Best Cruise Lines/Destinations with an infant and toddler

indamockwood

Right when I was first pregnant, me, my husband, and brother- and sister-in-law gave an IOU gift of a family cruise vacation to my mother-in-law. Now we're beginning to put that gift together, and are considering taking the family vacation either this summer or fall. We are considering destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, or Canada.

My LO will be eight months starting in the summer, and my niece will be approaching three. Has anyone taken a cruise with this mix of children? Is there a particular cruise-line/destination that is best with children that age? Will cruise-lines even let us bring an infant on board? Am I nuts for thinking we might be able to pull this off?

Thanks. 

tidetravel

Check out the cruises out of Baltimore.  Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Celebrity all sail directly out of Baltimore - it would save you having to travel to another port with little children, so that in and of itself may be helpful.  I've sailed both RC and Carnival, although never with children.  IMO, RC is a nicer cruise line, but that's because it is more of a mature crowd.  Carnival refers to themselves as "the fun ships" and generally draw a younger and more family oriented crowd.  Carnival is also usually less expensive. 

Carnival has a youth program for kids 2+ called camp carnival, which I've heard is really great.  That should alleviate some of your childcare issues, and it sounds like you would have enough family there that if you wanted some "you" time, someone could watch LO.  This is the site for camp carnival:  https://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/obx/youth_experience/campcarnival.aspx

Royal Caribbean also offers a similar service called Adventure Ocean for children 3+ and has programs for ages 6 months+ (must be accompanied by parent):  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/familycruising/home.do;jsessionid=0000Lk6dKIqX0qUcylPwkBzJsB7:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR 

Also - Carnival offers military discounts for active or retired members of the armed services, if anyone in your party is miliary.  Just show the DD-214.

Good Luck and have fun!  Cruises are great.

cmh06

I also wanted to throw out Disney Cruises.  My friend went on one last year with her 2 little ones and they all had a blast. 

wifeypooh

I think disney is the obvious, kid friendly choice but they are pretty pricey. Whatever cruiseline you choose, check into the childcare programs and if they have an age range.

DH and I are cruisers, but we are loyal to NCL because of the freestyle dining. Good luck!

indamockwood

Thanks.

 I failed to mention that while we're in DC, MIL is in Boston and our other in-laws are in California, so someone's child will likely have to fly somewhere. 

 We did a quick check of Disney on Cruises to go, and it looked like during our time frame, they were only cruising through Europe, and additionally, that the cruises were very pricey.

 Thanks for the advice - I just wanted to make sure we weren't nuts for thinking we could pull this off.  

KristinandChris

Be sure to figure out how much they will charge for your infant.  We were considering a cruise with family members when DD was around 6 months old (I think that's the youngest they allow), but we would have been charged full price for her.  The Disney cruise line I think has reduced prices for children under a certain age.  We were looking at Carnival Cruise lines and I refused to pay full price for three people, but maybe that's just me being cheap

Jitterbug2668

DH and I are considering doing another cruise to Bermuda out of Baltimore after the baby is born and allowed to cruise.