Leaving baby in nursery while on excursion?

[iheartbda]

It's OK...I don't mind the heat:) I guess the OPs question just blew me away! I hope she does a little soul-searching and arrives at whatever decision is best for her. There's always some weird story on the news about missing kids so for my family, unless you can talk and fight back, you're not old enough to travel in some circles--just my way of keeping the littlest ones a bit safer;)

Yes, I was taken aback as well. After reading the responses, I would put money on the OP not taking the excursion and leaving the infant in the nursery.:) Personally, I would not leave the ship for any reason and leave a child unless it was with a relative.

[ksadonnab]

Hi,

My husband and I will be on Rhapsody of the Seas in July with our 8 month old daughter. We are considering trying to leave her in the new Royal Nursery while we are in Juneau, so we can take a helicopter excursion. Does anyone know if 1) this is allowed? and 2) Has anyone done it? I'm a little nervous leaving our baby on the ship while we venture off, what if something happened while we're gone? Any advice or your experiences would be helpful to hear. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Leave the baby in the nursery for a brief time. Go do something close - maybe even walking distance if you can. Skip the helicopter excursion.

[jlajla]

Well, it looks like OP has already made up her mind. I say trust your instinct on this one. I would skip the super-fun-sounding helicopter ride and chalk it up to one more thing you can't do when you have kids. lol. Then make plans to go back again sans kids and do the fun stuff. ;)

 

Enjoy the trip!

[celle]

To the OP:

 

Have you thought about taking separate helicopter rides? One of you goes on the helicopter, while the other stays on the ground with the baby? Then the second parent takes a turn.

 

That way (heaven forbid!) if anything bad happens to the helicopter, the baby will still be safe, with one parent.

 

We always took our children wherever we traveled. It works well but you do have to adjust your plans a bit. We never did anything risky at the same time, but took turns.

[ALGOR]

This kind of question really surprises me as a parent, I can't understand why you take a holiday as a famiy and then consider dumping your pride and heir on someone else whilst you go and do your own thing, do it before you have kids and then after they are old enough to look after themselves. We have had a long running debate in the UK about a little girl called Maddie who was kidnapped in portugal, she was left in an apparent secure apartment along with 2 babies whilst her parents wined and dined 400 yards away. Did they deserve to lose their child, of course not, did they play a part in it, yes! Anything could happen whilst you are away, by all means have an hours rest whilst your little one is being entertained by a trained stranger, but leaving them on the ship whilst you go off to enjoy your perceived freedom is nothing less than neglect in my opinion!

[GGBNJ130]

LOL. happens all the time, does it? Hard to imagine that grocery store remaining in business after the first kidnapping. :D

 

My grocery store also offers a baby sitting service in house while you shop. You have to leave your driver's license or other picture ID, fill out a mountain of forms the first time you use the service, and no parents are permitted in the child play area but the area has a full wall of windows, so parents can see their kids inside. It's actually rather similar to the procedure at my grandson's daycare, and neither facility has had any incidents of kidnapping.

 

But thanks. That was hilarious.

 

I've never seen it happen personally, but one time it was in our local newspaper, I don't see any kids anymore in that little play area when we go down the aisle it's in, I just see the female employees texting right by the window or sitting in the little chairs texting or talking on the cell phone...

[EV2008]

This kind of question really surprises me as a parent, I can't understand why you take a holiday as a famiy and then consider dumping your pride and heir on someone else whilst you go and do your own thing, do it before you have kids and then after they are old enough to look after themselves. We have had a long running debate in the UK about a little girl called Maddie who was kidnapped in portugal, she was left in an apparent secure apartment along with 2 babies whilst her parents wined and dined 400 yards away. Did they deserve to lose their child, of course not, did they play a part in it, yes! Anything could happen whilst you are away, by all means have an hours rest whilst your little one is being entertained by a trained stranger, but leaving them on the ship whilst you go off to enjoy your perceived freedom is nothing less than neglect in my opinion!

 

I agree with you there, we have always taken our kids on vacation, they were never a bother, we just didn't do some thing even if we wanted to, their safety was always my 1st concern, we just adjusted to their schedule and their ability with activities. Now they are adults and the youngest (23) still goes with us on vacation and can do the fun stuff (risky) things. I don't feel like I missed out a thing.

I would take my baby on a cruise but I would only do activities that I could do with the Baby.

[Tapi]

I know I'll probably take some heat for this but, I would never bring an infant on a cruise ship...

 

We took our infant son on 3 cruises before he turned 2! First one at 12 months, then at 17 months, and then again at 23 months.

 

And you know what? They have been some of the BEST cruises we've ever taken in my 30+ years of cruising! I would NOT trade them for any other cruise I took before without kids.

 

We enjoyed these family cruises so much, that we'll be taking an Alaska cruise with not one, but 2 little kids in 2013. Our son will be 3 years old, and our daughter will be 17 months old! :)

 

If you'd asked me a few years ago if I'd ever be cruising with infants, I would've asked if you were crazy. No way, no how! But life changes. What doesn't sound appealing at one point in time in life may sound appealing later on, and that's where we are. :)

[denamo]

It's not. ;)

 

Like I tell my (older) kids; "It's not supposed to be "fun," it's a FAMILY TOGETHERNESS ACTIVITY!!" :D

 

 

LOL!! Ah..family togetherness. Can be fun, but sometimes not so much. :eek: Thanks for the laugh.

[Tapi]

We are considering trying to leave her in the new Royal Nursery while we are in Juneau.

 

Your post hits close to home, as we will be sailing to Alaska with our infant daughter as well. Our opinion in the matter is that, while it would be awesome to go dog sledding on glaciers or taking helicopter rides, we have chosen to skip those in favor of activities where everybody in the family can participate. The experience may not be as exciting, but we don't feel comfortable leaving our kids behind while we go exploring. I think I would NOT enjoy a helicopter ride if I'm worried sick the whole time about my kids back on the ship.

 

About the Royal Babies and Tots nursery, we used it extensively when we sailed aboard the Allure of the Seas last year (when our first son was 17 months old). We'd drop him off for a couple of hours on several nights while we went to dinner at one of the alternative venues and to see a show. Not once did we feel uncomfortable about leaving our son there. The nursery is professionally run and the facilities are phenomenal. You'll get a celphone to keep during the week. That way you can call them or they can call you if something arises. The facilities were open every day (even port days) from 8am to midnight.

 

With that said, we never used the nursery while we went ashore. As previously mentioned, we felt a bit uncomfortable about leaving our son in the nursery while we went exploring. In retrospect, things would've been just fine, but at the time, it was not a chance we were willing to take. :o The facilities ARE there for you to use, and YES, you are allowed to leave your kid there while you go ashore, but it will boil down to your comfort level with risk taking...

[Ksma23]

We have cruised with our little ones starting at age 1 and 3 and have had an enjoyable time so I don't agree with the posters who get on the "no little kids on cruise ships bandwagon". While adult only cruises are definitely more care-free I am all for getting out and enjoying my travel time, kids in tow or not.

 

A couple things I would recommend:

If traveling with your husband, take turns watching the kids. My DH will babysit so that I can go to the gym or get a massage then I will do the same so he can get out and play a game of poker, etc.

 

If you are on a ship that offers babysitting and you can afford it, it's something to definitely consider. My DH and I reserve the baby sitters (2 sitters always come together) as soon as we get on board. We usually use the service for the 2 formal nights so we can get dressed up, go to dinner, dance, go to the casino, etc. On our last cruise the ships security guards (both female) were our sitters for our two evenings out and our kids

loved them. My only caveat to hiring a sitter would be if your little one was apprehensive with new people. I would hate to have your little one cry all

evening. I would say if you hire a sitter have them come early to spend time before you leave to see how your little one acclimates.

 

I make these suggestions because at least for me they helped break our trips up a little and it is nice to have a little adult time. As to leaving your little one in the nursery for an excursion, I don't know that I would do it at your little ones age. My guess is you would spend most of your time worrying and not enjoying your time away.