Contact with home

For all of you seasoned cruise passengers, how do you maintain contact with home?

By this I don't mean the occasional call, I mean with things like your home security system, cameras, Eagle Eye pump alarm, or fire alarm/suppression system. Our Au Pair will be left alone in our home and while I'm not concerned she'll try to take the Z06 for a spin, she does have a habit of leaving the garage door open. I have cameras that alert me now but my

phone is pretty much going to be useless on the cruise. I was thinking of having her just use the front door since the

car we got her is parked on the street. The front door has a smart lock which will auto unlock/lock as she approaches

but I would like being able to have a means for her to contact us.

How can I achieve this?

Buy the unlimited internet package ($210 for the week on a 7 day cruise) for peace of mind. That way you'll have access to all of your social media apps, wifi calling if your phone/carrier support it and any other apps on your phone that are internet/wifi connected

You need to unplug, how are you ever going to relax:')

Oh. Dear. Perhaps an unlimited internet plan aboard is your answer, or perhaps you could afford to spring for a cellular at sea plan that enables your phone, or perhaps you could recruit a friend or family member back home with a phone to take over your Au Pair surveillance in your absence. I think you'll explore the options and figure it out. Have a great cruise!

Judy

...I would like being able to have a means for her to contact us.

 

How can I achieve this?

Take her with you. Seriously. That's what we did every time we cruised when our daughter was young.

The beauty of being single in an apartment: I lock the door and leave! I love the disconnect, but I do understand your concerns! Best of luck finding a solution.

This is absolutely the only thing I hate about cruising...........not having contact with home. I have no problem disconnecting for the most part, but leaving behind elderly parents, kids, friends who may be very ill, whatever the case may be, can put a damper on your vacation if you can't be in touch now and then. I hate that you have to pay an arm and a leg to just make a phone call....ugh!

There's 2 questions here.

1. How to check on internet connected devices at home and

2. How can the au pair contact you

Number 2 is easy. You can either leave your cellular service on and simply turn the data roaming off. You'll get charged a hefty rate for calls but if it's just ignored unless she calls in an emergency; it shouldn't be bad. Or you can ignore your cell phone and all the ships have an emergency number for someone to get ahold of you.

Number 1 will require an Internet plan if you MUST check daily. I don't have any of those things internet connected so the idea of keeping track of them when you are on vacation sounds overbearing. But I also don't have anyone coming to and from my house that can't lock the doors.

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Thanks everyone...given I have the free 250 minutes of internet, I'll ask NCL about upgrading to unlimited.

It might be the best option.

The Au Pair can't come, as I am told, in her second year she can't re-enter the US.

One of my chief concerns would be the basement bathroom, her suite is in the basement and both her kitchen and bathroom have pumps inside something called an ejection pit. Long story short, I had both pits outfitted with new commercial pumps when we decided on an Au Pair but the experience of a neighbor whose (original contractor grade) pump failed and flooded his basement with "black water" has the fear of...black water in me! Hence the Night Eye which monitors water levels in the pits. It send my plumber and me a text if the water level rises as well as sounds an alarm in the house which only the deaf could ignore.

Between that and leaving the garage open I'd like to be able to sneak a peak at the cameras from time to time and look at the garage door sensors to see they are closed.

I always give an emergency entry code to a neighbor but I can't expect him to be our 26 year old Au Pair's babysitter!

How do you normally check or monitor your security devices at home while away ? Do you have a web-based and/or browser-based monitoring app linked to your existing system, iOS or Android ?

Is your system configured to send SMS/text-based and/or email alerts when motion and/or exceptions are detected ?

Even if you get instant and/or urgent alert about a monitored event or incident, being hundreds/thousands of miles away at sea, you will still need to come up with a solution, trusted friend/neighbor and/or plumber authorized for emergency entry, if warranted, to deal with flooded quarters, etc.

↑ I have a dedicated IOS app for each system being monitored. I also receive text alerts if certain predefined criteria is met.

For the ejector pit issues, the plumber also gets the same alert and he has a key card. If it is anything other than a plumbing issue

I can send a message to my neighbor. I just want to be in the loop so I can delegate or run point on any corrective actions.

Not being kept abreast of my homes systems is so foreign a concept, I cannot comprehend it! Never before have I been without

a functional smartphone.

I always get the internet. Bought before platinum perk.

I check 3 mail at least twice a day. I have to check webcam for my pup. And baseball. Cannot forget that!!!

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We use our alarm system’s app with unlimited Internet to check on the house. We use iMessage and FB Messenger to keep in touch. Our pet sitter watches the house for us, and I get texts that show when doors are opened and closed, so we know what hours she’s keeping.

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Buy the unlimited internet package ($210 for the week on a 7 day cruise) for peace of mind. That way you'll have access to all of your social media apps, wifi calling if your phone/carrier support it and any other apps on your phone that are internet/wifi connected

You would think someone who had purchased a car for their Au Pair and was so concerned about their Z06 and had internet monitoring for their door locks would think to themselves "maybe I should get the internet package", but I guess you'd be wrong.

Having read the posts, the thought going through my mind is whether an au pair you don't feel comfortable leaving is the right au pair to have. If she is looking after the children when you and your partner are not around can you be sure she is doing the right things?

I need to have internet access for my work, I am a one person business with a statutory responsibility for the work I do, and therefore there is much I cannot delegate so need to be contactable. However, for domestic issues I don't want to know unless it's a real emergency. My neighbour, father, son and daughter/son in law all have keys and if needs be can sort out most things between them.

OP, what happens to the mains power goes off? Do you have a backup uninterruptable supply? My friends in NJ had their basement flood when the pump stopped because of a power outage lasting several days, and had to put in a UPS with generator to avoid future problems.

Everything happens when you are away. We didn't take a vacation for 5years. No major events till of course we were out in the middle of the ocean and our pet sitter had to deal with a broken toilet that overflowed profoundly and leaked down the walls into the basement. Of course she was on her own with that cause we could not be contacted.........a relative helped out thank goodness. That said, if something can go wrong it likely will if you are on a ship in the middle of nowhere. LOL. Oh and it's been 7 years or more since that happened and since we've been on a cruise. So we shall see what happens this time in January while we are away for 14 days and can't be contacted. Crossing my fingers!

Okay, I'm gonna be "that guy". I'm envisioning some of you losing your iPhones and curling up in a ball in the corner, crying for salvation. If you are worried about pumping/plumbing systems, why? You said your plumber gets a text, as well as yourself if there is an anomaly. Covered.

If you can't trust your Au Pair to secure the house for your children, get a new one if you can't trust her.

Life isn't an electronic safety bubble. Professional criminals can get past any systems you have. Life happens.

I'm honestly not trying to be mean to you but you need to find a way to diminish the paranoia, count on people at home. In the middle of the ocean there is very little you can do but trust those you left behind.

Enjoy your cruise.

How did the explorers discover the New World without Google Maps? :)

Every ship has internet plans. Some with limited minutes, some unlimited. So, you can check in.

Cell phone calls? Not that bad. We have been know to leave our phones on and pay the $2.50 a minute for calls at sea.

While ashore, ATT and Verizon have $10 a day plays for everything. Most Tmobile plans offer free data in most countries. So, on port days, you can do very well.

THE ONLY BIG WARNING - TURN OFF DATA ROAMING WHILE ONBOARD. After than, no big worries.

This whole post is confusing to me. It seems like if there was no au pair, then you'd simply leave and enjoy yourself like the rest of us. Since you actually have someone tending to your home, that should be a bonus, yet it seems to be the cause of MORE of a need to communicate with home rather than less of a need. This is so backwards.

Text messages aren't that expensive on the ship. Turn off data roaming but leave voice roaming on. Don't answer the phone if it rings unless urgent.

Lol—I’m sorry—I had to laugh at this post. Are you serious or just pulling out leg? You need to keep in contact with all that on a cruise??? Honey—it’s a vacation! What do you think people did before smartphones and WiFi? I totally unplug on vacation!

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Having read the posts, the thought going through my mind is whether an au pair you don't feel comfortable leaving is the right au pair to have. If she is looking after the children when you and your partner are not around can you be sure she is doing the right things?

 

I need to have internet access for my work, I am a one person business with a statutory responsibility for the work I do, and therefore there is much I cannot delegate so need to be contactable. However, for domestic issues I don't want to know unless it's a real emergency. My neighbour, father, son and daughter/son in law all have keys and if needs be can sort out most things between them.

 

OP, what happens to the mains power goes off? Do you have a backup uninterruptable supply? My friends in NJ had their basement flood when the pump stopped because of a power outage lasting several days, and had to put in a UPS with generator to avoid future problems.

Our Au Pair is great with the kids, she has 2 advanced degrees is childhood education but she grew up with her parents and lacks a level of responsibility that comes from living on ones own. This experience to the US is her first away from "home" and not just her native Thailand but her actual home, as in residence.

I have a standby generator and smart switches to turn on only what is used.

As for the person above you that posted they thought I'd be able to realize the solution on my own....I did. I posted here looking for confirmation. I've read many posts where someone had a simpler solution than the one being employed by most. I'm open to hearing what others do so as to improve what I do.

This whole post is confusing to me. It seems like if there was no au pair, then you'd simply leave and enjoy yourself like the rest of us. Since you actually have someone tending to your home, that should be a bonus, yet it seems to be the cause of MORE of a need to communicate with home rather than less of a need. This is so backwards.

Sadly, this is partly accurate.

The reason being is she has NEVER been on her own before. I recall my own youth and my first experience living on my own. Granted this is simpler for her as she doesn't have a checkbook to balance or bills to pay but she is still used to having us remind her when to leave for college, when to pay her toll violations and not to put food back into the refrigerator uncovered.

She is superb with the kids and given I work from home, she has never been alone with them so if anything major came up, I'm right there to help. She is naive to the nth degree. She has this app where she meets people to go do things like catch a ball game or go rock climbing. She thinks nothing of going without telling us with whom or where. We have to remind her that we are her surrogate family and just as she'd tell her mom back home, we need to know where she is and with whom. We gave her an iPhone, more so we can track it if anything should happen than fer her to have an actual phone. It came in handy when she got pulled over for speeding and panicked.

She isn't able to come unless we chose a cruise with strictly US ports which we didn't want soooo this means she is on her own for a week. I'm just trying to be prepared in case she needs a little help, like leaving the refrigerator open. I set that to text her!

She doesn't cook so all she has to do is microwave meals we are preparing or order take-out on our account.

In typing this, I see I've become as much an enabler as her own parents but with us being on the ocean isn't the time for a lesson in maturity!

How did the explorers discover the New World without Google Maps? :)

They bumped into in on the way somewhere else, according to legend.