Leaving Kids on the Ship Question

[golf4tonys]

Hi,

 

7/1 we're headed on the VOS and have a question.

 

We are leaving the kids onboard when we hit Jamaica. If the Adventure club people need to contact us how does that work? Anyone know?

 

Thanks for the help.

[jwlane]

If the Adventure club people need to contact us how does that work?

 

They can't.

[Stircrzy]

Perhaps a call to the cruise line will answer your question...

 

 

(800) 398-9819

[golf4tonys]

Thanks JWLANE. Good point.

 

I guess I could have also mentioned grandma and grandpa will be on the ship in case but wanted to know if they could contact us off the ship.

 

Thanks for the replies.

[springtxbill]

If you are going on an excursion especially one of the ships, they should be able to contact you via cell phone to the guide if an emergency arises. :)

[hstrybuf]

Thanks JWLANE. Good point.

 

I guess I could have also mentioned grandma and grandpa will be on the ship in case but wanted to know if they could contact us off the ship.

 

Thanks for the replies.

 

Well that takes a load off my mind. With grandparents aboard, they won't be totally alone. I've read one too many stories of parents (with no relatives aboard) who went ashore leaving the kids behind only to miss the ship!

[jwlane]

parents who went ashore leaving the kids behind only to miss the ship!

 

I've heard this is one situation where they will wait.

[jimbug]

Personally, I think leaving the kids onboard in Jamaica might be a good idea, especially if you want to keep them away from the drug pushers. Nothing wrong with Mom & Dad getting a little quality time as long as the kids are also having a good time in the kids' club. Shoot, most of the kids I've sailed with would have RATHER stayed in the kids' club than go on an excursion with their family.

[hstrybuf]

At least one thread that I read (don't remember which forum) the parent had to be taken to the ship after it left the pier. I can't imagine what a nightmare that must have been!

[ata1976]

I don't think they can contact you.

My sister, about 7 at the time, stayed on board Carnival Fantasy in Camp Carnival when we were in Nassau. She just didn't want to get off because she was having so much fun with the other kids.

[jwlane]

Nothing wrong with Mom & Dad getting a little quality time

 

Sarcastic me would write "a little quality weed, er, ah, time (yeah, that's it!) in Jamaica".

[deaconess]

I'm not sure what their policy is to contact parents, but i would assume they have one! Medical emergencies, etc....if not....do you have a pager, international cell phone plan? May want to consider it....nothing wrong with getting some time away, but I know I'd be upset if there was an emergency and they couldn't get ahold of me!

[Shirley and Les]

Having the grandparents along helps. I do not know if Jamaica is a docked or tendered port. If tendered, there have been instances where return tendering had to be delayed due to wind and sea conditions. Other strange things can happen. Within the last year, the Coast Guard ordered a cruise ship to leave the Charleston, SC, pier due to a mixup in paperwork. It did not return for several hours. For this one, there were families with half the group stranded on shore. Although rare, there can be problems associated with leaving children on board that are beyond the control of the parents.

Les "Pap"

[LisaGoeke]

I think it's a good question and something I would have asked too. Plus, we will also be leaving our two four year olds on the ship in Jamaica and I see nothing wrong with it at all!!

 

We will be climbing the Falls. Grandparents will also be traveling but might also go to the Falls with us. I'm assuming the pagers they give you will not work off the ship? DH has a cell phone he'll be taking but I don't know if it would work there either. I'll have to check on that.

 

Let us know if you find out anything!

[colette5479]

I'm not sure if there is a way you could be contacted but at least the grandparents will be onboard!

[travelbugs]

If ever there was a place to leave little ones on board, it's Jamaica! When our children were smaller we had no problems leaving them onboard, as they got older (10 & 11now), they wanted to see the "forbidden" place. We did the river rafting tour with them, we let our guide know up front that we were Christians and would appreciate any funny business be conducted far away from our family. They were very respectful of that and he even warned us NOT TO SHAKE HANDS WITH ANYBODY!!!! It seems that it isn't out of the ordinary to "plant" illegal items in tourists hands only to have the local police watch the whole exchange take place. BE CAREFUL (I don't think the Capt. would hold the ship for that one)!

[sherry7]

Wow, it sounds like a lot of you had bad experiences in Jamaica. Ours was the opposite, we had a good time. We booked a private tour guide though, so perhaps that helped keep the 'riff-raff' away from us. The private tours are a great option, they're much cheaper than RCCL and you get to do a lot more without being herded around like cattle.

 

golf4tonys....not sure if you're doing the tour with RCCL, or with a local private guide. I did notice that our guide (we booked through Trevor Hudlin's company) carried a cell phone with him. I would think if you had a similar situation and explained that you had children aboard ship, the guide would probably give you the cell phone # to be called in case of emergency. In fact, we corresponded by email before our trip with Trevor, so it's possibly something that could be gotten beforehand.

 

Trevor is one of a number of guides in Jamaica we considered, and we were happy with the services of the guide, Errol, who he set up for us. If you go to the Ports of Call boards, you can read a lot of reviews about different guides in Jamaica if this is an option you choose to take.

 

Have a wonderful vacation! :)

[wannacruisemore]

I understand you need a little time away from your kids. But food for thought...........We sailed the end of April. The day we arrived in Jamaica the weather looked fine. About 3:00 MAJOR thunderstroms hit and lasted a couple of hours. Long enough for roads to be washed away. We were due to leave at 5:30, there were over 100 people stranded on excursions, luckily they booked through the cruise ship. Needless to say the ship pulled away at 12:15 AM. Can't imagine leaving kids on a ship and being delayed that long. Of course we were late getting into Grand Caymans the next day, alot of excursions were cancelled (including ours:mad: )

I suggest you do your thing on ship.

[stillfrantic]

I don't know how it works on RCI. On Disney the pagers work off the ship while you are in the vicinity of the ship. But, I wanted to say I'm sorry someone was rude to you. I guess Clark Griswald has never gotten a baby sitter for a time away alone with his wife. From the tone of his post.....lucky wife. :rolleyes:

[Clarkk W Griswald]

I don't know how it works on RCI. On Disney the pagers work off the ship while you are in the vicinity of the ship. But, I wanted to say I'm sorry someone was rude to you. I guess Clark Griswald has never gotten a baby sitter for a time away alone with his wife. From the tone of his post.....lucky wife. :rolleyes:

 

 

Actually, I have had babysitters for my children in the past and taken vacations without them. I just don't don't feel the need to have someone else spend time with them on a family vacation. Too many things can happen to them, especially while onboard a ship with parents no where around. I suppose if something happens to children on board while parents are off on some excursion, then parents would be blaming cruise lines if they couldn't be located. I'm sure they would be right here on these boards complaining how the cruise lines owe them some sort of refund. (and by the way, I'm not referring to the OP, just a general comment). AND, I was no way rude to the OP, just stating my opinion about cruising, which I thought this board was all about. However, plenty of rudeness referring to my post. I guess if you have a difference of opinion on this board you cannot post it because everyone will take offense. What good would this board be if every felt the same way about everything?

 

And Stillfrantic, you say I was rude?:rolleyes:

[js]

As someone already mentioned, they will be unable to contact you.

For the other poster that was quick to judge, we always vacation with our 2 children and have been on numerous cruises with them.

Our next cruise is booked for 4/06 on Serenade. Both my children will be 12 and 7. My children have already ASKED me if they HAVE TO get off the ship at every port and asked that I please let them stay on the ship in the clubs once or twice while we are in port.

So, to the OP, go, enjoy yourself and wait and see. Some time alone w/out the kids for a few hours makes for a happy mom and dad :) My kids LOVE the clubs and when both were a little younger, would not hesitate to go back to the cabin for a nap before dinner if it meant that I WOULD LET them stay in the clubs until 12 am LOL My 7 YO still will not give me a hard time about napping on the cruise if it means he gets to hang out at night with his friends in the clubs. They have a blast!

[evildiva]

I am sure evrything will be fine, just book through the ship for your excursion and go and relax!

 

We left our 2 DD's on board for Belize and Cozumel...."OH MY GOD!!!" What terrible parents we are!!! Hey, you spend alot of money on a vacation and you should be able to have a break and enjoy your spouse, signifigant other,whatever. The childrens programs are designed for just that and most of the time the kid's dont want to leave! Anyway...I never worried about the kids when we were off the ship, they had a great day and so did we! Have fun and dont listen to some of the people that give you a guilt trip...I bet they dont have kids!

[42trvl]

I actually found the Adventure Ocean staff (3-11 year old programs) on the Mariner better than some pre-schools we've been to/checked out, in terms of how well they run the program and how vigilant they are. Of course, as a parent, God forbid there was some emergency, you would want to be there for your child. But, practically speaking, I felt very comfortable with them knowing and doing whatever had to be done, if necessary. We also do just about everything with our kids - some would argue too much - and there's nothing wrong with letting them and us do our own things every once in a while. In fact, it's so much more fun for them on the ship where they are having a good time and being well taken care of. And, as others have mentioned, sometimes it's the kids choice. Last time, my son begged us not to take him out shopping with us in Cozumel in 90 degree plus heat. I hardly think of ourselves as awful parents for letting him "play" while we shopped, especially since we were all going to Chankanaab Park and doing the Dolphin swim as a family later in the day...

[Catnip]

Clarkk,

:D. I'm with you----I don't think its a good idea to leave kids on board when their parents are off on the islands. Anything could happen. And I think you are correct in your thinking that if by some bad luck, the child would get hurt and needed immediate response from the parents and they could not be contacted, some kind of legal action may be taken...........(I'm just talking in general, not particularly at the OP)

[PelicanBill]

My research for my upcoming cruise shows that Verizon will have cellular service in Ocho Rios... but you would want the Grandparents to have a cell phone to call you, as the ship staff will only have access to ship-to-shore and are not likely to want to track you down at a bazillion dollars per minute.

 

Is Adventure Ocean open for the entire time you will be off ship? I was under the impression they close for 2 hours at lunch.