Has you child stayed onboard...

[*Kendra*]

While you took an excursion? The cruise we are taking offers care onboard if you are taking one of their excursions. We want to go to either Pompeii or Hercularum while in Napels but I am unsure if I feel comfortable leaving my 4 1/2 year old onboard. The excursion is 4 hours long and at the end of the cruise. I know it will be a difficult excursion for her to go on........ I kinda feel bad not taking her but we are going to take her to Marineland in Palma and The Aquarium of Genoa. I just dont know how I feel about leaving her... thoughts?

[chapichapo]

I left my 4yo onboard while we went to Ephesus. He really liked the kidsclub and enjoyed beeing there, so it was no prob for him. It would have been nightmare if I had taken him with us. It was too hot, the trip was too long and not too interesting for his age. Also, he wouldn't have eaten lunch... I think we did the good thing.

However, we did take him with us to Pompeii and Sorento. We went on our own (no organised excursion). He really enjoyed taking the train, he loved Pompeii (even a 4 yo can understand a bit of that history since it's such a big impressive site), had icecream. We had lunch in Sorento and took the boat back to Naples. I think my son enjoyed all that.

But it depends on the child, my son is really a fan of kids clubs and he really enjoys beeing with other kids, all the activities (and he doesn't speak english). Plus they had a Lightning McQueen video game in big screen - he wanted to go there all the time. :rolleyes:

I think you'll have the time to see how your child reacts to the kids club and if she likes it, then you can easily go on an excursion and leave her onboard. If she doesn't adapt, then you can also give it a try - a 4 hour excursion isn't that tiring to a child. Our Ephesus trip was morning and afternoon (with lunch) 'cause I also wanted to see Mileto.

[*Kendra*]

I left my 4yo onboard while we went to Ephesus. He really liked the kidsclub and enjoyed beeing there, so it was no prob for him. It would have been nightmare if I had taken him with us. It was too hot, the trip was too long and not too interesting for his age. Also, he wouldn't have eaten lunch... I think we did the good thing.

However, we did take him with us to Pompeii and Sorento. We went on our own (no organised excursion). He really enjoyed taking the train, he loved Pompeii (even a 4 yo can understand a bit of that history since it's such a big impressive site), had icecream. We had lunch in Sorento and took the boat back to Naples. I think my son enjoyed all that.

But it depends on the child, my son is really a fan of kids clubs and he really enjoys beeing with other kids, all the activities (and he doesn't speak english). Plus they had a Lightning McQueen video game in big screen - he wanted to go there all the time. :rolleyes:

I think you'll have the time to see how your child reacts to the kids club and if she likes it, then you can easily go on an excursion and leave her onboard. If she doesn't adapt, then you can also give it a try - a 4 hour excursion isn't that tiring to a child. Our Ephesus trip was morning and afternoon (with lunch) 'cause I also wanted to see Mileto.

 

Thanks for the response. She has been many ruins before, they are all over Sicily, and has done fairly well. I will do as you advised and see how she does in the kids club and take it from there. I will probably give her an option to stay or go with us. My husband was worried at first about her not being able to speak Italian (we are cruising with Costa) but I told him it wont be a problem. She will noticed the language difference but its not going to stop her from playing with other children.

[chapichapo]

I don't know about Costa because we went with Celebrity cruises, but the staff at the kids club came from a lot of nationalities. There actually was a portuguese girl although she was more with the teen's group but she did some translaction at times and kept an eye on my son when she was around. But most of the staff there spoke english and some also spannish.

Actually, the only problem we had there was related to their effort in speaking spannish with my son. That day, when we went to the Ephesus trip, they asked him if he wanted to go to the bathroom and spoke to him in spannish using the word "baño" which in portuguese means "take a bath". He said "no" and it ended up bad... :( It turned out he really needed to use the bathroom. So when we arrived they had him dressed in a kid's club adult T-shirt which was kind of sad to see - I did feel a bit bad at that.

[*Kendra*]

I don't know about Costa because we went with Celebrity cruises, but the staff at the kids club came from a lot of nationalities. There actually was a portuguese girl although she was more with the teen's group but she did some translaction at times and kept an eye on my son when she was around. But most of the staff there spoke english and some also spannish.

Actually, the only problem we had there was related to their effort in speaking spannish with my son. That day, when we went to the Ephesus trip, they asked him if he wanted to go to the bathroom and spoke to him in spannish using the word "baño" which in portuguese means "take a bath". He said "no" and it ended up bad... :( It turned out he really needed to use the bathroom. So when we arrived they had him dressed in a kid's club adult T-shirt which was kind of sad to see - I did feel a bit bad at that.

 

Aww, poor little guy! Dont feel too bad, it wasnt your fault! :) I will make sure I teach my daughter bathroom in Italian just in case!

[mdepsmom]

My DH and I are sailing on the Mariner w/ our 6-yo DS in a couple months and we've gone back and forth on this subject. What concerns me is this: what if something happens to DH and/or I while we are on our excursion - a car accident, some sort of delay - anything, really, and the ship leaves w/o us? Or what if something happens to our DS while he is on the ship and we are hours away from getting back to him? So we have decided that, for us, it's not worth the risk. We'll do all our shore excursions as a family. Anything that we may want to do that is not age-appropriate for him, will just have to wait till our next kid-free vacation. :)

[chapichapo]

In our case we did the trip with an organised excursion which ws a responsability of the cruise itself. If something happened (some delay) then I guess the boat wouldn't leave without us... ;) But that's why they really take good care not to have any delays and arrive to port very well before schedule. They did try and trap us into some shopping after the tour but we went directly to the boat. All I really wanted to see was Ephesus and Mileto and anyway, I had already been to Turkey before so wasn't that curious to go shopping.

[honeywell]

Since you asked....I have two children, now ages 10 and 8. They are scheduled for their 5th and 4th cruises next month.

 

I have gone over this question in years past and have decided not to leave them on board without me, because if that one in a million thing happened, well...I can't even finish that thought. While traveling is important to our family, I have come to the conclusion that the kid-free excursions can wait a few years until they are old enough to join me.

 

Basically, it comes down to personal choice and personal comfort level. Don't let anyone tell you what to do or judge you because of your choices. Enjoy your cruise - I'm sure you will do what is best for your family! Have a wonderful time!

[chipmaster]

While you took an excursion? The cruise we are taking offers care onboard if you are taking one of their excursions. We want to go to either Pompeii or Hercularum while in Napels but I am unsure if I feel comfortable leaving my 4 1/2 year old onboard. The excursion is 4 hours long and at the end of the cruise. I know it will be a difficult excursion for her to go on........ I kinda feel bad not taking her but we are going to take her to Marineland in Palma and The Aquarium of Genoa. I just dont know how I feel about leaving her... thoughts?

 

Depending on when you go Pompeii could be less then child friendly between weather and lots of walking. In the end only you can decide, but here are my 2 cents.

 

My experience with kids clubs has always been postive. My kids have enjoyed them on Disney, Carnival, and Princess as young as 3. All the major lines have a program, some better then others. A tour and meeting the staff is something we always do before we decide. Also as another poster mentioned, make sure that the staff can communicate to your child. My recollection even on my European tour English was the primary language used.

 

The disposition of the kid is important. My daughter has always loved them, my sons have had hit or miss depending on activities. One time my 3 year old son cried the whole time he was there and we took him out at lunch time. My daughter on the other hand never met a club she didn't like.

[Longtimecruiser#2]

While you took an excursion? The cruise we are taking offers care onboard if you are taking one of their excursions. We want to go to either Pompeii or Hercularum while in Napels but I am unsure if I feel comfortable leaving my 4 1/2 year old onboard. The excursion is 4 hours long and at the end of the cruise. I know it will be a difficult excursion for her to go on........ I kinda feel bad not taking her but we are going to take her to Marineland in Palma and The Aquarium of Genoa. I just dont know how I feel about leaving her... thoughts?

My 5yr old niece was with us on the Mariner in 2005. We left her in the AO while we were in Grand Cayman. She had a great time and didn't miss us at all. You must be on a RCCL excursion and we were back on board at least an hour before sailing.

[chapichapo]

Yes, that's another thing... on Celebrity also you had to make proof that you were on an excursion with them. Precisely because the boat will wait for you so no child is left without its parents on board.