Leave kids on ship during excursion

[dishealth11]

Have you or would you leave your children on ship while you go on excursion?

 

If yes, what are the ages.

 

If you've done it (or someone you've traveled with) what has been your experience?

 

Any feedback greatly appreciated:)

[dosi]

I couldn't really pick one of your choices because it didn't fit my answer. We left our son once for about 90 minutes in Cozumel. We wanted to go to Carlos and Charlies and didn't feel it would be appropriate for a three year old. We were docked at the pier just across from C and C's so we could always see the ship which was comforting. I would not have gone on a long tour or very far away from the ship and left him there though. :)

[nanfour]

We left our 4 yo son on the ship in Belize. I only felt comfortable doing it if I took a ship sponsored tour. My older sons chose something that he was too young to do.....I was afraid to book on our own...I had this nightmare of getting a flat tire or something and watching the ship sail away with my son on it....they knew what excursion I was on, the times of the excursion, and I already felt comfortable with the camp staff. I knew if the excursion was late, the ship would wait. Also, we picked a relatively short excursion, compared to some of them. We did the excursion, then my husband returned to the ship to get my son and play with him while I shopped. It worked out great. Yes, I would do it again.

[rfendt]

We just got back today from crusing on the Dawn (the week after the "wave" incident, - by the way, you couldnt tell that ANYTHING AT ALL happened, and we had a very nice cruise), but back to the question,...we left our two children in the Kids Crew Club (ages 7 and 11) while we went out in Nassau, Bahamas til approx. 12mid. We had our kids in for the normal 7-10pm and we signed them in for the "stay late" option which is $5 per hour for the first child, then $3 for the second. We knew they were fine, they LOVED being there and they had a blast! Just an FYI - we read that if you have a child in the 2-5 program that is in need of a diaper change or "mommy or daddy" that you will have a "beeper" to carry with you, and if you do have a beeper, you are not allowed to leave the ship because it won't work off the ship. You can totally trust the Kids Crew Club though. No worrries! Hope this helps!

[whale-watcher]

I would be too worried to enjoy myself. When our older children want to do something that the youngest can't, either my DW or myself stay with the youngest. There is always a chance, no matter how remote, that something might happen, and I would not want to subject a young child to the emotional trauma of having to travel home without parents -- don't mean to be morbid, but DW and I have seen way too many tragic stories after years of working in the medical profession.

[emcemt]

We wouldnt do it but our daughter is only 8. Maybe when she gets a little older we would feel more comfortable.

[Hflors]

I wouldn't do it in a million years! (Of course that's just my opinion). Do the camp counslers have the legal right to arrange for medical care for your child if something, god forbids happens? I thought all parents wore beepers when their children were in the activities? Some of the tours I see listed are 8 1/2 hours long. I can't imagine leaving my child, when we are on vacation, for that length of time with strangers. (Yes these people are strangers, when you know them less than a week they are strangers!)

 

OMG I'm sitting here just feeling sick that someone would leave their child with strangers and leave that ship to go have fun without them! I'm so glad that we took "family" vacations and never left our children with anyone that we didn't know for many years.

 

My fear is that one of these days I will watch some news report and see some heart broken parents on the news. They will be crying and unconsolable because Johnney disappeared on their cruise. He was left in the daycare on the ship and when the parents returned he "disappeared". No one knows what happened to him. A search of the ship didn't uncover him or worse, a search of the ship and his body was found somewhere where he shouldn't have been. Or Johnney was injured seriously and the dr. is waiting for the parents to return to give him authority to take care of Johnney. In the mean time little johnney succumbs to his injuries and dies. Now all the parties are poised and ready to sue the cruise line.

 

Folks remember these little people depend on you to care for them and be there with them until they are of age. If you are going to take them with you on trips make these trips for them! You and your husband will have years ahead of you to go on your own.

 

I hope I have not hurt anyone's feelings, but as you can see from my post above this subject stirs me up! Let the flaming begin!!!!

[rfendt]

After reading the replies after our post, I must say that our thoughts were with the idea of "is it safe to leave the kids on board with the kids crew club?" and we do feel "yes" it is. And also, to clear things up, we did not leave with a planned excursion. Any "excursions" we took were with our children. We arrived in Nassau, Bahamas port in the evening before our intended 7am arrival and we went out for an hour and a half to view the Atlantis grounds to see if it was something we should take our children to the next day. (we decided that after seeing the enormity of it, that we wouldnt have enough time to do it in the morning) Anyhow, also after reading about the morbid thoughts of the possibilities of something dreadful happening to us while we were out was something we did not think of, :eek: and we will not be doing that again. However, regarding the trust of the Kids Crew Club and our children's safety on the ship with them, we feel completely comfortable with that spectrum. Thanks for opening our eyes!

[ron46936]

I would leave my kids (ages 30 and 33) on the ship. I'm not sure if would leave us though.

[shoreguy]

I would leave my kids (ages 30 and 33) on the ship. I'm not sure if would leave us though.

 

My kids leave me on the ship with no adult supervision :D

[dishealth11]

It seems to me that the service wouldn't be able unless sufficient numbers used it. My guess is that the decision to leave would depend on the child's age, maturity level, first-time cruiser or not, etc. I also think that leaving kids with the care of others even when you are on the ship carries some risk. Would you use kids crew during sea days?

 

 

I wouldn't do it in a million years! (Of course that's just my opinion). Do the camp counslers have the legal right to arrange for medical care for your child if something, god forbids happens? I thought all parents wore beepers when their children were in the activities? Some of the tours I see listed are 8 1/2 hours long. I can't imagine leaving my child, when we are on vacation, for that length of time with strangers. (Yes these people are strangers, when you know them less than a week they are strangers!)

 

OMG I'm sitting here just feeling sick that someone would leave their child with strangers and leave that ship to go have fun without them! I'm so glad that we took "family" vacations and never left our children with anyone that we didn't know for many years.

 

My fear is that one of these days I will watch some news report and see some heart broken parents on the news. They will be crying and unconsolable because Johnney disappeared on their cruise. He was left in the daycare on the ship and when the parents returned he "disappeared". No one knows what happened to him. A search of the ship didn't uncover him or worse, a search of the ship and his body was found somewhere where he shouldn't have been. Or Johnney was injured seriously and the dr. is waiting for the parents to return to give him authority to take care of Johnney. In the mean time little johnney succumbs to his injuries and dies. Now all the parties are poised and ready to sue the cruise line.

 

Folks remember these little people depend on you to care for them and be there with them until they are of age. If you are going to take them with you on trips make these trips for them! You and your husband will have years ahead of you to go on your own.

 

I hope I have not hurt anyone's feelings, but as you can see from my post above this subject stirs me up! Let the flaming begin!!!!

[OceanDreams]

I voted "No, not in a million years" and my reason for that isn't that I don't trust the cruise line and it's staff. I feel that if I'm bringing my children on a cruise it's so that they can experience the ports of call and all the different life styles that they offer. I must say that I didn't start my kids cruising until my youngest was 9. I wanted to make sure that when he got older he was still going to remember all the wonderful places that he has seen in this world.

 

OceanDreams

[redzz7062]

I voted not sure. Only because I have children in all different ages. My teenagers ages 16, 17, 18, and 18 yes I would leave them on the ship. The younger ones 13, 10, and 8 maybe depends on where we are, how long we will be gone and if they are enrolled in some type of kids club with adult supervision.

If all 7 kids were with us and just my husband and I were going on the shore excursion then yes I would leave them knowing that my older ones will watch over the younger ones. I am also picky about who I leave my kids with so again it would depend on the staff onboard too. Lot of unknown variables so I gave it a big "I don't know".

Good poll....

 

Linda

[davy jones]

My $.02.

 

It's a family vacation and we leave the ship together in all ports.

 

Other opinions may differ.

[DixieDL]

OK, I voted, but I hit the wrong answer by mistake, :mad:

I would never leave my DD on board, it is her vacation too, and we are going as a family. If I was going to leave her onboard, I might as well leave her at Grandma's house and have the week as Mommy and Daddy time. :rolleyes:

[dosi]

OK, I voted, but I hit the wrong answer by mistake, :mad:

I would never leave my DD on board, it is her vacation too, and we are going as a family. If I was going to leave her onboard, I might as well leave her at Grandma's house and have the week as Mommy and Daddy time. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

So does she not go to the kids camp either then?? I see a huge difference between leaving your child on board for an hour or two and leaving your child at grandmas for 8 or 9 days. :o But maybe that's just me.

 

I have seen kids that I know are in the kids programs every minute it is open and who never spend time with their folks during the entire cruise. That is definitely not for me, nor would I take an extended excursion without my son. In reality my husband and I would only be comfortable if we liked the kids program staff and if it is not a tender port. And we would only go to places within walking distance of the ship. That way we can check back in an hour if we feel so inclined.

 

And yes to the person that asked I do believe the required waiver gives the staff permission to seek medical care for your child should they require it.

[remixernyc]

Never left the boat without my kids.... I think maybe next year I'd leave them in the kids crew while we checked out the town right near the ship for an hour max, maybe, wife is saying no way..... and never a tour without them...

[katiel53]

I travelled with my son on cruises when he was young. I would NEVER leave him on the ship as I went off. I feel if you take your children with you, you are to be with them the whole cruise. I can see sending kids to the day programs, but never would I step off the ship without him. Now, I am going to be a grandma, which is more exciting than I would ever have thought, but if my son, daughter-in-law want to go with us on a cruise, and go off, I would certainly stay with my grandchild. Probably, I am in the minority, but I feel as someone once joked to me, You hatched them, you take care of them.

 

Katie

[shoreguy]

Interesting thread. Anyone remember the thread from a year or so ago when a now banned poster was so upset because the Kids Club was not free while in port. How was she expected to enjoy her cruise. NCL was not truthful and never told me Kids Club was not free every day all day

 

My view when my kids where young and we took them on a cruise it was for everyone. Planned our shore excursions for the whole family. We did not leave them on the ship because of any concern but because it was their trip as much as ours.

[Zeno]

Yah Shoreguy I remember that poster. She also used to keep insisting that cruising was the ideal family vacation - yet her chief pre-cruise concern was that she might not be able to dump her kids in the Kid's Crew every day.

 

Re: the original post: Personally (and purely from a theoretical standpoint since I am not raising any kids right now), I think especially with younger kids I would be a little uneasy about leaving them on the ship while I was elsewhere. Older kids - I would probably want to do fun stuff in port with them anyway. I guess I just don't see how it is much of a family vacation for the kids if one frequently dumps them in what is essentially a playgroup. I do understand when parents want to leave the kids there while they are enjoying adult dining or the casino or a show for an hour or two while on the ship. Really for me a family vacation would mean spending time with the children doing fun activities.

[bplazo]

My husband and I made a big mistake leaving our 16 year old daughter and her friend on board on our last cruise. We wanted to get a few items in Nassau before our snorkeling excursion at noon and we had a hard time getting the girls up to go. After a 1/2 hour of arguing with them I told them that they could stay on ship and order room service for breakfast and be ready to go when we got back in about an hour or so. (I even took one of their seapass cards not really thinking they would leave the ship).

 

We returned about an hour and a half later to find the girls gone. After searching the ship my husband checked guest relations and sure enough the girls had told them that they had lost their card and had a new one made and had left the ship. I had a panic attack and started searching for them,we found them walking on the pier returning to the ship. Needless to say I had alot to say to them in front of a crowd. They were glued to our side for the rest of the cruise and grounded when we returned home. They are not on our next cruise.

[nanfour]

I knew a lot of people wouldn't be in agreement with me leaving my young son on the ship. I won't argue my decision here...because I truly believe each parent needs to do what's best for them. I just wanted to answer to those that say that a family should stay together and do all excursions together as a family. I have three boys.....the youngest age 4, and two others much older. The two older boys were troopers with their younger brothers, all excursions were 4 y.o. friendly, they played with him, hung out with him, and we had a wonderful family vacation. But, I felt they were missing out - so I let them choose ONE short excursion that they wanted to do.....I didn't feel it was safe for my youngest, so we left him on the ship. They're first pick was a 6 hour excursion which I vetoed....too long away. Picked a three hour one instead. I went back and forth on whether I felt it was alright to leave him - and finally decided to not make my decision until I was on the ship and could see whether 1) I felt comfortable with camp staff and 2) he liked the camp. On the day in question, he was so happy to be able to stay with his counselors. Would I do it again, I don't know....I am a careful mom - it's the first time I ever left my child with anyone I didn't know.....I've spent many years investigating child abuse cases...so I know about risks....it was a long thought out decision, and I'm glad we did it. Don't judge me - and don't think I just "dumped" my child, as that's not the case at all. I'm just a regular mom who wanted my whole family to have the vacation of their dreams. And yes, there was a medical waiver signed!

[dishealth11]

Hi Nanfour,

I don't fault you one bit for your decision. It's such a personal choice, with so many factors to consider, so no explanation required.

 

I knew a lot of people wouldn't be in agreement with me leaving my young son on the ship. I won't argue my decision here...because I truly believe each parent needs to do what's best for them. I just wanted to answer to those that say that a family should stay together and do all excursions together as a family. I have three boys.....the youngest age 4, and two others much older. The two older boys were troopers with their younger brothers, all excursions were 4 y.o. friendly, they played with him, hung out with him, and we had a wonderful family vacation. But, I felt they were missing out - so I let them choose ONE short excursion that they wanted to do.....I didn't feel it was safe for my youngest, so we left him on the ship. They're first pick was a 6 hour excursion which I vetoed....too long away. Picked a three hour one instead. I went back and forth on whether I felt it was alright to leave him - and finally decided to not make my decision until I was on the ship and could see whether 1) I felt comfortable with camp staff and 2) he liked the camp. On the day in question, he was so happy to be able to stay with his counselors. Would I do it again, I don't know....I am a careful mom - it's the first time I ever left my child with anyone I didn't know.....I've spent many years investigating child abuse cases...so I know about risks....it was a long thought out decision, and I'm glad we did it. Don't judge me - and don't think I just "dumped" my child, as that's not the case at all. I'm just a regular mom who wanted my whole family to have the vacation of their dreams. And yes, there was a medical waiver signed!

[whale-watcher]

Don't judge me - and don't think I just "dumped" my child, as that's not the case at all. I'm just a regular mom who wanted my whole family to have the vacation of their dreams.

Didn't mean to sound judgemental, this is a difficult decision for any parent. We are in a similar situation with 2 older children, and one who is quite a bit younger...we faced the same problem in Alaska when my teenage daughter wanted to go horseback riding, and the others were too young. My wife ended up going riding with my daughter, and I stayed behind with the boys. Obiously, this can only work if 2 adults are travelling with the children.

We DO let the kids use the kid's club when we are at sea, but it is always their decision -- and usually there are such interesting activities going on that they prefer to be there. We always carry 2-way radios so that they can contact us on board ship at a moment's notice if they need to (set to vibrate so that we don't bother other passengers). But when we go ashore, especially in a foreign country, we tend to be much more cautious.

[whale-watcher]

It seems to me that the service wouldn't be able unless sufficient numbers used it. My guess is that the decision to leave would depend on the child's age, maturity level, first-time cruiser or not, etc. I also think that leaving kids with the care of others even when you are on the ship carries some risk. Would you use kids crew during sea days?

Our reasons for not leaving the children on board are based on the remote possibility of something happening to US on shore more than our concerns about the children's center, although both do weigh into the decision. See my post above for comments on using kid's center at sea.