In Room Babysitting on Liberty TERMINATED!

[nmcrzer]

And I guess I'll take it as a compliment that I am an "expert" on everything. Some find my comments helpful.

 

Me!!! :::raises hand::: I find your comments very helpful, both on the RC board and the cruising with kids board.

[MakinGold]

First of all my comment about people with no experience cruising with kids wasn't directed at you. If you have been around a while and have seen my name on these threads then you know that EVERYTIME someone mentions anything to do with kids on THIS board, there is always someone to jump in and say to leave the kids at home with Grandma.

 

In that case, it would be better to discuss what is actually being said, rather than taking shots at some inevitable, unnamed poster who will probably fit your description and clinging to the "I wasn't talking about you" defense with any actual person you offend.

[ckrobyn]

First of all my comment about people with no experience cruising with kids wasn't directed at you. If you have been around a while and have seen my name on these threads then you know that EVERYTIME someone mentions anything to do with kids on THIS board, there is always someone to jump in and say to leave the kids at home with Grandma. :rolleyes: While that is a wonderful idea, not everyone has an option to leave the kids at home. And not everyone wants to leave the kids at home on their family vacation (as in the case with my family)

 

And I guess I'll take it as a compliment that I am an "expert" on everything. Some find my comments helpful.

 

Hi Mama :D

 

I am one that finds your comments and suggestions about cruising with kids VERY helpful. Personally, I hang out on the main boards the majority of the time, so it is great that you are able to bring us information from the family boards from time to time.

 

I am with you 100% on wanting to cruise with your kids for that special family time. We have never vacationed without our daughter, and at this point have no plans to either. We started cruising with her when she was 7 and we are all Diamonds now - so you can imagine how many cruises she has been on!!

 

Thank you for being helpful - even when I know you want to SCREAM at some folks on here sometimes.....you are far too gracious to do that..:)

[MakinGold]

Hi Mama :D

 

I am one that finds your comments and suggestions about cruising with kids VERY helpful. Personally, I hang out on the main boards the majority of the time, so it is great that you are able to bring us information from the family boards from time to time.

 

I am with you 100% on wanting to cruise with your kids for that special family time. We have never vacationed without our daughter, and at this point have no plans to either. We started cruising with her when she was 7 and we are all Diamonds now - so you can imagine how many cruises she has been on!!

 

Thank you for being helpful - even when I know you want to SCREAM at some folks on here sometimes.....you are far too gracious to do that..:)

 

Personally, I think many people on here are far too quick to want to SCREAM at others for having a different opinion than their own. For instance, I didn't think "biker" needed to be accused of "lecturing" for anwering the question of what options one would have, if they truly do away with in-room babysitting. The answer was brief and to the point; your options would be to leave the home with someone or accept that you have to stay with them onboard.

[ckrobyn]

Personally, I think many people on here are far too quick to want to SCREAM at others for having a different opinion than their own. For instance, I didn't think "biker" needed to be accused of "lecturing" for anwering the question of what options one would have, if they truly do away with in-room babysitting. The answer was brief and to the point; your options would be to leave the home with someone or accept that you have to stay with them onboard.

 

I agree that sometimes folks tend to "react" rather quickly on here, guess that is par for the course when on a public board/forum.

 

I was replying specifically to CruisinMama in my post...I did not and do not wish to address any of the other posts on this thread.

[Brenda33]

I was assuming that after 10:00 at Adventure Ocean the children watched a movie and fell asleep???? Is this the case? On Carnival that is what they did after 10 p.m. during the group babysitting......

[ckrobyn]

I was assuming that after 10:00 at Adventure Ocean the children watched a movie and fell asleep???? Is this the case? On Carnival that is what they did after 10 p.m. during the group babysitting......

 

Maybe that is the case for the real young kids - but when my daughter wanted to stay late at Adventure Ocean last February (she was 10) it was called the Late night party zone ....at least I think that is what it was called :confused: She loved it! They did crafts, had hoolah hoop contests, dance competitions and all sorts of other activities.

[bike1964]

That would be awful if it were true. But since RCCL (and most other cruiselines) close down their kids clubs during lunch and dinner hours, it is vitually impossible to leave them from early am till night. And even on nights that they are open for dinner, they shut down for a few hours in the afternoon so that parents can't leave the children all day long.

 

To the OP - you may want to post this at the Family Board so you can avoid the lectures from those who have NO experience cruising with kids.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

 

You seem to have the day care schedule down pat. Must be from experience.

If you weren't directing your last comment @ me, who was it intended for?:confused: Wasn't I the one giving the lecture?;)

[sagiv666]

First of all my comment about people with no experience cruising with kids wasn't directed at you. If you have been around a while and have seen my name on these threads then you know that EVERYTIME someone mentions anything to do with kids on THIS board, there is always someone to jump in and say to leave the kids at home with Grandma. :rolleyes: While that is a wonderful idea, not everyone has an option to leave the kids at home. And not everyone wants to leave the kids at home on their family vacation (as in the case with my family)

 

And I guess I'll take it as a compliment that I am an "expert" on everything. Some find my comments helpful.

 

If you were the "expert" you claim to be, you would allow others to post their opinions. How do yo know what past experience they have had with children, not necessarily their own? -- whatever, they have a right to their opinions! If there are people who consistently contribute posts unacceptable to you (such as always saying leave the children home with grandma), use the "ignore" controls.:mad:

[Pat&Liz]

eee - enough of the squabbling children!!

 

Changing the entire thread very quickly, My darling husband and I have decided to put off having children for a few years so we can get in a few more children-free cruises before we start a family. Our original intention had been to have children almost straight away, but the honeymoon cruise has changed that.

 

I suppose that is what people mean by getting addicted to cruising?! We already have nearly half the money set aside for a cruise next year; we just need to decide where/when/which ship to try next (honeymoon cruise was western caribbean, on Freedom) Any suggestions?!

[crusinmama06]

You seem to have the day care schedule down pat. Must be from experience.

If you weren't directing your last comment @ me, who was it intended for?:confused: Wasn't I the one giving the lecture?;)

 

Yeah it's called trying to be helpful. See my signature? That would be a link to a list of kid's club activities for many of the main cruiselines. I created a site just for cruising parents to upload kid's club schedules so when a parent is going on a ship, they know what to expect from looking at my info. Call me an inconsiderate parent for trying to help other parents here at CC. :rolleyes: I assure you, I can handle it.

 

 

Brenda33 - To answer your question. It really depends on the age of your child. Each age group has different activities going on at night. The Late Night Party Zone on RCCL tends to be more of a dance party at night for the older ages. For the younger kids (ages 3-5), they try to do some more calming/quiet activities. It's kind of like the same thing on Carnival. For the 2-5 year old at Camp Carnival, I noticed that they had movie planned and some blankets/pillows laid out. For the older ages (above 5) they had a dance party planned, even on Carnival.

[RevSmith]

just an FYI- currently on the liberty and they no longer offer in-room babysitting. They said they cancelled it last week, said the reason was staff not showing up for work the following day since they were working late.

 

Didn't really apreciate not having any warning since it was one of the reasons I booked...

 

also said they will be phasing it out fleet wide over the next few weeks, dont know if thats true but its the info they gave me, plan accordingly...

That's strange, because RCI has been really pushing family cruising...that is definatly going to discourage many young families from cruising as much. Seems like a decission made, not in their own best interests.

[crusinmama06]

That's strange, because RCI has been really pushing family cruising...that is definatly going to discourage many young families from cruising as much. Seems like a decission made, not in their own best interests.

 

That's a good point. If anyone saw those ads yesterday that were here at CC as part of the possible new ad campaign, the majority of them were directed at families with young children. Odd that they would market to them but change the sitting.

 

I think SAS might be onto something. The OP hasn't been back. Maybe it's not true?

[larronry]

I do hope it's not true. As someone who tried a cruise last year leaving her child with grandma I'll never do it again. It was the biggest mistake I've made in terms of parenting. I missed my son so much and so did my DH. And when we got home my DS would have nothing to do with me for a couple of days. He forgave my DH sooner. Nope never again. We are going on Celebrity this time because of our canceled cruise last year but we are taking him. Since he is not eligible for the kids club the possibility of in room babysitting is nice to have. We probably won't be using it, but it is nice knowing it's there. I couldn't put my son in a group situation late a night to go to sleep, at least not yet.

 

My son might not remember this cruise but he will have a good time and he will really enjoy himself. Who cares if I have to pack a diaper bag he'll get quality time with mommy and daddy with no phones and no (well little TV), lots of walking, and none of the daily grind. What more could a toddler want from his parents?

[kayguz]

We have taken babysitters twice on our cruise. This works well if you have 2 cabins anyway- then the sitter can sleep in the one with the kids and we just used a monitor over there:D We treated them like one of the family and they did our excursions and hung with us throughout the day, but they were there to stay in the room in the evenings if we had kids needing/wanting to go to bed. It wasn't hard getting an older teenager to go on a great cruise and trade off some babysitting! We also appreciated the extra set of hands and the runner for potty breaks.

 

Kay

[Thing2]

[quote name='kayguz']We have taken babysitters twice on our cruise. This works well if you have 2 cabins anyway- then the sitter can sleep in the one with the kids and we just used a monitor over there:D We treated them like one of the family and they did our excursions and hung with us throughout the day, but they were there to stay in the room in the evenings if we had kids needing/wanting to go to bed. It wasn't hard getting an older teenager to go on a great cruise and trade off some babysitting! We also appreciated the extra set of hands and the runner for potty breaks.

Kay[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]I think this is the way to go. When our children were young this is what we did.....took our teenage babysitter with us. They got a great vacation and we had some one we could trust to watch our babies.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]I am sorry and don't want to get flamed for this but :mad: I [B]would never trust[/B] someone on the cruise crew to come watch my child. What kind of screening do they do on these people. The world is too dangerous a place to trust your child with a stranger. Even if you are close by it only takes a moment for something to happen.................... [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]And sometimes on this board the discussion does get heated over kids....but I think sometimes some of us older folks because of our experience offer our advise and some of you younger ones take it as critizism....remember we been then done that bought the shirt!!! :D [/SIZE][/FONT]

[Tranquil Waters]

I have to admit that I would share the concern of those who mention the potential dangers of leaving a stranger alone with one's children. I see the "my child was sleeping and never even knew I was gone". And I am thinking, someone who might molest or hurt a child is not necessarily going to be deterred because the child is asleep....... I, personally, just couldn't take that chance with something so precious as my children. This is just how I would feel - not trying to tell anyone else what to do or not to do. :)

[boaterette]

I think the thing that bothers me the most is seeing young children around six or seven taking thier younger brothers and sister to the buffet in the morning because the parents are sleeping. I have seen this happen on three cruises. Parents gets babysitters at night so that they can stay out and party and then they can't get up in the morning when the kids wake up. On one cruise the parents in the room next door did this every night. I personally think if you cant take a babysitter with you you shouldn't be out partying at night.

[bplazo]

I would never trust a stranger with my child in a cabin so I think that it is a good idea to not have this service. Wait till your child is older before you cruise or as someone else mentioned bring someone with you on the cruise.

[sas80]

YOU GUYS REALIZE THAT OP [I]NEVER CAME BACK[/I], RIGHT???? :rolleyes:

It's a classic "post and run" (run to the microwave to make popcorn to sit back and watch everyone rip each other to shreds.....!) :D

[sas80]

[quote name='bplazo']I would never trust a stranger with my child in a cabin so I think that it is a good idea to not have this service. Wait till your child is older before you cruise or as someone else mentioned bring someone with you on the cruise.[/quote]

I don't personally find your sentiments offensive as I am a BIG believer in families always doing what works best for their family. But I read this and feel sad because we had a [I]LOVELY [/I]RCCL babysitter on our Rhapsody cruise.

DS was getting over a cold. The first night we came back I asked if he had coughed any and she told me he had. The second night we came back she promptly told me, without my solicitation, how many times he had coughed, the duration of the events and how easy it was for him to settle back down afterwards. She even took joy in reporting to me on the third night that he had coughed, but he had coughed far less that night than on the previous two nights.

It was clear that she invested herself, even if it was just a little bit, in babysitting for our son. (who, BTW, was sleeping the entire time she was there)

She was a[I] lovely[/I] person. Reading your post makes me feel like I need to defend HER.

[crusinmama06]

SAS I think you're right. ;) Don't eat too much popcorn.

I can offer another suggestion that we do. If we can't travel with family then we travel with friends who have children.

On our last cruise my friends wanted to stay out until late and I seriously didn't want to see their kids in camp till late (their older son was really unhappy being out in camp that late)...so I had my own "Late Night Slumber Party"...I tucked all of the kids into bed in my cabin. The kids were able to get to sleep at a normal hour. The parents got to go out together.

And if I wanted a night out then I could trade off with them (which I didn't because frankly I was too tired myself...lol)

[B]Edited to UPDATE - response from RCCL[/B]

Two parents on the family board called RCCL customer service and they said they have no info about the service being terminated. So just be advised that RCCL customer service [I]right now[/I] is saying the service is still offered. You know how that goes though...it seems like customer service is the last to know.

[Thing2]

[quote name='sas80']I don't personally find your sentiments offensive as I am a BIG believer in families always doing what works best for their family. But I read this and feel sad because we had a [I]LOVELY [/I]RCCL babysitter on our Rhapsody cruise.

DS was getting over a cold. The first night we came back I asked if he had coughed any and she told me he had. The second night we came back she promptly told me, without my solicitation, how many times he had coughed, the duration of the events and how easy it was for him to settle back down afterwards. She even took joy in reporting to me on the third night that he had coughed, but he had coughed far less that night than on the previous two nights.

It was clear that she invested herself, even if it was just a little bit, in babysitting for our son. (who, BTW, was sleeping the entire time she was there)

She was a[I] lovely[/I] person. Reading your post makes me feel like I need to defend HER.[/quote]

I think they were just trying to make the point...you really don't know the person babysitting your child. I am sure the one you had was wonderful and I am sure there are wonderful ones out there. But what kind of screening do they put the in cabin sitters though. You are virtually letting a total stranger watch your child and that can be dangerous how many times of getting a bad sitter would it take...........just once I would think.

[sas80]

[quote name='Thing2']I think they were just trying to make the point...you really don't know the person babysitting your child. I am sure the one you had was wonderful and I am sure there are wonderful ones out there. But what kind of screening do they put the in cabin sitters though. You are virtually letting a total stranger watch your child and that can be dangerous how many times of getting a bad sitter would it take...........just once I would think.[/quote]

I guess I just really feel like, considering all the stuff that gets into the media, if there was any issue what-so-ever with babysitting services on any cruise line, we would DEFINITELY hear about it!

Look at Madeline McCann. That happened in Europe and is BIG news [I]everywhere[/I]. "Stuff" is not going to happen to kids on cruise ships and not make it into the media, these days....

[MakinGold]

[quote name='sas80']Look at Madeline McCann. That happened in Europe and is BIG news [I]everywhere[/I]. "Stuff" is not going to happen to kids on cruise ships and not make it into the media, these days....[/quote]

Actually, I think you're wrong there. There are cases that, for some reason or another, capture lots of media attention, but that doesn't mean the we hear about everything like that.

I do understand your sentiment, though. If there was a big problem with in-room babysitters harming or molesting children, we probably would have heard [I]something[/I] about it. On the other hand, I understand those parents who would not feel comfortable with it, because they don't know the people and have no idea what kind of training/screening, if any, goes into allowing crew members to babysit.