Ferries

[pablopatito]

What are babies like on ferries? Off to France in September, ideally would prefer a long ferry crossing but am worried our baby, who will be just 4 months old, won't be too impressed. Any experiences of young babies on ferries? Do babies get sea-sick?

babies don't get seasick - something to do with having to cope with all the motion in the womb, so motion sickness doesn't become an issue until they're toddlers.

We go on overnight ferries a lot (Hull-Rotterdam) - always found that the babies were difficult to settle and more cranky - probably because of the totally unusual environment - , but slept really well once they got to sleep.

Must say though, my favourite way to get to France is through the channel tunnel.

We took DD on the Portsmouth-St Malo crossing (overnight, in a cabin) when she was 5 months old. Outward and homeward journeys were fine for her - not so fine for me, who shared a narrow bunk with her! I don't remember any problems of seasickness and she fell asleep quickly. We took an overnight boat so that she would be asleep anyway. We did the same thing last year, when she was a year older, and have booked the same crossing for next month.