Leaving the kids on ship during a shore excursion

[ChicagoHusker]

We are doing a Mediterranean cruise on the Carnival Freedom this summer. Our kids will be 5 and 7 and love Camp Carnival. Although we have been on several cruises with them, we have never left them on the ship while DW and I did a shore excursion.

 

Given the strenuous nature of a number of the shore excursions, we are considering leaving our children at Camp Carnival while we do the excursion. We would of course only go on ship-sponsored excursions to ensure there is no chance of the ship leaving without us.

 

Have any of you done this before? Is it a common practice? Has anyone had any bad experiences with leaving your kids on the ship?

[Aidansmommy2]

While I've never left my son on board Camp Carnival (he wasn't old enough last time we cruised to use CC) I don't think I would ever, ever take a chance leaving a child/ren on board alone just in case. We will be doing Carnival excursions this cruise but we will be bring our son with us. You just never know what might happen, either to you on shore or to your children onboard. What if there was a serious emergency with one of your kids and you weren't there to take care of matters (i.e a medical emergency that nothing could be done for without your consent?:eek: ) This is just my opinion and you know what is best for your kids, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control and I know I would want to have my son with me should anything occur. Have a great trip.

Happy Cruising :)

Barb

[Wendi&Max]

I left my then 4-year-old on Royal Caribbean last year in Mexico. I didn't go on an excursion, but just went out to shop. He didn't want to come along (this was the first port he didn't want to come with me on), he loved the Adventure Ocean program and wanted to stay on the ship. I had no problem with this at all. I wasn't even gone 2 hours and they give pagers out so they could've beeped me if they needed me.

 

It would be the same as having a babysitter/daycare at home or having someone watch your kids while you go on vacation... I would go for it if your kids are happy with the kid's club.

 

Most of the kids really, really enjoy doing their own thing with the other kids and program staff. In fact, last year my son wouldn't go to breakfast with me one morning... told me he was not hungry and he wanted to go to the kid's club while I had breakfast... so I took him. Guess what? They had a kid's breakfast buffet and he ate a HUGE breakfast... he just didn't want to eat with ME I guess!!! hehehe

[bplazo]

I think that there is a posting on the Carnival cruise board about a ship leaving people behind at a port and one couple had some children on the ship.

[kitty9]

I was on a cruise where two couples left their kids on the ship on RCCI, and were on a ship's tour, but they missed the bus and it left without them. The kids were alone for two days until the next port of call, and one of the kids was an infant. On another cruise, parents left their daughter on board while they went off on their own, and the girl fell and hit her head. There were problems getting her medical attention because no parent was there to give consent. I would never leave a child on board, but especially on a Med cruise because most of the tours are very long, and are far away from the port, such as in Florence and Rome.

[crusinmama06]

Speaking from experience...nope I wouldn't do it. On one cruise my husband was scheduled to do a kayak excursion...the currents were too strong and the tour was cancelled. Instead he was in the room with our daughter when she seized. She had caught some sort of virus onboard and ended up seizing in the cabin (she had never had a seizure before). He ran down the decks to the ship's hospital carrying our practically lifeless daughter in his arms.

 

She spent 2 days in the ship's hospital and had to be medically evacuated.

 

I keep thinking back to that day and thanking GOD that we didn't leave the ship that day. What would have happened to her?

 

So to answer your question...no way. :(

[icanflossu]

OH my goodness mama, I have tears in my eyes just thinking about your situation.

 

Originally, I felt that I could never do it. We never have, we cruise with our kids to be with our kids. Then sometimes I think it's like the one poster said, it's just like having a babysitter. Then, again, I always go back to "no way". It goes so fast. My oldest will take his high school entrance exam one week before we leave on our next cruise. There will be so much more time ( and hopefully money) later on to do all these things without them. IN the mean time, we use tour operators at the dock, we take our kids and pay less. My kids all learned how to snorkle before they turned four, with flotation help. They have seen the greatest things. They've gone swimming with sharks and sting rays. They've gone cave tubing. They've eaten fish with the head on. By eight, they all knew that coke from Mexico just tastes better in a bottle with a straw. My 11 year old daughter doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up, only that it needs to be something in Belize.

 

Enjoy cruising with your children. Enjoy taking them to all those wonderful new places. Take it from someone without a parent...memories are all I have of my Dad and some of the best ones are from vacations.

[icanflossu]

OH my goodness mama, I have tears in my eyes just thinking about your situation.

 

Originally, I felt that I could never do it. We never have, we cruise with our kids to be with our kids. Then sometimes I think it's like the one poster said, it's just like having a babysitter. Then, again, I always go back to "no way". It goes so fast. My oldest will take his high school entrance exam one week before we leave on our next cruise. There will be so much more time ( and hopefully money) later on to do all these things without them. IN the mean time, we use tour operators at the dock, we take our kids and pay less. My kids all learned how to snorkle before they turned four, with flotation help. They have seen the greatest things. They've gone swimming with sharks and sting rays. They've gone cave tubing. They've eaten fish with the head on. By eight, they all knew that coke from Mexico just tastes better in a bottle with a straw. My 11 year old daughter doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up, only that it needs to be something in Belize.

 

Enjoy cruising with your children. Enjoy taking them to all those wonderful new places. Take it from someone without a parent...memories are all I have of my Dad and some of the best ones are from vacations.

[Paumavista]

Just back from a RC Seranade cruise with my (6,7,17,&20 yo) - after a couple days/hours of shore excursions with us the younger two begged to stay in kids club.

And we loved the fact that RC keeps the kids area open all day on shore days (we were in the S. Carribean; 6 ports in 7 days; in port for about 9 hours each day).

 

The boys REALLY enjoyed the kids club and in the same manner that I would trust them with a babysitter at home I trusted that they'd be fine on board. We always left ourselves plenty of time to return to the ship or didn't travel very far (maybe shopping in port) so I never worried about being "left behind" (because of "long" port times it was easy to plan).

 

We spent ALOT of time together so I don't feel like we "missed out" on any experiences - some days we'd all tour together; or some days we'd visit the beach together from 9am till noon; then go back to the ship, lunch together and they'd go to kids club while we shopped or went back for a couple pictures from 1-3pm (ship left port about 5/5:30).

 

If your children are happy and enjoying themselves I think it's a great opportunity for parents to get a little time off to themselves - the vacation is for the whole family....but it doesn't have to mean 24/7.

My perspective of the idea was whether I would leave them with this babysitter....combined with the fact that they were asking to stay.....and that they didn't want to shop or look at one more spectacular view (something their parents LOVE).

[first2008time cruiser]

I don't believe you have to spend every minute with your kids while on a cruise, but the one time that I would not leave my kids would be for me to get off the ship. But I also do not feel those who do are wrong, I would just be too worried personally. And that story about the infant being left for days onboard. OMG! :eek: I would be so scared if that happened to me. Luckily my kids are older now.

[ChicagoHusker]

Thanks for everyone's comments so far. It seems like there are two predominant concerns to leaving children on the ship during a shore excursion.

 

The first is, what happens if there is a medical emergency while you are away. Carnival's FAQ addresses this issue:

 

What happens if my child becomes sick while at Camp Carnival?If your child becomes sick during their stay in Camp Carnival we would immediately try to contact you by telephone, beeper or if this is not successful we would use the ships intercom system to have you come to pick up your child.

If parents cannot be located or if this occurs on a port day the Youth Director would use the child’s registration form to take the child to the Infirmary for assessment or treatment. Your registration form has a medical authorization on the reverse, signed by parents.

 

In my view, your kids are safer on the ship than they are when you leave them at home with a babysitter. The environment is safer, they are watched by trained professional, and emergency healthcare facilities are only a few minutes away.

 

The second issue is the admittedly catastrophic problem of the ship, with your children, leaving you behind. Again, at least with respect to Carnival sponsored shore excursions, I think this possibility is less than negligible so long as you take responsibility for being on the bus when you are supposed to be:

 

One of the many benefits of booking excursions through Carnival is a guarantee that the ship will remain in port until all guests are back onboard. Carnival will not be aware of shore excursions that are booked independently.

 

I wouldn't rely just on this guarantee. I will have an international-enabled cell phone that will allow me to be in contact with Carnival and, if necessary, the ship in case of any unforseen circumstances.

 

Despite everyone's concerns, we are inclined to try one sponsored excursion without the kids -- dinner in Venice. There's no risk of the ship leaving without us because it doesn't leave until the next day. In my mind, its not that much different than checking the kids into CC on formal night.

 

Enjoy cruising with your children. Enjoy taking them to all those wonderful new places. Take it from someone without a parent...memories are all I have of my Dad and some of the best ones are from vacations.

 

Believe me, we fully intend to. That is why we never have, and never would consider, taking a vacation sans children. But one of the beautiful things about cruising is that you can still carve out time for just you and your spouse. And frankly, there are times when the kids will have a better time at CC than with you -- during a long dinner, for instance.

[nimbex1970]

there are two factors here, yes you children will have a blast, maye more fun than you while at camp. Unfortuately I've read many posts of near misses as well as misses from parents whom you >>>>NEVER think will be you, but loose track of time due to time changes, get way laid due to traffic and miss tenders or taxis....

 

not lecturing, but this board is full of incredible stories of responsible adults who by no neglect of their own missed the ship, it left with their kids. So please, please... give yourself an hour flex time so everryone in your family can enjoy their time, you shoud not be afraid, only plan well, camp for the kids is a vacation to themselves... give it a try.

[Jenrose]

I don't plan on putting my baby in childcare at all, but would be totally comfortable leaving my 13 -year-old in an activity she enjoyed more. My husband and I are taking turns doing some things on our own that the baby can't do.

 

There is only one port where I'm going off without the baby on an actual excursion... but it will be booked through the cruise line. Everything else she comes with me.

[carnigal]

I used to work for Camp Carnival for over 3 years and worked on all sorts of ships and different itineraries and from my experience there was only ever one time that a child's parent ever missed the ship. the child wasn't in camp that day, in fact he wasn't even registered and was left on the ship with a friend. so the chances of you missing the ship and leaving your children are remote.

I worked on the Liberty last year while she was in the med, so i know how long those shore excursions can be and how children react to being away from their parents for long amounts of time. compared to most carribean cruises, and in fact daycare on land, its a lot longer. but if you leave your children with camp, i would advise that you do it for short amounts of time. yes there were parents who left their children every day all day while we were in port and i can tell you, once you hit the 7th, 8th day of a 12 day port intensive cruise, counselors start to feel sorry for the kids and well plain angry at the parents for not realising that its their childs vacation too.

so basically, it's not a problem to leave your kids with camp in port - my advise is not to do it everyday. The european cruises that Carnival offers have such beautiful ports that even a 5 and 7yr old can appreciate. Take them to see Gaudi's work in Spain, climb the walls in Dubrovnik, let them try mcdonalds in a different country. Let them enjoy their vacation with you. They will thank you for it one day.

[dolphins76]

On one of our RCCL cruises our kids did not want to get off the ship their ages at the time were 5,6,9. I was not so sure about leaving them on the ship while we just went into port with or 20 other family members. Well come to find our my neice who was 10 was also wanting to stay on the ship...so we agree that we thought we should let the kids have their day as they want it seeing this is their cruise also. So our kids stayed on the ship while we went into port shopping and for lunch and ect. They had a blast and felt like they were hotshots. I would do it again...we had a pager and on the contact papers when we signed the kids up it does have a waiver saying if anything happens and for some reason they can not get in touch with us they have the consent to bring my children to have medical attention. You have to go with your gut...You can ask anyone on here and you will hear horror stories and most don't even happen to that person its just a he say she say thing. Just relax and have fun!!!

 

 

Happy Cruising!!

[whale-watcher]

We have always planned excursions that could be enjoyed by the whole family, even if that means mom or dad or older sister has to compromise. Our kids will be out of the house soon enough, and we will have all the time in the world to do things on our own. We always ended up enjoying our family excursions tremendously, and are glad we took the time to share the world with our children.

[gizmo]

Ditto on Whale Watcher post.

 

I did family vacations when my daughter was young. I would not dream of ever leaving her or any child on a ship while I went off to do "whatever". There were plenty of things I would have liked to have done without my daughter, but the vacation was for the family. We alway found things to do as a family that included my daughter.

 

Because it is a ship excursion, doesn't mean a thing. Don't believe "the ship always waits", most of the time they do BUT ship excursion paxs have been left on shore because the ship had to leave to make another port. Yes, the cruise line was responsible to get them to the next port and back on the ship.

 

 

There is plenty of time to do things when a child grows up.

[adamsmom]

We have taken cruises and left our kids at home with family, but we haven't done it since they were old enough to really appreciate the trip. We have taken them with us on every cruise for the last 4 years. I figure we can cruise alone when they are too old or too busy to go with us. (Although, as much as they love cruising, they may be traveling with us as adults too!) So we have never left the ship without them. They love the kids program, and they are there every chance they get, but when it's time to go ashore, we plan something that we will all enjoy. When they are grown, DH and I can do excursions that we can't do now. I'm sure that we'll be visiting those ports again in the future.

 

I don't know that I would really feel uncomfortable about leaving them on board, but I would be extra sure to get back to the ship early. The thought of that infant being left on board and the parents left at the port really frightens me. Who would look after it?

 

Icanflossu--I get emotional reading your post. It's just incredible what kids can experience on a cruise. Never in a million years would I ever plan to fly to Belize with my children, or even Mexico for that matter. But on a cruise, they get to experience the most wonderful things. My kids haven't had quite the exposure yours have, but they have eaten at McDonalds in Cozumel and Nassau, ridden to the top of a mountain in a sky lift in St. Thomas, ridden in a dune buggy along a sandy road through a poor Mayan village in the middle of nowhere in Costa Maya, visited more beaches than I can count, and tasted foods that I never knew existed at their age. In Costa Maya, when we road through the village, there were nearly naked children selling flowers along the road. They lived in rundown shacks, and my kids had never seen anything like that before. I explained to them that these people live that way. They don't have video games, TV, a proper school, etc. My 2 were very thoughtful for the remainder of the tour.

 

When my 7yo DD's teacher asked what states she had visited, she said "Bahamas, Nassau, Tennesee, Georgia, Mississippi..." It's just become a way of life for them. Most kids in their classes don't believe them when they tell them what countries they've been to. Then the teachers, who know that we cruise, assure them that it's true.

[ruttie]

if you feel comfortable then go for it, My self I could never leave the ship without my kids unless there was someone on teh ship that i new who was staying on board. When we go with kids we are usually with friends and family so we team up put each others name on the check out that way one day my hubbie and i can go an dthey stay and enjoy downtime on the ship thennext day or later we stay and they go... ensuring someone is always within a few minutes just in case.. you never know with kids when they could get hurt accidents happen all the time and kids get sick at teh snap of a finger sometimes... with no warning, and a cruise ship is in essence a foreign country... so for me I could never be comfortable doing it and would not be able to enjoy knowing that in the back of my head i have basically left my kids with strangers for a long period of time in a forein country....

Hope it works for you from the sound of your last post it looks like you have already thougth through your options and made up your mind....

[trnmba]

We have left our children on the ship twice. Once we took an excursion (not through the ship but independent). We had no problems at all. They were 3 at the time. We however went off right away and headed back right after the excursion. We made sure it was one that started early and ended early.

 

We also recently left them onboard when they were 4. This time we just got off after dinner and walked around a bit and listened to some bands playing nearby.

 

Both times we had no issues. I would however not take an all day excursion and try to keep it on the shorter side.

[TSoccer5]

we originally took the kids with us and did the bus ride tour, and ate lunch

then my son was begging to go back to the ship and play with his friends, fortunately we did not have to sign up in advance on that cruise and they were happy to have him come play

 

All other ports we have always taken him with us, this year we were talking about what to do and both he and his sister want to wait and see how camp is and then stay on board in St Thomas so mommy and daddy can "go do adult stuff", so we have a 3 hr first thing in the morning tour scheduled and since it is Day 5 of a 7 day cruise, if the kids want to stay in camp we will make arrangements for them to do so.

 

This is their 4th cruise and they know what they like and we have had great relationships with the camp staff by that point in the cruise in the past and expect that again this time. If we do not feel comfortable we will cancel the tour by 10pm the night before and just hit the beach.

 

Good luck with your decision, it really depends on the children, the parents and how the week is going.

[Suzanne74]

We planned on it and I even put a deposit down on an independent tour in the Cayman's but I am going to cancel it.

 

I started to think about it and I don't think getting off on an island you are not sure of and leaving your child on a ship that WILL leave no matter what freaks me out a little. There have been taxi accidents, buses leaving people (that were on ship excurions!) people getting sick, broken bones, lost, lose track of time zones and actual times etc... Most you can control with good judgement but others you can't and I am not willing to take that chance with my 5yr old. I can not imagine how she would feel if we couldn't get back to her. I remember seeing a post on a couple who was robbed by their taxi driver and left in the middle of the road. They barely made it back to their ship, thank god or a 4 and 7yr old would have been without their parents. :(

 

On our ship, we are lucky to be going to RCCL's private island which has the Kids Club on the beach at the little island. That will be the day DH and I take some time to enjoy the beach by ourselves knowing our daughter isn't so far off on the island with us. A private island. This may only be 2-3hrs but it will be nice. The other 3 ports, she will be going with us and we are doing great family excursions (dolphin encounter, stingray city, river tubing) and I hope she learns and experiences a lot from it.

 

I don't think it is wrong for parents to want some alone time and the best part of a cruise is the fact that you CAN do that. I just think, there are "at sea" days you can do this and every evening as well. I just think it is much safer to keep your kids with you when going to an unknown international port.

[bplazo]

I think you made the right decision.

[fendere]

Dear ChicagoHusker,

 

Ironically, I followed your posts from the Freedom role call just now over to this thread, to find you asking the same questions that I tried to find you for! My family of four from Atlanta have recently booked the same June 6th Carnival Freedom as you, and I was trying to find more of your posts since it seems your family and mine have a lot in common as we're all 4 the same ages, (DH 2 yrs younger, too!) and boy and girl, but our son is the oldest. Ironically, the reason i was trying to find other posts by you was because my husband and I, too, have been in heated debate over these past two weeks as to what to do with the children during some of the excursions. This will be our two kids' 7th cruise by then and they dearly love both Camp Disney and Carnival. but we've never been to Europe and i've been stressing over possibly leaving them onboard. If you read my VERY lengthy recent post to our role call thread asking for advice, you'll see my dilemma with Disney vs. Carnival, for the main reason, of leaving the children onboard. DH thinks that it would be better on Disney to do that, where I'm thinking now I just want to take them to see everything most of the time, WITH the exception of dinner and gondola in Venice! (Disney does not go to Venice.) I was thinking that since the ship is in port in Venice until 3pm the NEXT day, and we'd only be to dinner until late evening, it seems to be a safer situation. We, too, of course would make sure to have cell phone service there. My husband has pretty much surrendered and i think Carnival has become the trip of choice. I'd love to chat further with you, maybe through email or PM? I've been spending many hours trying to figure out what private tours/ Carnival tours would be best for these young kids and I'd love to compare notes if you are game.

 

Renee

[fendere]

Dear ChicagoHusker,

 

Ironically, I followed your posts from the Freedom role call just now over to this thread, to find you asking the same questions that I tried to find you for! My family of four from Atlanta have recently booked the same June 6th Carnival Freedom as you, and I was trying to find more of your posts since it seems your family and mine have a lot in common as we're all 4 the same ages, (DH 2 yrs younger, too!) and boy and girl, but our son is the oldest. Ironically, the reason i was trying to find other posts by you was because my husband and I, too, have been in heated debate over these past two weeks as to what to do with the children during some of the excursions. This will be our two kids' 7th cruise by then and they dearly love both Camp Disney and Carnival. but we've never been to Europe and i've been stressing over possibly leaving them onboard. If you read my VERY lengthy recent post to our role call thread asking for advice, you'll see my dilemma with Disney vs. Carnival, for the main reason, of leaving the children onboard. DH thinks that it would be better on Disney to do that, where I'm thinking now I just want to take them to see everything most of the time, WITH the exception of dinner and gondola in Venice! (Disney does not go to Venice.) I was thinking that since the ship is in port in Venice until 3pm the NEXT day, and we'd only be to dinner until late evening, it seems to be a safer situation. We, too, of course would make sure to have cell phone service there. My husband has pretty much surrendered and i think Carnival has become the trip of choice. I'd love to chat further with you, maybe through email or PM? I've been spending many hours trying to figure out what private tours/ Carnival tours would be best for these young kids and I'd love to compare notes if you are game.

 

Renee