In Cabin babysitting - Used it before?

[TexasMommy]

We are going on our first Celebrity cruise in March. By then DS will be 13 months old barely (DD will be 6 years old.)

 

DD can play in the clubs... while our precious baby will be too young obviously. Has anyone on this board ever used the in-room sitting? We are nervous about it but would like a little bit of couple time during the trip. Any feedback and experiences would be very welcomed. DS has actually cruised once before when he was 5 months old but that was on Disney and they have an infant nursery (which was wonderfully run by the way the times he was there - he was with me mostly though).

I'm thinking of the inroom for the baby since DD would likely be in the kids programs but I know it is the same price for up to 2 kids. Would big sister be bored?

 

Anyone reading this sailed with a baby? Used the stateroom sitting for a baby? How did you feel about it? I'm also interested in feedback on the kids program for the 6 year old but will find a different post for that.

 

Thanks. Any info helpful.

[flagger]

We have used it now on three cruises on two different ships. In fact, we just used it again for a total of 12.5 hours on our cruise last week. What would you like to know?

[whyohwhyoh]

I have some questions as well. Our son will be 10 months old.

 

Do they or can you have the same person each evening? How does one select the babysitter?

 

Also, we would like to put our baby to bed at 8PM, and then have the babysitter sit outside the room for a few hours. And only go in if he starts crying, which is unlikely.

 

For example, leave a chair outside in the hallway and let her read a book or something. Otherwise, she would be inside the tiny room in pitch dark remaining quiet.

 

How would this work?

 

--

whyohwhyoh

[TexasMommy]

ooh that's a loaded question..what do you want to know.

 

Well first I guess the fear of leaving the most precious thing in the world to you alone unsupervised with a total stranger. Do you know what screening they do on the sitters? I don't think they come from the counselors per my TA but are offwork servers, housekeeping, etc. What was your reaction to the ones you used?

 

Do you get a pager like with the kids program? I'm be a wreck the whole time that baby was wanting me and the sitter couldn't reach me.

 

Are there minimum time increments?

 

Can it be any time of day, ie not night but during the morning or afternoon?

 

Can you go off ship on a short excursion with baby with a sitter or is allowed or even a good idea?

 

Does it really take 24 hours notice? Are they booked up sometimes even then?

 

Will they change dirty diapers, give food and bottle etc?

 

Do they bring any toys or amusements or do we provide those?

 

Whew. I know... so many questions!:confused: I am really aprehensive about it. THANK YOU THANK YOU for your response and to anyone else who does!!

[flagger]

Do they or can you have the same person each evening? How does one select the babysitter?

Yes. You request that the first day you board through guest relations. You request the same person for each time when you put in the request. You really do not get to select the babysitter, but we always spent time the first night getting any vibes from the person. Had we gotten a vibe that said no way, we would have sent her on her way and had her paid for her time and made a request for a different person.

 

The people who do in-cabin babysitting usually come from housekeeping or facilities. They are crew who sometimes have children of their own at home who want to earn extra money while on board.

Also, we would like to put our baby to bed at 8PM, and then have the babysitter sit outside the room for a few hours. And only go in if he starts crying, which is unlikely.

This is really unrealistic I am sorry to say. The halls just are not wide enough to have a chair sitting outside. It might work better with a suite in a separate room, but also not practical to ask someone to sit outside on the balcony if you have one. They honestly could sit there in the dark.

 

I don't mean to be rude in my response but you have to be willing to make compromises on board when you are not at home. My stateroom had a nightlight, but she honestly was able to keep the light on by the bed to read on the sofa. I am sure she honestly dozed off while she watched her as this was her time off which is usually used for sleeping anyway.

[flagger]

Well first I guess the fear of leaving the most precious thing in the world to you alone unsupervised with a total stranger. Do you know what screening they do on the sitters? I don't think they come from the counselors per my TA but are offwork servers, housekeeping, etc. What was your reaction to the ones you used?

 

They come from facilities, housekeeping and other crew positions. We have never had one in a staff position like children's programs or activities personnel. There is of course a liability involved anytime you have the chance to watch your child in an enclosed cabin with the door closed. I cannot tell you the screening they do on the sitters, but so far we have had zero bad vibes on someone we used.

Do you get a pager like with the kids program? I'm be a wreck the whole time that baby was wanting me and the sitter couldn't reach me.

 

No pager. We had two way radios but we never used them. We told her where we could be found. We have done it now enough times to feel totally comfortable with the program. Our DD did cry the second and third nights when we left because she wanted to go with us, but each time we were told it did not last that long.

Are there minimum time increments?

 

Not that I am aware of to be honest with you. You would need to ask Celebrity.

 

Can it be any time of day, ie not night but during the morning or afternoon?

Yes it can. We always used it during the evening though, but you can request any hours when it is offered. I think something like 8AM - 2AM IIRC.

 

Can you go off ship on a short excursion with baby with a sitter or is allowed or even a good idea?

 

Yes you can, but honestly I wouldn't do it. Maybe when we go on Disney and they have separate activities at the kid's portion of Castaway Cay, but I would be too worried about not making it back to the ship and the ship going on without you.

 

Does it really take 24 hours notice? Are they booked up sometimes even then?

 

That is what the book said. However we had a call back within two hours the first day after we boarded letting us know they had found someone. I was informed that it is possible to arrange for someone for the first evening depending on how many kids were on board. Like I mentioned in my review there were only 70 under 18 on board our cruise. The week before 200 and the week before that there were 400.

 

Will they change dirty diapers, give food and bottle etc?

 

Yes. However, we never had that problem and we never changed wet ones during the night and never had to deal with a dirty one. We did have room service come just as we were going out and she did feed our DD last week one night otherwise we had her fed before we went out.

Do they bring any toys or amusements or do we provide those?

 

We brought our own, but you can also check out a Treasure Chest of age appropriate toys from the Fun Factory which is nice. Also now they have an hour of Toddler Time each day where parents can go in with their kids to the toddler room. This is for kids under 3 who are not in the programs. My daughter didn't really go for it the one time we went in, but nice to know it was available. We were also informed because of the lack of kids on board, we could have gone in during times not for "Toddler Time". She just was not allowed to use the ball pit. We never did make it this time. She will be old enough for the kids program next year though.

 

Pricing is $8 per hour for in-cabin and $6 for group in the kids club outside of normal kids club hours and on port days. Our DD only had a nap on two days which were not babysitting days otherwise we had considered letter the babysitter take her out for walks around the public areas of the ship. As it turned out, they watched a movie on the portable DVD player and she crashed out before it had finished.

 

She did also get to show off on of the videos in which she appears for a product called Baby Signing Time.

 

I Hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions.

[TexasMommy]

I assumed sitting out in the hall wouldn't work. I wouldn't want that anyway...want them to be able to visually watch the baby right there.

 

Did you happen to have any input to any of the questions...i.e. bottles, leaving ship with babysitter watching baby, toys, etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

[flagger]

I thought I answered those questions above.

[fauxpaz]

Thanks for posting the info on the in-room babysitting. Since I am cruising during Spring Break, I will be sure to get to the desk early to book the sitter. I do have a few questions.

 

Do you have to let them know the first day which nights you want to use them, or do they set someone aside for each family and then they book the nights through that individual?

 

Do you have to pay the sitter in cash, or can you add it to your cabin charges? Is tipping expected and if so how much is appropriate.

 

Thanks!

[fauxpaz]

Thanks for posting the info on the in-room babysitting. Since I am cruising during Spring Break, I will be sure to get to the desk early to book the sitter. I do have a few questions.

 

Do you have to let them know the first day which nights you want to use them, or do they set someone aside for each family and then they book the nights through that individual?

 

Do you have to pay the sitter in cash, or can you add it to your cabin charges? Is tipping expected and if so how much is appropriate.

 

Thanks!

[flagger]

They ask for 24 hours advance notice. We just prefer to get it all booked the first night to know our times have been locked in. You pay $8 per hour and it is charged to your SeaPass on board account. Tipping is a personal matter and it is up to each individual.

[TexasMommy]

Thanks Flagger so much for all the info. It looks like there are a lot of us with questions out there.

[kitty9]

I was recently on a cruise where two sets of parents left their kids on board the ship while they did shore excursions. They all missed the ship, leaving their kids behind, alone, on the ship. There was also another problem a few years ago when parents left their baby on board, and the baby suddenly became ill with a very high fever. We all know how quickly those fevers can come upon an infant. Well, the doctors couldn't treat the baby because the parents weren't there, so this poor thing had to suffer for hours until the parents came back from their day away from the ship. To me, I don't think it's ever a good idea to leave children alone on the ship so parents can go on shore excursions. There's just too much that can happen.

[mahdnc]

I was recently on a cruise where two sets of parents left their kids on board the ship while they did shore excursions. They all missed the ship, leaving their kids behind, alone, on the ship.

 

One of my biggest fears when we plan our trips ashore. So we usually take our kids with us unless we are within walking distance of the port.

 

When we first sailed with Celebrity in 1996, the children's program was not open when the ship (Century) was at port, presumably so that the parents and children would not be accidentally separated when the ship left port. I think that practice continued in 1998 during our Mercury cruise.