P&O Cruises with a baby

From P&O Cruises' own help pages, family pages and booking terms, checked 18 October 2026.

Minimum age and pregnancy

• Children must be more than 6 months old to travel. P&O's booking terms say babies under 6 months at the start of the holiday will be refused boarding (booking terms, clause 9).
• Some cruises, and all Exotic fly-cruises, need your child to be 12 months. P&O says this is because of the number of days in a row at sea or remote itineraries. If you book online with a baby who's too young, the booking won't go through (P&O: travelling with children).
• Arcadia and Aurora mainly run adults-only holidays, with selected family sailings. The family ships are Arvia, Azura, Britannia, Iona and Ventura.

Expecting another baby? P&O can't carry anyone who will have entered their 24th week of pregnancy at any point during the cruise. Its help page asks you to bring your estimated due date, scan results and any maternity reports, and the booking terms ask for a doctor's or midwife's letter saying you and the baby are fit to travel. If you didn't know you were pregnant when you booked and you'd reach 24 weeks by the end of the cruise, P&O lets you cancel free of charge (P&O: travelling when pregnant).

Cots and baby kit in your cabin

(P&O: facilities for babies, P&O: family holidays)

Check the cabin fits a cot. P&O says not every cabin can take a cot when the upper berth is in use, so ask before you book. If an upper pull-down bed is used, the two lower beds can't be pushed together into a double (Iona's inside cabins are the exception) (P&O: three and four bed cabins).

Need more space? Interconnecting cabins are on Arcadia, Arvia, Aurora and Iona, in several cabin types from inside cabins to family suites. Most balcony cabins also have a connecting door on the balcony, which your cabin steward can leave open (P&O: interconnecting cabins). Online you can book up to four people in a cabin and up to three cabins.

Plugs: cabins use standard UK three-pin sockets. P&O doesn't recommend multi-plugs (ask the crew for extra sockets), and items with heating elements such as kettles aren't allowed in cabins (P&O: power outlets). P&O doesn't say whether you can bring your own electric bottle warmer or steriliser, so ask before you pack one.

Feeding your baby on board

• Babies are welcome in all restaurants, and breastfeeding is welcome throughout the ship.
• Hipp Organic jars: request them at least 12 weeks before sailing. The help page lists 6+ and 7+ month jars, subject to availability. If you book later than that, or forget, bring your own. P&O doesn't offer other baby food brands.
• Bringing your own: everything must be fully sealed, with original labels and expiry dates after the end of your holiday, and easy to reach at check-in for security.
• For toddlers, P&O says it will purée or mash adult food from the main restaurant menu.
• Children's tea runs in one of the restaurants every day, usually between 5pm and 6:30pm, with a parent there to supervise.

(P&O: facilities for babies, P&O: family dining)

P&O's pages don't say whether nappies, formula or baby milk are sold on board, so pack enough for the whole cruise. From Southampton there's no luggage limit, so that's easy.

Pools for babies in nappies

All children in the pools must be toilet trained, except in these named areas where babies in nappies are allowed:

(P&O: kids' clubs)

P&O says its pools are unsupervised, so under-16s must be watched by a parent at all times. Whirlpools aren't for children aged 8 and under (P&O: travelling with children). Arcadia and Aurora aren't in P&O's list, so ask before a family sailing on those ships.

Night nursery and The Reef kids' clubs

• Night nursery: runs from 6pm to midnight. Opening times vary by ship, itinerary and season. P&O doesn't publish the nursery's age range on the pages we checked, so confirm it for your baby's age when you register.
• Who can join: P&O's kids' clubs are for 6 months to 17 years. Every child must be registered first, which you can do from 14 days before your holiday at My P&O Cruises.
• Booking: sessions must be booked in advance (no walk-ins). P&O says you can pre-book before your cruise for an additional cost, or book on board from 8:30am the day before. Places aren't guaranteed when demand is high.
• Nappies: babies in nappies can go to Splashers if you agree to staff changing them. Splashers is the 2 to 4 group; Surfers is 5 to 8 and Scubas 9 to 12.
• Sessions last 2 to 5 hours, with no limit on how many your child goes to, subject to space.
• Safety: The Reef has secure door entry, children are checked in and out by a pre-authorised adult with their ship card, and the Reef Rangers have enhanced DBS checks.
• Going ashore: at least one parent must stay on board while your child is in the club. There's no childcare while you're ashore.

(P&O: kids' clubs, P&O: family kids' clubs)

Other rules worth knowing: under-12s can't use the lifts without an adult, and children 12 and under must share a cabin with someone 18 or over and never be left alone in it.

What a baby costs

• P&O has infant rates for babies over 6 months and under 2 years, and often reduced fares for ages 2 to 17 (P&O: children's cruise prices).
• The first two guests in a cabin pay full price, whatever their age. A baby is only cheaper as the third or fourth person in the cabin.
• Shore experiences: under-2s go free with an adult, and tickets for ages 2 to 12 are 50% or less of the adult price (P&O: family holidays).

P&O doesn't publish the infant rate itself, so check your quote.

Health and the medical centre

Every ship has a medical centre with doctors and nurses, open daily for appointments and 24 hours for emergencies. It's a private service, so every consultation and medicine is charged to your on-board account. P&O says it isn't the same as a hospital: there's no intensive care or specialist care on board. The shops sell basic over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol (P&O: medical information). P&O doesn't say whether infant paracetamol is sold, so bring your own baby medicines in their labelled packaging.

That's another reason to sort travel insurance for your baby when you book. P&O says children need travel insurance too.

Sailing from Southampton

• Embarkation usually starts from around midday, and ships leave in the late afternoon. Your arrival time appears in My P&O Cruises 21 days before you sail (P&O: embarkation time).
• Luggage: no limit on how many bags, as long as they fit in your cabin, but each bag must be 23 kg or less. Cruise Connect coach transfers allow two medium cases each. There's no limit on liquids in hand luggage on cruise-only holidays (P&O: luggage allowance).
• Hand luggage first: cases can take a few hours to reach your cabin, so pack nappies, milk, a change of clothes and swim nappies in a carry-on (P&O: embarkation process).
• Driving? You can drop your luggage at the terminal from 12pm and come back at your arrival time (P&O: parking).
• By train: Southampton has a mainline station, and under-5s travel free on most National Rail journeys (National Rail). See pushchairs on trains and ferries.

Passports

Babies need the same documents as adults, including their own passport. For cruises to EU or Schengen countries, P&O says a passport must have been issued less than 10 years before embarkation and have at least 3 months left after you get off the ship. Outside the EU, P&O asks for 6 months' validity after the cruise ends (P&O: travel documents). See our baby passport guide for how long a first passport takes.

P&O fly-cruises with a baby

P&O also runs fly-cruises to the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and the Caribbean, with flights and transfers to the ship included. Many fly from London and Manchester, and some regional airports cost extra (P&O: guide to fly-cruises). For babies, P&O says:

• Infant flights are included in the holiday price, but infants pay regional airport supplements too.
• On P&O's charter flights every infant gets their own seat, held on your lap for take-off and landing, and there are no sky cots or bassinets. On scheduled flights, infants usually sit on an adult's lap.
• Car seats on TUI Airways, Norse Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic charters must be under 16 inches wide, labelled as approved for aircraft use, with a single-release harness. TUI and Virgin Atlantic only allow rear-facing seats.
• Pushchairs go free. You can take yours through security to the gate, and after the flight it can be collected on the tarmac or sent to the ship with your cases.
• Seats together are only guaranteed if you pay for them in the Flight Seat Booker, 14 weeks before departure.
• Infants get a full luggage allowance on some charters, including TUI, Norse Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic.

(P&O: flying with kids, P&O: fly-cruise luggage)

Remember that Exotic fly-cruises need your baby to be 12 months. If you'd rather book your own flights to Spain or Italy and join a ship there, see our fly-cruise with a baby guide, or look at Costa, which sails from Barcelona, Genoa and Civitavecchia.

Packing list for a P&O cruise with a baby

• Passport for the baby (check the 10-year and 3-month rules)
• Nappies, wipes and nappy bags for the whole cruise
• Swim nappies for the named nappy-friendly pools
• Formula or milk, bottles, and baby food (sealed, labelled, in date)
• Cot sheet or baby sleeping bag, if you want more than the fitted sheet and small blanket
• Baby paracetamol, thermometer and any prescriptions in labelled packaging
• A pushchair that fits in your cabin
• Sun hat, sun cream and a UV swimsuit for Mediterranean and Canaries sailings
• A carry-on with the first day's essentials

Our packing list builder makes a printable list you can tick off.

Is P&O right for your baby?

P&O suits UK families who want to sail from Southampton without flying, with no luggage limit, British food and UK plugs. The cots, bottle warmers and night nursery make evenings easier, and every family ship has pools where babies in nappies can splash.

The catches: babies must be over 6 months (12 months on some cruises), pools are unsupervised, you pay full fare for the first two people in the cabin, and medical care on board is charged. Nappies and formula aren't listed as on-board purchases, so bring enough.

If your baby is under 6 months, look at MSC. For another Southampton line with a night nursery, see Cunard. Our best cruise lines for babies guide compares them all, and the cruise line baby rules table puts the rules side by side.

Good to know — Comparing Multi-Line Southampton & Global Cruise Deals: Want to compare P&O's Southampton and Mediterranean dates against sister and rival family lines (including Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, and Disney Cruise Line)? Compare multi-line itineraries and Last-Minute Cruise Deals on CruiseDirect, and book a pre-cruise night near Southampton or your fly-cruise port on Booking.com (affiliate links).

Quick answers

• What is P&O Cruises' minimum age for babies? Over 6 months when the holiday starts. Some cruises and all Exotic fly-cruises need 12 months, because of days in a row at sea or remote itineraries.
• Does P&O provide cots? Yes, on Arvia, Azura, Britannia, Iona and Ventura, and on Arcadia and Aurora during family holidays. Contact P&O before you travel to request one. Each cot comes with a fitted sheet and one small blanket.
• Can babies in nappies use P&O pools? Only named pools on each ship, such as Splash Valley on Arvia and the SkyDome Pool on Iona. All other pools are for toilet-trained children, and P&O says the pools are unsupervised.
• Does P&O have a night nursery? Yes. It runs from 6pm to midnight. P&O doesn't publish its age range on the pages we checked, so confirm it when you register your baby from 14 days before you sail.
• Can I take my own baby food on a P&O cruise? Yes. It must be sealed, with original labels and expiry dates after the holiday. P&O can also supply Hipp Organic jars if you ask at least 12 weeks before sailing.
• Do babies cruise free with P&O? No. There's an infant rate for babies over 6 months and under 2, and the first two guests in a cabin pay full price whatever their age. Shore experiences are free for under-2s.
• Is there a luggage limit on P&O cruises from Southampton? No limit on the number of bags, but each must weigh 23 kg or less, and there are no liquid limits on cruise-only holidays.
• Can I take a car seat on a P&O fly-cruise flight? On TUI, Norse Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic charters, yes, if it's under 16 inches wide and approved for aircraft use. TUI and Virgin only allow rear-facing seats.

Sources

• P&O Cruises help pages: facilities for babies (reviewed 10 April 2026), kids' clubs (10 April 2026), travelling with children (12 March 2026), travelling when pregnant (12 June 2026), children's cruise prices (16 February 2026), power outlets (9 April 2026), embarkation time (22 April 2026), parking (20 March 2026), embarkation process, luggage allowance, travel documents, medical information, three and four bed cabins, interconnecting cabins, flying with kids, fly-cruise luggage
• P&O Cruises: family holidays, family dining, family kids' clubs, guide to fly-cruises, booking terms and conditions
• National Rail: train travel with children

Back to cruising with a baby.

Last checked and updated: 30 October 2026 · Kiddieko · How we check facts