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Toddler safety


Mrs.C05
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I was just curious as to how big the railing height is? My Dad wants to do a family cruise which includes a 3.5 year old, but my sister is terrified of her going overboard or being anywhere near the edge of the boat and something happening to her. I really doubt it with how many family members are going to be there.

 

Also, if we were to take her with us how much of a watchful eye do they (Camp Carnival) keep on children? I don't know how my neice would be but judging how she is at daycare, she'll take over the class with teaching what she knows, lol. She's quite the leader, very independent, wants to do things on her own, etc.

 

Can anyone tell me their experiences with taking their toddlers?

 

Thanks so much!!!!

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I'm 5'5" and the railing is almost to my armpits.....they're high! And, your child will NEVER be alone anywhere, right??? Right! You do NOT have to worry about her "falling" off the ship. It's never, ever happened to a small child!

The kid's camp is VERY secure...they are educated, trained, child-care professionals---they're not just a bunch of "babysitters". The child will be safer there than just about anywhere else.

Relax a bit---everything will be fine and dandy! Once you're onboard, you'll understand about the railings and how difficult it would be to have an "accidental" fall.

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My FIL was worried about this when we took our then 15 month old son on his first cruise in December... He's quite the active, independent one, but it was not an issue at all - even if he was much bigger. As the pp said - your child is never alone and given how many children cruise each year, I think it says something that there has never been a child that has fallen overboard... it's always a drunk stupid adult the few times it has happened :p

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On all of the ships I've been on, there hasn't even been a deck that we go on that has railings - the main pool deck is always floor to ceiling windows. If your sister is that terrified, she can rest assured that there is probably no need to ever be on a deck with railings (and then once she gets on board, she can see how impossible it would be for a child to go over).

 

There are lots of pictures here - cruisinmama especially has some good ones - that show how high the railings are.

 

Best,

Mia

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We took our just 2 year old grandson with us on our cruise in April and I was worried just like your sister is.

 

Once on the ship I was very quickly calmed as I realized how hard it would be for him to fall overboard. (I had even been on a previous cruise but just wasn't looking at the railings with having a toddler in mind) We never took our eyes off him but even if he would have ran off ahead of us he wouldn't have been able to go anywhere even remotely close to being able to falling overboard.

 

 

We did have some family rules though that everyone obeyed. The main thing was that the 2 year old was not to be held while standing next to a railing. If we were next to a railing he was strapped safely in his stroller. Also we had a rule of no standing on chairs while out on the balcony. That was not just for the 2 year olds sake but for the whole family.

 

We really enjoyed our cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

Here is a great thread with some railing pictures from cruisinmama.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=894805&highlight=railing+height

Edited by readytolose
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When I was on the triumph last month we got our first balcony. While the cruise was w/o kids I did notice and think of future cruises with my kiddos (DD6 and DS3) in mind. The rail for me (all 6'4" of me) was half way between chest and waist high. I really wonder how ANYONE could "fall" overboard even on a balcony after seeing this. If I had fallen towards the railing I would have probably smashe my forehead off the rail and not gone over. The only thing I could see as a problem would be for those that leave children unattended on a balcony (which I'll never do) and allow the child to climb on chairs. IMHO the rails are more then safe, almost kid proof but not idiot proof LOL.

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I was thinking more of when we're up top roaming the ship, etc., not on balconies. Thanks everyone for their input. Please keep the suggestions/advice coming. Thanks so much!!!

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I was thinking more of when we're up top roaming the ship, etc., not on balconies. Thanks everyone for their input. Please keep the suggestions/advice coming. Thanks so much!!!

 

There really is no reason to be "up top" on the ship. The Lido deck is where the pizza, buffet and pools are. The area is enclosed with floor to ceiling walls/windows. So the child is not going to go running from the pool and over a railing, cause there are none in that area.

 

The deck above that does have mini golf on some CCL ships. But even that area has glass walls.

 

The only area that has railings and the child would have to scale them are on the absolute top deck (just chairs up there, no need to have the child up there) and the balconies (which you already said that balconies won't be an issue)

 

Camp Carnival doesn't open to any railings. It's all enclosed.

 

In all of these years on cruise critic, we have never heard of a child going over the railing. Drunk, stupid or suicidal adults, yep - all the time.

 

So as long as the preschooler isn't drunk, you'll be ok. ;)

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I was thinking more of when we're up top roaming the ship, etc., not on balconies. Thanks everyone for their input. Please keep the suggestions/advice coming. Thanks so much!!!

 

Ok examples of "up top" railings. I can only personally speak of the victory and the triumph. On the lido it's all enclosed with floor to ceiling glass. That includes the length of the deck that is accesable to everyone that's not a cabin. if you walk up the steps there's railing that I HATE! I'm a picture taker. The railings by the steps are about shoulder high to me! The railing on the deckk above the lido is around the same height as the balcony. It might be an inch or 2 lower but fairly close to the same. Other then that you only have the mini-golf deck (panarama) and the pool entrence deck(sky?) and the tail deck that have railings. The slide entrence and the tail deck wouldn't get you off the ship, nearly a 10ft or so fall on the deck below. The minigolf deck would have you falling on someone's balcony. All of those have railings in the 4 foot high range. As for the other ships I believe they are all +/- the 4 foot range as a minimum. I think I read somewhere that it's 42 inches? Maybe someone can post before I get off work and have time to look.

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That is true about no reason being up top at the highest deck with a toddler. If my sister agrees to take my neice, then there should be some stern rules to be followed. She's 3.5 and has a hard time listening right now. I don't know why. I don't know if it's the age or the parenting.:rolleyes:

Edited by Mrs.C05
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We have taken our toddler, 3 now on 7 cruises. It is virtually impossible to fall. Even for adults you have to climb and virtually jump. The main decks are all floor to ceiling glass and the outer decks have railing with either solid metal or thick netting on it and even those open to the deck below which is larger so the most you would fall would be one deck. Most outer decks have either a large spiral staircase and very heavy door to get out there.as people said here, it has never happened with a child. Tell your sister her child is very safe on a cruise.

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I was just curious as to how big the railing height is? My Dad wants to do a family cruise which includes a 3.5 year old, but my sister is terrified of her going overboard or being anywhere near the edge of the boat and something happening to her. I really doubt it with how many family members are going to be there.

 

Also, if we were to take her with us how much of a watchful eye do they (Camp Carnival) keep on children? I don't know how my neice would be but judging how she is at daycare, she'll take over the class with teaching what she knows, lol. She's quite the leader, very independent, wants to do things on her own, etc.

 

Can anyone tell me their experiences with taking their toddlers?

 

Thanks so much!!!!

 

Hi,

 

I believe I graduated from the same school of paranoia as your sister in law. I have 2 boys (currently ages of 6 and 8) that started cruising when the older one was 15 months old and the younger one started when he was just little over 2 years old.

 

I have the same concerns as your sister in law of kids falling overboard at various parts of the ship and even at their current age, the fear/paranoia has not subsided. If anything, the worry of them falling overboard has increased, not decreased, at the current age as when they were age of 3, they are not strong enough to climb the railing/Plexiglas. But as they get older, they are too old to want to walk around holding mom/dad’s hands and wants to run off on their own, but not always old enough to have fear of the unknown instilled in them.

 

I’m sure some kids have no problems but mine are climbers (think over-caffeined monkeys) as they always want to climb/step on the first step of the railing at Promenade deck and that always causes my heart to skip a beat or two. For my sanity sake, I don’t care how many people swear by the safety of the balcony rooms, we have stopped staying in balcony cabins since we started cruising with the kids. We will only opt for ocean views until they get sufficiently older. In the last Carnival cruise in December, my younger one kept wanting to stand next to the floor to ceiling glass window at the Lido deck buffet area to with his face looking down at 110 feet of water as he thinks it’s cool. Tel me if that doesn’t raise your blood pressure.

 

So I understand where your sister in law is coming from. It won’t matter how many opinions you get on how safe any place or thing is, she needs to have the safety procedures in place before she will feel comfortable with cruising with kids. Such as no access to any balcony for the toddler. And like another poster said, no carrying anyone at the edge of the ship. Like the saying goes, talk is cheap on the paranoia front. Action/precaution speaks louder than words.

 

Having discussed all the fear factors, I do want to point out to your sister in law that nothing beats a cruise vacation for a multi-generation family vacation experience. We almost always cruise as a 3 generation family outing on our cruises. She will be missing out on many wonderful moments of family cruises and most likely the little one will have fun time at the kid’s camp.

 

Speaking of which, not sure if anyone really answered your question on the safety o the kid’s camp. At the age group of 2 to 5, all parents are issued a pager when they sign up for camp on first night so that if the folks at camp need to find the parent, they will page you.

 

Other than the first night at open house, parents are not allowed to go inside the camp. You are only allowed to drop off/pick up at the gate. And all pick up and drop offs needs signature and within the camp itself everything is enclosed. Only time they take the kids out would be on special events like meals at the buffet area where they block off a section of the buffet so they are isolated from other guests. So even for paranoid dad like myself, during their time at camp, their safety is not an issue.

 

Hope this helps. Now I just need to hold a class reunion with your sister in law….

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HAHA!! It's actually my sister, Harry, not sister in law but I know what you meant. Hubby doesn't have any siblings.:eek:

 

When my Dad speaks of the cruise he's thinking about doing for the family (including my Mom, yikes!) I'll try and bring up taking my niece with us. I just have this feeling that my sister will use the excuse of "I won't be able to relax" or "I won't be able to enjoy my vacation", blah, blah, blah.....well give me the parenting rights for that trip because I know she'll have fun and I'll have the pleasure of seeing her excitement going on the "big boat".

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our son (3,5 years old too) is also a climber and a non-listener :), this is his 7th cruise coming up (next week yay) and it's never been an issue. the railings are all very high and we are always with him. we have recently started getting balcony cabins and we keep the door locked itf we are not out there. The kid's camp/crew's we have been too have all been very safe and he's had a wonderful time.

 

good luck!

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HAHA!! It's actually my sister, Harry, not sister in law but I know what you meant. Hubby doesn't have any siblings.:eek:

 

When my Dad speaks of the cruise he's thinking about doing for the family (including my Mom, yikes!) I'll try and bring up taking my niece with us. I just have this feeling that my sister will use the excuse of "I won't be able to relax" or "I won't be able to enjoy my vacation", blah, blah, blah.....well give me the parenting rights for that trip because I know she'll have fun and I'll have the pleasure of seeing her excitement going on the "big boat".

 

If you can’t relax on a cruise, what other vacation can you relax in? With 30,000 screaming kids at Disney World?

 

Has your sister (minus the in-law part) ever been on a cruise? From the original post, the assumption was that she wants to go on the cruise with the toddler, just the fear of accidents has her worried, so everyone was trying to address that. But in your follow up email, now sounds like she has other excuses to not want to go. Now it’s less of a child safety topic and more of her personal reluctance in not wanting to go.

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Hi Kosoffj

I am glad to see that I am not the only one with a climbing monkey for a son ! I do also have a concern about the safety of the kids programs, this will be my son's first time being put into a program on the boat . I noticed that you have been on a quite a few NCL boats, We are sailing on the Spirit in 4 weeks and I was wondering how often did you put your little guy in the Kids Club and was there ever a million kids and very little staff or was the ratio pretty decent?

 

Thanks !

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  • 8 years later...

Great comments /suggestions thanks everyone we are cruising on Ovation of the Seas next year with my daughter,son in law and my grandson who will be nearly 18mths when we sail if anyone has sailed on Ovation of the seas with toddlers and would like to give any further tips to the first time parents and us first time grandparents it would be greatly appreciated

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  • 8 months later...

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