How Young is Too Young?

[Twinprincesses]

I really think everybody's kids are different so it just depends on the children. Mine cried everyday for like an hour straight and were difficult babies toddlers. We did WDW at 24 months but no way would I dare do a cruise.

So again I really think it all depends on your family and kids.

 

[MickeyMinnie1971]

Well--it seems their child's needs disrupted their vacation! Was the first time to WDW for each and due to the toddler issues they didn't do half of what they wanted to do.

As a local who is in the parks frequently I think this happens a lot. I think a big problem is sometimes they try to squeeze in as much as possible without breaks and it ends in disaster. I couldn't tell you how many times I have seen families turning on each other and yelling at each other in the parks. It's obvious by looking at them they are all exhausted.

 

[littleblackegg]

Goodness, there was a very young one sharing our level who was somewhere 9-12 months (on our last cruise on the Dream). Very loving and attentive parents. That poor baby made hardly a peep but was clearly miserable. Flacccid, poor skin color, etc. Her mother looked sick with worry. Eventually (after about a day or so) we hardly saw them at all. I presume they were all in the infirmary. Who knows what the problem was. I would think a little one who is already eating well and crawling and who has a generally good constitution (and who has had her or his basic immunizations) would be just fine. Probably best to let the pediatrician take a quick peek to ascertain everything is "ship-shape!"

 

[runjanerun]

For our last cruise, my baby was probably the youngest baby on the ship. His due date was exactly 12 weeks before the sailing date. The TA probably thought I was crazy. He ended up coming 3 weeks early, so fortunately I didn't have to stress over whether we needed to induce labor in order to make the cruise! (this was back when the minimum age was 12 weeks).

For me, I had a great time. We had older daughters, 7 and 5. It's like being at Disney World, but the hotel room is a 5 minute walk away, no matter where you are in the park. I don't have to stress over where to eat, when mealtimes should be, or whether my baby is going to be totally off schedule because we were dragging him all over the park nonstop all day long. So easy to keep the baby's schedule on the ship.

That said, it really depends on your expectations and desires for how you want to enjoy your cruise. I have 3 kids. Sitting on the verandah staring at the ocean while my baby is taking an afternoon nap, while my older kids are going crazy somewhere else on the ship either with my husband or in the kids club, is an absolute luxury. Sure, I missed a show or two, and dinner had to be cut short a couple of nights, but it wasn't as big a deal because (a) we still got our money's work of entertainment for the rest of the family; and (b) it is just so lovely to come back early to put down a sleepy baby and then get to enjoy in peace a beautiful stateroom that someone else was responsible for cleaning two times a day!!!!!

If the baby had been my first and only child, I would probably be miserable, thinking of all of the fun I was missing elsewhere on the ship that I was paying a premium for.

So if this is a once in a lifetime kind of trip, that you want your kid to remember, and to maximize your own enjoyment, I would probably recommend waiting until the child is old enough to go to the kids clubs and enjoy it. If your kids hate being in a childcare setting without their parents, then the cruise may not be as enjoyable for you, even if they are older My friends took their kids who were 4 and 5 at the time, who refused to go into the kids club, and she was still stuck with entertaining them all day long. For that amount of money she said, she would rather entertain them at home.