Paranoid?

[JENANDGENE]

Am I the only Mom who is a bit paranoid about the ship railings? I can't seem to get the image out of my head of my four year old son trying to climb them and falling overboard :eek:

 

Anyone else have this fear? Am I being completlely ridiculous????

[Kerry's Girls]

Am I the only Mom who is a bit paranoid about the ship railings? I can't seem to get the image out of my head of my four year old son trying to climb them and falling overboard :eek:

 

Anyone else have this fear? Am I being completlely ridiculous????

 

If you do a search of "railings" here, you'll find you're not alone, but you'll also find pictures that should set you at ease. I certainly wouldn't let my toddler alone by the railings, but most are climb-proof (unless they pull some furniture over to climb on), and most of the pool decks don't even have railings anymore, but floor to ceiling windows. On most of the ships we've been on, if we don't have a balcony, then my girls are never even on a deck with railings. Also - after years on this board, I've never heard of a child falling over.

 

Best,

Mia

[cb at sea]

You're not the only one, but it is a mis-placed fear. Once you're on the ship, you'll see...the railings are quite high, and your 4 year old won't be off on his own. It'll be fine!

 

I'm betting he's never climbed your deck railing at home, or fallen over a stair railing....and he won't do it on the ship, either!

[CruizinMom2c]

Don't worry we all have those fears...but honestly will your 4 year old be around the railings by themselves? You can avoid those areas if you are really scared of them...there is plenty of space outside that is away from railings.

[freakymickey]

I have the same fear!! I am trying to convince myself that a cruise with my son (4) will be safe and fun. I have cruised several times and absolutely love it but haven't cruised with kids before. I am sure I will have plenty of nightmares before our cruise.

[lwf99]

My father had nightmares for months prior to taking my two boys - at the time 5 and 6 - on a cruise. He moved to a window room with no balcony. He was already to jump after them if they fell over. Both of our sons made it back home just fine and so did my parents. They all had a great time and my husband and I are taking the boys on a cruise in June.;)

[crusinmama06]

Yes, you are being ridiculous...HOWEVER...you are being just as ridiculous as I was on my first cruise when my oldest was 2. I was convinced she was going to break free of our group, run up to the top deck and jump overboard. :eek:

Here are my kids on FREEDOM of the Seas. You can see how high the railings are. My daughter (the taller one) was 48" tall in that picture at the time.

 

[Purpleprincess4]

Your fears are totally normal. I don't know about RCL, but on Disney Magic the Balcony doors were hard to open and had locks on the top. My youngest was 3 at the time and I had fears just as you are having now. If it continues to bother you, change your room to a view and not a balcony. :D

[RoadTripFanatic]

You are not alone. My first cruise was on an older Carnival ship and all of the rails were metal railings. There were no glass side rails on the entire ship! Lucky for my sanity the Princess ship we took was mostly glass side rails and only the metal ones on the back of the ship. I still have the cruise lecture with my daughter about how she is to NEVER EVER climb those railings. I don't care where on the ship we are she is not to climb the railings.

[Edug8r]

I have an...ahem..."active" three year old we will be taking on her first cruise. I keep imagining her running off from me, going between metal rails, and falling. You are not alone!

[MrsZee]

Absolutely not paranoid. It is my biggest fear taking this trip! We are going on Carnival and they do not have glass railings. :( I wish they did though.

[MrsZee]

Is there a glass wall around the waterworks section on the Fantasy class Carnival ships?

[Kidsx5]

You are NOT alone. It is my biggest worry and I actually had a nightmare about it last night. :eek:

[Patsfan3]

I am another mother who worries about it. We just got off the Emerald with our son who turned 5 on the ship. We had a balcony. He luckily could not open the door himself and he alos know that if the door was open he had to be out there with an adult. There were no problems but I never take my eye off of him!

 

We are considering the Celelbrity Summit next year. and was wondering if anyone has had a family cabin on that ship. Wondering about balcony safety with those cabins.

[camorelli]

You are not alone. My husband is very fearful of the same thing and he's had nightmares about it. I know the kids won't be alone by any railings and they won't be out and about walking on their own. I feel confident that my kids will be ok. Thousands of kids cruise all the time - I just keep telling myself that! :) I did skip the balcony though this time and got the floor to ceiling window on the Spa Deck on the Carnival Liberty - first cruise with kids.

[sprockie]

You are not alone. My husband is very fearful of the same thing and he's had nightmares about it. I know the kids won't be alone by any railings and they won't be out and about walking on their own. I feel confident that my kids will be ok. Thousands of kids cruise all the time - I just keep telling myself that! :) I did skip the balcony though this time and got the floor to ceiling window on the Spa Deck on the Carnival Liberty - first cruise with kids.

We just sailed on the Liberty in the floor to ceiling window Spa deck cabin as well for the same reason. Our nearly 4 year old gets up on counters without any chair all the time. I don't need that kind of worry on a vacation. I just booked another - oceanview for the same reason. Until he's a bit older, I will be saving my sanity and my money and booking a non-balcony room.

[Maryscooking]

Ok, so my fear about railings is not that my daughter (3) will climb over, but that I or my husband will be holding her next to the railing, and lose our balance and she will fall out of our arms and overboard! Seriously, on our last cruise, the first with her, I practically had a death grip on her anytime we were walking anywhere near a railing. And I never actually stood against a railing with her, always a few feet back.

 

Part of my fear is because of an experience we had on the Majesty OTS before she was born - with no warning, in calm seas, the ship suddenly listed to the side, enough of a list that I was knocked off balance and into a wall (dishes crashed in the dining rooms, pool water drained out and down onto the balconies below, etc). I know that was an unusual incident, but I can't help but think of the "what if" when I'm carrying her on board.

 

I think our September cruise will be the last one where she will want to be picked up or carried much at all, thank goodness for my sanity! :)