ashley0826 Posted December 1, 2010 #1 Share Posted December 1, 2010 So I HATE that our cruise line only offers in room sitting. I wish there was a group setting during the day for his age group. He's 20 months old. My question is has anyone ever used the sitting services available for in your room? I am so paranoid. It would only be once or twice but I worry about weird people or strangers taking care of my son. I hate that if something happened he can't tell me like an older child could. Maybe I am being over cautious? What was your experience/ opinion on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted December 1, 2010 #2 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Lines that offer in-cabin babysitting are NOT in the habit of sending rotten folks to care for their passenger's kids! You really don't have to worry. He's almost 2. Most likely, he'll be asleep thruout the entire babysitting time. If you're that worried, don't leave him for a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted December 1, 2010 #3 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I have no experience with cruise ship sitters, but did leave a child when they were 3 with a babysitter we didn't know at a hotel. The woman was crazy. Never again. It was a bad experience all around. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingleFatherofDD Posted December 1, 2010 #4 Share Posted December 1, 2010 My second cruise with DD is coming up at the end of this month. She is 5 years old now. On my first cruise I used the kids club until they closed which was around 10PM. I didn't try the in cabin babysitting services. I have only heard good things about them. Also it seems from what I hear in these forums is that they do the babysitting in teams of two now. Not sure if this is true with all of the lines. By the time I picked up DD she was already beat from the day so I brought her to our cabin and I got her into her bed clothes and watch a DVD together. Usually 1/2 way through she was sleeping. Then I just either read a book or went to sleep myself. Having DD is preventing me from staying in the Casino until the wee hours and loosing all my money. She is a little blessing in disguise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusieV Posted December 2, 2010 #5 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Personally, I'm not comfortable with it because as you say, you have NO idea what's going on and your child can't tell you. We either bring Grandma along since she pretty much goes to bed after dinner anyway, or we cruise as a couple and Grandma babysits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthelake Posted December 2, 2010 #6 Share Posted December 2, 2010 On one hand, I have a lot of respect for cruise staff and know they depend on their jobs and would not jeopardize their position - that said, we would not, as parents, ever have left our son, sleeping or awake, with a stranger in a strange place. Certainly not before he was fully verbal. It is a personal matter and I know many folks have used the sitting services successfully many times. You have to go with what makes you comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RizzoLee Posted December 9, 2010 #7 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Our friends have used the sitting services for their 2.5 yos on CCL with no issues; they had a nice dinner out and the kids watched a DVD with the sitter. I wonder if you can ask to meet your sitter first? My Mom and Dad are coming with us on the next cruise (along with a ton of our other family), but we were considering using the service for one night while my mom takes two nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QLUVS2CRUZ Posted December 10, 2010 #8 Share Posted December 10, 2010 I agree it is a personal choice, and I would not assume the person sent to babysit is a person you want. I'm sure more times than not it will be fine, but there is a chance. You are right to be worried, but you just have to decide if the pros outweigh the cons. It would be great if you could meet the person first. Maybe ask whoever arranges the care to let you meet the person?? We will take advantage of Camp Carnival's babysitting, but it's not in the room and my kids are old enough to talk...so I feel more comfortable that way. Maybe you should switch to Carnival. :D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam82 Posted December 10, 2010 #9 Share Posted December 10, 2010 I feel better with group sitting, but I have used the in room sitting on HAL. We had a great sitter. She was so considerate that she turned all the lights off and did her work by the light of the TV. My son can sleep with all lights on with no problem, but it was still considerate. Even though she was awesome, I wouldn't have left him at 20 months since my son couldn't communicate well at that age. Some kids can, but not mine. Even if you decide you want to use the service, from my experience they are not always available so it's not something I would count on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphine Posted December 10, 2010 #10 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Our friends have used the sitting services for their 2.5 yos on CCL with no issues; they had a nice dinner out and the kids watched a DVD with the sitter. I wonder if you can ask to meet your sitter first? My Mom and Dad are coming with us on the next cruise (along with a ton of our other family), but we were considering using the service for one night while my mom takes two nights. RizzoLee, do you mean Carnival or Celebrity? I didn't think Carnival offered any in-cabin sitting services? (all of ours were done in the kids club) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfboat Posted December 10, 2010 #11 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Thanks for this post- wondering the same thing! I've read some awful reviews on the daytime "program" for kids that RCCL offers. All of this makes me pretty nervous actually! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted December 12, 2010 #12 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Rizzolee, CCL, do you mean Carnival? When did Carnival start in cabin sitting? I thought only HAL, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have in cabin sitting. Unless Carnival just started this. Wolfboat, where did you read these awful reviews??? RCI is known for their great kids programs. None of our family members have had anything but super reviews about RCI's program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RizzoLee Posted December 13, 2010 #13 Share Posted December 13, 2010 My BFF had said in their cabin, but it could have been in CC for all I know. If it's in CC, I'm more comfortable with that option! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserInMD Posted December 21, 2010 #14 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Just returned from an RCI cruise with our 19 month old. We used in-room babysitting for 9 nights out of the 12. It was WONDERFUL. The two women that sat for us were always the same and they were lovely and loved kids. Our son was actually sleeping by the time we requested them (8-10pm most nights, 2 hour maximum) and they were disappointed they couldn't play with him, but they stayed quiet so he could sleep and were always dependable. I can't speak highly enough of our experience with this service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Gamecock Posted January 2, 2011 #15 Share Posted January 2, 2011 We used in-room sitter service for our DD when she was very young on RCL. We liked the ladies so much, we tipped them extra well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imjoyful2 Posted January 2, 2011 #16 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I've read some awful reviews on the daytime "program" for kids that RCCL offers. Where have you heard/read about that? We've sailed w/ 4 of our kids twice (both 12 night cruises) and RCCL programs have been amazing!! We homeschool so we obviously cruise when most kids are in school (the best time IMO). Their programs are educational & fun. The only complaints my kids have had is rude & poorly behaved kids that took away from the leaders attention. Otherwise, their program is great! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Gamecock Posted January 3, 2011 #17 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Where have you heard/read about that? We've sailed w/ 4 of our kids twice (both 12 night cruises) and RCCL programs have been amazing!! We homeschool so we obviously cruise when most kids are in school (the best time IMO). Their programs are educational & fun. The only complaints my kids have had is rude & poorly behaved kids that took away from the leaders attention. Otherwise, their program is great! :) I too would like to read those reviews. The RCL and X staff have been wonderful!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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