How do u keep in touch with kids on port days???

[RN7997]

We will be on AOS in April with our two sons age 6 and 8. We are planning on doing family things, but I am trying to be prepared in case we decide to go to port alone. We are traveling the Southern Car route to Aruba. I want to know if any of your cellp hones worked there?? Or how did you have AO club get in touuch with u if they need to???

[zotzer]

They give you a pager.

Tracy

[HurricaneSally]

You take them with you.

[banderboo]

Please don't leave your kids on the ship while you are in port. While 99.9% of the time nothing will happen there are just to many things that could happen that you have no control over. What would you (and the kids) do if you missed the ship? What about something serious happening to one of the kids and you can't get back to the ship in a timely manner.

[aring75]

I have to agree with other posters. Kids aged 6 and 8 should probably not be left alone on the ship while you are in port. A lot of things can go wrong that are completely out of your control.

[Cape Cruiser 2007]

agreed- like poster siad-99.99% safe. Im not leaving 14 & 6 alone! More fun for them to see the sites too.

[Nliedel]

My boys wanted nothing to do with the ports. Son on port days we would eat a nice breakfast in the dining room (it ended up being the best time of the day) and talk about our plans. We always offered one more time for them to join us but were rebuffed consistantly.

 

Actually RCI does not give out pagers from Adventure Ocean, but they are very responsible. Our boys wanted to play instead of go with us. I tried arguing but in the end it was their vacation (they were 6 and 8). Adventure Ocean has a great program and they will have a wonderful time with lunch. My oldest is kibitzing right now and says to tell you it is, "super awesome, it's so much fun Mom!".

 

AO will keep them super busy and they play hide and seek in the Disco (there are a lot of rules about where you can and cannot go btw), eat burgers and play and play. We would pop back onboard once in a while and call up to AO to check on them but they were always having fun. After the first two ports we stopped doing that.

 

Don't let them alone out of AO but they are too young to sign themselves out anyway and I assume you did not mean leave them to run around like animals :)

 

It's OK to see a city and not take the kids. If they don't want to go having them along complaining is not a fun prospect and when you get them when you come back you can spend all the pre-dinner time catching up. We had a great vacation with our kids. They did a lot of what they wanted and we did a lot of what we want and we still spent a ton of time together. They are lobbying me to go back about once a week.

[atlcple2]

My step kids (10 & 12) have cruised twice with their Mom and she left them in the kids program on both cruises when they were at port...by the kids' choice. They didn't want to go into the port and wanted to stay on the ship and be with friends they had made. Yes, things can happen while you are not there, but that is also the case when you are at home and the kids spend the night off or go out for the night and they are with a sitter. We are taking the kids with us on the Mariner this Sunday and plan on taking the kids with us at port because they want to go with us...if by chance they change their minds and want to stay on the ship, I'm fine with that as well.

[zotzer]

Actually RCI does not give out pagers from Adventure Ocean.

 

On Radiance this past December, AO gave my sister-in-law a pager. Maybe every ship is different.

 

Tracy

[Nliedel]

WELL POO! None on the Mariner. Poo indeed! Still I am normally a nervous nelly about my kids and sitters and never had a moments unease with them in AO.

[zotzer]

WELL POO!

 

LOL

 

My nephew is only five, and my SIL is a very anal mom. He insisted on going to "camp" instead of Cozumel, even though his sister and cousin were coming to shore with us. It was the last port on our cruise and my SIL was very comfortable leaving him on the ship. The pager probably helped though. :)

 

He's the one she was worried about pre-cruise, that he wouldn't like the AO, since he'd be in a different group than his older sister. Kids are just full of surprises! :)

 

T

[lindalu62]

I'm amazed that AO will even allow parents to leave kids with them if they are leaving the ship. Seems like a pretty risky liability for them. 6 and 8 seems a little young for that....

[jwlane]

They give you a pager.

Their pagers only work on the ship.

 

The kids are safer on the ship than in port, if that's a worry. Contrary to most of the other's opinions, you are not a bad parent if you leave the kids in AO while you go ashore. Hey, even if the ship left without the parents the kids would be better off on the ship than stranded ashore with their parents. That said, it's very, very doubtful the ship would even leave in such a situation.

[brn2crz]

Actually,the ships do have pagers..But they do not work in port,on the ship only..

 

And please...Do not tell parents what to do with their children..

 

I pesonally have not left mine on the ship in port.We tried this last Oct,but he did not want to .(only just turned 6)...

I have the same fears as everyone does about doing it...But..It is done all the time,and there is nothing wrong with it..

It all depends on how you look at things...If I was on a snorlkeling trip,and the boat sank and we all died...How fortunate that my 6 yo did not have to die...

If the ship blows up,and he is on board alone...Very sad,but if we were onboard...We would have gone as well...

Now if I get arrested at C&C's for PI.....Then shame on me...My kids don't need a parent like me anyway... (just an example,I don't visit C&C"S)....

 

Its great to have that option,and especially for a small portion of the day...

Its certainly nothing to be ashamed of if you do..

[Cape Cruiser 2007]

Im sure everyone will make their own decisions when the time comes. Who knows, Ive said I wouldn't leave my kids, but it's along time away and things/conditions change.

RC does have agreat AO program to ease those pressures. Some of us are comforatble with that-great! Some aren't that's fine too!

Happy cruising all!

[jwlane]

if I get arrested at C&C's for PI.....

Don't they arrest the ones that aren't "I"?:p

[HurricaneSally]

Just wondering why you bring your kids on vacation if everything is done separately!!!!!! Why not just leave them at grandma's? I certainly don't get it. If my kids were with me on a cruise, they would be with me in ports, at dinner, at breakfast, and lunch. Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun. If I want to be away from the all the time, I wouldn't spend a couple thousand dollars to leave them by themselves.

[jwlane]

Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun.

So you're saying the rest of the time with you they wouldn't be having fun....;)

[brn2crz]

Just wondering why you bring your kids on vacation if everything is done separately!!!!!! Why not just leave them at grandma's? I certainly don't get it. If my kids were with me on a cruise, they would be with me in ports, at dinner, at breakfast, and lunch. Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun. If I want to be away from the all the time, I wouldn't spend a couple thousand dollars to leave them by themselves.

 

 

Ya know...I go on vacation with my DH...But I don't spend every waking second with him....

 

I don't think I read on anyones post where they said they left their kids at AO the entire time....But there is nothing wrong with a parent that wants to go do the Americas Cup ...That a 6 yo can not do,and leave him in AO..for 3 hours...AO is only open for a few hours anyway..

You accessment of "if I want to be away from them all the time" has no basis,as no one here has said that....and seems to me just to be a lame attempt to harass someone for having the audacity to take their child on a cruise..People use baby sitters at home all the time....What's the difference... Cruises are great ways for everyone to have a great time by doing what they like to do....And there is nothing a kid likes to do more than playing with others their own age,playing on computers,and having their own "club" to go to.My son is an only child...Ok,not ecactly..His siblings are 23&21...He has never been to day care,and most of his cousins are 1000 miles away...He loves the oppurtunity to meet new friends.And we enjoy our entire cruise together....and apart.

 

JW>>>Your right...I should have said..."stumbling back to the ship" :D

[MGoBlue2]

Just wondering why you bring your kids on vacation if everything is done separately!!!!!! Why not just leave them at grandma's? I certainly don't get it. If my kids were with me on a cruise, they would be with me in ports, at dinner, at breakfast, and lunch. Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun. If I want to be away from the all the time, I wouldn't spend a couple thousand dollars to leave them by themselves.

That's certainly your choice, fortunately for others with children who believe in a more balanced approach Royal Caribbean has options that include well supervised entertainment for children while their parents do things probably only of interest to adults.

[Nliedel]

Just wondering why you bring your kids on vacation if everything is done separately!!!!!! Why not just leave them at grandma's? I certainly don't get it. If my kids were with me on a cruise, they would be with me in ports, at dinner, at breakfast, and lunch. Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun. If I want to be away from the all the time, I wouldn't spend a couple thousand dollars to leave them by themselves.

 

I guess if I was not with my kids all the time (and I am not saying you are not) then maybe I would have more of an issue about being with them all the time. We are together a lot. With the babies it's 24/7. My older boys don't want to stay home with Grandma while we travel. They want to travel too. They want to see new places and try new things (just not green beans for number one). They deserve to. They don't want to be with me all the time on a cruise. We all need downtime. I do spend more time with my husband on a cruise but then again I don't see him as much as the rest of us see one another.

 

On our last cruise the guys, husband included, went ice skating. I am not that into ice skating so I did something else. That does not mean I don't want them on vacation with me.

[teach01]

We will be on AOS in April with our two sons age 6 and 8. We are planning on doing family things, but I am trying to be prepared in case we decide to go to port alone. We are traveling the Southern Car route to Aruba. I want to know if any of your cellp hones worked there?? Or how did you have AO club get in touuch with u if they need to???

 

You take them with you!

[lindalu62]

To each his own, but I do believe there is quite a bit of difference between leaving them at home with a babysitter while out on a date, (who can easily reach us, and we can easily return home quickly in the event of an emergency) versus leaving them with RCI staff that we barely know, and who barely knows our children, while we are off the ship, unreachable, unable to return quickly, in a foreign country.

 

Even if the child adamently wants to stay on the ship, we as parents have better judgement, and should make the final call in their best interest.

[HurricaneSally]

You can't argue with the people on this board about kids. They know best. They all have their own reasons for not being with their kids. Traveling is great with kids (how can we leave them on board while we're in ports?), to teaching them great manners (can they eat at the kids club on formal night?. Oh, and the ever popular, is there a curfew question.

[evildiva]

Just wondering why you bring your kids on vacation if everything is done separately!!!!!! Why not just leave them at grandma's? I certainly don't get it. If my kids were with me on a cruise, they would be with me in ports, at dinner, at breakfast, and lunch. Maybe a few hours in the evening they would be at AO, so they could have some fun. If I want to be away from the all the time, I wouldn't spend a couple thousand dollars to leave them by themselves.

 

 

I bet you dont have any children...WHY CANT YOU PEOPLE WITH "KID ISSUES" MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS? I DONT BELEIVE YOUR OPINION WAS ASKED FOR, I AM SO OVER THE B-TCH-NG!!!