We used the private babysitting on RCCL

Just wanted to let everyone know we used the private babysitting services for our DD6 and my niece4 and nephew6. We had non-ajoining rooms with an opened balcony partition and they let us combine with one babysitter. It was fabulous.

I had no intention of using a babysitter but DD6 not a fan of the late night kids club because they combined with the 9-11yr olds. I wasn't a fan either. Since DD still naps from 5-7pm while we vacation she is allowed to stay up until 11pm. After 2 nights of hating the late night kid club, we went down to guest relations and booked a babysitter for 2 nights. Both times we had a wonderful women Norma who all the kids adored. She played with them in the room and put them to bed the first night. Niece and nephew slept on the bed, my dd up on the pullman and Norma quietly watched TV or read a book. We were able to stay out until midnight and was able to go to Quest which we have never been to. The kids talked about Norma the entire next day. The other time we had her, she asked if she could take the kids out on an adventure. It was the last night so we told her they could stay up late. We met Norma and the kids at the Promenade Pirate Parade and then she took them to secret parts of the ship. Then they went for ice cream and they all got mini towel animals. They were fast asleep when we got back to the room. My daughter talked my ear off about Norma.

So even though I was very leary about the babysitting services, I am here to tell you it was well worth the money. Plus my daughter is a mature 6yr old and would tell me if there was any issus. There was none and my daughter loved the special attention. Knowing they were sleeping safely instead of running around in chaos by 10:30, let us adults have some fun adult time. We tipped Norma VERY well and wrote up about her on the comment card.

Anyway, I know this is a touchy subject so I just wanted to post the positive experience. If anyone has any questions, let me know.

This is a great compliment. Didn't know they had such a thing as private babysitting. We are soon to be "grandparents" and therefore grandkids will always travel with us I am sure. So, good to know....since we cruise alot.

Is Norma just a sitter??? or was she an employee on call for this type of service? Price is by the hour?

Lou

Norma was a translater for the ship. Every babysitter works elsewhere during the day and signs up for the extra money. Once I talked to guest services, they contacted me the next day to tell me the name of the babysitter. I hear they run out of babysitters sometimes but we didn't have a problem booking one on the 5th night for the 6th and 7th nights on the ships.

here is some info I found:

BABYSITTING: Royal Caribbean is one of the few cruise lines that offer private babysitting. Private babysitting is available from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., and children must be at least 6 months of age to be eligible for this service. The cost of private babysitting is $8 per hour for up to two children and $10 per hour for no more than three children. At least 24-hours notice is required, and a two-hour minimum is required for private babysitting. Requests can be made through Guest Services

I love the in room babysitting on RCCL

Hi suzanne which ship were you on?

Liberty of the Seas

Ah - I am going on AOS and was going to request her she sounds great. We had a lovely lady 2 years ago on Mariner.

Those rates are cheap!!! in my book!!! or should I say reasonable. I was expecting more...shhhhh don't tell RCCL!

Lou

I wish the "eyes of Carnival" would read this & offer the same service.

Thank you for posting this!! I am very torn about leaving a 5 yr old (that gets over-active and cranky whens he tired) in the AO program after-hours.

Where did she take them on there excursion? I don't know if that would make me comfortable since he would be alone with the sitter.

Thanks again :)

Thank you for posting this!! I am very torn about leaving a 5 yr old (that gets over-active and cranky whens he tired) in the AO program after-hours.

 

Where did she take them on there excursion? I don't know if that would make me comfortable since he would be alone with the sitter.

 

Thanks again :)

They watched the Pirates Parade on the promenade and then she took them to meet some of the pirates. They walked the 5th deck outdoor promenade, went to the game room to play go fish, took them into a "secret elevator" aka the crew elevator - only once though. Then she went and got them miniature towel animals somewhere. I forgot to ask. Then she brought them back, they got into their jammies, brushed their teeth, she told them a special cruise ship story and off to sleep they went.

It is up to you whether you want the sitter to leave the room. I felt okay because my daughter is a very mature almost 7yr old.

My Mom had a good question about the baby sitting - we'll be on Celebrity which also has in room baby sitting. In our case our son is usually asleep by 7:30/8:00 - do they then sit in the dark? Or what do they do while the baby is sleeping? Read? Watch tv? Because it's just a normal cabin there isn't much room to do much else. I'm glad you had such a great experience. I think we'll get a sitter one or two nights so we can go to the show or something.

Our babysitter sat in our room in the dark. Even though I told her she can watch TV (we had 2 adjoining rooms). I had to change my shoes and came back to our room about 1 hour later and all 3 kids were sleeping and our poor sitter was in the dark again I told her she is more than welcome to turn on the TV I don't think she ever did :eek: .

I would totally use RCCL sitters again, love them.

Our sitter watched TV (it was very low and our kids were konked out) but I hear many of them bring books and magazines too.

I also used in-cabin sitters on a cruise in 2005 with my (then) 1 year old son. He was sleeping and we went to the later seating for dinner. We did this every night and had the same woman.

It was WONDERFUL! Gave us a chance to be with our son all day and when he slept we had our adult time.

I highly recommend!

Hi, I have just spotted your post, after posting one of my own regarding baby sitting. We are due to travel with RCCL in Dec and was wondering how easy the baby sitters were to book as I believe it is on a 1st come 1st served basis. We have just returned from our 1st cruise with our baby but it was with P&O and feel they may have spoilt it for us a little as it they were great allowing us to have some good evenings without Maya being too tired as she likes to go to bed early. Do the baby sitters come to your cabin?

Would love to hear anything else you have to say as I am a little concerned over our next one.

Thanks.

Just wanted to add my praise to the RCCL babysitters. We had a fantastic woman who worked the "operator" line on the phones. She was from Costa Rica and had three children of her own. I believe she was in her late 20s. She was amazing with our boys. I don't have enough nice things to say about her. Plus the toys that she brought were always clean, and she wiped them down when she left for the next family.

Such a great service!

I'm glad to hear that some of you had great experiences with the inroom sitter. We're going on the AOS soon (6/29). My children are 8 and 3. Does anyone have a name of a sitter they used recently on the AOS?Thanks in advance.

Did anyone say?? Do you pay them at the end of the night cash or charge to account or how does that work? I assume you tip them in cash but just the basic fee????

Lou

We returned from Freedom of the Seas on June 8th...we used a sitter every night for our 2 year old son. I had typed out a schedule before I left...got to the ship...went to guest services and turned it in...had a call 2 hours later that same sitter confirmed for all nights. Her name was Jennifer...she has a 6 year old son living with her mother in the Philipines. She is a restroom cleaner during the day....she was just wonderful...she came to the room every night at 7:00...we were traveling with other family and friends who's children are older...so we could meet for a drink..have dinner...show/casino..etc. We had her scheduled until 1:00 every night. We paid her for 6 hours even if we came in early...and I always tipped her...had brought some toys for my 2 year old that I left for her son..boats, crayons, markers, paints, etc...picked up a some tee shirts for him when in port...she was so gracious...my heart goes out to her...I can't imagine being away from my 3 children for 8 months...I am very blessed, so what ever I can share with other I will...we won cruise Bingo on that trip..thinking about booking Freedom again just so I can have Jennifer sit...may use adventure ocean during day when son turns three, but want to keep bedtime schedule...plus nice to come back to room and just go to bed!!... sitting service was awesome!!!...

We used it our first time when my son was too young for Adventure Ocean, but this last time, didn't think we wanted to bother since we knew he'd love AO. Long story short, we decided a day or so into the cruise that we'd like a late night or two, but didn't want to force him to stay up late, so we went to the desk to book a sitter. They tried and tried but nobody was available. Lesson learned: next time we'll decide and book it the first day.

Like I said, we got lucky booking our sitter in the middle of the week but I do agree to book it ahead of time, especially in high kids periods (holidays, summers) It is first come first serve and my sitter told me they post the babysitting needs up on a staff bulletin board and it is optional if you want to sign up for the extra money. That is why you need to do it at least 24hrs in advance and then they get back to you the next day.

I believe we paid on our seapass card but we tipped her in cash so we knew all the tip went into her pocket.

Do you have to book each night you require baby sitting, 24 hrs in advance or can you book the nights you want when you 1st get on the ship?

Also with the kids clubs, do they just have toys for the kids to free play or is it all organised events? my lo with be nearly 2. Sorry i also meant to ask can you use the play room anytime of day or only when organised things are on?

Thanks x

You can request each night that you'll need a sitter when you first get on the ship.

We also had a fantastic sitter on RCCL. Her name was Vene from the Philipines and also had a child at home that she missed terribly. At the time our children were 7,5 and 12 months. Each night I would nurse the baby to sleep and let the older girls read in their beds for about 30 mintues. The sitter turned the lights off. She played games and texted on her phone. We had her for 4 nights in a row. We paid the babysitting fee each night in cash (you cannot put this on your card) and gave her a nice tip the last night. She was so kind to our children. Her regular job was security. On our last port of the cruise, she had flagged our girls' cards to alert her when we reboarded the ship. At first we had no idea why our children were being ushered to the side, but then she handed them each a beautifully wrapped package of lovely hair clips. She absolutely made their day!

No age limits I assume?