I hear many people voice concerns about going on a cruise with a balcony and a toddler.

Many worry about the child falling overboard. I have to say, I can't imagine that would be much of an issue as long as the caregivers are diligent with the small child. My biggest concern with my almost 2 year old was making sure the chairs weren't right next to the balcony rail because he is such a climber. Truth be told, I still don't think he could have climbed up the rail. It is plexiglass and there really isn't anything to get a foot hold on.

The benefits for us were worth every penny spent to get the upgraded room. We weren't stuck in an inside rooms in the afternoon when he would nap and if there was anything to see we didn't have to haul him with all his gear to an upper deck to look.

I definitely think an internet search to familiarize yourself with what type of balconies your ship has before leaving would be helpful (or a good travel agent will do it for you) to make planning for your trip that much easier.

Happy sailing!

Passports are required for any air travel outside of the US, but travel by sea is a little different. If you are departing and returning to a US port, you can travel with Birth Certificate and state issued ID.
So why pay for a passport for a cruise? For alot of years I felt the same. Even though the majority of the travel industry disagrees with me, I'm still not sure it's something you have to incur the cost of. My family (5 of us, no small expense) decided with our last cruise to go ahead and get them but more for the conveinience and the option to use them in the future. The total including pictures was approximately $700 give or take a few dollars.
Yes, it is true, if something were to happen and you need to catch up to the ship or return home from a cruise unexpectedly you would have a very hard time getting through customs without one. But I always wonder, what if you don't have the means to do so anyway? A passport isn't going to help you afford that $2000 next day flight. In the event that there is trouble in a port and you have to locate a US Embassy, it helps to have a passport but I would never carry mine off the ship. I simply carry the number for them to look it up.
I think having a passport is a good thing, just maybe not if it is at the expense of not being able to take a cruise.

I have been hearing all the warnings about avoiding travel to Mexico from the US State Department among many others. While I am aware that these warnings do not include tourist areas but focus on the areas that there is no tourist draw in the first place, not everyone waits to find out the additional information. The majority of the public hears "Avoid Mexico" and that's what they think they should do.
President Obama, with all of his advisors, recently had a daughter that was visiting Mexico so obviously the Obamas listened to the entire warning US citizens about Mexico travel. If the American public gathered all of their information before making a judgement, there would be more people enjoying the beauty and history that exists in Mexico.
My best advise is to not send your common sense on vacation just because you are away from the day to day grind. Be smart and always remain aware of your surroundings and you should be just fine.

Cruising is the safest mode of travel on the planet. Between 15 and 16 million people cruised in 2011 alone. That is alot of cruisers that have had a completely safe cruising experience.

When is the last time anyone heard of a ship sinking prior to the Concordia? Titanic? That's 100 years. Think about how frequently there are plane crashes. Or better yet, automobile accidents.

The Concordia sinking is a horrible tragedy, as was the Titanic. Any time there is a loss of life, its a terrible thing. But in no way shape or form will this keep me from cruising. Maybe will just take the muster drill a little more seriously.

Everyone is very concerned with the safety of their child, as they should be, but recently we had to make the decision to bring our carseat for my 1 year old son with us when we went on a cruise.
We were flying to the port (with infant in lap), taking a shuttle to the pier, booking excursions where they provided a van in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. There was no need for one on the plane, we would have just paid to have it checked since he didn't have his own seat. Shuttles to the pier don't even have seatbelts, so would have just added that to our monsterous stack of luggage. Seeing as there was no guarantee that the tour vans provided would even have seatbelts and that they would be working (some are third world countries), it seemed silly to bring one at ports.
So as much as it gave me ALOT of anxiety to go an entire week without a carseat, I believe we made the right choice for our situation. Had we decided to rent a car to get to or from the pier we definitely would have had one with us, regardless of the hassle. However, in our situation, we were better off not paying the additional cost to check one on the plane ($25 each way, we can address that another day!) to simply have to lug the carseat around but never be able to use it. Choose wisely when making this decision, make sure you have considered every possible time you might need it and go from there.