Advice on children in cabin alone

[roe2ship]

I know many of you who travel with families usually will get two cabins........most get an inside cabin across the hall where their children will be. We plan to cruise sometime next year and at that time, our children will be 17, 10 and 3. Now from what I remember, the cabin door opens on the inside with just pulling down the handle. (I have this vision of my 3yr old coming out of the cabin in the middle of the night, although he can do this in our cabin, but that's me....nervous nellie) Do you think this age is too young to be with the other two in their own cabin? Has anyone cruised with similiar ages that can offer some advice? TIA

[ahracer]

If it were me I'd have the 3 year old in my cabin. When my daughter was 8 she got confused during the night and went out into the hall instead of the bathroom.

 

Scott

[stoneharborlady]

Hope all is well with you. I agree with ahracer. I think you should keep the three year old with you. The other two may be heavy sleepers due to their ages, and may not hear the little one if he/she wakens. Moms are light sleepers from the second they give birth.

[roe2ship]

Oh my.....Scott, what happened with your daughter then?

 

Hi Karen......we are fine, thanks.....planning our next cruise! You are absolutely right about mothers being light sleepers. So maybe I will just hear him from across the hall.:D My thought was to get a 3rd passenger rate in a inside cabin rather than a balcony.

[karen_cpa]

Could you maybe get two connecting rooms?? You could leave the door between them open so you can keep an eye on everyone. I don't have any kids, but to me, even a 10 year old seems young to be in a cabin without parents. I guess it depends on the kids!!!! I have a 16-year old god daughter that I wouldn't leave alone :D .

[roe2ship]

They do not have connecting rooms. As far as leaving the 17 year old and the 10 year together in their own cabin, I really do not think this is a problem. The 17 year old is a responsible girl.

[dosi]

and have the three year old sleep in your cabin. It is not like they will do a bed check or anything. Look at it this way....would you leave the three of them at home alone overnight? If the answer is yes then they should be fine, if the answer is no, then why would this be any different??

[ahracer]

Oh my.....Scott, what happened with your daughter then?

 

Hi Karen......we are fine, thanks.....planning our next cruise! You are absolutely right about mothers being light sleepers. So maybe I will just hear him from across the hall.:D My thought was to get a 3rd passenger rate in a inside cabin rather than a balcony.

 

Somehow she turned around and found her way to the bathroom. I woke because of the light shining in the room from the hallway and she was not in bed, I ran into the hallway and didn't see her, with panic setting in went back into the room as she was walking out of the bathroom and going back to bed. She was still asleep.

 

Our next cruise we are doing two cabins with a 6, 12 and 13 year old. I'll staying with the 12 and 13 and my wife is staying with the 6 year old. I really wish Princess had connecting cabins.

 

Scott

[roe2ship]

No, I would NOT leaving them home alone overnight. I really did not compare the two as being the same. I have read here people doing this with no problem. So, tell me how do people cruise with 3 or more kids? Do you have 1 parent in each room?

[MERED1TH]

Roe, I just has a similar situation. My DH and I had a Mini Suite on the Golden and my Mom and two kids ages 10 and 6 were booked in her room across the hall (we did this for pricing as well). When we arrived I explained to the cabin stewart that my son refused to sleep in his room. We had a pull out sofa in our room so my son slept there.

 

I should also mention every night I blocked the balcony door so that if my son tried to get out there in the morning while I was still asleep I would hear him. lol

[ourlol]

So, tell me how do people cruise with 3 or more kids? Do you have 1 parent in each room?

 

I have three children and no, we didn't have a parent sleeping in each room (although we were assigned our rooms on the basis that this would be the case). However at the time of sailing my youngest was 10yrs of age (as opposed to 3yrs) and her brothers 15 and 16 respectively. Even then I was a little bit hesitant, so ending up plugging in a baby alarm between the two cabins - so I could "hear" what was going on. My eldest wasn't impressed with that one!!

 

The other issue was the differing bed times. I ended up retiring when she did since she was tired before the other two and even though I was just across the hallway she didn't really like being alone. More often than not she ended up sleeping in our cabin in our bed.

[packerpatriot]

We just had our 3 kids (13, 4 and 1) with us in 2 cabins so yes ended up with one parent in each room. I stayed with the 4 year old and even with the window it got quite dark in the cabin. He would wake up screaming afraid and not knowing where he was so luckily I was there with him. I think you ought to keep the 3 year old with you for your peace of mind at least. How can you really relax wondering if you are hearing them cry or if its your imagination etc....

Cristin

[shipcruise]

You are going to find that your 17 yr. old will be coming in at 1-2 in the morning. Yes, I know that you can set curfews, etc. Most ships have things for the teens to do till 1 am. Keep that in mind. The 10 year old will have activities till likely10pm. I would at the very least have them in a cabin next to you. Even with my children, and especially the teens I wanted to hear them go in and out. I make them call me when they get in. I think you are going to find that 3yr. old sleeping in your cabin while the others are still out. We have traveled on cruises for years and in their younger years they were in our cabin, we have also traveled with many other families. Little ones do not want to go to bed without someone in their room with them and all the teens are out and about at night. It is a great deal of fun for them. I am sure your little one will be safe when the olders ones are in the cabin with them, I don't think they will be wandering the halls. You would be surprised how much a mother can hear when you are next door. Try switching them to a cabin next to you.

[roe2ship]

Meredith, the mini suite is great since it had the pull out sofa. However, I guess the difference in price between a balcony and mini suite would probably equal to the same if I was to choose the 3 person rate in a balcony cabin over the inside room. Additionally, we really do not want a open balcony. Glad it worked out for you.

 

Ourlol, when you say baby alarm, do you mean the baby monitors? How did they work? What a terrific idea. I just would hate to see a bad habit form if my 3yr old decides he needs to sleep with us when we get back home.

Cristin, yes you are right, I would not relax so there is no point.

I guess I should get a triple rate for the inside cabin and see what works then whether 1 parent will take each room or have the 3 yr old with us in our cabin.

[ourlol]

when you say baby alarm, do you mean the baby monitors?

 

Hmmm here in the UK I've always called them a baby alarm... whereas you say baby monitor... just like you say (for instance) fanny pack... and we say bum bag!! However, I think (well I hope) we are probably talking about the same thing.

 

Anyway, my baby 'monitor' :D comprised of two units both of which ran on batteries or could be plugged into a power socket with an adapter. It wasn't expensive. One unit (the parent device) was placed in our cabin... the other unit (the baby device) in the kid's cabin enabling me to hear everything going on inside... including that heart stopping moment when I heard my eldest son's fumbling attempts at chatting up a young lady. Needless to say they beat a hasty retreat when they realised... but that's another story ;)

 

You are going to find that your 17 yr. old will be coming in at 1-2 in the morning.

 

Oh, how true!! Just a few more grey hairs to worry about.

 

Laura

[mom2three]

Roe, We are will be cruising with our three children. Ages 6,5 and 3. :eek:

We have a balcony and inside booked, like you said.

Since my kiddies are younger , I get the balcony and my 6 yr old . Putting DH in inside with the other 2. :cool:

 

I'm frightened one of the children may fall off the balcony:cool: ..

 

IMHO, I would keep 3 yr old in my room..:)

[roe2ship]

Laura, yes that is it. Would have never thought of bringing along my "baby alarm":D

 

Brenda, I totally agree with the safety issue with the balcony doors. But like Meredith mentioned, I guess you can always find something to block that door. Also, I think those doors are very heavy to slide open, but still would not take that chance. I'm with you, I would get the balcony cabin with my daughter:cool: and DH can stay with the boys in the inside cabin.:D

[mom2three]

Roe, I like you ! :) We think alike:D

 

 

Laura, yes that is it. Would have never thought of bringing along my "baby alarm":D

 

Brenda, I totally agree with the safety issue with the balcony doors. But like Meredith mentioned, I guess you can always find something to block that door. Also, I think those doors are very heavy to slide open, but still would not take that chance. I'm with you, I would get the balcony cabin with my daughter:cool: and DH can stay with the boys in the inside cabin.:D

[nealstuber]

We're cruising with our 5 and 7 year olds next month and opted for connecting cabins. We definitely wanted our own balcony room but were not going to put up with the expense or worry of a balcony in the kid's cabin. We were about to go with two picture window cabins, when we were very pleased to find inside cabins connected to balcony rooms on the aft corners of deck nine on the Voyager class ships (all the way foward there are port hole cabins connected to veranda cabins for a couple bucks more).

 

 

These cabins almost never show available on line, probably so they can be sold in pairs, but all of the voyager class ships have them. The Crown and Anchor mag has "per cabin" coupons that make it as cheap or cheaper than the 3rd/4th person option.

[roe2ship]

Brenda, we should cruise together and leave both hubbies AND the kids at

home!:D

 

Wow, you really learn something new everyday here. I was thinking about trying the Mariner and did not notice those few inside cabins connected to a balcony room. They are categories D1 and L aft, right? But these only offer double occupancy in each. I would need to go with the forward cabins with the oceanview that have triple occupancy. Plus they have triple in both the ocean view and the balcony, we are a family of 5 and I would think they would not offer those to us. On that note, it may be best since we will not take a forward cabin and I will need a lot of convincing for hubby to try RCCL. I wish Princess would come out with that design!

[marciemi]

Roe - I can let you know what we think about RCCL in a month or so when we go on our first Voyager. We're also strong Princess fans (although all those cruises have been pre/minus the kids) so we're trying RCCL this time. We're also a family of 5 and booked an aft balcony for 3 and inside across the hall for 2. (That inside/outside only holds 4 so didn't work for us either, we really wanted the balcony so didn't want the Family Oceanview in the front, and the Royal Family Suite was a LOT more). One thing to consider that I didn't know about when we booked was that the Grand Suites also hold 5 people since you're allowed to put a rollaway in. They looked similar in price to what you're mentioning balcony/outside, but you'd get all the suite amenities and have your kids with you. This could be good or bad - you'd actually have as much square footage as 2 regular cabins, but obviously less privacy and only 1 bathroom.

 

We're hoping to put our kids together. They'll be 9, 11, and 12. We're also bringing a baby monitor, but not as much because I'm worried about them during the night as because I'm worried about them fighting before they go to bed or once they wake up. Unfortunately the inside only has room for 2 and ours has the pullman. My 9 year old may end up with us. My biggest concern is as someone mentioned above, my 12 year old will theoretically be in the "teen" group (12-14 on RCCL) and will have activities until 1 am whereas his brothers will be done by 10. I'd feel better if he were in there since he's by far the most responsible. I've heard a lot of time the 12-14 group (especially in an off time like we're going) has few kids or activities, so if they're 12 you can request they move down. I'm kind of hoping this happens - then he'll be in a more structured group, with his brothers, and back in the evening with them. Plus on a more early to bed schedule like the rest of us.

 

We went on Disney almost 4 years ago when they were 5, 7, and 8 and yes, then we stayed with one adult per cabin.

 

There's another thread discussing leaving kids alone in the cabin for a few hours in the evening on the RCCL board if you're interested:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=64794

 

But I concede this is a big difference than while they're asleep, and especially with a 3 year old. I'm still debating about my 9 year old (if he's in his brothers' room, he'll have to sleep on the sofa or take the mattress off the pullman in our room and sleep on the floor). But even he seems little to me!

[roe2ship]

Marciemi, I just checked a few prices on the grand suite and it is about $1,300 more if I was to get 1 balcony and 1 inside. That said and one less bathroom, definitely not worth it. Thank you for that link to the RCCL boards. I may check into the oceanview family stateroom although it sounds too small. I will post on RCCL board if someone can help with info and pictures. Thanks again.

[Jacqueline]

All kids are different but I have had my girls on their own cabin for the past few years- from when they were 8 and 11. In the last few years they have had a balcony- mostly cause I have been booking so early the rates were the same...

We are either accros the hall or in a neighboring cabin.

I would definately put the 3 year old in with me. No question.

[Nrknits]

We've never traveled with a child as young as three, I'd probably have one that you with me, but we have cruised for years with kids as young as 9 and 12 andhad sepereate cabins. kid in one, us in the other. They are now 14 adn 17 and will be traveling with us to Hawaii in March. Since our first trip with them and again in March 2005 we place a baby monitor in their room. Mostly for my piece of mind. No so much no ease drop but to know when then come and go or if there is some sort of emergency in the middle of the night. (One year my son had a nose bleed in the middle of the night and I was in the room to help him before tehy could pick up the phone to call) Also go to the pursers desk and ask for an extra room key to their room. They have to book an adult in each room so one of the adults will not be given a key to that room. They purser's desk can take care of that, no problem. Buy a cheap monitor (you may already have one with a 3 year old at home) and relax and enjoy your vacation.

[epanic1]

We travelled with three children two years ago. (ages, 5,8,10)We had an inside cabin and a balcony room. We brought a baby monitor and that worked beautifully.

 

The first night I slept in the inside cabin with two of the kids and the other child was with my husband in the outside cabin, but after that we used the monitor and it was lovely. We heard everything going on in their room throughout the night. (even their snoring.)

 

We are going also cruising this Christmas and will have the same set-up, so once again we are bringing a baby monitor.