Which cruise line out of Florida is best when travelling with a 6 month old

[Anonymous]

I am travelling for the first time in February with my 6month old. I want to know which cruise line is best to travel on when you have a 6 month old.
I am looking for the following ; A cruise line that is family friendly but still a lot for the parents to do on the ship in terms of relaxing and activities and fun ports that we can get out with the little one. Also if anyone has used babysitting services on the cruise line how they felt about the supervision, and if their child was happy. Would you recommend a cruise with a 6month old?

[Anonymous]

I have sailed and worked with several travel lines. The 3 tops family lines are always Disney (shocking), Carnival and Royal Carribean. All three have fabulous family fun and great activities. The others generally are not geared towards families. I have personally used the babysitting (not the kids programs but straight babysitting) with Disney. Excellent service and great care for my baby. The others have strong accolades as well though.

Are you traveling this Feb? Did you check the strict guidelines for infants? Your child must really be 6 months at the time of sailing. You will need to contact an agent or the cruise line directly to book with a child under 1 year, no online booking. They will want to verify age. Also, you need a certified birth certificate not just a notice of birth. If you do not have this you will not be able to board and there are NO REFUNDS. The cruise lines have gotten very careful about child safety.

There are a lot of last minute deals, but it may be hard to get a cruise last minute with small children. Sometimes they may have cabins left but have 'sold out' the children's services. Bizarre but true, I've had trouble getting chidlren onto Disney and others last minute because they think they won't have enough space in the activities despite open cabins. I would try to make a reservation ASAP.

have fun lucky you - I am already putting on my SPF 30 thinking of cruises

[Anonymous]

I have done two cruises on Princess with small children - one year we had a 9 month old; this past year we had a 15 month old and 2 1/2 y.o. We had a fabulous time each trip. My friend has also done NCL with her 20-month old and had a good time. The Princess cruises had lots of daily on-board activities suitable for adults (and non-partyer adults).

You do need to call and confirm the policies for infants. They have now become very rigid about the child actually being 6 months at time of sailing. (I found out about this when I was trying to book the NCL cruise with my friend. My baby was not old enough - they had just raised the age resstriction from 4 months to 6 months.) You also should call specifically to make sure that the nightime babysitting is available for infants.

Also - a word on pricing: both Disney and NCL offer (or used to offer) substantial discounts for infants - something like only taxes and port fees. While most other cruise lines charge you the discounted "third person" rate. So if cost is a factor, I would recommend starting with those 2 lines.

Our family absolutely loves cruising! I hope you are able to find a cruise that is a good fit for you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the tips! I think we might chose between Carnival and Disney. I'm looking at a 5 day cruise - so that it's not too much for the little one. Any advice in chosing between them?

[Anonymous]

They are both very fun. Disney has the very family atmosphere. Carnival is the fun ships though. But availability and itinerary should probably be the deciding factor now. It's hard to get travel with baby at the last minute. You should the ports for ones you like and that have solid activities. The Bahamas is ok but it is very touristy and they push going to Paradise Island. Castaway Cay (Disney) is very fun and so safe. I like the protection they have for swimming and the water sports. We snorkled as a family. Even our son who turned 2 on the boat. He fell asleep while we were swimming but was just fine in the mask and life vest.

[Anonymous]

Make sure to check if the babysitting is offered for under one-year-old - many don't allow it until twelve months. I was disappointed that most of the formal programs don't start until age 3.