Balconies & kids!

[dodygirl]

Hey all.. just a quick question for anyone who could give me an answer.....I wonder if the balcony doors have child locks on them or lock at the top so children cannot open them without climbing or an adult. I am nervous as we have a chance to upgrade to a balcony room but have 2 kids 5 & 8 ? If anyone could answer that would be a great help for us. We will be on the FOS November 26/06. Thanks in advance !:D

[kbt2]

Hey all.. just a quick question for anyone who could give me an answer.....I wonder if the balcony doors have child locks on them or lock at the top so children cannot open them without climbing or an adult. I am nervous as we have a chance to upgrade to a balcony room but have 2 kids 5 & 8 ? If anyone could answer that would be a great help for us. We will be on the FOS November 26/06. Thanks in advance !:D

 

On our Explorer cruise there was a lock and also the handle has to be turned down a specific way and the door itself is pretty heavy to slide. I had a difficult time with it half the time...not to underestimate children...as I have twin 3 yr olds and a 4 yr.old...but I think, since u will be in the cabin supervising at all times that you'd be fine. These doors are not super easy to open. Have fun and enjoy the view! :)

[crusinmama06]

I guess it depends how tall your 5 and 8 year old are. Honestly, when my daughter hit that age I didn't have to worry because I just told her to stay off the balcony (or else :D )

 

There is a lock, but I am betting that your 8 year old could open it easily.

 

I always have this concern with our youngest child (age 2)

[wraithe]

If they could get through the lock, which is questionable, they'd have to do some climbing again to get off the balcony. I know I wouldn't have worried about my kids, but then they knew if I told them to stay off the balcony without me, they wouldn't go out, I was lucky that way. There aren't any child locks, but you have to rotate the handle from all the way down to all the way up, and be strong enough to move the door, and like someone else said, it's pretty heavy, I doubt your kids could move it without a lot of effort, or you noticing since at that age, they won't be hanging out in your stateroom alone.

[westcoastboy]

Are the doors on RCI ships regular doors or sliding doors?

[shirleygr]

We've had balconies on several cruises and my girls (6 & 4 yo) could not open the door to the balcony. They also knew they were not to be out there without dh or myself. I didn't see any kind of child lock, but the door was tricky and I usually had to have my dh open it for me. :rolleyes: I also read on one of the boards here that one mom attached some jingle bells to the door (with duct tape, I think) so if her child did try to open the door, she would hear.

[Tra4]

our first cruise our daugher was 5 and our son 8. They knew that they were not allowed on the balcony without us, and the balcony rail was still pretty far over her head. The doors are also very heavy, I wouldn't worry at all.

 

on a side note, I've never heard any kids going overboard, but have heard of adults.

 

Have fun.

[negc]

Are the doors on RCI ships regular doors or sliding doors?

 

The doors slide. There is a lock but even when it is not engaged, the procedure to open the door and the effort required to do so are more than most young kids can handle. It should go without sailing that kids should not be in your stateroom let along on the balcony without adult supervision.

The railings on the balconies make it extremely difficult for anyone, child or adult, to fall off the balcony accidentally.

[dodygirl]

Thanks everyone... I won't let the kids out of my sight other than at the AO program.... but I am a nervous nilly.. first cruise and all ! I just wondered whether it would be okay to be in the balcony room with them and what the doors were like... I don't think they would wake up in the night either but that bell thing sounds kind of neat. I have already talked to the kids about the rails on the ship and staying near us etc. etc. I appreciate the feedback and now I know I should go ahead and upgrade from int. to ext.balcony.

Thanks so much.:)

[usernameisalreadyinuse]

We were on the Navigator last week in a D-1 balcony cabin. My 11-year old son walked to the balcony door and turned the handle in the open position which luckily allowed the whooshing sound of the wind to waken us. He was sleepwalking! My husband went immediately to the door and was surprised to see my son standing behind the curtain by the balcony door. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't heard the wind. We figured out that he thought he was home and the path from the sofa bed to the balcony door was very similar to the path from his bedroom to the bathroom. On future nights, we piled stuff up in front of the door, positioned a chair in the path between the foot of our bed and the wall, and double-checked the lock! We figured we would rather him trip over our obstructions than actually sleepwalk onto the balcony. It was very scarry!

[crusinmama06]

usernameisalreadyinuse - Frightening!

 

But to the OP, if you were really concerned about it, just put something in the track at the bottom of the door. Then if anyone went to open it in the middle of the night, it wouldn't open.

[Tra4]

I was so paranoid that I wouldn't let my DH hold our daughter near the balcony. I had nightmares that a huge wave would come along and make him fall and her go overboard. I remember he picked her up as we were walking, and I kept saying, put her down, let her walk ;-)