3 year old in upper bunk? Already booked!

I'm a little nervous with the stateroom I booked for my family of four. 2 adults, 2 kids. We're sailing on the Imagination on 8/24 in a 2 upper stateroom. My 18 month old DD will definitely sleep in pack-n-play or with us below, but not sure if my 3 year old DD will manage in the upper bunk! She excited about it right now, but i'm thinking she'll take one look at it and say "no thanks". I've never booked one of these rooms before! Also, it's very hard to find a picture of this type of room. Any info or a photo would be much appreciated

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Doesn't your stateroom have a convertible sofa? I would ask your agent. Our room does and my 2 yr old will sleep there and my older who is 6yr is excited about the bunk.

A sofa bed would be great. I've got a call into my PVP. Maybe our room does have one and she didn't fully explain?! Thanks for the reply.

When we booked, all she explained to me is that the room had two twins and two uppers. I explained that the baby definitely could not sleep in a bunk and she said they would arrange for a crib/pack-n-play for our room. I asked about the pullout sofa and she said we could not book a room with two twins and a pullout sofa and that we had to have a room for 4 :confused: .

This is the first cruise with having two small children, so we were shocked to have a room like this. We figured we'd be in the same-old outside cabin for 2 we're accustom to (just make room for the two little ones!). I guess it's because of capacity/regulations.

Mom or Dad could sleep in the upper if need be.

Been there, done that.:D

I have a 3 year old DD that I would be reluctant to put up in the upper bunk. However, if I purchase a bed rail, I think she'd be ok. See the following 2 pictures and you'll see what I mean:

Thanks for the replies. And for the pictures, 2cruise4ever! I wish Carnival (and all lines) would show the different stateroom pics on their websites!

We do have a bed rail we could bring. I would sleep up there too, if needed. Would do anything to make sure the girls get their rest!

Also, my MIL and FIL are going with us. They would love to have our DD stay with them in their room. Maybe they'll take both the DD's one night!

Just in case anyone checking this thread is going on a Princess cruise -- this is what the bunk bed looks like (girl not included):

I think for her 2nd and 3rd cruise (lst one was in the ship provided playpen) she used the lower bed and her father was in the top bunk. Since then, she has handled the top bunk fine.

When my son was 6 he fell out of an upper bunk on the Nordic Empress (Empress of the Seas!). The thud when he hit the floor woke us up. He was OK but the night stand was right there and I shudder to think what might have happened had he hit it, he could have seriously injured himself. The railings were just like those you see in the photo of 2cruise4ever, which are, IMO, completely inadequate for small restless sleepers, they only came down halfway and weren't very high. The Princess rails in cruisin chicks photos look much higher and longer.

I called the front desk to ask for higher/longer railings and told them my son had fallen, they said they had no more railings but then moved us to a suite that had a pull-out sofa which was obviously much, much safer!

Mom or Dad could sleep in the upper if need be.

 

Been there, done that.:D

We've done this too...not very romantic - but a small price to pay for a worry-free night of sleep.:o

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day :) .

Thanks for all the replies. That's what I'm most afraid of.....what happened to your son, Smartcookie. So glad he didn't get hurt! And thanks for the photo cruisin chick. The bunk in the princess stateroom looks pretty nice, with longer and highter rails.

. That's what I'm most afraid of.....what happened to your son, Smartcookie. So glad he didn't get hurt!

What's funny (now), is that he barely woke up! We heard the thud, he moaned a little bit and didn't even know he fell out! I guess those floors aren't very hard (thank god), but if he had hit the nightstand he could've cracked his head open.

I agree, the Princess bunks are MUCH better than those in the Carnival photo, those rails are a joke! I honestly didn't expect such flimsy railings on a bunk bed, I'm surprised the cruiselines even allow them. We can't be the first people this has happened to but the Empress and Fascination are older ships, so one would think that they've upgraded the safety of the bunks on the newer ships, I'm surprised there has never been a lawsuit yet. Maybe there has?

I'd sleep up there myself rather than letting a young child sleep up high.

A store clerk told me not to buy a bunk bed until child was 9. Deemed unsafe before 9. I'd think the same guideline would apply on ship.

My 5 year old tried out the upper bunk in someone elses room, just a playtime, and was scared up there and I had to lift her down.

Depending upon luggage, an aero bed on the floor can be a solution--blow it up and deflate when not using it.

I think the problem is that people don't realize that the bunkbeds on cruiseships are not like those of regular beds, they have insufficient railings. Most of us assume that they're safer when we book, my 6 year old had slept in a regular bunkbed often without a problem, it's just that cruiseship bunks on some ships are not up to par, which we didn't discover until we got onboard. I wasn't about to sleep in an upper bunk, I'm too claustrophobic, so that's why we ended up in a suite.

The aerobed is a great idea!

I had seen suggestions before about pulling the mattress off and putting the child on the floor. But I don't know if there would be any room.

When we had one on the Disney Magic, I made my sister in law take the top bunk and put my daughter (then 4 years old) on the couch.

We bring a travel railing with us for the upper bunk. Folds to fit perfectly in the botom of the suitcase without taking up too much room.

hi!

we had the same concerns recently when we cruised with our kids 11mths, 3 and 10. Our room had 2 upper berths, but I was too nervous to put the 3 year old up on one of them. He is a very restless sleeper and also tends to sleepwalk. I brought one of those ready beds (I think I paid $25 at Costco) along with us. I put it right in the bottom of the suitcase and it only took a few minutes to blow it up once on the ship (It came with a pump too, but I left that at home, on purpose) . It has a sleeping bag attached to it, and my son slept soundly (and so did mom) , and safely, on the floor next to the baby's crib, and because the bunk wasn't down it seemed like we had more room in the cabin to walk around. The ready bed was easy to hide under the bed during the day, and they come with all different characters on the sleeping-bag, maybe your daughter could pick out a Dora or Princess one or something, making it extra special for her, and more likely for her to sleep in it :)

have fun!

there are railings that you can buy even though I'm not sure if they work with every bed. We didn't let our girl sleep in the upper bunk on our Carnival cruise but because of her age. Maybe if she was older, we would still not let her if it looked unsafe. She does move around a lot while she's asleep...she'll kick off her covers in her sleep most nights. But on the Princess bunks, we feel she is safe...even though we do tend to remind her about being careful going down the steps.

When we were on Amtrak, she got belted into the upper bunk in the family bedroom car. That makes sense, as there's more motion than on most ships.

Aww I want a bunk with a girl to take home (I have four boys).

As Spongebob would say, "Good luck with that." I cannot get my three year old to sleep in a bunk bed. I am working on it, but no luck. I would prepare to have your child crash on the floor. You could not pay me to wedge my hind end into an upper berth on vacation, but some people are more adventurous than I!

We phoned NCL and asked for an extra cot to be put in our inside room. Someone else suggested it as they had done it in the past.