WDW Parks or Disney Cruise with an infant? What is best?

[Grendalynn]

So I have searched the previous posts fo this question... and didnt seem to find anything of the sort. I apologize if I am doing a repeat.

We have just found out that we are freshly pregnant, Due October 1st. We are considering planning a Disney Vacation for March or April of 2007. Our Baby will be about 6+ months or so. That being said, what have others found to be the best vacation when traveling with an infant? A visit to the WDW or a Disney Cruise? We also have 2 boys, they will be almost 8 and 4 at the time of this possible vacation. We just came back from a Land And Sea vacation in Late October, so we are not swayed either way by thinking, "well, we went to the parks last time, we will do a cruise this time." Or vice versa. We are also debating to bring a relative or babysitter to help with the whole situation.

I have made other posts asking what life will be like with 3 children, let alone tackeling Disney World. Now I wonder what our best bet would be for an vacation overall. I look forward to the responses of other seasoned Disney veterans out there. Thank you in advance for your feedback!

 

[Memaw2Wm]

My vote would be for another land/sea - the best of both worlds.

 

[laceemouse]

I think it depends on if you plan to use the child care option on the cruise. While we have never done a cruise, we have been to WDW with every age of infant to teenager. I know folks who have done the cruise and loved being able to leave the kids, including infants, in the child care centers. I personally would not feel good doing that, plus I nursed all of mine and they would not take bottles so I really could not get away from them for more than a couple of hours anyway and then I would be so worried about them needing me I could not enjoy myself. I vote for all WDW as you could have the little one with you all the time. At that age they are usually happy as long as the stroller is moving, and if the baby does get grumpy you and dh could split up, one taking the baby back to the room and the other staying out with the boys. JMVHO, it really depends on you. I think the cruise would be tough to keep the baby with you all the time and keep him/her entertained.

 

[wrldpossibility]

My baby is older, and will be 2 when we go on our vacation, but before I booked our WDW, we thought about the cruise very seriously. (I also have two older children.) One thing that stopped us was the fact that kids under 3 can't go in the regular pools (at least that's the info I got when I researched it). I knew that would be an issue. Now, a 6-month-old will not know he/she is being left out of the pool fun, but that means you have to stay out too, to watch him/her. I'm not sure about the childcare, but I did know my kids would be seperated by age, so that didn't seem appealing. We just chose to do WDW and all stay together with no child care issues. Anyway, just thought it might be helpful to see how we came to our conclusion, for what it's worth! We definitely hope to try the cruise in a few years!

 

[princessh]

Just another thing to consider about the cruise. A child under the age of three can only go to Flounders Nursery. There is an addition fee for each hour that they are there. There is also a limit on how many hours they can be there for the entire cruise. We did wdw when youngest ds was 11 months. We had a blast! Definitely consider using the baby swap if you are into the bigger rides!

 

[luvitmoreachtime]

It has been my experience that any cruise is not but so "baby friendly" I am not much for leaving my child with strangers who may or may not speak fluent English (it has been my experience that most of the crew on cruise ships are from many different nationalities and a lot are not fluent in English). After age 3 they can go to the Oceanears club and have a blast but I we found it a bit of a waste of our money to cruise with infant (ours was 18 mos at the time) because you are unable to do most of the late night events onboard and the ship comes alive at night. We took turns but that meant that we could do nothing fun together. Anyway, thats my $.02 worth. I vote for WDW.

 

[txm]

I vote for WDW.

We went on a 7 day RCCL cruise with my 11 month old baby and almost 4 year old DD last November, and we just got back from WDW in Jan. (baby is 14 month). The cruise wasn't bad but WDW was much more fun

- There is very little to do on a cruise with an infant. RCCL did not offer in-room baby-sitting for kids less than 1. Even if they did, I wouldn't feel very comfortable leaving her to a stranger. If you are going with family/friends who can babysit for you occasionally, then maybe you are fine. There are acitivities for kids 3 and above but it's like a daycare and parents can't participate together. A lot of fun shore excursions have minimum age limit.
- You have to take a lot of baby gear with you. Even the higher category cabins are very small, and w/o tubs (at least on RCCL) so it is hard to bath a baby.
- At WDW, there are just so much fun activities to do together as a family. There are a lot of dark slow rides in the parks which are great for nursing babies and getting them to nap.

 

[rt2dz]

We are not doing any cruise until our youngest is 3. Childcare, except private sitting, is not available on most lines (there are a couple of exception, but on Disney lines) is not available unless 3 & potty trained. While having my kids with me on other vacations just doesn't bother me, for some reason on a cruise, I want a little more freedom. Maybe it's the boat thing. So, in my opinion, what until 3 for the cruise and just do the parks until then.

 

[Grendalynn]

Thanks so much for all of your insight, experiences, thoughts and opinions!

I very much appreciate it! A lot of the things all of you posted I never considered , or didnt see that particular side of. Its always nice to ask and get kind, genuine responces. Thats what maes these boards so nice!

I am still open to "hear" what others have to say and about their experiences! I think that I am sold on the WDW Resort vacation though! Far easier to take the little one, be it he or she, back to thge room for a lil R&R and still let the others play at the pool! Now I just have to get through this pregnancy .....

Thanks a bunch!

 

[melag]

I've read about some nightmare cruises with young ones on this site. WDW all the way!!!