Baby Monitors

[bankerbabe]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks (yay!) and it's our first with the kids in a separate inside cabin across the hall. They are plenty old enough and certainly responsible enough to lock the door when they are in for the evening and STAY in for the evening. Son is 15 and daughter is 10.

 

We tend to be a little extra careful with our kids, though, so we purchased a really nice baby monitor off of eBay so that we can listen in on the kids in the unlikely chance that something happens in their cabin. I just wondered if anyone else has used baby monitors to keep track of their kids' cabins, and wondered what the effectiveness is.

 

We aren't talking infants here, being left in their cabins alone while Mom and Dad roam the ship. Just a teenager and a "tween" that we want to keep extra close tabs on.

[salty dingo]

Don't know the range of the baby monitor, but people report that walkie-talkies work well on ships.

 

Also, there are house phones all over the place, and you can call the room as often as you like to check in.

 

Instruct the kids how to call in the even of an emergency and the staff can handle any problem and can locate you if necessary.

[ib4cruzn]

IMHO if you need the monitor, they shouldn't be left alone.

 

YMMV...

[KirkNC]

Tey should work, we used walkie talkie once when our daughter was younger.

 

Kirk

[flyingb]

:confused:

IMHO if you need the monitor, they shouldn't be left alone.

 

YMMV...

 

Ditto!

flyingb

[mcwebber]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks (yay!) and it's our first with the kids in a separate inside cabin across the hall. They are plenty old enough and certainly responsible enough to lock the door when they are in for the evening and STAY in for the evening. Son is 15 and daughter is 10.

 

A 15 y.o. and a 10 y.o. and you need a baby monitor? Do you listen in on their room at home that way? They're old enough to have some privacy and talk. Give them a walkie talkie if they need to call you or they can use the cabin phone. Just make sure they double lock the door and don't go out alone.

You'll also like be awakened by a blast of static in the middle of the night from other people's radios.

[bankerbabe]

IMHO if you need the monitor, they shouldn't be left alone.

 

YMMV...

 

 

We don't NEED them, it's just peace of mind since we've never had them in a separate cabin before. They are fine with having a separate cabin and I have no doubt that there will be no problems. But DH is a bit of a worry wart.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thay work great on a ship

[Elaine515]

Personally I think this is a tough call... A 15 year old boy is going to want to be out later than his 10 year old sister hanging out with his new friends...

 

Just exactly when are you going to be doing the listening? Please tell us you're not going to give the older one the responsibility of "babysitting" his sister while on a cruise...

 

I think baby monitors are not necessary and if you are really nervous, either put them in your cabin or at the very least, let the younger one go to Camp while her brother enjoys himself...

[raylene5]

Hmm, are they even "allowed" to be in a cabin without an adult? I don't think there's anything wrong with it necessarily...15 seems old enough. But I thought they didn't let kids stay in rooms by themselves. Just curious :) Also, don't want to freak you out but I thought there was a story on here recently about a 14 year old who was raped on a Carnival ship. I'm a HUGE worry wort which really sucks for me :)

[LSEA]

My God some people are sour.

 

To the OP, sounds like a great idea. Nothing at all wrong with being a little extra cautious. I see many people using walkie talkies so I would think a baby monitor would work just fine. Have a terrific cruise and enjoy that privacy

[bankerbabe]

Personally I think this is a tough call... A 15 year old boy is going to want to be out later than his 10 year old sister hanging out with his new friends...

 

Just exactly when are you going to be doing the listening? Please tell us you're not going to give the older one the responsibility of "babysitting" his sister while on a cruise...

 

I think baby monitors are not necessary and if you are really nervous, either put them in your cabin or at the very least, let the younger one go to Camp while her brother enjoys himself...

 

 

 

We are not going to make our 15 year old son watch his 10 (nearly 11) year old sister while on vacation. That wouldn't be much fun for him, and he'll definitely want to be out later than his sister will be allowed to. We wanted it mainly for at night - our son's curfew (15 year old) will be later than our daughter's and we wanted to be able to hear if something happens in the hour or two between the two curfews.

 

 

 

Hmm, are they even "allowed" to be in a cabin without an adult? I don't think there's anything wrong with it necessarily...15 seems old enough. But I thought they didn't let kids stay in rooms by themselves. Just curious :) Also, don't want to freak you out but I thought there was a story on here recently about a 14 year old who was raped on a Carnival ship. I'm a HUGE worry wort which really sucks for me :)

 

 

Yes, they are allowed to be in their own cabin. They even allow you to book them that way now, as long as they are in close proximity to the adults' cabin.

 

I read the posting on the 14 year old. That's just ANOTHER reason why my daughter will be in her cabin at a decent curfew. And when she's not with us or in her cabin, she will be in camp.

 

We will give the 15 year old some freedom - with strict rules and a well-enforced curfew.

[silkhair1]

I would think they would work fine if the rooms were close enough. I am not sure why people think they need to know about your son babysitting. I think you just were looking for a yes or no answer. I do not think the OP needs to explain herself further about her question.

[jamesr3939]

To answer your question, yes they do work and should work across the hallway. We used them between two balcony cabins next door to each other so we could put the kids to sleep and then hang out in the other cabin.

 

We also used the walkie talkies with some pretty good distance, even inside the ship. But don't overdo the WT as they are annoying up on deck.

 

We found them handy on the private island if people went off in different directions.

[luv-my-kids]

bankerbabe

 

I am sorry that alot of people blasted you. I don't think you were asking for opinions on your parenting! I think you simply wanted to know if the baby monitor would work. I do think they will work just fine. I understand being an over protective parent. I would probably do the same thing. That's what smart parenting is all about.

[Tapi]

They should work just fine. The baby monitor that we have at home has great range. We can set it in the kitchen or living room and we get a clear image and sound of our little one on the 2nd floor at the other end of our house. We've even tried it from our neighbor's house and we still get a clear signal.

 

I would think that you should have no problems getting a signal from a cabin that's 10-15 feet away...

[bankerbabe]

Thanks for the replies. I was concerned about them not working through the walls - for some reason I had it in my head that there was more metal in the walls so that might somehow block the signal.

[bankerbabe]

bankerbabe

 

I am sorry that alot of people blasted you. I don't think you were asking for opinions on your parenting! I think you simply wanted to know if the baby monitor would work. I do think they will work just fine. I understand being an over protective parent. I would probably do the same thing. That's what smart parenting is all about.

Thanks. The replies didn't bother me - I know that I'm a good parent and in the end that's what matters.

 

I see nothing wrong with being a tad overprotective. I trust my kids, but I also like to verify. Trust, but verify. Thus the baby monitor.

[Tapi]

Thanks for the replies. I was concerned about them not working through the walls - for some reason I had it in my head that there was more metal in the walls so that might somehow block the signal.

 

Although we haven't tested the baby monitor on the ship, we used our walkie talkies. We learned that if we were on different floors but directly below or above, we could hear each other clearly (even if one of us was on deck 2 and the other on deck 10). However if we were both on the same deck, the signal would start fading fairly quick as one person moved forward and the other aft.

[bethaniesmom]

i would wonder about interference, static, etc, on the baby monitor. wouldn't think it would be as clear as at home. but then again, you are not looking for round the clock monitoring. i would think they would work well enough for what you want to do.

 

Beverly

[G'ma]

Personally, if you feel your kids need monitoring, you might want to give leaving them alone a second thought.

 

They are across the hall, with access to a telephone. If they need more than that, perhaps the parents need to split up and share rooms with the kids.

[salty dingo]

Thanks for the replies. I was concerned about them not working through the walls - for some reason I had it in my head that there was more metal in the walls so that might somehow block the signal.

There is a good bit of metal between decks but not much between rooms. In fact the walls are rather thin. I can attest to hearing more than I wanted to hear from neighbors, if you get my drift.

 

The doors are especially bad at blocking sound from people walking in the halls, but I digress.

 

The monitor will work fine between adjacent cabins. I guess I misinterpreted the request that they wanted to use the monitor all over the ship, and the ship is really big, so I don't know if it would reach from one end to the other.

[norcal2]

Personally' date=' if you feel your kids need monitoring, you might want to give leaving them alone a second thought.

 

They are across the hall, with access to a telephone. If they need more than that, perhaps the parents need to split up and share rooms with the kids.[/quote']

 

That is exactly what I was thinking that mom and dad may want to each have a kid in their rooms. It is a little uncomfortable breaking the news to a 15 year old that you have a "baby" monitor for him and it may not be such a good idea to try unless a parent can explain it better then I would be able to without making the 15 year old give up on me, but I certainly understand parents wanting the kids protected. Parents picking cabins is a good option. I tend to agree that if mom and dad need a baby monitor for a 15 year old they should probably not be alone as it is not just at night that kids can get into trouble. A good Walkie Talkie to make sure you know where the kids are if separated may make more sense as they have some control day and night and it won't make for an uncomfortable situation of having to explain baby monitors to a 15 year old. 15 is a tough age as they can get a driver's license soon.

[salty dingo]

If you are worried about the kids making noise and bothering people... don't. There are hundreds of drunks on the ship that will make them look like child's play. :D

 

If someone did compain, staff would take care of it.

[zstell]

It still catches me off-guard when people go off on a tangent about what people need to do with their children. I know my kids, period! They have stayed in their own cabin for several years and will continue to do so.

 

My 3 year old granddaughter will be sailing with us in April, in our cabin. I thought about bringing a monitor in case I wanted to read in one of the other cabins while she naps. I honestly decided I wouldn't really be comfortable with that so I guess I'll have an excuse for a nap, too.

 

As far as the monitor, the only problem I would anticipate is if another "neighbor" brings one with the same signal. I have picked up my neighbors before and they are a good distance away from us.