How to Reserve Nursery & Sitting on Allure

[brittamouse]

Hi Everyone,

 

We will be sailing on the Allure at the end of September with our 11 month old and want to make sure we are able to take advantage of the Royal Babies Nursery and a night or two of in room sitting.

 

As I've heard that space in the Nursery and in room sitting can be limited, where do we go as soon as we board to reserve everything?

 

Also just wondering what the incident was that required Royal Caribbean to go to a two sitter policy? I'm a bit of a nervous first time mom (and cruiser) so I am a bit leery of leaving my babe with complete strangers.... Please share your positive experiences :)

 

Finally, does anyone have recent prices per hour for sitting and nursery?

 

Thanks a million!

 

Britta

[squidward]

We were on FOS with our 23-month old in July - I imagine that the arrangement is fairly similar:

 

On the first day, the nursery has an open house, so you can go check it out and review the hours they will be open. If you like what you see, you can sign up for up to 15 hours throughout the week. You tell them the days and times that you want to leave your baby there, and they give you a confirmation card.

 

I was surprised that there were very few toddlers on this cruise - probably because it was in the summer when parents with school-aged kids cruise. So we never had a problem getting him in to the nursery (although by the third day he was pretty unhappy about going; not that the nursery was bad, he was just having such a great time with us he didn't want to be left out).

 

On the first day we also inquired about in-room babysitting, which had done previously on a Celebrity ship. They are not available on the first or last night of the cruise, and they will confirm whether or not someone is available each day. We asked for babysitters every night (they are only available starting at 8:30 PM), and were successful on all but one night. They charge something like $16 hour, and it includes two babysitters who were in uniform meaning they were staff, not crew (or is it the other way around?). In any case, they were very professional, lovely people (one man and one woman) whom we would see from time to time during the day on the ship.

 

One night our son projectile vomited in the cabin, and they handled it very well. It was pretty gross!:eek:

[rolloman]

Go before the open house. Instead go once you board so you can get first dibs on the schedule. They will let you book the 15 hours and if you need more than that you simply sign up for more mid week.

[brittamouse]

Thanks

[southern cruising couple]

Do you have to pre-pay for those hours? Because what if I changed my mind and decided not to use all the hours I originally thought I would?

[rolloman]

Do you have to pre-pay for those hours? Because what if I changed my mind and decided not to use all the hours I originally thought I would?

No, you do not prepay. You are charged each night for any hours you used.

[gerif]

With an 11 month old, you CANNOT use in-cabin sitting as the child must be at least a year old (and, yes, of course they know how old your baby is from the manifest).

[LisaT91403]

They are not available on the first or last night of the cruise, and they will confirm whether or not someone is available each day. We asked for babysitters every night (they are only available starting at 8:30 PM), and were successful on all but one night. They charge something like $16 hour, and it includes two babysitters who were in uniform meaning they were staff, not crew (or is it the other way around?). In any case, they were very professional, lovely people (one man and one woman) whom we would see from time to time during the day on the ship.

 

I think this info will depend on the ship. We were on Oasis in June, and had babysitters EVERY night (including the first and last nights). There was no 8:30 start time on our voyage. It was $19/hour for 2 sitters. And, yes, they were very professional, lovely people :-)

 

But as someone else stated, the baby must be at least 1 year old for in-cabin sitting.