Leaving kids on the ship while at port-questions for new RCCL cruiser

[misseulalie]

We are veteran cruisers (Disney) and have often left our kids onboard (in the clubs) while we went ashore.

 

First, if your only comment is to tell me how I am such a horrible parent, please don't bother commenting.

 

 

So, This is our first big cruise on RCCL. We are doing the 12 day Norway cruise. There are 6 ports.

 

We are considering leaving our son (Age 5) on board for a few of the ports.

 

How does this work with RCCL? On Disney, the club stays open while at port and the counselors take our cell phone number in case of any issues. We also do cruiseline excursions to make sure we don't have any issues with getting back to the ship on time.

 

So, my question is... do the clubs stay open while at port? I noticed when we did the short 3 day cruises, the clubs are closed at certain times during the day.

Any things I should consider with RCCL and kids staying onboard?

 

Thanks!

[micmacmissy]

One thing to consider: we were on the balcony once enjoying sailaway from Calica, Mexico, about 100 feet from the pier pulling slowly away. A cab pulled up, two screaming people emerged and started yelling. They were screaming: "Our kids are onboard! Our kids!" No joke- it was incredibly sad to see the ship pulling away from them.

 

What wound up happening: the ship stopped (!!!) and after about 1/2 hour sent a tender to the pier to grab the two people and bring them onboard. That night, everyone was talking about it...no one on the crew had ever seen the ship send a tender out for missed passengers. This was Celebrity Mercury in 1999...our first cruise, before we had kids. (I am guessing most ships wouldn't do that, especially these days!). To this day, because that scared me so much, there is no way I could leave my kids onboard.

 

That said, I'll let others speak to the details of the Norway cruise and how it works, but I hope you'll add a BIG time buffer to be sure you get back onboard!

[jmcross]

We left our son one port day in the club when we cruised in Europe. We were on a RCCL excursion though. I don't think I would risk missing the ship by touring on our own as the previous poster mentioned. He did enjoy the club more than going to historical sites and shopping.

[misseulalie]

One thing to consider: we were on the balcony once enjoying sailaway from Calica, Mexico, about 100 feet from the pier pulling slowly away. A cab pulled up, two screaming people emerged and started yelling. They were screaming: "Our kids are onboard! Our kids!" No joke- it was incredibly sad to see the ship pulling away from them.

 

What wound up happening: the ship stopped (!!!) and after about 1/2 hour sent a tender to the pier to grab the two people and bring them onboard. That night, everyone was talking about it...no one on the crew had ever seen the ship send a tender out for missed passengers. This was Celebrity Mercury in 1999...our first cruise, before we had kids. (I am guessing most ships wouldn't do that, especially these days!). To this day, because that scared me so much, there is no way I could leave my kids onboard.

 

That said, I'll let others speak to the details of the Norway cruise and how it works, but I hope you'll add a BIG time buffer to be sure you get back onboard!

 

Thanks....this is why we only do RCCL excursions so this can never happen.

[lucymorgan]

Perhaps you could book excursions that leave early in the morning and are not 'full day' - so that you are back hours before the ship leaves. We do this if we take a non RCI tour because I am so nervous about getting back in time. I think it also depends on how far from the port you intend to go and factoring in alternative return travel such as taxis if something goes wrong.

 

BTW - I think Norway would normally be pretty orderly in terms of traffic but perhaps others have advice about those specific ports https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g190455-c110294/Norway:Driving.In.Norway.html

Edited January 9, 2017 by lucymorgan

[matj2000]

One thing to consider: we were on the balcony once enjoying sailaway from Calica, Mexico, about 100 feet from the pier pulling slowly away. A cab pulled up, two screaming people emerged and started yelling. They were screaming: "Our kids are onboard! Our kids!" No joke- it was incredibly sad to see the ship pulling away from them.

 

 

A few years ago when my kids were younger, we left them on the ship all the time why we were in Port.

 

It was better than dragging them around the island all day.

 

It is a service the cruise ship offers and many people do it each cruise.

 

I guess this sort of thing is not popular with theHigh-strung, Helicopter parents because they always come on here and get bent out of shape for no reason....

[Canukcruisenewbie]

I'd do what the above poster suggested - ensure it's a Royal Caribbean excursion.

 

Coincidentally, we will be cruising in April with our son (3.5) and was wondering about running off the ship to the shops to look at jewelry in a port or two. With the comment above about the almost separation, I'm now nervous about even getting off for that. Lol. But I'm a worry wart. :-(.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[amm188nel]

I remember reading a blog that said on port days it's open and they feed the kids lunch and stuff.on sea days they close during meal times and you pick them up to feed them. So this makes me say yes they are open.

 

5 is a rough age as far as shopping and patience goes, I totally get it. If my 7 year old didn't like snorkeling so much we would prob opt to have a kids free day at a port also.

 

 

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[ARCruisinNana]

To answer your question, yes. Adventure Ocean is open from 30 minutes before the first excursion (if before 9) and closes 30 minutes after the last excursion returns. If it is breakfast or lunch time, the staff will take them to Windjammer. AO hours on sea days 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10. Late night 10pm-2am is $7-8 per hour per child.

 

 

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[gerif]

Thanks....this is why we only do RCCL excursions so this can never happen.

 

Don't think this cannot happen because you are on a ship sponsored excursion. There are times when the ship just cannot wait. They will, however, take responsibility for getting you to the next port. An AO staff member will care for your child until you can meet the ship again.

[Havingfun2010]

Why is it a bother to drag your kids around and than risk being separated in a foreign port? I would never ever consider leaving my kids alone while I go around in another country. Now they are adults, I can do it!

[BNBR]

We also do cruiseline excursions to make sure we don't have any issues with getting back to the ship on time.

 

It's a misconception that you are guaranteed that the ship will wait if you book an RCCL excursion. It's not a guarantee that you will get back on the ship the same day - they just guarantee they will get you back on at the next earliest opportunity at no additional cost to you.

 

Your kids could still end up leaving without you. You may not want to hear it, but that is fairly reckless. I'm not sure how anyone could enjoy an excursion knowing any significant delay will result in the ship leaving with your kids.

[spookwife]

other factors include WHAT excursions? ones that take you hours away and would take you hours to get back? what happens if you do get the call that Junior is having a meltdown, or got sick/injured?

 

also, the excursion won't leave early or skip any aspect just because you did get that call... so now you are on your own to get back.

 

older kids that you know will be fine in the kids club all day is one thing. younger ones who might still be clingy? no way would I leave the ship without them.

[cruisewithbaby]

So last time I took my daughter and she loved the AO, always wanted to be there but then the day we docked in Bermuda (our only stop) she was like oh heck no I'm getting off with you, I think she just wanted to walk on dry land lol. So for 2 days she toured Bermuda with me then when we left port I sent her back on her way to the kids club. She wanted to be there more than with me in"the stuffy long dinners" which was fine, she picked what she wanted to do on the vacation and it just happened that being with the other kids and teachers won out-it was win win. I picked

Her up at 10 each night and we hit the dance party for an hour or so then off to bed. She was 4 at the time. Now she is almost 7 and telling her 5 yo brother how much he will love AO too!! Planning to leave them at AO on one port day and not leave the ship but enjoy the hopefully quiet ship while everyone is off it :) I think on sea days the AO is also open 5-7 and they take the kids to dinner then at 6 but you have to sign up and drop off at 5.

 

 

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[Cel_cruise]

AO will be open to keep your kids on port days. As posted earlier, they open before the first excursion / tender/ debarkation and will feed your kids. Check with the staff when you board to find out if they need to know ahead of time that this is your plan.

 

If this works for you - take advantage of it! My kids were 4 and 8 and they LOVED adventure ocean but they also LOVED visiting all of the countries and ports we visited so they opted NOT to stay onboard but did go back to the AO every other minute that they could!!

 

We had wonderful kids club staff on our last cruise! I hope our next one does toi

 

 

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[rockdoctor]

It's a misconception that you are guaranteed that the ship will wait if you book an RCCL excursion. It's not a guarantee that you will get back on the ship the same day - they just guarantee they will get you back on at the next earliest opportunity at no additional cost to you.

 

Your kids could still end up leaving without you. You may not want to hear it, but that is fairly reckless. I'm not sure how anyone could enjoy an excursion knowing any significant delay will result in the ship leaving with your kids.

 

Another reason to cruise Princess.

[mjkacmom]

It's a misconception that you are guaranteed that the ship will wait if you book an RCCL excursion. It's not a guarantee that you will get back on the ship the same day - they just guarantee they will get you back on at the next earliest opportunity at no additional cost to you.

 

Your kids could still end up leaving without you. You may not want to hear it, but that is fairly reckless. I'm not sure how anyone could enjoy an excursion knowing any significant delay will result in the ship leaving with your kids.

 

The OP has left her kids on ships before,so I'm sure she knows she can enjoy herself. I wouldn't call it reckless - the chances of missing the ship are probably lower that having her 5 year old injured on the excursion. She just wanted to know if the club was open.

[Cel_cruise]

From other threads and conversations with staff on board, I definitely expect that the ship will wait longer than they might otherwise if there is a parent/child separation.

 

If I was on an RCI excursion that wasn't planned for a last minute return time and this service worked for my family - I would not worry TOO much. I WOULD travel with a passport even if it wasn't required though to expedite any situations that might occur.

 

My children have attended child care on land since they were 8 weeks old - 5 days a week - 10 hours a day. The risk that we will not be reunited at the end of a day is real in our everyday life - there are many things that could prevent me from being able to get them and our family is not close. They would stay with friends, teachers, or child care providers if that were to occur.

 

If this is something you are comfortable with - do as you wish and have a wonderful trip!!

 

Flame Suit On!

 

 

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[MrYellowDuck]

Thanks....this is why we only do RCCL excursions so this can never happen.

 

Why do you think that can never happen? I am guessing because you suppose that the ship will wait for you. If so then this is not correct. If you care to read what RCCL actually says beyond their attention grabbing big-fonted headline promise then you'll know that there is no guarantee that they will wait until an RCCL excursions returns; what they actually say is that once they get sick of waiting for you they'll arrange to transport you to the next port of call at no charge.

 

You know that you can calculate how special a parent you are by observing about how many kids are on the ship while cruising and then using that to determine the percentage of parents that leave their kids to the care of others during shore time. You'll likely be in the 1% club.

[Fouremco]

Will the ship wait if you excursion is late getting back? Maybe, maybe not, but the likelihood of having to be transported to the next port is extremely slim. I wouldn't let that influence my decision.

 

On the other hand, there's a huge life experience that your son will miss. Yes, five is young, but when I was that age and living in Europe, my parents would take my sister and I on trips all the time to visit different countries, and I certainly enjoyed those excursions. I also think that my taste for travel was developed in those formative years.

 

That said, you know your child far better than me or any other poster here, so if you think he'll be happier staying aboard, leave him and go enjoy your excursion.

[spookwife]

From other threads and conversations with staff on board, I definitely expect that the ship will (might)wait longer than they might otherwise if there is a parent/child separation. ultimately they really cannot 100% guarantee it. at some point the local authorities WILL kick them out. regardless of which excursion the ;rents are on( private versus ship sponsored)

 

 

 

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is there huge cause for worry/alarm? probably not. but neither should anyone blithely assume that nothing can go wrong either onboard with Junior or in port with the parents just because you are using a ship sponsored excursion.

[mollyeilis]

Another reason to cruise Princess.

 

 

 

The reason ships leave is because of port fees, the busy-ness of the port, and the need to start moving to the next destination. Those would impact princess as well. I doubt princess would stay indefinitely either.

 

All a guarantee means is that they have another plan in case the first plan fails. A guarantee that the package will be delivered means they'll give you money if it doesn't. And so on.

 

 

I'm so lucky that my son likes touring as much as we do. We've never had to make such a choice. Budget for a hat and a pack of cards in each port and we're good. :)

[misseulalie]

A few years ago when my kids were younger, we left them on the ship all the time why we were in Port.

 

It was better than dragging them around the island all day.

 

It is a service the cruise ship offers and many people do it each cruise.

 

I guess this sort of thing is not popular with theHigh-strung, Helicopter parents because they always come on here and get bent out of shape for no reason....

Thank you for this!!! I had mentioned this a few times on the Disney boards and so many people told me off. One even threatened that department of children and families should be called on us for child neglect!!! The kids are much safer on the ship as the chances of my son wandering away in a foreign country is huge (he's the type who sees a bunny and takes off running).

 

We always do ship excursions so the ship can't take off without us.

 

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[Host Jacquelyn]

It's a misconception that you are guaranteed that the ship will wait if you book an RCCL excursion. It's not a guarantee that you will get back on the ship the same day - they just guarantee they will get you back on at the next earliest opportunity at no additional cost to you.

 

Your kids could still end up leaving without you. You may not want to hear it, but that is fairly reckless. I'm not sure how anyone could enjoy an excursion knowing any significant delay will result in the ship leaving with your kids.

 

The ship will not leave without them.

 

We have been on a cruise that left port with passengers still on shore, and had to turn back around because one woman had minor children aboard (the mother was NOT on an RCCL excursion). If the OP is on a ship excursion and her 5 year old child is in AO, the ship will not leave.

 

To answer the OP's other question, AO is open all day (while in port) on port days, and they bring the children to lunch.

[Fouremco]

Thank you for this!!! I had mentioned this a few times on the Disney boards and so many people told me off. One even threatened that department of children and families should be called on us for child neglect!!! The kids are much safer on the ship as the chances of my son wandering away in a foreign country is huge (he's the type who sees a bunny and takes off running).

 

We always do ship excursions so the ship can't take off without us.

 

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I have to wonder why you start a thread then ignore what just about every reply mentions. While the chances are low, the ship most certainly can leave without you, even if you are on a ship excursion.