Children left on ship while at port

[Ddrose]

Has anyone ever left their child in the camp while at a port. My husband and I have an excursion we would like to do and my child is not old enough. I feel like a bad parent considering leaving him. Is this common to leave a child or am I way off base with thinking of this idea?

[cruzeluver]

Lots of folks do it, no big deal.This topic has been discussed here previously and that seems to be the general consensus. Young children would not get much out of certain excursions and if they are too young then by all means leave them with the youth staff who are very well trained and capable. However be prepared for some to accuse you of being a less than ideal parent. Ignore them, and if they make it at all personal, report them to the moderators as it is a violation of CC guidelines to make direct , personal attacks.

[champagne123]

I don't see it as being a bad parent at all. Is the excursion via the cruise line?

[Bimmersbabe]

If they are left with caregivers o the ship that will be responsible for the children, then I don't see any issue at all. Just like getting a sitter at home and going out to dinner. Enjoy your excursion!

[sail7seas]

Why not wait until on tyh eship to see how your dhild likes the chip's kid club and the counselors. If he/she is happy going to the club, then decicde.

[navybankerteacher]

Why not wait until on tyh eship to see how your dhild likes the chip's kid club and the counselors. If he/she is happy going to the club, then decicde.

 

Key point: if you KNOW your child will be comfortable when left at the kids' club, there should be no problem. If the child has not experienced being left in a child care situation, you might want to wait and see how he/she handles the kids' club.

[Dcoy]

I remember many years ago our kids left the adults on the ship. Back in the 70's, the ship had a kids tour that visited kid friendly places and finished at an ice cream shop.

 

There was an announcement over the PA to all parents that the kids were boarding the ship on their return. Just in case the parents were getting a little frisky during their alone time. ;p

 

Don

[Krazy Kruizers]

I remember many years ago our kids left the adults on the ship. Back in the 70's, the ship had a kids tour that visited kid friendly places and finished at an ice cream shop.

 

There was an announcement over the PA to all parents that the kids were boarding the ship on their return. Just in case the parents were getting a little frisky during their alone time. ;p

 

Don

 

 

 

 

Love it!! :)

[MrsPete]

Children are only young for a short time. Pick family-friendly excursions and enjoy time with the kids. In no time at all, you'll be empty-nester cruisers, and you'll never be sorry for the time spent sharing experiences with your kids.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Has anyone ever left their child in the camp while at a port. My husband and I have an excursion we would like to do and my child is not old enough. I feel like a bad parent considering leaving him. Is this common to leave a child or am I way off base with thinking of this idea?

 

I guess my main consideration would be: what would happen if either:

1-something happened at the camp to make your child want to be returned to you, or

2-if the very rare event happened and you missed the ship?

 

Not saying that these risks should necessary prevent you from taking the excursion, but you should certainly make every preparation possible to minimize the chances of either of these events occuring and to minimize the consequences if one of the events actually happened,

 

For example, while I have taken many more independent excursions than ship's excursions, I would certainly limit this one to a ship's excursion that was scheduled to return to the ship at least two hours prior to final boarding. I would also make sure that I had a cell phone that I was certain would work where ever the excursion took me and exchange phone numbers with the staff in charge of the camp.

[gerif]

Key point: if you KNOW your child will be comfortable when left at the kids' club, there should be no problem. If the child has not experienced being left in a child care situation, you might want to wait and see how he/she handles the kids' club.

 

I agree to wait and see. When DGS was 7 on his first cruise, he spent like a total of 45 minutes in the kids' club and never went back. I do know if you miss the ship for whatever reason (even if you are on a ship's excursion that doesn't necessarily mean the ship will wait if you are late - they will, however, be responsible for getting you to the next port), they will assign someone from the kids' club to care for your child until you can be reunited. If something should happen to the child while you are on an excursion, there's really nothing that can be done. True, lots of people do it - me? no way.

[rnff2]

We left our DS on the ship when he was about 6 years old. He knew he was going to kids club for the day and that we were going off the ship. He had a fun day, probably more fun than he would have shopping and site seeing with us. Of course he loves going to kids club, can't drag him away sometimes. Yes it's a family vacation but that doesn't mean you have to spend every second together, let your kids have their own fun too.

 

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[easyboy]

My DD left her 2 sons at the kids club while they went snorkeling. Even when me and my wife were on board the ship in case we are needed, we were never called by the staff for any problem with our grandkids till their parents came back.

[gerif]

My DD left her 2 sons at the kids club while they went snorkeling. Even when me and my wife were on board the ship in case we are needed, we were never called by the staff for any problem with our grandkids till their parents came back.

 

Oh, I wouldn't hesitate if there were family on board - totally different scenario. I'll just never forget the woman who posted on the family board a while ago. Both parents were to take an excursion and leave child in kids' club. At the last minute the father and decided not to go. The child spiked a fever, suffered a seizure and needed to be airlifted from the ship. Needless to say, she was so grateful he changed his mind.

[sanger727]

People say they do it. As others said, it's like sort of like leaving your child in a daycare.... 99.99% of the time there will be no issues. The difference is, the .01% of the time their is an issue, either with the child needing the parent or the parent delayed getting back to the child; there's no plan B... no cell phone for them to call you, no way for you to rush back, no relative or neighbor you trust able to step in temporarily...

 

So, just up to your comfort level.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

People do this all the time.

Children had often rather have fun at the kid's club anyway. ;)

[Ddrose]

I don't see it as being a bad parent at all. Is the excursion via the cruise line?

Yes it is an excursion with the cruise line

[Ddrose]

Thanks so much for the advice. I think I will wait until I am on the ship to make a decision.

[cheeseclan]

We never did leave our DS while we went on shore. What we did was try to do family excursions at most of the stops. Then my DH and i would each pick something that we really wanted to do as adults. I usually went horseback riding and my husband sailing. When this happened the other parent would either stay on the ship with our DS or we would do a kid friendly tour with just the 2 of us.

We found this worked for our family.

[notentirelynormal]

I didn't bother to read the whole thing because the answers are almost the same. So, let me ask you a question. Do you or any of your friends, family or acquaintances leave their children at day care while they go to work? Yes. Disgusting and what terrible parents. What if something happened to the parent(s) while the child is at daycare? Maybe they are both in a car accident together (***jinx - never let it happen ***) Who would take care of them? How will the world go on? How dare you have such poor responsibility towards your children.

 

Let's face it. Parents put their children in day care every day, some from the time the child is barely a few months old. There is always a "first day" with the child learning to like the new space and people. They all lived to see another day. Sure, they might have cried - or they might have had a great time. How did they turn out? Mine turned out just fine.

 

Sure, this time the ship might sail without you BUT trust me, that child will never be alone and never know what is going on except that they will have a new adventure. The ship, knowing that the parents are not back on board are going to stay as long as possible and do their best to find said parents. They don't want the children left alone either. Can it happen, sure. Chances of your child being left alone to suffer through a whole night without you. Not so much.

 

You already authorize the kid center to treat in case of an emergency. Go, have fun and enjoy yourself. You are entitled, as an adult, to spend 5 whole hours away from your child and enjoy each other. It is called a marriage. Your child will be just fine with the babysitters you hired. Probably even more safe then if you hired the teenager down the street that you've known forever.

 

For reference, my kids have been going on cruises since they were respectively 7 years old. Way back then. I can tell you that back in the day you almost always lost track of your children because the crew were always stealing them to show off to the behind the scenes people. I'll never forget the look on my SIL's face when he came into the buffet for breakfast only to watch his one and only son (1) being picked up and taken into the kitchen by a complete stranger. He was horrified and we were all laughing (mom included). He couldn't believe how every morning we'd go to breakfast and M knew more crew on board then he did.

 

My grandchildren: M was 1 YO, K was 6 months old, H was 1 YO and L will be going on her first at 6.

[champagne123]

Yes it is an excursion with the cruise line

Wonderful. That means the ship CANNOT leave without you, regardless of the circumstances

Edited March 12, 2017 by champagne123
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[Doug R.]

Wonderful. That means the ship CANNOT leave without you, regardless of the circumstances

 

 

Not always true. There are some ports where tides or other circumstances require departure by a set time regardless of which excursions are back.

 

 

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[sail7seas]

chqmp

[champagne123]

Not always true. There are some ports where tides or other circumstances require departure by a set time regardless of which excursions are back.

 

 

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Which rarely happens.....and then the CRUISE LINE is responsible for getting the pax to the next port.

[notentirelynormal]

Which rarely happens.....and then the CRUISE LINE is responsible for getting the pax to the next port.

 

Which doesn't mean they WON'T leave. Just that they try hard not to leave. The same as, in some ports, they try or can't leave people behind. And just like they will pay to get you to the next port they will offer the same service to someone that has taken a non ship excursion. The only difference is they won't pay for it.

 

It really is a disinformation that they won't leave. I wish people would stop saying it like it is the truth. It simply is not. The cruise line will go out of their way for a ship excursion but that doesn't mean they always can.