Cruise with 6 month old?

[Lauren31]

Are we nuts to consider this?? We are thinking of going on a 10 night mediterranean disney cruise with out 6.5 month old (to be) daughter in August. Tips, horror stories, advice is appreciated!!! Should we do late or early seating? I have heard both ways have worked like baby naps from 5-7 and then you go to dinner at 8:30 and she falls asleep in the stroller. But do I even need a stroller? I usually wear her in an ergo or moby. Will we need a car seat on the airplane/taxi/bus rides. Should I feel funny breastfeeding her at dinner? LOL. I have no problem NIPing in Germany but I bet a lot of these people might be Americans.... Man, this is overwhelming! My husband will be deploying so we wanted to do something fun before he left.

[pranava]

I took my ds on a cruise when he was 9 months. We nursed in public on the ship and on every beach the ship stopped at with no problems. I'm in a pretty conservative state and nurse in public all the time. I have never gotten a bad response. The hardest part was the airport on the way to the cruise ship. The plane ride was fine, but we cut ourselves too short on time between flights. My advice is to give yourself plenty of time for everything. Don't try to rush.

DS had a great time. I took him in a hiking backpack carrier on each excursion. He played in the ocean and in the baby pool on the ship.

Also, cruise ship staff are often on board for 9 months at a time. They often have babies at home and miss them terribly. They will make over your baby the whole cruise, so your LO will get lots of attention.

Overall, I'd say it is more work to take a baby with you, but then again, everything is a little more work with a baby. We had fun. Just don't make too many plans. Go with the flow and relax.

[Zevy]

I took my son on a cruise when he was 13 months. The biggest issue was nap/sleep. Someone had to be in the room with him while he napped, so it really limited what we could do. We also used a backpack for excursions and getting around the ship...highly recommend that.

Many ships won't allow babies/toddlers in pools anymore, so ask about that. Even in swimming diapers. So we couldn't do that with our son. We were able to hire a babysitter nightly through the cruise line (signed up when we got on board) so you can ask about that too.

Personally, I wouldn't do it again...I found it too limiting. I've been on many cruises, so I know what its like without the kiddo. Too limiting, IMO.

[cschick]

Since you're specifically talking about Disney, you probably want to look at the accommodations of the ship you're thinking of. Disney is somewhat different regarding accommodations for young children--for example, I believe that every Disney ship has a chlorinated pool or sprinkler area as well as a saltwater pool, so that children in swim diapers can participate. They also have activities and nursery for children under 3, which a lot of the other cruise lines do not.

[Eman'smom]

We went on a week long cruise when ds was 7 months. We had a fine time but I don't know if it was something I'd do again.

Getting off and on the boat was kind a pain there was a lot of waiting around. The sleep nap stuff was an issue, our room was small and cruise ships (at least ours) wasn't designed for in room activities, so during nap/betime us adults were pretty bored.

The seated dinners were 2 hour events, ds didn't handle them well at all. So we tag teamed and ate in shifts (then just ate at the buffets later in the week).

Ds was allowed everywhere we were, shows, events ect. so that wasn't an issue however most really weren't set up with a baby in mind so again we couldn't stay long.

We did have lots of fun with him on the excursions but then we did things like play on the beach and shop rather than snokeling.

We had his carseat for the plane, then it took up a huge chunk of space in our very small cabin.

I had no problems nursing him, with him I did often have to find private places, not because people cared but because he was so distracted. By the end of the week all the stimulation was getting to him and he was pretty much a basket case.

We didn't take a Disney Cruise, I would think they would be more geared toward familes.

We wore him the the Bjorn and it was fine, I don't think a stroller would work very well.