Hellobee Boards

while we haven't gone on a cruise with a LO, we enjoy cruises and have friends who have gone with LOs. couple things to keep in mind, LO for most cruise lines must be at least 6 months old by the day of embarkation, disney is 3 months maybe and some itineraries are 12 months+ for some cruise lines. LOs in diapers, even swim diapers, are not allowed in pools. but it would be awesome to be so pampered while on vacation with a LO and we plan to go once we have a family. we get balcony cabins, if LO is napping you can sit out on the balcony & still feel like you're on vacation & have a view. having someone do all the cooking & cleaning would be more relaxing. but cruise ships are germy & it's awful to be sick on the ship (we both got sick for half of our trip a few weeks ago, it sucked). i think it really depends on the two particular vacations you're looking at, some all inclusive resorts can also be just as relaxing.

Beach! Granted, I'm not a huge fan of cruises, but we took our 4 month old to the beach. It was great! Plenty of space indoors and out, easy for everyone to have their own space, and plenty of things to do! I think being on a cruise with a baby would be almost miserable.

@Mrs. Sketchbook: She did nap on the beach. We held her, but she would have napped just as we'll on a beach towel. She was so relaxed on the beach that we didn't have to do much entertaining. She just watched the waves and people and chilled out. It was much easier than trying to keep her entertained inside. I really don't think packing a bunch of "stuff" will make things easier. We wanted to pack light, so she didn't have anything to sit up in. She either sat in our lap or laid on the beach towel/blanket.

We did a week long beach vacation when my LO was 2.5 months old. At that point he would fall asleep anywhere so he napped in his stroller for a little bit (my dad and husband carried it onto the beach since it was a pain dragging it through the sand). We had a beach hut that we stuck him under and he was fine - didn't get any sun at all. He sat reclined in my beach chair with a couple towels propping him up and I sat down on the ground next to him. He didn't need any toys for entertainment, he was content listening to the waves and watching people walk around. My LO is 6 months old now and I think he would love it even more if we took him at this age - he is sitting pretty well on his own and loves just checking out his surroundings.

I also researched cruises as we were thinking of taking one when he's 9 months old but I found most cruise lines charge full price for a baby even when they're not eating much food and they don't let babies in pools even if they're wearing swim diapers. I think Disney was the only line that charged less and would allow babies in pools.