Best Cruises for Babies

Table Of Content

• Getting to Your Alaska Family Cruise
• Best Disney Cruise Ship
• Understand the Muster Situation with Kids
• Use a variety of dining options
• Get Snacks for Kids in Port of Call… Don’t Bring Food From the Ship
• How do cruise lines accommodate families with infants under 6 months old?
• The Royal Caribbean Kids' Club

The Cunard Line allows parents to bring infants as young as six months on board their ships. The minimum sailing age is one year for Full World Cruises, Exotic Cruises, or Transatlantic Crossings. High chairs and booster seats are available in shipboard dining rooms and restaurants. Single strollers can be rented on Carnival ships, subject to availability.

Getting to Your Alaska Family Cruise

As part of the Baby Club, the MSC Babycare service allows parents to book out free babysitting, subject to availability, at set times (1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on sea days). Babies are required to be at least 12 months old (up to 36 months) for this service. While Cunard has an excellent program for young children, this is not a line where you'll find a ship's deck worth of activities and facilities for kids. Ships allow under-twos to play in the Play Zone, where games, soft toys and building blocks are available, at select times with parent supervision. A kids menu and whole milk are available in the dining room. Bring baby food; Carnival ships do not mash or puree food, and baby food and formula are not available onboard.

Best Disney Cruise Ship

The Best Cruises For Families 2024 - Forbes

The Best Cruises For Families 2024.

Posted: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The truth is that on the vast majority of cruises, toddlers can indeed go on cruises. MSC Seaside has many features that will appeal to families cruising with toddlers. First, babies and toddlers have their own large play space in the Kids’ club section of the ship.

Understand the Muster Situation with Kids

Also while the majority of Princess cruise ships don’t have splash pads, the new Caribbean Princess has a splash pad for children of all ages to use. If you are looking for a cheaper cruise with a baby or toddler, then MSC may be the best line for you as under 2s sail free. But on top of this MSC has some great baby and toddler orientated facilities such as amazing family cabins, Chicco Baby toys and perhaps my favorite thing, a dedicated bay laundry service. This guarantees that baby laundry is done separately with special detergent.

Use a variety of dining options

While true luxury cruise lines seldom cater to families sailing with kids, Hapag Lloyd is a notable exception. This German cruise line has a ship that targets the English-speaking market, Europa 2, and also caters to families sailing with small children. Notably, all Disney ships have some water attractions that are open to toddlers who aren’t quite yet potty trained so long as they wear swim diapers. First, Disney offers a wide range of complimentary baby gear for families cruising with toddlers.

When planning your day in port with a toddler, a family-friendly shore excursion makes for a fun, hassle-free day. Strollers and carriers will come in handy while in port, too, particularly if you’re planning on doing some shopping or walking to and from the cruise ship and town. In port, choose from a number of family-friendly shore excursions that you and your toddler will enjoy. For parents of rowdier toddlers who might prefer to book a room without a balcony, our ocean view staterooms offer you peace of mind and large windows to take in the view outside. Cunard also offers a complementary night nursery for under twos while Carnival offers babysitting at an additional fee.

The 7 Best Cruise Lines for Families of 2024 - PureWow

The 7 Best Cruise Lines for Families of 2024.

Posted: Thu, 11 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

NEVER let your kids climb on the railing, and make it clear right from the start how dangerous it is to even think about sitting on the rail. Unfortunately, it’s literally a matter of life and death in some cases. Any parent knows that the most important word to a kid is “snack.” That’s why it’s tempting to grab a couple of items from the buffet or to bring some snacks from home onto the ship. But, just know that you can’t bring food with you into ports of call. Due to customs, authorities are fairly serious about not bringing things from the ship onto land. In addition to realizing that the heat can take a toll on kids, you should also be sure to plan your day around naps.

Toddlers will have a great time at Captain Jill’s Galleon, a pirate themed splash park and a deluxe edition of Splashaway Bay. The galleon features interactive water cannons, slides, a splash pad and more. Note that kiddos in swim diapers can swim in all of the many pools on Coco Cay, and also in the ocean at all beaches.

A family cruise is a wonderful option for children of all ages. Just keep in mind that the minimum age to sail domestically is 6 months old. And check with your cruise line before booking, because transoceanic sailings usually require children at be at least 1 year old.

Plus, for North American passengers, sailing a Caribbean itinerary means you can skip that really long flight to your embarkation port. For a long time, I thought cruises were for the older crowd. The only thing I knew about cruising was from my 58-year old aunt, who was constantly traveling all over the Caribbean via ship. From her, I thought cruises were basically laying by the pool all day, checking out the views and eating at speciality restaurants.

The Bliss has an elaborate dedicated Guppies Playroom for toddlers that features a variety of toys and games. And kids have the opportunity to display their new circus skills in a show staged in one of the ship’s performance spaces. Seaside has many fun options geared toward older children, as well as activities for the whole family. For instance, MSC Cruises also has an extensive partnership with the LEGO Group.

It really just depends on what you feel comfortable as as a parent. Also depending on the line will affect whether babysitting services are free or an additional charge. In which case you might want to select a cruise that goes to Florida and its many theme parks. Possibly the biggest factor that will determine how much you will enjoy a cruise with a toddler is the line you select. Parents must book at least one day in advance to use this service. Availability is limited, so advanced reservations are a must.

In this guide we will round up our top tips for cruising with a toddler from our personal experience of spending over 100 days on cruises with our toddler. Families interested in taking a European river cruise or canal barge sailing with babies and toddlers should check out CroisiEurope Cruises. Tots in swim diapers can enjoy special Splash Zone areas featured on some Norwegian Cruise Line ships. For most Disney Cruise Line sailings, children must be a minimum of six months old upon embarkation. However, the minimum age requirement for transatlantic and Panama Canal itineraries is one year old at the time of embarkation.