Baby on the boat

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amytodd

Guest
hi, they did not charge us at all for taking the baby on shore excursions. They vendors for that were every bit as helpful as the crew on the ship. We bought a travel car seat vest, it looks like a lifevest-but has hard back. It is certified for use in the u.s. so I felt comfortable using it. it is compact and easy to use. Have fun.

Amy
 
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mindy

Guest
Since I nursed all 3 of my children, I know it is much easier to take your daughter with you than not. The best thing is nursing babies are usually really easy to calm when fussy! :) I say take your daughter and have a great time! We also always try to take someone w/ us to help with the kids while on vaccation. It's awsome that you will have your sister-in-law there to help.
 
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Seong and Diek

Guest
Take your baby!. My husband and I took our 2 1/2 yr old on his first cruise last fall along with my parents to help us. We had a great time. Know your childs limitations, however. If your daughter can sit through a 2 hour dinner without becoming miserable, by all means take her. Personally, our son would have had a major melt down, ever with 4 adults tending to him as he is very high enery. For our sanity as well as for the consideration of others in the dining room, we opted for a private baby sitter for all dinners. My son would not have eaten the food anyway and we would have all been frazzelled. This worked well for us. We did eat with him in the dining rooms/buffets for breakfast and lunches. This was usually a struggle, but we just dealt with it. Since your daughter is only 1, she will be much less likley to try to run off or get into everything.
I think even though it is harder to travel with children, they are part of your family and I for one would not want to travel without mine, even with the challenges. Have fun on your cruise. Having your sister in law with you to help will definately work. My parents really enjoyed spending time with their our son, but since we were able to take turns, they had adult time and so did we.
 
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SURFER57

Guest
We traveled with both of our boys since they were 1 and 2 and they have been on 3 cruises with us ( Triumph 2001 back to back, Disney 2001, Victory 2002 and soon to be 4 Glory 9/6/03 ) Carnival seems to have the best programs for kids 3 and under, Disney was a disappointment they had the flounder reef club for kids under 3 that looked like the size of a hall way closet and not much for them to play with Disney is geared for kids 5yrs and older. Carnival has activities all day for them( 2 and older and they donot have to be potty trained), If you want to leave them on the ship during port stops no problem, we would take them to the beach then return to the ship and drop them off and then go shopping which worked out great. The staff at camp carnival is awesome mainly (English, American,Canadian) our kids loved them and are kids are not use to day cares since they stay home with mom. Camp Carnival will watch them till 3am ( for a fee after 10pm $5 hr per child) if you want, they have a slumber party set up for them and play movies until they are off to sleep, while Mom and Dad are at dinner, shows casinos, discos, piano bar,cabin and whatever else we find. ( WARNING: Staying out till 3am with children 2 and 3 can be hazards to your health the next morning #$%^&*!!!) As far as the rest of the crew goes we found that they all seem to love kids many of them would tell us that they have children back home and missed them terribly (sad) but had no choice but to work since there economic situation back home was so bad. All in all we love to cruise with our kids we spend all day with them and at night mom and dad get there time together where else can you do this on vacation and not have to worry about you kids care. Great job camp carnival ! Now that our kids are 3 and 4 and sleep in much later we cant wait to see you again on Glory 9/6/03.
 
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Giles612

Guest
Here is a question, how hard would it be to request a table close to an exit or a bathroom? In the event that she becomes distraught, as I am sure she will at some point, it would be conveniant to just slip out, rather than try and carry a crying baby through the middle of the dining area.
 
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Stefanie

Guest
First of all, I want to say that I would be delighted to see a baby on my cruise. Hopefully there will be a few. Even if she doesn't have memories of the cruise, you and your wife will and you will have pictures to show her when she gets older.

As far as the table request, after you board the ship, as soon as you can I would suggest seeing the Maitre d' and explaining your situation. I'm sure they would have no problem accomodating you. Especially since you're being so thoughtful towards your fellow cruisers.
 
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Mark and Laura

Guest
Jason,
I was watching this as to the fact I did post in favor of your daughter going, so now that Sept is almost over and you didn't say when in Sept you were going I was just wondering how your trip went with your daughter?

Laura
 
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Giles612

Guest
I am terribly sorry about not getting back to you guys. I have just started a new web design company and have been extremely busy. We had an awesome time, Bethany was a big hit on the ship, the staff was very attentive and made sure everything was perfect. We used a lot of the suggestions that you guys gave and they helped in having a perfect cruise. I can definatly say that we would not have had near as much fun if we had left her with grandma. We took her with us on the shore excursions and she hung out with her Aunt while we dived with the stingrays. As soon as I can get a few moments I will try to get the pics we took scanned in and posted for you guys to see.

Thanks for all your input.
 
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