How is the security in the kid's club?

[andnickali]

I am taking my three darling children on Explorer in November. My two boys will be in the same group 9-11, and my daughter will be in the 3-5 group.

 

I know the boys will be in activities throughout the ship, and I feel they will be o.k. together if they are outside of the kid's club area. But, as for my daughter I am not sure I want her on the outside of the club. On Carnival the youngest group always stays in the club (unless you have them going for dinner to the buffet).

 

How secure is the area for the 3-5s, is it a staff only area- or do they allow parents in to pick-up their kids?

[shaqtime32]

as i remember when i was on the navigator last year it was pretty good. theres 2 adventure ocean staff standing in the front and only letting parents in to pick their kids up.

[crusinmama06]

Can I ask another question on this thread?

 

When you go to pick up your child (my daughters will be 7 and 3 on the FOS) do you have to have any kind of password/ID (Disney does this) or do you just walk in, take your child and walk out without ID?

 

Obviously I am not really concerned about someone walking out with my 7 year old...but my 3 year old wouldn't be yelling for momma if someone tried to take her...you know what I mean?

[andnickali]

Carnival had the same person do the sign in and out with a signature and their sea pass (which they could verity you by the photo). I don't think my daughter would just go with a stranger without making a fuss, but how many times have you seen a parent dragging a kid out of a place that they did not want to leave and the kid was kicking and screaming.

 

It is sad that with today's society parents have to be cautious letting their child be a child and have some small degree of freedom.

[camperhawk]

cruisinmama: Now that my son is 20 (yikes) I obviously don't have these concerns any longer but hoped I could interject a thought here. When my son was young between 2-3 years of age, I taught him our own secret password. I was a working, single mom and he was in day-care part time. It became a game and our "secret" He would not go anywhere unless someone knew the password,including Grandpa who often had to pick him up for me. Now that he is 20 and in college, he still uses the word, when he is having a problem or just needs to talk! Hope this helps!

[joddav17]

We were on FOS on the July 2nd sailing. My children were in the 9-11 year old program. You will need your sea pass to sign your children in and out of the program. They also use security wristbands while they in the program and remove them every time you check your child out. I felt totally at ease with this program. I hope this answers your question.

 

Jody

[andnickali]

Thanks for the input on how RC works.

[PhoenixCruiser]

cruisinmama: Now that my son is 20 (yikes) I obviously don't have these concerns any longer but hoped I could interject a thought here. When my son was young between 2-3 years of age, I taught him our own secret password. I was a working, single mom and he was in day-care part time. It became a game and our "secret" He would not go anywhere unless someone knew the password,including Grandpa who often had to pick him up for me. Now that he is 20 and in college, he still uses the word, when he is having a problem or just needs to talk! Hope this helps!

 

Not only is that a neat story, it's a great idea :D

 

###

[camperhawk]

Thanks PhoenixCruiser! It definitely has come in handy over the years!

[jaycor]

We were on the MOS in feb this year and my daughter was in the 9-11 age group.

We had to sign her in and out and give the names of other people who were allowed to pick her up, but there was no security wristbands like the poster said about FOS.

I never had to show my sea pass-maybe they knew my face but my 18 year old daughter had to show it the one time she had to pick my daughter up

[cb at sea]

I really doubt that you need to worry so! Everyone on the ship is on vacation--if they don't have their own kids, why would they want yours? I know--you're being careful, but I don't think you need to worry about this too much!

[LG123]

I am taking my three darling children on Explorer in November. My two boys will be in the same group 9-11, and my daughter will be in the 3-5 group.

 

We will be on the Explorer in October with kids in the same age groups as yours. I always bring back the Compass and post them and usually do a review. I would be happy to give you any information I can.

 

As for our cruise last October. They didn't let the parents in the Adventure Ocean room when picking up or dropping off for the 3-5 and 6-8. There was a table seperating the room and the hall. I am not sure how it works for the olders groups as they were not in the same room. You sign your kids in and out. Don't think they had us show any ID. It was pretty amazing after the first pick up they remembered us and would call the kids when they saw us coming. My kids loved the activities and prefered being with the club more than us.

[queeni]

It is sad to say, but in this day and age you DO have to worry about such things. It is wise to be sure that not just anyone can walk off with your child. I can't believe that someone would suggest this is worrying a little too much and that no one else would want your child. Watch the news or read the paper and you'll see plenty of reasons to check out security before trusting anyone with your child!

[glen tev]

Can I ask another question on this thread?

 

When you go to pick up your child (my daughters will be 7 and 3 on the FOS) do you have to have any kind of password/ID (Disney does this) or do you just walk in, take your child and walk out without ID?

 

Obviously I am not really concerned about someone walking out with my 7 year old...but my 3 year old wouldn't be yelling for momma if someone tried to take her...you know what I mean?

You have to show your sail and sign card and only the person(S) who dropped them off can sign them out.

[strawberrygirl]

We were on the Grandeur April, 06. I was very comfortable with sign out for my 6 year old (verified sea pass). However, with the 9-11 group I watched an incident which made me uncomfortable. When I went to pick up my 9 year old, another mother was coming to pick up her child. The child had signed themselves out even though the parent had not given permission for this. I think the staff should have been more careful, but I imagine they were overwhelmed with the number of kids as it was the week before Easter.

[joddav17]

When we sailed last July on NOS my children did not have the wristbands. When we sailed this July on FOS we were told that this was a new security system and that they would be using from now on. I thought it worked great and it was a quick process.

 

Jody

[Disneycrazymom]

Are parents given pagers? I liked having it on Disney. If DD wanted to leave they would page us and we would come and get her. If there is no pager is there anyway they could contact us?

 

DD didn't really enjoy the club on Disney (I know every kid is supposed to LOVE it but she is a bit shy) and I doubt she will spend much time in this one either, but I will encourage her to try if there is a way for the staff to contact us if she gets upset.

[crusinmama06]

Are parents given pagers? I liked having it on Disney. If DD wanted to leave they would page us and we would come and get her. If there is no pager is there anyway they could contact us?

 

DD didn't really enjoy the club on Disney (I know every kid is supposed to LOVE it but she is a bit shy) and I doubt she will spend much time in this one either, but I will encourage her to try if there is a way for the staff to contact us if she gets upset.

 

How old is your daughter? From what I understand, the younger kids parents get the pagers.

[Disneycrazymom]

Sorry I should have added that she is 6.

 

I am hopeful that she will be brave enough to try it this trip. She was only 4 on our last cruise and she really didn't like being away from us. :( When I think about it I am surprised that so many kids aren't bothered being away from the security of Mom and Dad when in such different surroundings. No worries either way as we like having the kids with us but I think she would enjoy the activities if she could relax enough.:D

[crusinmama06]

Sorry I should have added that she is 6.

 

I am hopeful that she will be brave enough to try it this trip. She was only 4 on our last cruise and she really didn't like being away from us. :( When I think about it I am surprised that so many kids aren't bothered being away from the security of Mom and Dad when in such different surroundings. No worries either way as we like having the kids with us but I think she would enjoy the activities if she could relax enough.:D

 

 

Hmmm, I don't know. I thought I had read here that the 3-5 year old age group gets the pagers. But I'm not 100% sure. Maybe someone could verify this please?

 

And at 6 years old, I bet she will have a MUCH better time. There is definatly a social development difference between a 4 and a 6 year old.

[Cape Cruiser 2007]

:)

Everyone on the ship is on vacation--if they don't have their own kids, why would they want yours?

 

I agree here! We will have 3 kids in our group- God knows they will be enough, I wont want anyones else's!

But, I do hear ya about somebody wrongfully taking one and hurting them... Unfortunatley we need to think "what can happen?" and be prepared!

I like the "password" idea too!

Anything I can do to protect them I will do- besides keeping them in a bubble!

[andnickali]

I like to think that I am not a nervous Nellie when it comes to giving my kids some freedom, but, it is sad that we have to worry about our kids so much, especially the younger ones. With the capacity of the newer boats the total amount of people sailing is equivocal to that of a small town. I know I would not just let my guys run around without hesitation at home and I try and losen up a little on vacation, but bad people go on vacation with the rest of us.

 

I know that before my first cruise with the kids I was very leary of leaving my 4 yo with strangers, but was quite pleased with the security and their attention to detail. And, like some others have said the staff seemed to know us by the second day- I was amazed because it is a new set of parents/kids every 7-10 days.

 

I hope RC does provide pagers for the younger group on Explorer- and it is reassuring to hear that they do not allow parents into the kid area. I think small measures make parents feel secure while they are away from their little guys.

[HHFamily]

Are parents given pagers? I liked having it on Disney. If DD wanted to leave they would page us and we would come and get her. If there is no pager is there anyway they could contact us?

 

DD didn't really enjoy the club on Disney (I know every kid is supposed to LOVE it but she is a bit shy) and I doubt she will spend much time in this one either, but I will encourage her to try if there is a way for the staff to contact us if she gets upset.

 

Absolutely! When my son was injured while in Adventure Ocean last year the staff shut down all sound systems across the ship to page us. I didn't even know this was possible, it even shut down the Karaoke where we were singing...apparently all sound is somehow patched together...I was amazed and so pleased knowing how efficiently they can contact you if it's important.

 

Melissa

[andnickali]

It is nice to see that companies place the well being of a child and the family ahead of potentially disturbing a persons vacation.

 

It is sort of like the Code Adam that is used by alot of stores in our area, a few minutes taken to look for a lost child (which more than likely just wandered away) could be the difference between reuiniting the child with the family or not.

[Disneycrazymom]

It is nice to know that the staff can reach parents in an emergency! I hope your son is ok!

 

What I am thinking of with my DD would not be an emergency just a bit of "homesickness". On the last cruise we only left her once in the club so that we could do brunch and she just didn't feel comfortable so they paged us. I would not expect them to do an all call for that. Maybe even if the pagers are only for the 3-5 group they would make an exception for us on the first day or something. Just until she is more sure of herself. As Cruisinmama says there is a big difference between 4 and 6 so maybe it won't even be an issue.