Nervous about cruising with young nephew

[suebart112]

My family is cruising this summer. There will be 6 adults and my 6 year old nephew (his 1st time on a cruise, maybe even on a boat, I'm not sure). We have 3 consecutive cabins booked, all with balconies.

 

I'm a very nervous person to begin with, and now I cant help but stress about his safety on this cruise. (My brother and his wife are great parents; that's not the issue).

 

Can anybody with kids who has stayed in a balcony cabin reassure me he will be fine?? I keep having visions of him waking up in the middle of the night to go out on the balcony. :o

 

Thanks for your help!

[Clarea]

The balcony door is heavy and would be difficult for a child to open. Some ships have locks on the balcony door that are higher than the handle.

 

Another option might be to get one of those few balcony staterooms that has a connecting inside.

[ccMiMi]

My youngest was 6 when she went on her first cruise. We had connecting cabins with balconies. I was never worried about her on the balcony. The door is hard to unlock/open and the rail is pretty high for a 6-yr-old. We only lost her once ;) It was the last night of the cruise, we were in the MDR, and my sister took her 2 teens and my 3 kids (6, 9, and 11 yrs) to the pool for a group photo. On the way back, my 6-yr-old got separated on the stairwell and kept going down when everyone else stopped on Deck 5 to return to the MDR. While my sister ran all over the ship looking for her, I waitied outside the MDR. Thankfully, 2 older ladies saw her on the landing looking lost and she told them her family was in the MDR on Deck 5. They brought her to Deck 5 where she saw me waiting. We went on another family cruise the following year and no one go lost. We'll try to stay together again in July on our next cruise. So, try not to be the aunt that loses their nephew!!

 

 

BTW, at 6-yrs-old, she loved Adventure Ocean. She couldn't wait to go there both during the day and after dinner. It's a great program!

[RSLeesburg]

We took our first cruise last year with our 4 y/o, and as Bob says, the doors are quite heavy, there are locks - although the ones we had on our door might be openable for a 6 y/o, but they weren't for our son. However, that being said, he never tried to go out on balcony alone, and the first time we did go out there, he told me "daddy, that water is very deep. You need to be careful." :)

 

I think it's only natural to be scared - just don't let him out there alone. But to be honest, he would need to be climbing on something in order to fall over.

[Motorman23]

My family is cruising this summer. There will be 6 adults and my 6 year old nephew (his 1st time on a cruise, maybe even on a boat, I'm not sure). We have 3 consecutive cabins booked, all with balconies.

 

I'm a very nervous person to begin with, and now I cant help but stress about his safety on this cruise. (My brother and his wife are great parents; that's not the issue).

 

Can anybody with kids who has stayed in a balcony cabin reassure me he will be fine?? I keep having visions of him waking up in the middle of the night to go out on the balcony. :o

 

Thanks for your help!

 

There are no quarantees about the unknown but, it is virtually impossible for the average sized 6yo to fall over the balcony without pushing a chair over to it. The top of the balcony glass wall will be just about at the head of a 6yo child. He would need to move a chair over to the wall to get over it. I cant imagine that would happen but only you and your family know what this child is capable of doing.

 

Mike

[willing292]

Some of the balcony doors have a lock behind the curtain at ceiling height. There's no way he could manage that lock.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[cb at sea]

He will be fine. You have to make a concerted effort to "fall" off! I mean, I'm sure he encounters railings on stairs/decks, etc...everyday....has he fallen off one of them?

 

You are worrying about nothing. His great parents will be sure of his safety!

[Big_G]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Swann-Magnetic-Window-Door-Alarm-SW351-MDA/202542556

 

When I worked campus security some apartments had sliders so we provided these to worrisome students. Just put it up high enough so it can't be reached and don't forget to shut it off when you leave the cabin. You don't want to the scare the crap out of your attendant when he opens the door to clean the balcony. :D

[Cruisinchristie]

My youngest was 4 (turning 5) on his first cruise and we had a balcony (they are the best! It is a must for us)

 

The railings are quite high, doors are heavy, and like someone else said, they would have to push a chair or table over and climb up on it to even think about falling. At 6 you can just explain to him that he shouldn't go out there w/o an adult, and don't stand on anything. It's not like he's 2 or 3. He will be fine!

[bouhunter]

Those balcony door levers are NOT easy to open. The odds of a six year old getting them open at all and doing so without waking someone are remote. Of the rare instances you hear about someone going overboard, I don't know if there's ever been one that was a young child.

 

We started cruising when our daughter was 6. We made sure we kept an eye on her around the balcony and never worried once that she would get out there on her own in the middle of the night and go out there.

 

Try to stop worrying and enjoy the cruise.

Edited May 9, 2014 by bouhunter