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In-Room Babysitting Advice


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Hi,

Sailing on Indy Dec 21-30, first cruise with our babies 12 months and 3 years...we are DESPERATE to utilize RC's in-room babysitting services so that my wife and I aren't stuck in the room as of 7pm every night...just wondering if anyone has any tips regarding this or how to book it? Has anyone ever had a problem getting babysitters? First post here- thanks in advance for the suggestions!!

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Welcome! Enjoy your family cruise. I hope you have a wonderful time. Royal Caribbean has a great product and I'm sure you will all have so much fun! :D

 

Our kids are grown and we never used the in-cabin babysitting, but others will be along shortly to help you.

 

EDITED TO ADD, after seeing Bob's post above: and yes, I believe they send two sitters per cabin, just for accountability reasons.

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Hi,

Sailing on Indy Dec 21-30, first cruise with our babies 12 months and 3 years...we are DESPERATE to utilize RC's in-room babysitting services so that my wife and I aren't stuck in the room as of 7pm every night...just wondering if anyone has any tips regarding this or how to book it? Has anyone ever had a problem getting babysitters? First post here- thanks in advance for the suggestions!!

 

You may want to try asking on the Family boards:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

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Welcome! Enjoy your family cruise. I hope you have a wonderful time. Royal Caribbean has a great product and I'm sure you will all have so much fun! :D

 

Our kids are grown and we never used the in-cabin babysitting, but others will be along shortly to help you.

 

EDITED TO ADD, after seeing Bob's post above: and yes, I believe they send two sitters per cabin, just for accountability reasons.

 

Thank you!!!

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Depending on how many nights, and how many hours, it might not be ridiculous to bring your own babysitters in an inside cabin. Though I'm guessing a holiday cruise is either very pricey or sold out. Perhaps for future consideration. I know my daughters would have taken that job in a heartbeat when they were in college.

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Depending on how many nights, and how many hours, it might not be ridiculous to bring your own babysitters in an inside cabin. Though I'm guessing a holiday cruise is either very pricey or sold out. Perhaps for future consideration. I know my daughters would have taken that job in a heartbeat when they were in college.

 

Uh...

 

Let's say $600/pp which would be low for a 9-day making it 1670 for the cabin+grats+taxes. At $19/hour you'd only need them to babysit for 88 hours to break even... That would be a little under 10 hours a day...

 

The cruise is actually $1008/pp currently for an inside cabin. Add in grats and port fees you get a grand total of $2486. So, only need babysitting for 131 hours or a bit over 14 hours each day.

 

This is all assuming of course you don't actually pay the babysitters at all, just their cruise fare (which could be of questionable legality, I don't really know). And also assumes of course that you live near the port, so no flights.

 

So, I suppose if you don't want to actually see your kids for more than a few minutes, sure :cool:

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Uh...

 

Let's say $600/pp which would be low for a 9-day making it 1670 for the cabin+grats+taxes. At $19/hour you'd only need them to babysit for 88 hours to break even... That would be a little under 10 hours a day...

 

The cruise is actually $1008/pp currently for an inside cabin. Add in grats and port fees you get a grand total of $2486. So, only need babysitting for 131 hours or a bit over 14 hours each day.

 

This is all assuming of course you don't actually pay the babysitters at all, just their cruise fare (which could be of questionable legality, I don't really know). And also assumes of course that you live near the port, so no flights.

 

So, I suppose if you don't want to actually see your kids for more than a few minutes, sure :cool:

 

Yes, but the babysitters on the ship aren't guaranteed, I have seen a few people say that they couldn't get a babysitter on a certain night. So it may be worth it to have a babysitter that you know and trust and will be available during certain times. Personally, I would just trick parents or other close family members into joining us.

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We were on freedom last December and had to schedule through guest service desk, but there was no one on board certified for in room babysitting. We took our two kids to the nursery at adventure ocean. Had to pay per hour per kid but it was worth it.

 

 

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We have used the in-room baby sitters once when we first cruised on Grandeur a few years ago - since then our son mostly goes to kids club.

 

It is as Bob says, booked at Guest Services while you are on board. They send two people and rate is/was $19 per hour. The sitters are volunteers from the crew. They do have to take some training in order to volunteer. We had two young ladies who were very nice. Our son was 3 at the time, and they swapped out movies in the DVD player for him. We went to dinner and were only gone about 2 hours.

 

Hope that helps.

 

PS: On Indy, you can use kids club and nursery too. The nursery is $6 per hour, I think, and they will feed and change the 12 month old. The 3 y/o would love Adventure Ocean.

 

 

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Uh...

 

Let's say $600/pp which would be low for a 9-day making it 1670 for the cabin+grats+taxes. At $19/hour you'd only need them to babysit for 88 hours to break even... That would be a little under 10 hours a day...

 

The cruise is actually $1008/pp currently for an inside cabin. Add in grats and port fees you get a grand total of $2486. So, only need babysitting for 131 hours or a bit over 14 hours each day.

 

This is all assuming of course you don't actually pay the babysitters at all, just their cruise fare (which could be of questionable legality, I don't really know). And also assumes of course that you live near the port, so no flights.

 

So, I suppose if you don't want to actually see your kids for more than a few minutes, sure :cool:

 

Well...

 

Actually, I think the part you can't necessarily figure in here is the value of known babysitters. And it's not necessarily hours per day, but for a busy couple to enjoy eating nice dinners together each night without those precious babies in tow, and then enjoy an evening out, knowing their kids are okay. Expensive, yes, but not ridiculous. And solves the problem of crying infants in specialty restaurants.

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What are the hours for in room babysitting vs the nursery? I'm traveling with twin 6 6mo olds and want to try to see some shows, like the newlywed game!

 

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I am pretty sure that the nursery is open the same hours as kids club, so it would be available till 2am. I am not sure if there are hours for in-room baby sitting. I think it is only available in the evenings, but not sure how late or how long you can have them. We only had them come for 2 hours.

 

 

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I am pretty sure that the nursery is open the same hours as kids club, so it would be available till 2am. I am not sure if there are hours for in-room baby sitting. I think it is only available in the evenings, but not sure how late or how long you can have them. We only had them come for 2 hours.

 

 

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Can babies sleep in Adventure Ocean (I.e. are there cribs there at night?). Thanks!

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If you are able to book in-room sitting, re-confirm. I had it booked and then no one showed up. Called down to guest services and they had no record of it being booked. I was traveling as a single mom and it was my ONE night to myself. I threw a bit of a hissy fit and they said they'd send someone. Who did they send? My room steward. I felt so bad for her, she was literally falling asleep standing up. I think she'd already been in bed and they woke her. I gave her some money and sent her away.

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Hi! We (along with our good friends) utilized the in-room babysitting two years ago on the Allure. They come in pairs and we had three kids total. It was fantastic - they came to our room at 8pm and put the kids to bed. We tried to get in-room sitting this past year and despite being the first family to request it, we didn't get any nights. We knew going into it that there was a chance we wouldn't and we were still ok with sending them to the nursery and kids club at night. I would tell you not to bank on any in-room sitting and consider it a huge plus if you get it. Even if you can get it, you might only get one or two nights. The reason we didn't get it this past year is because our sailing followed a busy school vacation sailing and they didn't have any crew members volunteer for the opportunity our week since they were so busy the week before. They are crew members who are the babysitters - we had one of the girls from shore excursions and one of the male divers. If none ask for the hours, they don't offer the service. As soon as you get onboard, run, don't walk, to guest services and put in the request. It can take up to 24 hours for them to get back to you. Once you do that, go up to the nursery and put in a backup request for the hours you need at night. That way, if you don't get the sitter, you still have a place for the child so that you can go out. Hope this helps!!!!

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Can babies sleep in Adventure Ocean (I.e. are there cribs there at night?). Thanks!

You are confusing Adventure Ocean (for kids 3 and over who are completely potty trained) and the nursery for under 3. The nursery has cribs, AO does not but will give them a pillow and blanket if they want.

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