Hellobee Boards

I can't speak to the baby aspect of it, but I have been on a few cruises and can offer my opinion on your other two questions:

I haven't ever traveled the same day the cruise took off, but I have on the same day the cruise ended. I'm a nervous person and have never wanted to have to worry about missing my cruise because of a flight issue- especially in the winter, you never know what kind of snow issue might screw up flights. On the way back, I've never been to worried about it though. Just be sure to check with the cruise about what time you can get to the airport. (just because the ship docks at 7 am doesn't mean you will be able to get off then.)

I have actually done a 3 night Disney cruise and thought it was a good amount of time. We have also done 7 days (not Disney) and thought it was too long. DH and I both agree 3-4 nights is perfect. If you want to have a longer trip though, I would take a couple extra days in Florida before or after your cruise. There is a lot to do there, whether you want to do more Disney, go to a beach resort, etc.

I haven't done a Disney cruise, but that age actually sounds great because the baby won't be getting into everything yet (if you have wiggle room, I'd actually aim for 7 months in the hopes they aren't crawling much and will be happy to be carried from one place to the next).

Whether three days is long enough depends on the other factors involved. If you have to pay $2k for flights or spend 20 hours driving round trip, for example, I feel like you might as well stay longer (since the travel is intense and doesn't change). But if those stakes aren't as high, I think three days would work well with kids that age.

We traveled the day of and returning day for our cruise, and it was fine. We didn't have kids at the time, though, so maybe someone else can chime in.

Is the cruise in Florida? Be sure to check out the Zika status of where you're going, since you'll have the baby.

So our first cruise with the kids, they were 2 and 4, but our friends took their 1 year old, so I have kind of an idea. We did a 4 night cruise, which felt perfect. I feel like a 3 night cruise might feel short?

Definitely book a hotel for the day before! Not having to rush and stress on your travel day is key! It was so nice not to have to get up ridiculously early to get to the airport and worry about our luggage making it and stuff. We were able to take an afternoon flight, had dinner at our hotel, and then headed to the port the next morning. It was perfect.

I haven't done Disney yet (have one booked for next February), but our friends just took their baby and had a great time! Their older kids did the kids club and they even left their baby in the nursery once (extra cost) so they could have some alone time. I've heard Disney is very family friendly, so I think you'll all have fun! Your baby won't be able to go in the pools though, but Disney usually has a splash pad area for non-potty trained kids.

You can also (I believe) order diapers and wipes in advance to be available to you on the cruise so that you don't have to pack a gazillion of them.

1. We took our 2.5 and 6 month old on a Disney cruise. I will never again take a kid who naps more than once a day on any vacation other than to family. My kids don't nap on the go, so if yours do, then it might be different. Our daughter was already crawling and she was only 6 months, 8 days old. It was also very difficult to do the evening shows, as both of my kids were exhausted. We had the early dinner, which was nice, but then the shows started at 8pm. DS was a little young for most of them, but we wanted to go to them. I often had two exhausted kids. By the way, my nephew and niece -9 and 6- had a great time.

2. We've only taken longer cruises, so I can't say about a 3 day one.

3. We have traveled day of when heading west. No problems at all. Just up early at the crack of dawn. Most of our cruises have been drive at the local port. The one time we had the most trouble was when we scheduled the flight for the afternoon the day before. (The disney cruise ironically). The afternoon flight was canceled due to weather and this was early August in the northeast. We had to drive all night to get to the ship. An early flight, day of may be easier than trying to get there. The plane will already be at your airport if it is a first flight. I tried to get one of those, but due to circumstances, it didn't work for us.

I've done a few cruises but not with a baby. We're taking our daughter on her first cruise this fall when she'll be 3, and I'm hoping we can do a Disney cruise sometime in 2019 as well.

My preference is to travel the day before the cruise. I like to be on the ship by 11:00 or 12:00 to eat lunch, explore the ship, and just maximize the time we have on board. Traveling the day before makes it feel less hectic to me. However, traveling home the day it arrives is fine. We're usually off the ship by 9:00 am, so that gives you the whole rest of the day for travel.

I haven't done a 3 night cruise, but my first cruise was 4 nights. That was a good time to get a feel for the ship and enjoy everything they had to offer. But I had a good time, and it just left me wanting more!

We did a 7 night to Alaska with a 7 month old and a not-quite-2-year old. The 7 month old was great but we weren’t able to have any adult dinners because my daughter wouldn’t stay in the nursery. I think 7 months was a great age and we had a lot of fun on the cruise! Just not as much grown up time as we had hoped for.

If you do it, definitely make sure you enter Jack Jack’s diaper dash! Our son refused to crawl, but it was still hilarious trying to coax him over the finish line!

We just did a Disney cruise last month with an 18m old and 4 year old and I have split feelings on cruising with a baby.

We did a 4 night cruise and felt like it was too short. You miss half the first day because you don’t board until lunch at the earliest, and then you’re off right after breakfast the last day. In general though we loved the cruise and wished it was longer.

On the plus side, my kids have both been very portable. And I like to take vacations so we traveled when they were babies. Disney cruises are super family friendly, clean, and we loved the ship and our room. It was so much fun to wake up in a new place. It was also great to utilize the nursery and kids club to have some adult time.

But on the other hand, 5 people in one tiny room is hard. I would be stressed about the baby waking my other kids up. You also have to make a lot of concessions in terms of activities - you might not all be able to go to the shows (we skipped all but Frozen) or other activities. We also struggled with Disney excursions and the age minimums, so I booked a private one for our one island stop.

We loved it and we’re going to do another one is 2020. I’m super excited for that trip because while the one we just had was great, the next one is going to be so much better (at least I hope!) I’m really looking forward to the kids being 3.5 and 6. They can both go to the kids club together, both use the pools, we can watch movies on the deck or the theater, all enjoy the shows, etc.

That actually sounds like fun! They have child care for the older kids if you ever feel like you need (relatively) quiet time. You probably would have to be very strict about hand washing, because cruise germs, but otherwise it sounds like the most relaxing vacation you can do with young kids.

I do think three days sounds short. My kids have a hard time with travel, especially DD, so if we go for 2-3 days it's about 50% amazing times and travel suffering. We've done a pretty disastrous long weekend in September, and I've decided we can only put her through travel if we're going away for a long time.