We are considering taking all the kids and two grandsons on a cruise in November 2007. To save money a Mexico trip out of either LA or San Diego makes the most sense.

This is will be for a 50th birthday and my real only two choices based upon the dates I need are Carnival and Princess.

We will have one grandson who will only be a year old (not even born yet) and will want at least some time with a baby sitter.

Looks like Carnival has infant care, but Princess does not. Any suggestions on which line might be better for baby sitting an infant at least for a few hours.

Congrats oin advance on the new grandson, but my math must be screwy. November 2007 is 12 months from now, and human gestation time is 9 months - so is this baby not even conceived yet?

And if Princess does not have infant care, does that not answer the question for you?

Whether or not you go on a cruise with an infant depends on travel tolerance of that infant and its parents - I know there have been several past posts here on the subject, particularly about cruises. If this is the first child of those parents, that can be impossible to predict. Some parents would not be comfortable leaving an infant with a stranger, no matter how few hours (we would have been in that category).

The answer to the math problem: baby will be born in November. We should rename this board to cruise math board. I heard Princess has limitations as to infants age and number on board, so better check with them. Carnival appears to be a better choice.

Princess has very few connecting cabins and no in cabin babysitting. Since the baby will be under three, he will not be able to partipipate in any programs but play time should be offered, however a parent needs to stay there the whole time.

No line will allow babies in the pool unless they are fully potty trained due to CDC regs.

Now I feel really stupid about the math thing - serves me right for being on computer at 4 AM.

If it helps, the "infant care" that is offered by most lines is nothing more than female staff who work at other jobs, coming to stay in your room with the infant while you go out.

They do it for extra money and I've heard that often their availablity is limited.

I recall past posts that said they ran into trouble finding someone to provide such care since the lines work all staff so many hours that they often don't want to work even more doing babysitting.

You might want to call both lines to get more specific details about this, but it is generally NOT what you'd think, such as dropping the child off at a nursery, etc.

Thanks, I think since my options and bank account are limited the Carnival out of San Diego makes the most sense for all our needs.

Now you had me wondering about my math. The baby is due 12/26/06. So if we go in November that will make him 11 months or so! Does that sound correct? He is a boy, but they won't tell us the name they have picked.

The other grandson will be 5 1/2 so I am guessing he will have plenty to do.

The wife and I have already discussed staying onboard after, so we can rest from the birthday cruise.

OK, Braiden was born 12/22/06 and we are all looking forward to the trip on the Carnival Spirit.

Anybody know if we can rent a crib for him or can we order one from the lines prior to sailing.

We have booked them in a triple but I can't find anything about using a crib or if they can set up the bed for an infant.

I have seen cribs in cabins and am sure they weren't brought on board by parents. If you have a TA, ask them to arrange it or call customer serice of the lines and ask them. However, I think it is stupid and unenjoyable to bring an infant on a cruise! Don't know of any line that has babysitting for infants

Well, I think that's a little harsh ..."stupid". I remember traveling with babies and it wasn't much fun and I was always freaked when they'd scream on the plabne, fuss at dinner, etc. Since my parents lived in FL, I took 2 trips a year and there was always some drama. Still, you have extended family, so those rare moments when the parents can have dinner alone, see a show, work out, take an excursion, etc are really up to how willing family members are to help. I would not rely on babysitting from the ship.We took my husband's elderly parents cruising, and we all had to take turns watching THEM. It put a lot of stress on us and did limit our activities.

Before you rent a crib, check and see what the rates are. We're taking our 3-month-old to Florida this weekend for a couple of weeks(staying in condos & not cruising, alas) and found the rental rates for baby stuff to be outrageous. For what we can't travel with (swing, bouncy seat), we're just going to hit a local Wal-Mart and get cheap versions which we'll give away when we leave. Much less costly. (We're bringing a folding "co-sleeper" as a crib solution...)

My family did a cruise a few years ago when my daughter was 9 months old. We sailed Carnival and they provided the crib at no cost. We didn't find it a problem bringing her as that is an easy age. The dining room is accomodating as well, although high chairs can be limited.

Thanks for all the information. I have a call into our TA who we have used for about 20 years.

Yes, I know all the horror stories about traveling with infants and we have done about 16 cruises and always comment about those "crazy" people who bring little kids.

But it is a 50th birthday for "grandma" and we gotta do what we gotta do, and since we are paying the only reasonable idea is a cruise.

I have really valued all of bonniejns comments on the cruise boards, so I hate to take exception with her post, but I really disagree.

We have cruised both with and without our kids, and had an equally enjoyable (though very different) time in both cases. Our daughter (age 3) has been raised knowing that travel is an important part of life, and acts accordingly whether in the air or on a ship, and we are working for the same to be true for our son (<1 year old). As long as your (the child's parents', not, you, the grandparents') expectations are not high, and your priority is to have a relaxing vacation with your child, rather than seeing all of the shows, etc., you really can have a lovely time. Both my husband and I work, so we value our vacation time as an opportunity to have lots of uninterrupted time with our children.

That said, in reply to some of your more concrete questions, you can request a crib from Carnival, but they have a limited supply, so you might want to consider taking along a little folding cot. Alternately, for a 1 year old, your kids could make up a bed from a suitcase and some blankets, and have it take up a lot less room in the limited space of a cabin.

Also, the babysitting provided by Carnival for under-2s is very limited, so they should be prepared for some shifting in their sleep schedule if they want to take advantage of it.

Cheers!