My In-Laws Are Cruise Outlaws!

[poptart]

smg669--your cruise sounds like a sitcom:D According to Jim or King of Queens or maybe even the Beverly Hillbillies!!! :D

 

Your sil sounds young and/or immature--I'm sure she thought the baby was fine after all he was sleeping and she just stayed a minute--she didn't think about the "what ifs" that could have happened. Hopefully since your wife is a wonderful mother she will help her sister learn to be a wonderful mother too.

 

Happy Sails!!!

[iluvcruisingtoo]

It was his nephew, not his son. My sister-in-law is pretty much a single mother. It's not like she was going to sit down for a full meal - she got a coffee and a piece of cake and went back to the room to check on him in the middle of eating it. Not that I condone what she did or would do it with my own child. But, if any of us thought the child was in real danger we would have intervened.

 

How could you not think that the child was in any real danger???? You said in your original quote that she told the cabin steward that the baby was in the room and that she would be right back. She does not know this guy!!!!!!!!!! What would you guys have done if she came back and the baby was gone. We live in a world with alot of sick and twisted people ... you can't trust anyone. For the child's sake I sincerely hope she stops taking risks like this. This 15 minutes could have caused her to lose her son. I wonder if the coffee and piece of cake would have been worth it then. BTW, if she really needed to eat that badly she could have ordered room service or just taken the kid with her to the dining room. OMG the more I think about the more upset i get. :mad:

[Mikel1733]

On our most recent cruise last Oct. on the Imagination there was a "clan" that was about 30 people in number. They were very loud and obnoxious and took over any venue they went to. At karaoke they would get up in their drunken stupor and yell and scream just to be on the microphone. At the entertainment they would be loud and interruptive to the entertainers. At each venue they would take large containers of alcohol and mix their own drinks. They took their children to the "R rated midnite comedian show. I was embarrassed my wife was there hearing it let alone young children. These kids were were half dressed in pj's and slippers. Bottoms and no tops???? Some of the passengers were saying they were all from the Miami area and got on the ship for $159 each in a Florida resident special. Thanks Carnival:eek:

[smg669]

How could you not think that the child was in any real danger???? You said in your original quote that she told the cabin steward that the baby was in the room and that she would be right back. She does not know this guy!!!!!!!!!! What would you guys have done if she came back and the baby was gone. We live in a world with alot of sick and twisted people ... you can't trust anyone. For the child's sake I sincerely hope she stops taking risks like this. This 15 minutes could have caused her to lose her son. I wonder if the coffee and piece of cake would have been worth it then. BTW, if she really needed to eat that badly she could have ordered room service or just taken the kid with her to the dining room. OMG the more I think about the more upset i get. :mad:

 

Ok, just to perhaps clarify things here. It's not like she showed up, told us that the baby was in the cabin and we all went back to eating without a word. Everyone at the table expressed shock and asked if she was out of her freaking mind. Several of us offered to take her key and go to the cabin to watch the baby. I believe that after seeing our reactions she clued in that she had made an error in judgement, grabbed her food and went right back to the cabin. If she hadn't done that, if she had simply ingored our incredulous reaction and had pooh-poohed our concerns, one of us would wrestled the key away from her and gone to watch over the baby.

 

I will admit that some of the comments on this thread have given me a lot of food for thought about wther or not our reactions were drastic/forceful enough. When you deal day in and day out with someone who genrates that kind of drama in their lives, you tend to develop an emotional callus and become somewhat jaded. Which is fine when it's just her being her crazy old self, but now there's an innocent bystander involved.

 

The parallels to the Maddie McCann case are eerie. My sister-in-law is not a monster - for instance, she didn't choose to leave my nephew in Camp Carnival at all because she found out that the babysitting was a group babysitting service with a few "youth counsellors" looking after several children. Same thing with the McCanns - they had round the clock child care available to them at the resort they were staying at, but rather than chance leaving their three children with strangers, they opted to leave them alone in the condo. The human mind sometimes works in strange, strange ways.

 

S

[crusinmama06]

 

The parallels to the Maddie McCann case are eerie. My sister-in-law is not a monster - for instance, she didn't choose to leave my nephew in Camp Carnival at all because she found out that the babysitting was a group babysitting service with a few "youth counsellors" looking after several children. Same thing with the McCanns - they had round the clock child care available to them at the resort they were staying at, but rather than chance leaving their three children with strangers, they opted to leave them alone in the condo. The human mind sometimes works in strange, strange ways.

 

S

 

Oh yeah, she's cracked! I have NO problems leaving my kids at Camp Carnival. And I am a psycho over protective parent. ;) That woman is just warped.

[crusinpsychRN]

I only wish that the things I wrote were fabricated. I truly do. There's not a word of a lie in what I wrote. I thought my family was crazy... until I met my wife's family. If I can cull those stories about them from a single one week cruise, imagine what the rest of their lives must me like.

 

Then I'm very sorry for you! They always say meet your intended's family before joining! They sound worse than the worst of all the worst we read about on CC.

[cruiselubbers]

 

I'll admit that my post was written to elicit a response, so in that sense you were "baited". And while I may have omitted some detail to make it seem more sensational that it might be, I can assure you that everything that I outlined in that e-mail actually happened.

 

S

 

 

Just remember I believe I said somewhere my heart goes out to you if there was truth in your story. Since none of us were there & there has been an awful lot of baited threads on here lately it's only normal that some of us now start to question the realness of some posts!

 

Actually I found my quote so copied & pasted here it is:

 

"If not I feel for ya friend! Makes me glad the rest of my family either has no interest in cruising....dumb de dumb dumb.....dumb.....well it's ok, more room for me! :D ......and then the rest just can't afford it! :("

 

One other thought whether we want to admit it or not all of us have family or extended family that needs alittle help. Not all of us are able to admit it however so with that in mind we thank you for sharing & making us realize that we're not alone in this world when each of us says: "You won't believe what my crazy relative did!"

 

Maybe, just maybe you have more nuts then what the rest of us do since you were able to come out & tell us!

 

I hope your do over cruise leave you in a better state of mind & that you'll come back & give us some helpful tips!

 

Be blessed, be a blessing! :p

[tomboyy]

betcha reget hitting that "submit reply " button on that one smg, I feel for ya. I've been there done that , well not exactly but i know what to mean about be callous. Such outrage here, I hope some of you are cruising on my ship so that when some rude and lazy parent puts their kid in the pool in swimmies you will yell at them so I don't have to get up and do it:D

 

Tom

[2Ports]

Having cruised twice with my in-laws, I'll gladly trade you straight up, sight unseen. Yep, that bad. :eek:

[smg669]

Having cruised twice with my in-laws, I'll gladly trade you straight up, sight unseen. Yep, that bad. :eek:

 

I guess my in-laws are not all bad - they did pay for the cruise and the flights for the four of us, after all.

[truecruiser]

well, smg, i initially avoided comment on the SIL issue, b/c i thought all of you had set your SIL straight. but, now i see that even you have reservations about whether you were forceful enough.

 

what is with her parents and her sister? true, we have established that the outlaws lack any modicum of social grace, but surely someone in that bunch (other than you) must have some common sense, don't they?

 

Here's some more food for thought. Have your DW get on the phone w/ her sister and tell her how dangerous what she did was. have her drill into her sister that she was lucky, that time, and that she'd be wise to never test fate like that again.

 

in addition to the million "could haves" already listed, how 'bout these to add?

 

the baby could have tried to crawl out of the crib, fallen and cracked/hit his head or broken a limb;

 

if the crib was the older wooden kind (like i had on one of my cruises), the baby could have gotten it's neck caught and suffocated, or it's leg or arm caught, and be screaming in pain.

 

the baby could have reached for something (anything w/in distance), put it in his mouth and choked;

 

the baby could have successfully gotten out of the crib and wandered into who knows what (bathrooms are very dangerous for babies) and are usually left open w/ the door magnet; or picked up who knows what (i'm sure she had all kinds of things laying all over the vanity area. i know i do when i cruise) and put it in his mouth to chew or eat something hazardous.

 

it takes mere seconds for something tragic to happen. the above are just another couple of scenarios that cld happen that i didn't see listed. the fact that one of many things did not happen dosen't make the risk less. it just makes your SIL "lucky," this time. and maybe shows that your nephew had an angel on his shoulder.;)

 

tell your DW to get on it. someone has to. and better her than you, as she is her sister, after all. she'll be doing her sister and nephew a great favor.

 

aside from that occurrence above, i still have to say that your inital post was very funny. and while i wldn't want to be cruisin' w/ those folks, seeing your face (the shaking of the head) in my mind's eye, as these events were unfolding was primo for an otherwise very good laugh. i'd say you'll have to do everything you can to avoid goin' w/ them again, though.

[KAWS]

It was his nephew, not his son. My sister-in-law is pretty much a single mother. It's not like she was going to sit down for a full meal - she got a coffee and a piece of cake and went back to the room to check on him in the middle of eating it. Not that I condone what she did or would do it with my own child. But, if any of us thought the child was in real danger we would have intervened.

 

Isn't that what room service is for?

 

Kim

[scubacindy]

I had to chip in here as I just returned from the Legend Cruise also this week. I did not see the baby in the pool, but believe it possible.

At the adult pool I did see a grandmother run off because she had her toddler granddaughter about to step into the pool. I also saw the security take drinks away from those in the hot tub and pool multiple times. But, the wait staff would just come back and sell more to them!

Scubacindy

[wizard-of-roz]

My son works for DPSS (Dept. of Social Services), he said that there is NO LAW on the high seas preventing imbosiles from doing whatever they want to their children. :(

It's up to the Captain to enforce the rules and most cruiselines will not cross these lines.

If it were a landbased vacation.....the police would have been called and DPSS would have stepped in and the child would be in protective services. And, removed from harm.......

 

Personally, I don't think the stories true.......but it was fun, playing!!!!! :rolleyes:

Although, stories about children or animals being abused can be very heart wrenching!

When they come on T.V. I put my fingers in my ears, start humming and close my eyes.....can't stand hearing or seeing them!!!!!:o

[truecruiser]

i cannot believe how many of you don't think this is true. even if, for argument sake, the OP's accounting of his SIL is not true (which i believe it is), it is clear that those of you not believing this are not cognizant of the fact that this happens everday!

 

as sick as it sounds, more people do this than you think. years ago, DH and i were parking in a casino lot when we noticed security going around to every parked car and peering in w/ a flashlight. a little alarmed by this, we asked him what in the world he was doing. his answer: looking for kids locked in the car while their parents went inside to gamble. no joke.

 

seems it became part of the nightly required routine of their job after children were found dead, yes dead.

[wizard-of-roz]

truecruiser: That is absolutely the truth.....I, too have seen security at gambling venues doing the very same thing.....

They were looking for sleeping adults and children.......

How sad is that??????? What a society!!!!:cool:

[KtBarker]

I can understand why everyone is shocked at the behavior of the OP's SIL, and the actions he did(not) take when situations arose, so here is my .02.

 

While I love my family, on occasion I may make comments or tell stories of things that have bothered me about them. I may resort to calling my 20yr sister names, or saying mean things about her. Even though the person I am talking to may agree that my sister was in the wrong, or acting with bad judgement the moment someone says something offensive about my sister my instant reaction is anger. My point being even though I feel I have the right to tell my sister what needs to be done, even if I am being overly critical, in my eyes, no one else has that right.

 

 

My sister has never put anyones life in danger, so maybe this is a different scenario, but only being an 'in-law' comes with certain boundaries that just must not be crossed.

 

Every Sunday my 80 y/o Grandmother (Mom's mom) cooks dinner for 15. We are a very close family, and my grandmother treats her daughters & DILs as equals. However certain comments from her DIL may come of as rude & tasteless to my Mom, however if it were my Mom's sister that said it, my Mom may not feel the same way.

 

I guess what I'm trying to get at, is sometimes there are just boundaries as an 'in-law' that are hard to cross even if it means saying something worth being said.

[truecruiser]

truecruiser: That is absolutely the truth.....I, too have seen security at gambling venues doing the very same thing.....

 

They were looking for sleeping adults and children.......

 

How sad is that??????? What a society!!!!:cool:

 

i know. sick.:(

 

...I guess what I'm trying to get at, is sometimes there are just boundaries as an 'in-law' that are hard to cross even if it means saying something worth being said.

 

agreed. this is exactly why i said he shld get his DW on it. anything resented can be better overcome in the sister relationship.

[MaryZ]

LOL, I think the part about the father going up to the front and getting a taxi was pretty funny.

Years and years ago, it was common in brooklyn to park your baby outside the store in their carriage while the mother went inside to the butcher or small neighborhood grocery store. Nobody thought anything of it. This was the 1950's.

I remember when my mother told me she used to do that, I was shocked...lol

I could never imagine a time that you would feel safe to leave your baby outside the store sleeping in a carriage.

But I suppose that shows the sad state of our society today.

Anyway, although I would never leave my baby in a cabin alone for even just a few minutes, mine were in their cribs at home upstairs in their bedrooms while I was downstairs or outside. I wasn't sitting right next to them every second of the day. Nor did my stupid baby monitor work right, since back then they only had one or two frequencies and all the mothers on my block had one.

In fact, we used to get a lot of laughs from one couples house because you could pick up everything that went on in their house and they lived more than a block away from me. Oh, we'd hear everything....lol:eek: Turned out she was having fun during the day when her husband was at work. It was our own neighborhood "soap opera" :D So as we all noticed, she wasn't watching her baby from 1-3 in the afternoon 2-3 times a week...lol

Yeah, she got caught by the husband...the house was sold shortly afterwards and the people in moved in didn't have a baby monitor...lol But we all told them about it and they said the house was sold because he filed for divorce.

Today I imagine the baby monitors are more safe to use ;) The first one I had was 24 yrs ago.

[wizard-of-roz]

I can remember when you could drive into any neighborhood and see children playing, in the street or on the sidewalk.....I think it's wierd, today, if I see a child walking down the street ALONE!!!!!

We used to leave our front doors UNLOCKED, while we would visit each other's homes so our children could play with each other.....can't do that today....:(

Remember, when you could put gas in your car and not worry about locking it, while doing so!!!!:cool:

 

I could go on and on but what for.....

On our last cruise, we found a very expensive camera, by itself, on a bench, outside on the dock. I picked it up...there was a name and a phone number inside...I called them when I got to my office....they were SHOCKED....they NEVER expected to see their camera again....they came to pick it up and brought me a lovely plant, to thank me for being so honest!:)

What would you do?

[linda_22003]

I could never imagine a time that you would feel safe to leave your baby outside the store sleeping in a carriage.

 

Try Copenhagen, Summer, 2006. :)

[wizard-of-roz]

I'm off to Copenhagen.....I've heard this before about the way children are treated there...as well as Switzerland....

Children are revered in many countries, outside of the U.S.!

[linda_22003]

I'm off to Copenhagen.....I've heard this before about the way children are treated there...

 

On the other hand, you also never saw a mother holding her baby, or wheeling a pram, or even nursing.... who wasn't smoking like a chimney at the same time! :p

[wizard-of-roz]

Linda: Not ALL of them smoke! :rolleyes:

And, in all honesty and I HATE smoking.....I would prefer that to having to lock-up our children like prison in-mates, in order for them to survive!!!!!!:(

[deborahjo]

These are the reasons why I do not vacation with some of my family. No worries.