[Natalieb]

Hi everyone,

We are off to New Zealand in November 2007,

Please dont laugh and think im silly. We have three young children and 24 hours on a plane makes me want to cry. I wouldn't mind, say for example, going by sea for a week then a flight - can you do this?

Nat xx

[marcia]

Know what you mean - wish I'd packed myself in the container and had ten weeks of peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KNOCKOUT DROPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A BASEBALL BAT AROUND THE NOGGIN!!!!!!!!!!!! :uhoh


Can't help you on this one - we only took our older two on our reccy trip they were 10 and 8, left our little 2 year old at home, so don't know what he is going to be like on the journey next Monday - still at least its only one way :raebanana

Think if you went by sea it would cost a small fortune and take a bit longer than a week!!!!!!!!!!

[sizzlingbadger]

Hi, welcome to the forum :cheers

How about having a few days stopover on the way ? ?

We took the option of flying straight through with 3 kids, then aged 14mths, 21/2 and 4 years of age at the time.

It wasn't as bad as we thought, the kids slept both flights and were only awake on the last leg an hour flight from Auckland to Wellington.

The thought of a stopver was too much for us as we had so much luggage it took 5 of us to get to check in :uhoh Let alone struggling transferring at Auckland with all the luggage, eldest son helped push a trolley for us as well :D

[Angie and Mick]

Hi Natalie

Not sure on the sea bit. How old are your children. I found the flight not as bad as I thought, had our three year old and she loved it, watched Scooby do, Hi 5 etc all the time unless sleeping or eating. THe cabin crew were great, we went with Singapore airlines.

[kiwidebs]

We flew with Singapore Airlines with a 2 and a 4 year old earlier this year. We stopped in Singapore for a few days - but to be honest, that was as much because we stayed with friends as really wanting to stop. SIA are great with the kids and we deliberately chose nightflights so they would sleep. They were asleep before we took off from Heathrow and slept most of the way to Singapore. Gemma (4) also slept most of the way from Singapore to Auckland - Cam wasn't well so didn't do so well on that leg.

If you're going to try Piritin (or similar) to help them sleep I recommend trying at home first. Cam goes hyper with it (it has that effect on some kids).

TBH I'd rather have the kids on a plane for 24 hours than spend weeks on a boat (I'd be terrified that Cam would find a way to fall overboard, at least he's contained on a plane).

Debs

[Natalieb]

Hiya Marcia,

Gosh I bet your excited, living the dream from Monday!! Good luck and thanks for the reply - i think its gunna have to be plane for us - god help anyone sat next to my lot, oh well play doh and colourings will have to do at 3AM - no wine for me then if im up all night xxx GOOD LUCK xxxx

[Natalieb]

Hiya cheers for replying. they are age 7, 4 and 1. Its only the one year old im bothered about - oh well im sure it will be worth it. Have you moved then? I love yorkshire, Hebden Bridge is ace xx

[Natalieb]

Hi debs

I agree much safer on a plane. Ive read alot about Singapore airlines and how they accommodate kids - i've also been advised to make sure when we stop off for a night stay to make sure our arrival is late afternoon, as we may be sat all day in a hotel reception waiting for our room to be ready - so much to consider!!!!!!

Natalie xx

[StevieD]

I would love to travel by ship but it is just not practical - takes a damn site longer than a week! :laugh Would be a nicer way to travel, no jet lag, relaxed, proper meals! Now I harking back to my seagoing days.....
I think there are some container companies who offer this service but it is very expensive, can't imagine why, but there you go.

[K&CS]

We travelled SIA in Feb with 3 kids aged 8, 6 and 6 months at the time. They were excellent - we stopped off for a week in Singapore which broke it up nicely - neither flight actually seemed too long. I think going by sea could prove extremely costly and what happens if one of the kids suffers from sea sickness? Imagine being stuck on a boat for a week!! I'm sure the flight will be fine!

Kate

[Angie and Mick]

Hi
We arrived at Singapore at 6am but did not fly out again until the evening at 9pm, we booked a room for the day at a hotel in china town, I think about £40, we then had a sleep, got up and had a quick look in China town. We did not need to take the luggage. I had packed a change of clothes in the hand luggage.

Depends who you are flying with you can ask for a cot, you can then put your 1 yr old in that to sleep. On our plane, all the children where great.

[StevieD]

I like the idea of the Singapore stopover, but I would like to have a bit longer, time to have a mooch around one of the ex-colonies. Used to love going to places like Gibraltar etc. and getting a sense of history of the place. Always a special feel about it too.

[spudulike]

Hi, we flew on SIA in Feb with an 18 month old and a 8 week old. The first flight was a night flight so they slept most of the way, we then had a 16 hour stopover in the transit hotel so we could all have a bath/stretch/rest then did the second leg and they slept some of that too. It was nowhere near as bad as I imagined it would be and Singapore Airlines are great to fly with.

Good luck

Louise :)

[PECJ]

When we went a few year's ago on holiday (London-LA, LA-Auckland, Auckland-Christchurch no stops, 1st two night flights) we "programmed" our 4 yr old by telling him every day for about a month that we were going on 3 aeroplanes and sleeping on 2 of them - the first 2. We took his PJs, gave him him nightime milk and put him to sleep with favourite bear. He obviously woke during the LA stopover and was grouchy (the security check are longer now) but went back to sleep again on the second flight.

I appreciate the parent/child ratio was favourable but we were surprise by reinforcing the message that once on board he know what was going to happen. In reality he watched the in-flight film (finding nemo), ate dinner and THEN went to bed.

Good luck which ever way you go.

Peter J

[willowshouse]

The first time we travelled to NZ was with Singapore Airlines who were fantastic, great in-flight entertainment and decent food, and after a lot of consideration we chose to stay over for the night to give the kids (3 and 8) a decent nights sleep in a proper bed.

We left the UK late afternoon/evening which meant they had a few hours awake on the plane watching movies then they naturally fell asleep for almost the rest of the flight. We got off in Singapore in the afternoon (hand luggage only as your luggage goes straight to NZ if you request it as long as your stopover is less than 24 hours), checked into a nice hotel and went out for the evening. The next day we we checked out of the hotel but left our stuff there, got the cable car to Sentosa Island which is great for kids and had a lovely day. When we got back to the hotel they allowed us to use the pool (ordered drinks & food poolside ) until we were ready to leave for our evening flight. It meant the kids could fall asleep as soon as we got on the plane and they woke up 7/8 hours later with only a few hours to watch movies before we arrived in Auckland.

I would be inclined to think the journey through with regards to kids sleeping on the plane & departure/arrival times to help you make a decision.

The other option, which we did the second time we flew here is to break up your journey a little travelling via USA (it has its plus and minus points!) first to Boston or New York on the east side, then to LA on the west side, then to NZ. Advantages .. if you stay a while in each place you adjust to the time difference easily and the first 2 flights are only 5 - 7 hours each. Disadvantages .. can be more expensive and LA aiport is the pits!

I think that most people with kids are worried about the flight (I know I was) but it's rarely as bad as you think it's going to be .. my kids were very well behaved both times and I could even get a bit of shut-eye myself. One of my tricks was to pack a brand new DVD for them to watch on our laptop (with 2 x headphones and a socket doubler) .. for younger kids just pack a variety of things they've never seen before and the novelty value will buy you a little peace!

Best of luck!

Dawn

[JohnandCathy]

Hi Welcome to the forum

Being a Travel Agent here in the UK, I'm used to booking flights for people travelling to Oz and NZ, another option worth considering is Emirates, with some stops along the way.

UK-Dubai 7hrs
Dubai - Bangkok 7hrs
Bangkok - Sydney 7hrs
Sydney - NZ 3hrs.

Although if you do stop, you won't be allowed the double bagged allowance for Migrants. The usual allowance is 20kg which doubles to 40kg if travelling on PR Visa, if you break the journey then double baggage is not allowed.

I hope this helps

Cathy