If you are going on RCCL - know about the strike system

[crusinmama06]

Since I had NEVER seen anyone mention the strike system before, I figure I better talk about it now.

 

RCCL has a strike system in place. In you saw my tales from the Freedom of the Seas, I was dealing with an uniformed counselor on her 2nd week with RCCL (hopefully it will be her last soon). :rolleyes:

 

To recap, the counselor had tried to give my 3 year old a strike for playing on the slide when it was time for crafts. Then she tried to give her a strike for coloring a marker on the table while they were painting big poster boards with markers. She then threatened to kick her out (this was the SECOND day)

 

So if you encounter the strike system while onboard RCCL, here is what they tell me the facts are.

 

The strikes are for "inappropriate behavior" as stated on the bottom of every AO schedule. Your child CAN receive a strike for a "potty accident".

 

To receive a strike, the counselors are *suppose* to sit down with you and explain WHY the child is receiving the strike. Then you have to sign a paper saying you understand that your child receive the strike.

 

Three strikes and your child is not allowed to return to AO the rest of the week.

 

They tell me that the strike system is NOT to be taken for small offenses. It is suppose to be for offenses that could cause harm to your child or other children like biting, hitting, etc.

 

If your child receives a strike for something as insignificant as being on a slide, PLEASE go to Guest relation immediatly and ask for them to call the AO manager.

 

I don't want any other parent to go against an overzealous counselor and get upset for no reason. :(

[TropicalSnowflake]

Thanks for posting. If that had been me, I'm sure I would have gone to the guest relations, as well. Sorry you had to deal with that on vacation!

[Mumof2]

Sounds like the counsellor isn't qualified to work with small children. She didn't know how to redirect in a positive way? :eek: C'mon - her a$$ should be outta there!! I'd have been livid to have a 3 year old 'disciplined' for normal attention span issues.

[Wendi&Max]

That is so sad!!! Is this new? I traveled with Max last year on RCCL and they never mentioned such a program. I had other issues with them though... we had an experience that really gave me a bad taste in my mouth about RCCL. Not to say I wouldn't consider them again, and our cruise wasn't ruined, we still had a good time, but they really soured the whole experience and a person with a different attitude could've taken it far worse than I did. I would be really pissed off if someone gave my child a "strike" for what your daughter got strikes for!

[lexxity]

A strike for a potty accident! WHAT?:eek: How old was the child involved? I assume that we are talking a small child? Also a strike for palying on the slide? Madness!

 

Well done you for bringing this to general attention.

[crusinmama06]

A strike for a potty accident! WHAT?:eek: How old was the child involved? I assume that we are talking a small child? Also a strike for palying on the slide? Madness!

 

Well done you for bringing this to general attention.

 

ANY potty accident for ANY age is a strike. You are told this when you sign them up and it's written that they need to be "100% potty trained".

 

We didn't have the potty strike for Gabriella cause she is 100% potty trained but when I was going live from the ship, another mom wrote that her older son received a potty strike because he got too involved with playing and forgot to go to the bathroom...and he leaked a little onto his underwear and they needed to bring him a change, but not a change of shorts cause they were dry...HE got a strike. The mom said she was so embarrassed. :(

 

I guess since the Freedom is relativly new, those counselors are more vocal about the strike system.

 

Wendi&Max - I don't know if it's new. The counselors that your son came in contact with may not have been as new and strict as the ones Gab did. TWO of those counselors in the aquanauts group just seemed overwhelmed by the kids. The others were pros. But it's sad when the dining staff and cabin attendant treated Gabriella better than the AO counselor. :rolleyes:

 

So Wendi, what was your problem? I would love to hear about it.

[Wendi&Max]

My issue was that Max was injured in AO. They have them barefoot most of the time in the club... and playing soccer! So, he apparently fell while running and probably bent his big toe all the way back. They claimed to have paged me, then claimed that my pager probably didn't work... *gee thanks for giving it to me then* They also claimed to have no idea how he got hurt... um, were you not WATCHING him??? They were utterly unconcerned and that is where the problem was. They just didn't care. Luckily I took the stroller and used it as a wheelchair for the remainder of the cruise... we only had two days left and he wouldn't let anyone near his foot for those two days. I went to the front desk to make it very clear that we needed luggage tags for the absolute first group off the ship in the morning of debarkation because by that point I was convinced that his foot was actually broken and I wanted to get him to a hospital as soon as possible. Well, the person at the desk ended up giving us luggage tags that were even LATER than the ones we already had! Yeah... I was beyond pissed off at that point... another person who simply didn't care about us. We left the ship anyway, found our luggage and found a hospital. Again, like I said, it didn't ruin our entire vacation, but it was just that no one wanted to take any responsibility for what had happened (which I do understand from a business standpoint, they aren't going to take any fault). I would've been much more satisfied if they at least acted concerned, and offered some medical consultation while we were on the ship since it did happen on their watch. I also would've been happy if after explaining that it was medically necessary for us to get off the ship immediately in the morning that the crewmember we'd encountered had done the right thing. I almost feel like he gave us a late color on purpose and snickered at me behind my back or something, ya know???

[cusyl]

This sounds like a ridiculous rule for small children. I doubt you would get that type of treatment on a Cunard ship. From what I have been reading about RCL recently I don't think I care to cruise with them.:eek:

[rebeccalouise]

I was really unhappy with the Youth program from a parent standpoint. The very first day that they had the kids- they did a big schpeel about how if you stayed up every night in the Adventure Ocean until 1AM- you could earn prizes.

So, I go to get my son at 10PM (before you pay for childcare) and he was really upset that he couldn't stay because of the prize incentive. Instead of the youth counselors encouraging him to go they stood there mute. I told my son in a loud voice that he could buy his own keychain (the prize in question) at the gift shop in the morning. I said "I don't even stay up that late". The lady behind me said the same thing.

 

This was clearly to get the $15 dollars extra a day to keep the kids there until 1AM.

 

I have never experienced this on Celebrity. You have to walk thru the arcade to get to Adventure Ocean. Another carrot to dangle in front of the kids. On Celebrity it is on the other side of the ship from the Fun Factory- not a constant draw and very limited games anyway (good!).

 

My son told me that a little boy kept hitting him (3 times )in during the pirate parade. And we told the counselors the next day. They told Marc to tell them next time but why weren't they watching the kids in the pirate parade?

 

When a cruise line puts profit before the kids (stay up til 1AM nonsense), I start to question whether the youth counselors have any regard for the kids in the first place.

 

The other thing that urked me was I booked Radiance because it had a water slide. It was only open for two hours a day 2-4- and they were invariably late opening it every day. And then of course, all the kids were lined up at once with a lot of racing each other back to the slide and slipping. My son didn't slip because I made sure he didn't run but other kids were pushing and whatnot. Disappointing.

[BettyBoopX]

My sister now 11 has been going on cruises for years, everyone except 1 on RCCI. I can say from experiance of picking her up and watching that every AO cast member we ever came in contact with was nice. I also know they are very popular and so they generally fill up. I only have one small child at home and I know how easily it is for something to happen in just a few seconds of looking away. So I could only imagine what older kids could do when a person looks away for a second to talk to a parent, or look down at a piece of paper, or god forbid deal with a kid who is upset. They can not watch every child every second and I would never expect them to. I would expect them to care if a child is hurt and to make sure he/she is okay. I have however seen kids to imbarrassed to tell them they are hurt or to let them know how much it hurts. ( My sister is one of those types so luckily she has never been hurt on the ship ) As far as hitting goes the comment about letting them know is the same thing your teacher at school tells you. Remember this is not a baby sitting service. AO is suppose to be like a camp. If you think of it that way it puts into better perspective as what to expect out of supervision.

 

I am sorry the OP had to go though the unwarrented strikes as you should not have had to deal with it. Thank you for letting the rest of us know so we can also make sure to do something about it if it happens.

[crusinmama06]

Wendi&Max - I actually had the same issue with Gabriella getting hurt and the counselors NOT telling me although they knew about it. I got a call from a counselor that Gabriella was "crying and there were just too many kids in aqaunauts" that night.

 

I go to pick her up (it's only 8pm) and she is crying, which is totally unusual for her.

 

Later that night I go to get my older daughter. SHE says "Mom, Gabriella got hurt."

 

I said "How do you know?" (she is in the older club)

 

She said "One of my friends went to use the bathroom in Gabriella's class and she came back and say 'Hey Morgan someone is hitting your sister' so I went over to the net to see Gabriella and a little girl hit her in the face. So I called over to her and asked her if she was ok, she was crying. So I asked MY counselor if I could use the bathroom in Gabriella's class and I went and told Gab's counselor about the girl hitting Gab. When I came out of the bathroom, that little girl was in a time out."

 

So I asked Gabriella, did you get a boo boo at your school today and my THREE year old said "Yeah, a girl hit me in the chin, right here" :eek: So I asked her if that's why she had been crying and she said yes she was "sad".

 

So it took my CHILDREN to tell me what actually happened that night. The counselor lied and said there were just too many kids in the club. He KNEW that Gabriella had been hit and that's why she was crying but he didn't tell me anything about it.

 

On the first morning that I picked up Gabriella she said she had a "boo boo belly". I asked the counselor what happened and he said "Oh it must have happened on the slide." Gab said someone jumped on her at the bottom of the slide.

 

I am not an overly dramatic mom. I KNOW things happen in school and in camp that the counselors can't predict and don't see happen. But they need to keep the parents better informed if they DO know there was an accident. Even in preschools and kindergartens they send home a "boo boo" report if the kid gets injured. That's the least they should do when you are paying that much to be on a cruise.

 

----------------------------------

 

rebeccalouise - they did not have that on Freedom. The prizes were awarded during the normal hours. So luckily enough parents may have complained and they did away with that. They pretty much did nothing organized after 10pm. It was just open play. My oldest begged to stay at Camp Carnival every night during the after hours cause they played more games. She was content to leave AO at 10pm cause the one night she did stay she just played on the computer.

[BettyBoopX]

I totally agree with "boo boo" or incident reports. (I see a letter writing campain to put that idea in their head ;) ) Even if it is just to tell a parent that their child was sad today. I can see how they miss seeing some things happen but once they know, even if they don't see it happen, they should let you know that it was brought to their attention and what actions they took. Using premade reports that they can check off and add notes to would be a great way to do this making it easy for them to fill out and keep you informed without them being able to use the excuse that they don't have time. I have never seen them do this before so I am guessing it is not something they do atm if someone know differently let me know.

 

I also work with children at my church and even watching only 4 kids I sometimes find myself playing mediator to things I was not a witness to. I try to not over react but if I saw a child crying there is no way I would not talk to them and their parents about it. Maybe it's the motherly side of me but it breaks my heart to see a child cry.

 

Katie

[Wendi&Max]

One of my first thoughts when they told me that they didn't know what happened to Max's foot was, "why not ASK him what happened if you didn't see it???"

 

I also just wanted to add, that despite the injury, Max was very eager to spend as much time as he could in the kid's club!!!

[crusinmama06]

I totally agree with "boo boo" or incident reports. (I see a letter writing campain to put that idea in their head ;) )

 

Katie

 

Oh don't worry, I fired off a letter as soon as my feet hit dry land...lol. ;)

[rebeccalouise]

rebeccalouise - they did not have that on Freedom. The prizes were awarded during the normal hours. So luckily enough parents may have complained and they did away with that. They pretty much did nothing organized after 10pm. It was just open play. My oldest begged to stay at Camp Carnival every night during the after hours cause they played more games. She was content to leave AO at 10pm cause the one night she did stay she just played on the computer.

 

The Fun Factory on Celebrity is just a slumber party for the little kids after 10PM. There are no organized activities for the little ones but they are allowed to play videogames and color, etc. Quiet activities. The last night of the cruise it is free to leave them there until 1AM and they do woop it up that night. The thing is, most kids are tired at 10PM and have busy schedules- excursions, etc. the following day- so frankly, I don't leave my son in the Fun Factory because of this. And also because I would have to wake him up and walk him back to the room. I did this once and he was so tired and crying (at midnight). Not loudly but I still felt bad possibly waking people as we walked back to our room. So, I did let him the last night because I knew that the partying would keep him awake (got him at midnight and he was going strong!)

[helenb]

I had a similar experience with RCCL and it has soured me on them. My son was 3 at the time of our cruise, and wasn't so much into group activities. The counsellors wanted all of the kids to sit in a circle for some activity and he didn't want to, so he kept playing with toys in the corner of the room. This warranted him a strike. I couldn't believe it! On Princess, this was NEVER a problem, as long as the kids weren't bothering anyone they could participate in the activities or not, as they wanted.

 

He got his second strike because 'he was constantly trying to run out the door'. Well DUH! the double doors were both WIDE open, and the arcade was easily visible across the hall. I wonder why he was trying to run out? CLOSE THE DOOR, people! On Princess, the door to the kids' area was always closed, and the handle was well above a small child's reach. I didn't understand the need to keep double glass doors WIDE open at all times on RCCL, and I was angry that my son received a strike because of it.

 

Having two strikes and not wanting a third, we didn't put him in the A.O. as much as we would have liked to, and he was upset when he saw his older sister going and he wasn't able to.

 

Then, on the last night, my daughter wanted to join in the pirate night, but she arrived 'too late' and they wouldn't let her. They wouldn't sign her in. I offered to stay with her and asked if she could just walk with the others, and they told me that wasn't allowed. So my daughter was bawling because she wasn't allowed to join in. She even wrote a letter (in her Kindergarten fashion... very heart-wrenching) to the counsellors, telling them she was sad.

 

They didn't care. The next day we were off the ship, so why should they bother?

 

I was NOT impressed with A.O., and was hoping that it was just the one ship. I guess it wasn't, judging by some of the comments I have seen here.

[crusinmama06]

I had a similar experience with RCCL and it has soured me on them. My son was 3 at the time of our cruise, and wasn't so much into group activities. The counsellors wanted all of the kids to sit in a circle for some activity and he didn't want to, so he kept playing with toys in the corner of the room. This warranted him a strike. I couldn't believe it! On Princess, this was NEVER a problem, as long as the kids weren't bothering anyone they could participate in the activities or not, as they wanted.

 

He got his second strike because 'he was constantly trying to run out the door'. Well DUH! the double doors were both WIDE open, and the arcade was easily visible across the hall. I wonder why he was trying to run out? CLOSE THE DOOR, people! On Princess, the door to the kids' area was always closed, and the handle was well above a small child's reach. I didn't understand the need to keep double glass doors WIDE open at all times on RCCL, and I was angry that my son received a strike because of it.

 

Having two strikes and not wanting a third, we didn't put him in the A.O. as much as we would have liked to, and he was upset when he saw his older sister going and he wasn't able to.

 

Then, on the last night, my daughter wanted to join in the pirate night, but she arrived 'too late' and they wouldn't let her. They wouldn't sign her in. I offered to stay with her and asked if she could just walk with the others, and they told me that wasn't allowed. So my daughter was bawling because she wasn't allowed to join in. She even wrote a letter (in her Kindergarten fashion... very heart-wrenching) to the counsellors, telling them she was sad.

 

They didn't care. The next day we were off the ship, so why should they bother?

 

I was NOT impressed with A.O., and was hoping that it was just the one ship. I guess it wasn't, judging by some of the comments I have seen here.

 

THAT'S terrible! See what I mean! They told me it was "RARE" to receive a strike and it was for aggresive children only! I wish you would have gone to Customer Relations. You should at least write them a letter.

 

They have issues with young children that I haven't seen on any other cruiseline. And I LOVE cruising with RCCL. I love the ships and the service. It makes me so mad that AO is like this. :mad:

 

I was hoping we had an isolated incident on Freedom and we could do another RCCL ship and not encounter the same. I guess that's out of the question. :(

[lexxity]

WOW! That's so harsh. Guess I'll be leaving RCCL off my list for good now. I already had reservations as we wanted to sail them last summer and they wanted to charge for my son, who would have been 8months even though he couldn't partake in any of the activities, use the pool, I was even told that out of the UK I would have had to bring my own food for him!

 

Not good RCCL, not good at all.

[TropicalSnowflake]

I write my title "tongue in cheek" but it does seem strange that more than one of you have had young children gain strikes for just being a kid! I don't know any 3 y/o who would not push the limits, esp if they are being told to "sit quietly" in a circle or see something more interesting through open doors. It seems that RCL needs to do a better job understanding the needs of young preschoolers rather than punish their natural behavior, or start their AO program at 4 years old instead of 3 to alleviate issues on both sides.

[MellowMel]

I'm sorry that some of you have had some bad experiences. I don't think AO is bad overall though. I'm truly hoping that what you experienced were isolated incidents. We've experienced AO twice, on two different ships, and the kids loved it! The staff was absolutely fantastic!! I can totally see my 3-year-old wanting to keep playing with the Fisher Price toys instead of doing a group activity. If he did this in either of our last two AO programs, he didn't receive a strike for it. I too was under the impression that strikes were for serious infracations.

[momonthego17]

I'm sorry that some of you have had some bad experiences. I don't think AO is bad overall though. I'm truly hoping that what you experienced were isolated incidents. We've experienced AO twice, on two different ships, and the kids loved it! The staff was absolutely fantastic!! I can totally see my 3-year-old wanting to keep playing with the Fisher Price toys instead of doing a group activity. If he did this in either of our last two AO programs, he didn't receive a strike for it. I too was under the impression that strikes were for serious infracations.

 

I sailed with my 2 DD's (6 & 4 at the time) on RCCL and they loved the AO. Granted, there were very few 3 to 5 year olds so there was more one on one attention with my youngest. We have another cruise scheduled and I hope we don't run into any "strike" issues. In fact, I don't remember any mention of "strikes" when we checked our DD's into AO. Thanks for bringing this issue to light.

[Onessa]

DD's been on at least one cruise a year since she was old enough for the kids programs (I've lost track of any actual 'counts'). We've done other lines as well, but primarily RCCI and have never had any issues with AO, AO policies, or AO staff. It has always been a terrific experience for us and our DD (now 11YO). We've sailed both Radiance-class and Voyager-class RCCI ships. She's ranged in age from 3.5 to 10 on our RCCI cruises.

 

As is the case anywhere, there can be some counselors who either are not right for the job or lack the experience to deal with certain situations but it has NEVER been our experience to run into such AO staff members on any of our cruises.

 

I was concerned the first time I left my rather sensitive 3YO with a bunch of 20-something guys (I admit I had the stereo-typed idea that a grandmotherly lady would have been better) but was pleased with how good the counselors were - they were enthusiastic and really made the time special. I've never had an experience where our daughter was excluded because se was too late (in fact when she was 5YO and had JUST started piano lessons, she was too shy to sign up for the talent show; but Dizzy Darren was perceptive enough to see that she really HAD wanted to perform and seemlessly arranged for her to participate mid-show). When a boy in her age group broke his arm during an activity, the counselors made a point to let the rest of the parents know what had happened and how it was handled. We have been welcomed and invited to join in some activities. We've always been treated well even on cruises where there have been record numbers of kids enrolled in the program!

[KerriL]

Since I had NEVER seen anyone mention the strike system before, I figure I better talk about it now.

 

RCCL has a strike system in place. In you saw my tales from the Freedom of the Seas, I was dealing with an uniformed counselor on her 2nd week with RCCL (hopefully it will be her last soon). :rolleyes:

 

To recap, the counselor had tried to give my 3 year old a strike for playing on the slide when it was time for crafts. Then she tried to give her a strike for coloring a marker on the table while they were painting big poster boards with markers. She then threatened to kick her out (this was the SECOND day)

 

So if you encounter the strike system while onboard RCCL, here is what they tell me the facts are.

 

The strikes are for "inappropriate behavior" as stated on the bottom of every AO schedule. Your child CAN receive a strike for a "potty accident".

 

To receive a strike, the counselors are *suppose* to sit down with you and explain WHY the child is receiving the strike. Then you have to sign a paper saying you understand that your child receive the strike.

 

Three strikes and your child is not allowed to return to AO the rest of the week.

 

They tell me that the strike system is NOT to be taken for small offenses. It is suppose to be for offenses that could cause harm to your child or other children like biting, hitting, etc.

 

If your child receives a strike for something as insignificant as being on a slide, PLEASE go to Guest relation immediatly and ask for them to call the AO manager.

 

I don't want any other parent to go against an overzealous counselor and get upset for no reason. :(

 

Wow, this sounds like us!!

This is most certainly what we experienced on the Mariner in April of 2005.

We were told that Lilly had been given strike 1 when we went to pick her up on the second day of the cruise. I did understand that they could be given a strike for "inappropriate behavior". What I didn't know, was that it is their discretion as to what is considered "inappropriate behavior".

We really didn't have any behavior issues with her, so I could not imagine what she could have done. Well, like cruisinmama06, Lilly got a strike for wanting to stay in the ballpit instead of moving on to the craft...:(

She got a second "offense::rolleyes: a few days later for also not wanting to participate in a craft. I spoke with the counselor, a total puke, and got the feeling from her that she should have chosen a profession that did not deal with children.

Their expectations for a 3 year old were completely unreasonable. There was no logical reason for making Lilly stop her activity to take part in the craft.

 

I did not speak to any one in guest services, although I should have. We just didn't feel as though Lilly was wanted in the clubs by this one counselor in particular and she mainly stayed with us for the duration of the cruise with a couple of exceptions. She did not ever receive the dreaded strike 3!!

The only other kids programming that we were familiar with was on Disney Cruise Line and although Lilly hasn't sail Disney yet, my other children never had any issues at all with Disney.

[crusinmama06]

Kerri, I wish I had known this before the cruise or I would have saved myself alot of stress while on it. That's the reason I am trying to get the word out.

 

To those who had no problems that's GREAT! I am glad to hear that. But I am also sad to hear about the 3 year olds that DID have problems.

 

Now, my 7 year old LOVED, LOVED, LOVED AO. But she is 7, not 3. :(

[sea*siren]

Then, on the last night, my daughter wanted to join in the pirate night, but she arrived 'too late' and they wouldn't let her. They wouldn't sign her in. I offered to stay with her and asked if she could just walk with the others, and they told me that wasn't allowed. So my daughter was bawling because she wasn't allowed to join in. She even wrote a letter (in her Kindergarten fashion... very heart-wrenching) to the counsellors, telling them she was sad.

 

quote]

 

This is heartbreaking! I'm so sorry that happened to your daughter. I would have been livid if my child had been treated that way!