Afraid of Kids falling overboard

[golf4tonys]

I'm sure people with small kids have the same fears. There is just no telling what they are thinking sometimes or what they would do. I'd hope once we explain to them the issues with being close to the railings or going on the balcony that would help keep them away. But ya never know.

 

Did folks with small kids (ours will be 4, 5, 6 at cruise time) take any special precautions? Like bringing a lock for the balcony (do they have locks on them already?) or keeping them away from certain decks etc?

 

I'm sure when we go out on an outside deck we'll make sure we hold hands and stay away from the sides. Any other feedback to help us deal with these thoughts?

 

Thanks

[ckrobyn]

Your thoughts mirror mine! We are taking our 8 year old on the cruise with us and I have to deal with these thoughts all the time....My rational self says that she has enough sense not to go too near the railings...but kids are kids and they are curious, right?

 

I think in my case, my OWN fears of height are making me fear for HER safety. I don't want our daughter to be afraid, I want her to be sensible, and one way of doing that is teaching her early about safety. The best thing we can all do for our kids to keep them safe is to teach them.

 

In spite of the apprehension I feel about the height of the railings all around the ship, and especially our private balcony, I won't let my anxiety ruin her vacation! You are not alone in your fears, believe me.....

[Sophie]

I think cruise ships are safe for children if they are supervised at all times. The railings are chest high on me and I'm 5 foot 4. For a child to "fall overboard", they would literally have to climb up on something, then over the railing.

The only stories of anyone "falling overboard" I've ever heard of were adults that were either drunk and stupid or there was "foul play" involved! I've never heard of a child falling overboard. Try not to worry too much.

[Robin G]

I go through this every year. And it starts getting worse about a week or two before we leave for our cruise. I picture my 8 year old daughter, who loves to wear hats, looking out over our balcony. Her hat blows off and she trys to catch it. I know in reality that the chances of this happening are so slim its silly to even worry about it. But lets face it, we're Moms and it's what we're suppose to do. And when we become Grandmothers, we'll worry about THEM.

 

I tell myself if she goes over, I'm going in right after her and in a sick kind of way it makes me feel better.

 

Like the prior poster says, don't let the anxiety spoil the vacation. I totally agree, but I know, too, it can be difficult at times...

[m00k3y]

definately was a concern of ours traveling with a 2 year old. On Rhapsody, there was NO way that our son could get out on the balcony if the door was locked. You are able to lock the door in place anywhere from fully opened to fully closed. Unless a child is pretty tall and strong, I would say most 10 year olds would have a hard time getting the balcony door open.

 

We brought a harness for our son just in case, but we never ended up using it.

 

I think this is a very common concern. Just shows you care :)

[cruizeblues]

I go through this every year. And it starts getting worse about a week or two before we leave for our cruise. I picture my 8 year old daughter, who loves to wear hats, looking out over our balcony. Her hat blows off and she trys to catch it. I know in reality that the chances of this happening are so slim its silly to even worry about it. But lets face it, we're Moms and it's what we're suppose to do. And when we become Grandmothers, we'll worry about THEM.

 

I tell myself if she goes over, I'm going in right after her and in a sick kind of way it makes me feel better.

 

Like the prior poster says, don't let the anxiety spoil the vacation. I totally agree, but I know, too, it can be difficult at times...

What a riot Robin! I have had this EXACT same fear with my 8 year old son going overboard after a dropped toy! Only difference was that mine was in a dream shortly after we promised the kids that they could come with us on our next cruise! The dream was so real that I woke up shaking and promised that they would not go with us until they were in their 20's!!:eek: My son has always been somewhat of a daredevil---and I know that I won't relax with him anywhere near a railing! Something I'll have to get over I guess if I want to go cruising anytime soon!

[MrsPete]

I was afraid of this very thing BEFORE our first cruise -- now it's a non-issue. We've only cruised on Disney, but I assume other ships are set up similarly:

 

If you're out on the "main deck", there's a floor-to-ceiling plexi-glass wall separating you from the great blue. This cuts down on the wind, which would otherwise make the pool deck miserable, but it also means that unsupervised children could not go overboard from the main outdoor area -- it is literally impossible from this deck. The other decks all have high railings -- up to my shoulder, but I'm very short -- most with plexiglass on the inside, making it impossible to get a foothold for climbing. Plus, remember that the decks become progressively "smaller" as you move up. If a child did climb up the railing and go "overboard" on one of these places, he would land on a lower deck -- not in the ocean. The reality would be a broken bone, but not a lost child.

 

On our first cruise, my husband and I walked all around the Disney Wonder looking for a place where an accident could occur. We found one place on Deck 4 (near the lifeboats) where an adult who was TRYING could jump off the ship. We found no place where we thought a child could accidentally fall into the water.

 

A private balcony would be, I think, the most dangerous place for a child; however, those door locks are tricky. If you have a toddler, you should remove the chairs from your balcony so that the child won't climb up on the chair to look over the rail and . . .

 

Think about it logically: Hundreds of people walk about the ship drunk, and they don't fall into the ocean. Many parents don't bother to supervise their children, and they don't fall into the ocean. The ship is designed to prevent accidents. Watchful parents will have no fear, once they've inspected the ship for themselves. I don't think anyone should allow small children to just run wild throughout the ship, but even a wild climber child (and I do have one of those in my house) is not going to go overboard.

 

Again, my opinion is based upon the Disney Cruise ships -- can anyone verify that RCCI is simliar?

[mbisson]

I can understand some having this fear of losing a child that might somehow get to their balcony alone, so do yourself a favor and don't book the balcony. The peace of mind would probably be worth it.

 

jmo

-Monte

[SamIAm21]

I had the same fears when I was planning to take our daughter on a cruise. It turned out that we decided to leave her home with her grandparents as she was just 2 at the time and a handful. But, I did know that in the future, I would want to take her on a cruise, so I did some looking around and I feel it would extremely difficult and there would have to be "intention" of jumping over or going overboard. I don't think it could just happen on accident??

 

On the Navigator, the balcony plexiglass walls were up to my chest and I am 5' 4''. It would take a chair on the balcony and some climbing over to actually fall.

 

I think at 8 years old, you could probably sit down a day or two before your vacation with your child and just explain to him/her that while you are going on vacation to have fun, safety and smarts don't go out the window. A short lecture on railings and safety on board will come in very handy, I'm sure.

 

Also, I noticed that most railings sort of slant inward, making climbing them sort of hard because you sort of end up more parallel to the deck than anything else. And, the locks on the balcony doors for the Navigator were at eye level for me, which means my daughter wouldn't be able to reach them at this point in time.

[hoogie]

I can understand the fear. We had the same thing we took our 8 and 9 year olds on thier first cruise. I guess anything is possible but we set the rules immediately and our kids have enjoyed 2 balcony cruises so far, one on carnival and one on rccl. We also have an aft balcony booked for next year. Set the rules immediately, no balconies without a parent.

[k2]

I agree with mbisson... I will not book a balcony room for this very reason. There are chairs on the balcony and it only takes a split second. I know that I would not be able to sleep because I would be afraid of them sneaking out there. It may be crazy, but at least I sleep without that worry. If you definately want the balcony, I would suggest bringing a compression shower curtain rod.... You can place this at the top inside portion of the slider. In order to open the door you will have to be able to reach up and take that down first.

[ckrobyn]

How do you get through security at the airport ( after 9/11) with a metal rod in your suitcase? Good suggestion but not possible.... :rolleyes:

[mtd716]

I can understand some having this fear of losing a child that might somehow get to their balcony alone, so do yourself a favor and don't book the balcony. The peace of mind would probably be worth it.

I agree. Even though I would LOVE to try a balcony cabin, we opted against it for our next cruise since we are bringing the kids for the first time. My youngest will only be 3, and I feel we would enjoy the trip more not worrying about whether or not he could (a) get out on to the balcony by himself, and then (b) find a way to climb over the railing. He's a climber (and a very good one), so it is a real concern for us.

[VABeach]

I had this same question when we went on our first cruise. I don't have children, but I saw small children running all over the ship unsupervised. After very close inspection, it was perfectly clear to me that it would be hard for ME to climb over the side, much less a child. The outside walls are very high, they are solid at the bottom so there's no place to put your feet to climb, and the walls also slant inwards at about a 50' angle. On the upper decks, the rails are more "normal", but if a child were to jump over one of those, they would just fall on the deck below. It's a private balcony that I would be worried about if I were a parent.

 

Go, feel safe, children cruise everyday with no problems. Thanks for being a concerned parent.:)

[mammallama]

Has anyone ever taken their little ones to the zoo? Where there rails in place to keep people safe? While at the zoo has your little one ever attempted to climb the rails? And your reaction was...? Same thing on a cruise ship. :rolleyes:

[VABeach]

In going through some pictures I found on line, here's one that gives a good visual. This should put your mind to rest.;)

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/187603070/187603070FKlWnL

[cruzincurt]

On the majority of ships I've been on the railings on the promonade deck are simply horizontal rails, they make ME nervous sometimes. On the Disney ships they add plexiglass infill panels, not so on most other ships. The web shot photo shows a typical upper deck in the front where the panels are used to block the wind.

 

If I had kids with me, they wouldn't get out of my sight. Imagine, that on the Veendam they actually had signs posted warning poeple to not sit on the railings. I guess some people are just too stupid for their own good.

 

The National Life Safety Code NFPA 101 requires that the space between vertical or horizontal rails not exceed 4 inches. I have seen much wider spacing on cruise ship railings.

[ruttie]

When we were faced with this decision i also had the same fears and let me tell you if it can happen it will happen with my boys!!!:o so rather then stress myself out with 3 weeks to go before our cruise i decided to do myself a favor and downgrade to a NON balcony room.. it was the best thing we ever did!!!! I was able to relax and enjoy our cruise much better! on another cruise about a year later we were Upgraded on the disney ship because of room problems to a HUGE suite I loved having the balcony to sit on while the boys took naps etc.. but it was not worth the lost sleep at night worrying.... of course nothing happened but the worry was enough for me to say forget it!!! hope it works out for you!:)

[TERRY223]

Excellent advice, and I think it's great that you are trying to teach, instead of instilling fear. Sounds like your daughter has some great parents on her side:D

[lorimay]

On our first cruise with the kids they were 3 and 5. We did not book a balcony room just because I couldn't deal with the idea they might be able to get out there on their own.

 

While we were on deck, we made sure we were always between them and the railing. If we did go up to the railing, we always had a hand on them (my little son is a monkey - we had to put a lock on the refrigerator when he was less than a year old because he would open it up and crawl up the shelves). I was worried at first but it all worked out fine. Now they know to stay away from the railing and we have a talk with them before we get n board about how dangerous it is to fool around near the railing.

[Charles4515]

Small children don't fall overboard on cruise ships. Does not happen. These ships are built to prevent anyone from falling overboard. You can't just fall over. The only people who go overboard are those who jump, are pushed, or get drunk or are stupid and climb on the rail. The only children I would worry about are teens. That is the age where kids tend to do stupid things and can overcome the protections. The little children even if they do something stupid are not going to be able to go over the railings. Of course if you take small children on board you want to supervise the children just like you would anywhere you take them.

[robbie500]

We have traveled a couple times with our children on the cruise ships. The concern of them "going overboard" should be minimal. There are actually very few times that we were even close to any railings. Eventhough you may have a balcony the time actually spent on the balcony is small. Use common sense and you should be fine. Don't leave the balcony door open at all times, and as long as there is an adult with the kids in the room, which I believe is a no brainer, you should have a Most Excellent time! We are taking our kids on their third cruise in May. Now that we have a twelve year old there is more chance of me throwing him over than him falling overboard! (Just kidding!!!)

Have Fun, Relax and Enjoy!!!

Rob

[Jyllie63]

I was worried the first time I took my 2 year old on a cruise. We had a balcony because it was a free upgrade offer and I decided to take advantage of it and just be extra careful. We just got off the Mariner in November and I LOVED LOVED LOVED my aft balcony. If she did happen to climb or fall over (which I didn't think she would) there was no water...just the next floor down. She was 4 years old this time around and it was never even an issue. Very Very childproof in my opinion:)

[Carver32]

If you look at the history of folks falling(or ?) off cruise ships, they have all been adults.(I use the term meaning over 18) I've not seen a single case of a child going overboard. We have cruised with our daughters for years and it was never a concern.