Our little one came down with the "runs". It was awful. I felt so bad for our room steward. He definitely earned an extra tip. We were using towels as wipes and of course, this wasn't a kid friendly boat where they sold wipes in the ship's store. Finally, in St Lucia we were able to get diaper wipes. It was pretty funny.