Just back from Brilliance of the Seas - in cabin babysitting report

[AlbertaGirl]

Hi everyone - We just got off the Brilliance of the Seas on Friday from a fabulous 11 day vacation!! I know alot of you were inquiring about the in-cabin sitting. We booked it at the Guest services desk when we boarded the ship. We requested a sitter for everynight from 7 pm until 2 am. Our son is almost 3 but too young for the program - no exceptions to this rule. My nieces and nephew went to the program - which they loved. But they also spent a few nights in our cabin with the sitter. The guest services desk called us the next morning and we were sent a WONDERFUL woman named Denyse for every single night. She was absolutely fabulous with our son and he loved her. She works in housekeeping and has been on this ship for over 2 years. We also had another lady named Lucia - who works with Denyse - come a few sea days in the afternoon so we could have some alone time. She also came a port day so we could go on a snorkelling excursion.She was also so wonderful! We allowed her to take our son around the ship to swim and play mini golf. He loved it! We paid the ladies very well and also took them some small gifts. When we left - we were all teary saying good bye to Denyse. I went to guest services and told them how wonderful she was and they said they already knew that and that she is always the first one to take on babysitting jobs. Apperently , we were the only ones who requested the in-cabin babysitting service! We really enjoyed our vacation and we went to the late seating at dinner everynight with no kids - and enjoyed it so much! Truly - our vacation would not have been so great without the babysitters. It was a much more enjoyable experience and I was not worried for one minute with these ladies looking after my son. And he also enjoyed the time away from everyone else too - it got a bit much for him being around the whole family (13) all the time.

So , book the babysitting!! It will make your vacation so much better when you can enjoy it as a couple.

 

Happy cruising!! We are hooked now!!!

 

 

Dawn

[savvyria]

That sounds great! Now tell us about the cabin, etc....:D

[CASkippr]

Dawn,

 

Thanks so much for your post.

 

We are sailing to the Med in July and plan on booking sitter every evening and occasionally during the days. I was under the impression that it was not possible to have a sitter from the ship with you in the ports. We are very interested in having them go with us on excursions (we're booking private excursions so an additional person should not be a problem). Did you make this request when you booked the sitter or did you make that arrangement privately with the sitter?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

Leah

[AlbertaGirl]

Sav - We had an oceanview room. It was alot bigger than we expected. It had two twin beds in it that can be put together to make a double bed plus we got a room with two pullman beds in it ( top bunks). We had our room attendant pull it down everynight and I slept up top and my husband slept in one bed and our 2 1/2 year old in the other. We also had a couch in our room that converted to a bed. The rooms only had showers - whcih proved tricky for us. My son does not like the shower so my husband made a game out of it by letting him hold the detachable head and my husband wahsing his hair and and soaping him. The room had plenty of space for everything. There were 7 drawers plus shelves in the closet.

I took some things that made things easier:

- foldable laundry hamper- made things neater in the room by being able to put the hamper in the closet.

-small umbrella stroller, great for shore excursions that required alot of walking.

-portable DVD player, great for letting my son wind down everynight and also a godsend on the plane

- a wetsuit - it gets extremely hot in the carribean and with all the glass around the kids pool - it saved him from getting so much sun. He never got burned at all.

-take tylenol and cold medicine - we did and ny SIL asked to borrow some as her daughter was not feeling well and the gift shop did not have any childrens meds

Things I wished I had done different:

-socks!! I wish I had packed my son way more socks. I found at his age that his sandles were making him clumsy so he wore his running shoes most of the time. But I did'nt pack enough socks and he had to wear 3 pairs for 2 weeks!

- a few more t-shirts and shorts as he went through alot of clothes and we had to send laundry out. I guess I was short sighted about how much laundry he goes through at home:rolleyes: why would vacation be any different??

-another hat as he wore his in the pool all the time and got it wet and after a while it looked pretty sad!

 

We had a great time- it was fun travelling with him and he enjoyed the "boap" so much. We are planning a cruise for next March and we will definately be taking him along!!

 

I am happy to answer to any questions!

 

Dawn

[AlbertaGirl]

Leah - The guest services just lined up the sitter and we made arrangements with them ourselves. When the girls came to the room we just gave them our instructions. We told the lady who babysat for us during the day that she could take our son about the ship for lunch or to the pool and that he need to nap during the day. We asked the childrens program if we could have her in the room so he could play with the others and they said no because he still wears diapers and even though she would be there to change them they still said no. But we trusted the lady to take him around the ship. She was really good with him and watched him like a hawk. She had to work from 6 pm until 6 am everynight so the afternoons she watched him we had to be back by 5 pm. We had her come at 1 pm as she needed to sleep in the morning. The other lady that babysat for us in the evenings worked from 5 am until 5 pm. We gave her permission to sleep on the couch while we were out after our son went to sleep. He was totally fine. I am sure that you could take them on shore excursions (with you of course paying for everything) if they have the time off. But they are not "babysitters" per say but have other jobs on the ship and babysit when they are not working. Both our girls worked in housekeeping. They send out a memo to each department with your request and who ever is available will offer to take the job. So hopefully you will be able to find someone that works an evening job and will be able to come along on shore excursions. I am here to answer all your questions!!

 

Dawn

[serene56]

How much does in cabin sitting costs?

 

wow-- this lady worked from 6pm til 6 am... and she baby sat for you til 5pm??? Not much sleep but I guess she didnt babysit all the time.

[AlbertaGirl]

Hi Serene - The Guest Sevices told us it was between 8-10 dollars an hour depending on the amount of kids. We paid the ladies 10 dollars as we thought thay was a fair price for being able to enjoy some adult time.

 

Crazy huh?? Her name was Portia - she was awesome - from Trinidad. She worked from 6pm until 6 am everyday. She told us that she would be happy to sit for us but could'nt until noon so she could sleep until then. I felt bad and asked her to come at 1 instead. She has a husband and an 11 year old son at home in Trinidad and sends them any money she makes. She said she really enjoyed making the extra money - like I said before we were the only family who requested in-cabin sitting for most of the cruise.

 

It was a great experience and when we sail again we will certainly use the service again!!

 

Dawn

[dimama]

I just have a few questions. Do you know if the sitter gets all of the money you paid, or only a part? Did you tip on top of the $10? Did you pay the sitter directly, or were the charges placed on your card?

 

We are sailing December 11th on Radiance, and my youngest turns 3 in November. Hopefully, he is completely potty trained by then, but if not babysitting will be very needed. Also for evening times, I suspect he won't function very well after 8:00 or so in the evening.

[AlbertaGirl]

Dimama - Hi! Good thing I looked on this forum and seen your question! The sitters get all of the money you give them. Guest services just sent someone and we worked out all the details with the ladies sent to babysit. And yes , we gave them extra on top as it was well worth it to be able to go out and enjoy ourselves! You have to pay the sitters cash only. It was nice having the sitter as we had very busy days and our little guy was so tired - he needed that quiet time in the room. Our nieces and nephew spent alot of time in Adventure Ocean and even though they had fun they were getting exhausted and cranky. We never worried for even one second about leaving him alone - the ladies were super super nice and it was comfortable. So no worries there.

 

 

Good luck on the potty training! Our little guy is almost three(this month) and we are still trying to train him. Boys are tough! My husband and I are going to Mexico next weekend for a week for a wedding so hopefully Grandma will have more success at the training than me!

 

Have a great time on your cruise!

 

Dawn

[kimjay72]

Did the cruise ship give you a pager or anything for the in room babysitting?

 

Thanks for all your info.

 

Kim

[AlbertaGirl]

HI Kim - No they do not give you a pager. We would just phone the room or go and check in and see if everything was ok. By the 3 rd night we stopped doing that as Denise was fully capable and the kids loved her! We never worried for one second and I am a worrier:D

 

Enjoy your cruise !

 

Dawn

[kimjay72]

Thanks Dawn for all your information. It helped me a lot. :)

[SunnyMorn]

I just wanted to add that my experiences with in room babysitting on RCCL have also been this wonderful. My son is 5 (6by our next cruise) and we used it on 2 cruises when he was 1.5 and 2.5 yo. We always had the same sitter each nightof the cruise, Which made it soooo much easier on everyone.

My son was VERY happy with this arrangement and to this day would prefer that or the kids club to a long boring dinner in the dinning room wich is why we always get 2nd seating and go to dinner just after AO opens.