Madeira travelling from England but don’t want to fly - What is the journey like?

[RedSquirrelsAreAwesome]

We are thinking about booking a holiday to Madeira next year but we have a baby and would prefer not to fly until she is older. Has anyone made the journey via ferries? Could you please advise what the journey involved and what it was like? Was it doable or too much and you wouldn’t do it again?

[drspouse]

My DCs are adopted from overseas and had to fly home with us as babies. No choice, they were fine.

[Babyboomtastic]

It's honestly likely to be the easiest flight you'll take in about a decade 😂

[mumonthehill]

Flying with a baby is really the easiest option, a screaming baby on a long car journey is much more stressful. Feed on take off and landing and mine mostly slept. Did 10 hour flight with a 3 yr old and that was much harder! If you are going to a popular holiday destination there will more than likely be other babies in the flight.

[Branleuse]

if you feed the baby at take off and at landing that helps with the ear pressure, or give them a dummy.

[DistrictCommissioner]

What are your concerns about flying with the baby?

[idontlikealdi]

Flying with a baby is an absolute breeze compared to flying with toddlers / preschoolers! We had a long haul flight with a long layover when Dts were 3. I spent most of the last few hours crying. We had done the same route when they were 6months and it really was so easy.

[Lucked]

I would use this opportunity when you are not flying to explore the north of France or the Netherlands.

[Lockdownlifting12344555]

We first flew with DD when she was 8 weeks old, feed them milk as you go up and come down. And you are sorted. Easiest holiday. The worst age is between 1-2 years old, they want to move everywhere and they can’t. They don’t understand sitting still and don’t get their own seats.
DS cried for four hours relentlessly when we went to lanzo with him, I needed a LARGE drink the moment we got to the hotel!!!

[Bumzoo]

Babies are a piece of piss to fly with. Do that.

[Babyboomtastic]

I've flown with children at 6w, 10m and 2y, all were fine. I wouldn't want to go long haul with a mobile baby or toddler (but would with a newborn) because they get restless, but a couple of hours or so was fine. No issues with ears or pressure, it was fine. Certainly a lot easier than days on a boat.

[42isthemeaning]

The Brittany ferry to Spain is great - I've done it a few times with young kids. It was like a mini cruise.

[CoolShoeshine]

P & O do cruises which include Madeira as part of a canaries itinerary - I’ve seen YouTube videos and it looks very nice. I’m not a keen flyer and possibly the easiest Med holiday is the Eurostar direct to Marseilles (about 5 hours if I remember correctly) and then change to the Côte d’Azur train to a resort. A long journey but at least you can walk about a bit on the train to stretch your legs. I also like the sleeper ferry to the Hook of Holland. Hopefully these options will still exist after Covid.

[Iknowtheanswer]

Flying with a baby is a doddle (and I hate flying). They sit on your lap, feed on take off and landing, sleep the rest of the time.

Driving is harder, as you have to stop every couple of hours.

Saying that, we travelled with mine from when they were around three months old, and both travel well. Our absolute favourite holidays have been Eurocamp/Canvas type holidays in various bits of France which we all love.

[itsgettingwierd]

Red my ds flew at 6 weeks and was fine. We use to do night flights and feed on take off and he'd sleep the whole way and often right through until baggage claim!

It's when they hit the moving and toddler age it becomes more a challenge!

[Sheldock]

@RedSquirrelsAreAwesome
The first flight she took was 3.5hours long...she fell asleep on take off and woke up as we landed. For ears popping, it was recommended that we feed on take off and landing, but we didn't need to for that flight. There is a lot of background noise which just helped send her off.
She never slept on another flight again though...probably 15 flights by the time she was a year old. Never had any ear problems. Biggest issue was an explosive poo coming into land which stunk the cabin out, but I had a change of clothes and enough nappies so no issues once I could change her. I used to fly alone with her so the other issue was me needing the bathroom, but the cabin crew were always happy to hold her...and often she got given her own seat if the flight wasn't full.
Use a sling at the airport so you don't have to worry about folding or unfolding a buggy by yourself. Pull along luggage with a sling is much easier as well.
Dress baby in just a babygro as it's so much easier for changing, plus they fold down small so you can take a spare on the plane.

[RedSquirrelsAreAwesome]

@Sheldock

Just fly somewhere, it's so much easier and quicker when the baby is small.
DD first flew at 6 weeks, it was all very easy.

@Sheldock - What was the pressure change and ear popping like for your baby? This is one of our worries about flying among many others.

[Sheldock]

Just fly somewhere, it's so much easier and quicker when the baby is small.
DD first flew at 6 weeks, it was all very easy.

[RedSquirrelsAreAwesome]

The only cruises I’ve found so far are as a PP said include only a short time in Madeira. Which I know is generally how cruises work before anyone clarifies! I was wondering if they offer cruise & stay options.
DH has just now started talking about the need to replace our drive so our holiday plans might be on hold anyway 😭

[RedSquirrelsAreAwesome]

@BarbaraofSeville

The OP has been to Corsica and didn't like it.

Hence looking to go somewhere a long way from Corsica and picking Madeira.

I'm wondering if she meant Mallorca and won't own up to her mistake.

@BarbaraofSeville - I promise I didn’t mix up Madeira with Mallorca, you’ll have to trust me on that one!
We haven’t ‘picked’ Madeira BTW, it was just an enquiry......and I’m starting to wish I never asked! 🤣

[BarbaraofSeville]

The OP has been to Corsica and didn't like it.

Hence looking to go somewhere a long way from Corsica and picking Madeira.

I'm wondering if she meant Mallorca and won't own up to her mistake.

[Branleuse]

@Chemenger

Where would you get a ferry from? Madeira is over 300 miles from Morocco and further from mainland Portugal. I’m sure there must be a sea route of some description but it would be very time consuming. Corsica would be a better choice of island for a non-flying holiday, it has ferries from the south of France.

corsica is amazing. Definitely consider this

[ChristopherTracy]

We have been to Madeira with a baby and would actually prefer to do that then get a ferry for triple the amount of time - if the baby is under 6 months it is really easy, much easier than a toddler in fact.

They love babies in all of Portugal, DD was constantly being whisked off to restaurant kitchens!

[BarbaraofSeville]

I'd be astonished if anyone has been to Madeira on a boat for a holiday, except as part of a cruise. They do cruises to the Canaries and Madeira and sometimes Gibraltar and Morocco from the UK but you'd only get a day or two on Madeira but being on the ship and seeing other places would also be part of the holiday.

www.iglucruise.com/search?at=port&ac=FNC

But I agree with others, there's loads of lovely no fly options much closer to home like France or northern Spain and not liking Corsica is no reason to think you'd not be able to find something in one of those countries that would make a lovely holiday.

[RedSquirrelsAreAwesome]

@MoiraNotRuby

It will really help if you look at a map when choosing where to go.

Thanks, I didn’t think of that 👍🏽
Just to clarify, I obviously realise Madeira is a long distance away. But what we didn’t know is other people’s experiences, hence my reason for posting. Have you done this journey @MoiraNotRuby ?

[MoiraNotRuby]

It will really help if you look at a map when choosing where to go.