Staying connected with family/group on ship

[CoolTripletMom]

We are traveling with my entire family (parents, brothers) and our 3 year old triplets on RCCL in May. How on earth do we stay in touch with each other while on the ship? Normally if we were all traveling to someone in the States we'd just call each other on our cell phones to see what each person was up to and ask to meet up a certain place and when. But on the ship: how should we do that?

[tiyana4]

I would imagine (not positive) that most RCCL ships have voice mail so that you can leave voice mail messages on the phone system. You can also leave notes in the mail slot outside the cabin door. Unless you are sailing to Alaska, I DO NOT recommend using cell phones to stay in touch (and only while in port or you will incur Cellular at Sea fees). Some people recommend walkie talkies, but I personally find them very disruptive to other passengers.

[Baxter]

Sticky notes. Messages on voice mail. After a day or so, we had a general sense of where to find people -- same time, same area at the buffet in the morning...specific plans were made at that time.

[chipmaster]

We are traveling with my entire family (parents, brothers) and our 3 year old triplets on RCCL in May. How on earth do we stay in touch with each other while on the ship? Normally if we were all traveling to someone in the States we'd just call each other on our cell phones to see what each person was up to and ask to meet up a certain place and when. But on the ship: how should we do that?

 

Honestly the ship isnt that large and the places one might hang out really are limited; arcade, pool, lido deck buffet, cabin, shops. You also are likely going to eat 3 meals a day and thus can arrange to hook up at cabin/pool at certain times.

 

For kids it can be more a concern if they are at the age where they can and want to wander on their own yet you feel a bit for their safety and judgement. We've found that by 7 or 8 years of age they are smart enough to get around without getting lost, its a seperate question as to you feel safe and do they posess the smart judgement :D For 3 year olds not a problem they won't be wandering by off nor should you let them.

 

Walkietalkies are an option but you can search that topic and passions run high about them. My suspician is that they don't work to well either from one end to the bowls of the ship.

[cb at sea]

You'll find that its much easier to "find" each other than you think! Make a tentative schedule, and if something changes, a note in the cabin works wonders! There will be places you tend to gravitate to....so your party will know where to look for you!

[Cruisin' Chick]

For young kids, that wouldn't be a problem with me. When you sign them into the kids' program, there's an age limit at which a parent or guardian must sign them in and out. There will be an age limit that is up to the parent whether a child can sign themselves out. When my girl was 8, she was not allowed to sign herself out.

 

For older kids, establish some rules about where they can go on the ship (no going into any cabins unless authorized by their parent, no allowing anyone -- other than a cabin steward -- entrance into their cabin w/o authorization). Have a system set up (post it notes, dry erase board on door, etc) where everyone in your group puts their expected destination (Princess Theater or whatever). Have a time that they need to report in to you back at the cabin or at an established locale.

 

The others in your group (parents, siblings, etc.) and you can set up a main cabin for your "headquarters" if your cabins are scattered about the ship.

[leanna may]

I will be taking 6 children on a carnival cruise in February,I was wondering is there usually kids on these cruises because I haven't seen any posting for kids and teens on here??What I mean is in February? And if there is not many will camp carnival and the teen groups still be going on regardless of how many are on any one cruise?Does that sound right?Does anyone else worry about them falling off the ship or am I just being silly?

[A&Jfamily]

I will be taking 6 children on a carnival cruise in February,I was wondering is there usually kids on these cruises because I haven't seen any posting for kids and teens on here??What I mean is in February? And if there is not many will camp carnival and the teen groups still be going on regardless of how many are on any one cruise?Does that sound right?Does anyone else worry about them falling off the ship or am I just being silly?

 

You will find kids, though not as many as when school is out. Only a very small percetage of travelers are on this board, so it does not surprise me that you have not seen any postings.

 

As for the cruise itself, they will still run the camp programs - don't worry. CCL has age groups of 2-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15+. You can chose for the 9-11 whether they have sign in/out privileges. The 12+, of course, can roam as you allow. Under 9, you have to sign them in/out. So, given the age limits, no, I don't worry about them falling off the ship. Really, no one "falls" off the ship - the railings are too high - those that do go over board are either intoxicated and being stupid, or something far more sinister!

 

Actually, I found giving my 9 yo sign out privilges (with strict rules) to be a great learning experience for him. He was excited to be trusted, but also very nervous at first going from the lido deck up to camp on his own. I would tell him where I would be, and for the first day or two, he would "test" me - he'd sign out just to see if I was where I said I would be. When he could find me easily every time, he got comfortable.

 

While I recognize that there is a HUGE range of opinion on these boards about kids being able to "wander" (I put that term in quotes because my kids aren't allowed to wander - just move from point A to B), and I also accept that cruise ships are floating cities and bad things can and do happen, I think the safety here far outweighs that on land. I don't think I would be so comfortable letting my 9 yo wander (or even now that he is 11) on a land based resort - then, kidnapping becomes an option - obviously, you can't kidnap a child on a ship because you are confined together on the boat. So, that defeats the plans of most sex offenders, who are strangers - it makes it very likely that they will get caught which is a major deterant. The other class of sex offenders is those known to the child such as a pastor, coach or family member - since I am not traveling with those, he's safe there. So that is a really long way of saying that I feel that the benefits of a small amount of freedom given far outweigh the risks on the ship.

 

Have a great trip!

[MamaParrotHead]

We've used sets of 2 way radios with great success on all our cruises. It's so nice not to have to jump up to go meet someone at a pre-arranged time if you're enjoying what you're doing at the time. We've always had great luck with them working and not had any problems with other people on the channels we've chosen.

[kkscraps]

We use dry erase boards on each of our cabin doors. We generally make a plan the night before of what everyone wants to do when we receive our dailies, but if we change our minds, we put a note on our board.