Kids club / babysitting whilst on shore tours?

[escapeperth]

Hi there

 

We are planning on doing a glacier trek which would not be suitable for our 3 and 5 yr of children.

Does anyone know if Celebrity Mercury allow the kids to stay onboard whilst parents are not...eg in kids club or with babysitters?

 

Thanks in advance

:)

[Saphira7]

I will be on the Millennium July 3. I had the same question and called them. They told me the kids program runs every day it doesn't matter if you are in port or not. So you are free to do any excursion you want to do.

[jff50]

I've never felt comfortable leaving my kids on the ship while I took a shore excursion. One of the things that would concern me is, what would happen if the excursion was delayed for some reason and didn't get back until after the ship was scheduled to sail? Would the ship sail with a child as young as 2 or 3 on board with no parents? Does anyone know how the ships handle it when they have a young kid in the kids program, and the parents have not returned by the scheduled sailing time.

[Saphira7]

I am planning on going ziplining in Ketchikan and hiking in Juneau. I have planned my excursions so that I will be back hours before my ship leaves. I have 2 daughters they will be 8 & 9 on our cruise. I know they will be thanking me that I don't take them on those 2 excursions. The rest of the time I plan on having them with me. I don't know how that would be handled. I do however have a trip planned with Dyea Dave in Skagway and he did tell me of a time that a guy got drunk and missed his boat. The whole town pitched in so he could get to his next port. I would just be smart so that wouldn't happen.

[jff50]

I am planning on going ziplining in Ketchikan and hiking in Juneau. I have planned my excursions so that I will be back hours before my ship leaves. I have 2 daughters they will be 8 & 9 on our cruise. I know they will be thanking me that I don't take them on those 2 excursions. The rest of the time I plan on having them with me. I don't know how that would be handled. I do however have a trip planned with Dyea Dave in Skagway and he did tell me of a time that a guy got drunk and missed his boat. The whole town pitched in so he could get to his next port. I would just be smart so that wouldn't happen.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone that makes such stupid decisions (the guy that got drunk). The people in Skagway must have more sympathy for self-inflicted injuries than I do. If he were an only parent and had kids on the ship, I would think that not having a parent with them until the next port would be pretty traumatic. Even for responsible parents, things can happen beyond their control--preventing them from getting back to the ship in time. Just curious as to how the ship would handle it. If I were the cruise line, I wouldn't want responsibility for a parentless child.

Personally, I wouldn't leave my kid alone on the ship while I was on a shore excursion. We took our daughter (then 7 YO) zip lining with us on our Panama Canal cruise and she loved it. I've also taken my three daughters on a helicopter with a glacier landing; flightseeing in Alaska, Kauaii, and the Caribbean; and more all when they were 10 or under. They'd all agree that they loved those experiences.

[Saphira7]

That's great they let your child zipline. Unfortunately my kids are too skinny and don't meet the weight requirements for ziplining in Alaska. I called Celebrity and if you are on a excursion through the cruise and something happens they will hold the boat.

[sherryf]

You might want to check what HOURS the kids' programs run. When we were on the Carnival Spirit back in 2001 with our kids, they had certain breaks, like for lunch, rather than being open ALL day. If you are going on a longer excursion, which might overlap one of those break times, you might have a problem.

 

I left my kids in the kids' programs when I went ashore to shop and explore ports for little while, but not for excursions. We took our kids (2, 5, and 8 at the time) on excursions with us. Once we split up because our 8 year old wanted to go kayaking and the other kids were too young, but other than that, we did all excursions together.

[jff50]

I called Celebrity and if you are on a excursion through the cruise and something happens they will hold the boat.

True for the cruiseline's excursions. Still curious about what they'd do in other cases where the parents didn't make it back before the ship was scheduled to leave.

[Paumavista]

If the ship's kids clubs are open during port days - they will be open throughout the day and will take your children for lunch, etc. (even if they normally closed for periods of time during the afternoon at sea).

 

As for children being without their parents on the ship. I can't imagine the ship "waiting" for a parent and holding up the entire ship (unless it were a "ship excursion").

 

If you have ever left your child in daycare/childcare then you've basically experienced the separation anxiety (and you trust the fact that your children are being well cared for in capable hands). Remember that most cruise staff have more training than your local daycare. It's a matter of trusting that they (the shipboard staff) would care for your child.....how would your daycare handle the fact that you had an emergency and didn't show up?.......they would care for your child in the very best manner possible until you were able to.

 

Judy

[sherryf]

I just double checked on kids' program closures during our previous cruise. (The box of cruise stuff was out anyways because I was recently digging for a book.) Even on port days, the kids' club was closed for dinner, typically 5-7 PM. So, I guess you'd really only have to be concerned if you were going on an excursion that extended into the evening. Of course, that was the timing on ONE cruise 8 years ago, so it would be best to be sure of your ship's exact policy before planning excursions where you plan to leave the kids, especially if it is a lengthy excursion and/or extends into the evening.

[jff50]

As for children being without their parents on the ship. I can't imagine the ship "waiting" for a parent and holding up the entire ship (unless it were a "ship excursion").

 

If you have ever left your child in daycare/childcare then you've basically experienced the separation anxiety (and you trust the fact that your children are being well cared for in capable hands). Remember that most cruise staff have more training than your local daycare. It's a matter of trusting that they (the shipboard staff) would care for your child.....how would your daycare handle the fact that you had an emergency and didn't show up?.......they would care for your child in the very best manner possible until you were able to.

 

Judy

I agree that it is hard to imagine the ship waiting for a parent. However, I find it equally hard to imagine the cruise line wanting to take responsibility for a kid that is 2 or 3 years old for a day or more. Not sure why the cruise line would want to put themselves in a potential damned if you do/damned if you don't situation.

Regarding trusting your daycare provider, it's really not a good analogy. I wouldn't trust any day care provider if I knew that they were going to leave town, taking my kid with them, if I didn't show up by a certain time. First, I wouldn't want to subject my daughter to the traumatization that would result if I missed the boat. Second, there are very few people I would trust to help her through that traumatization--and I don't think any of them are kids club counselors on a cruise ship.