Are kids allowed to stay onboard in kids club / babysitter whilst parents off shore?

[escapeperth]

Hi there

 

We are going on Celebrity Mercury in July for 7 nights Alaskan cruise and was just wondering if we were allowed to leave our kids onboard whilst we did the Glacier trek (which is unsuitable for a 3 and 5 yr old)..

 

Thanks in advance for your help ~

 

:)

[crusinmama06]

Yes, you can leave your kids onboard in the fun factory during the excursion.

[brenderlou]

Hi there

 

We are going on Celebrity Mercury in July for 7 nights Alaskan cruise and was just wondering if we were allowed to leave our kids onboard whilst we did the Glacier trek (which is unsuitable for a 3 and 5 yr old)..

 

Thanks in advance for your help ~

 

:)

 

 

No problem and they also have special hours if your shore excursion is prior to when the fun factory opens for normal business. I saw that you just need to sign up the day before at the Fun Factory and you are good to go.

[gerif]

Yes, but remember there is no way to contact you in case of an emergency.

[crusinmama06]

Yes, but remember there is no way to contact you in case of an emergency.

 

That's true. And I grilled them about this when we did leave the kids for an excursion. It took me 7 cruises to get up the nerve to do it so believe me, I grilled those counselors in advance. ;)

 

So you have to be comfortable doing it. They won't be able to contact you. They will have permission to treat your child in case of emergency (you give them permission when you register them for the club). And security will be alerted if there is an emergency. So when you come back onto the ship, security will meet you and update you about the situation.

 

When my youngest was an infant, she did have a medical emergency onboard a cruise ship. We were there when it happened.

 

So it's not a decision that I took lightly. ;)

[dnj1]

I would like to hear opinions about leaving kids on board while in port. Specifically, Carnival with a DD9 and DD3. This is not our first cruise and they love camp. I have not made up my mind if this is something I want to do or not. I am a little nervous about doing this, but who wouldn't be the first time.

[scubagirrl]

Yes, you can leave your kids onboard in the fun factory during the excursion.

 

 

Would you do this for a non-cruise tour.. or just to go out to shop or have drinks in the evening..?? what would happen if the ship left without you???

[crusinmama06]

Would you do this for a non-cruise tour.. or just to go out to shop or have drinks in the evening..?? what would happen if the ship left without you???

 

Yep, I did it for a non-cruise tour. And I just made SURE the ship wouldn't leave without me. ;) But I did have family onboard as a back up if it did.

 

It's not a decision to be made lightly.

 

I can't see me doing it "for drinks at night". But that's just me.

[Lady_Jag]

I would like to hear opinions about leaving kids on board while in port. Specifically, Carnival with a DD9 and DD3. This is not our first cruise and they love camp. I have not made up my mind if this is something I want to do or not. I am a little nervous about doing this, but who wouldn't be the first time.

 

I thought long and hard about doing this for my own DD3, because I sort of wanted to do one of the jeep excursions, and I knew my mom (also cruising with us) would be close by, if not on the ship during that time. After careful consideration, though, I decided just to take my daughter into port with me, for the following reasons:

 

1. This is her first cruise, and I don't know how she will like Camp Carnival. She's going through a stage right now of separation anxiety, and any time I drop her off somewhere (even Grandma's house), she cries and clings to me and begs me not to go. Yeah, she's fine after I'm gone and she gets interested in something else, but it's just an unpredictable situation, especially since she has apraxia of speech and can't always communicate her needs very clearly.

 

2. If my daughter gets sick the day of my excursion, I would not be able to bring her to the kids' camp and would either have to lose the money on the excursion or make someone else in our party stay on board to care for her.

 

3. I would keep wondering about my daughter and whether she was ok. Was she having fun? Is she still sad that I left? Is she eating? It would certainly take some of the fun out of the excursion if all I was doing was counting the minutes until I could get back onboard and check on her.

 

4. We are taking a long 7-night cruise, so my daughter will have plenty of time to enjoy the kids' camp during sea days. Port days, I decided, should be for us to have fun as a family. She's growing up so quickly, I think later on I would regret not sharing the port adventures with her, even if we have to "tone down" our activities a little. After all, this isn't my first cruise, and it won't be my last. I think I will have better memories WITH DD, watching her build a sandcastle on the beach than without her as I bounce around on a jeep tour. :)

 

Anyway, sorry my response was a little longer than I intended. I just wanted to give you the full story behind my decision NOT to leave my daughter behind on the ship while we are in port.

[scubagirrl]

Would you do this for a non-cruise tour.. or just to go out to shop or have drinks in the evening..?? what would happen if the ship left without you???

 

I'm with you.. I would be afraid I'd be late, or something would happen and my kids would be on the ship alone.

 

How do you Make sure they don't leave without you if you are on a non-sponsored tour? What if the tour boat breaks down and doesn't get back to port in time?? Or the bus has a flat tire.. who knows..

[crusinmama06]

How do you Make sure they don't leave without you if you are on a non-sponsored tour? What if the tour boat breaks down and doesn't get back to port in time?? Or the bus has a flat tire.. who knows..

 

Because if I had to WALK back to the ship, I would have. ;)

 

The counselors told me that they have parents leave the kids in AO every day. Haven't seen a story yet where the kids got left behind. ;) But I am not one that would do it again. I had my adult excursion and I am fine with staying onboard.

[scubagirrl]

Because if I had to WALK back to the ship, I would have. ;)

 

The counselors told me that they have parents leave the kids in AO every day. Haven't seen a story yet where the kids got left behind. ;) But I am not one that would do it again. I had my adult excursion and I am fine with staying onboard.

 

Gotcha.. I wasn't trying to pick on you.. your response just seemed to be the most thought out.. so I asked..

 

I had recently seen a post from someone who was gonna leave their kids onboard so that the adults could go out on the town.. I was shocked.

 

thanks..

[jam82]

I thought long and hard about doing this for my own DD3, because I sort of wanted to do one of the jeep excursions, and I knew my mom (also cruising with us) would be close by, if not on the ship during that time. After careful consideration, though, I decided just to take my daughter into port with me, for the following reasons:

 

1. This is her first cruise, and I don't know how she will like Camp Carnival. She's going through a stage right now of separation anxiety, and any time I drop her off somewhere (even Grandma's house), she cries and clings to me and begs me not to go. Yeah, she's fine after I'm gone and she gets interested in something else, but it's just an unpredictable situation, especially since she has apraxia of speech and can't always communicate her needs very clearly.

 

2. If my daughter gets sick the day of my excursion, I would not be able to bring her to the kids' camp and would either have to lose the money on the excursion or make someone else in our party stay on board to care for her.

 

3. I would keep wondering about my daughter and whether she was ok. Was she having fun? Is she still sad that I left? Is she eating? It would certainly take some of the fun out of the excursion if all I was doing was counting the minutes until I could get back onboard and check on her.

 

4. We are taking a long 7-night cruise, so my daughter will have plenty of time to enjoy the kids' camp during sea days. Port days, I decided, should be for us to have fun as a family. She's growing up so quickly, I think later on I would regret not sharing the port adventures with her, even if we have to "tone down" our activities a little. After all, this isn't my first cruise, and it won't be my last. I think I will have better memories WITH DD, watching her build a sandcastle on the beach than without her as I bounce around on a jeep tour. :)

 

Anyway, sorry my response was a little longer than I intended. I just wanted to give you the full story behind my decision NOT to leave my daughter behind on the ship while we are in port.

 

Those are all good reasons. I think it's a personal decision. I will say that it has been my experience Carnival will refund the whole excursion cost as long you give them a valid reason like your child is sick.

[crusinmama06]

Gotcha.. I wasn't trying to pick on you.. your response just seemed to be the most thought out.. so I asked..

 

I had recently seen a post from someone who was gonna leave their kids onboard so that the adults could go out on the town.. I was shocked.

 

thanks..

 

I know you weren't picking on me. :D

[chapichapo]

We went on a cruise tour and left my 5yo in the kids club. He really loves those type of places and allways wanted to go there. We only left him once while we went on a cruise excursion and only because it would be tyring for him and not for his age - we were visiting Ephesus, Mileto and another archeological site and it was too long. But my son loved the kids club and we were taking a cruise tour so the boat wouldn't leave without us. I think the crew had our mobile phone, so I didn't feel upset at all. There was a little girl in the trip and I kind of felt sorry he wasnt with us at the begining but after one hour she just looked sooo bored that I realised I had taken the right decision - there was no way he would bear it. He would have been miserable with all the heat and "no speaking / no running / no nothing" for almost an entire day (we left in the early morning and arrived at the boat at around 5).

 

He did some smaller excursions with us, like a visit to the Acropoli and Athens.

[Paumavista]

We've done it the a couple of times in the Southern Caribbean; a very port intensive trip where the boys just got tired of running back into town on another shopping/sight seeing tour. We did take a taxi to a national park without them. They loved the RC club for kids and asked to stay. We were always docked in port (no tenders).

 

In Cozumel with left 4 of the six kids when we went shopping and walking around in town.

 

It was really nice on two of these trips to spend some quality time with my teenagers.....seems there isn't as much we do together anymore with just the older kids but while traveling on vacation they love spending time with us; it's a great time for making memories with these young adults (we usually have the little ones around with us...but these few outings on our own are special.)

 

r/Judy

[mjmalino]

Granted we have only been on two cruises thus far, with a third booked, but port time is what I have made family time. My kids want to spend so much time in the camp while we are on the ship that I make meals (with a very few exceptions) and ports our time. That being said, my kids were 8 and 9 on our first cruise so we had more options when choosing excursions, but I always tried to find ones that they would enjoy. Honestly, though, this summer's a bit tricky as it's the med and it's going to have to be a good mixture of museums and other sites (and not to mention food, my kids love to eat!)

[chapichapo]

I think if you're doing the med with kids tha age you should really not leave them in the boat. Even if they complain they want to stay but there's so much they can learn... it's a history lesson. :)