Wristband For Child While On Ship

[ymann]

We have been on many cruises before becoming parents. When you get on the ship i see the crew putting arm bands on the children, I guess that is for the childrens programs. My question is that my daughter is 3 but she has sensory issues and does not like anything on her arms. Is that going to be an issue. How do those wrist bands work. thanks

[crusinmama06]

The wristbands are mandatory :( It's called the YEP (Youth Emergency Plan). If there is an emergency onboard while your child is separated from you then they refer to her wristband which lists the muster station for your family. She must wear one when she is in AO.

 

Now, I can tell you this. My daughter is the same way. So she slid hers off at night when she was with us. When she went to AO, I slid it back on. But you aren't suppose to be able to do that ;)

[Baxter]

The arm bands ensure that the child gets to the correct muster station should you get separated. Our daughter was 11 months when Carnival tried to have her wear one. One of the staff members helped us cut it off, since she wasn't fond of it. At 11 months, we knew the odds of being separated were zilch. At 3 though, that's a different story. What about putting it around her ankle? She might notice it less there.

[tricialee]

From what I understood the last time I cruised the wristbands were for when they were in Adventure Ocean. If something were to happen and we were called to Muster Stations the AO Staff would know where the child belonged. My kids both wore them, but I had to tell the youngest (3 at the time) that it was his special cruising bracelet and that he could not be without it for the entire holiday. Worked for us, but he does not have any sensory issues, just the attitude and resistance to change typical of a child that age.

[ymann]

Thanks for all the advice. Are the bracelets paper or rubber. We are planning our next cruise and I guess I will try to buy some bracelets and let her get used to it. She has sensory processing disorder. She goes to therapy once a wekk for this problem. She is getting better but I don't want to cause a scene when we get on the ship. thanks again for all the help

[mnloonie]

They are a very durable paper (or paper-like) product.

[ymann]

thanks

[ymann]

thanks

[soozles]

I think I've seen them on some cruises, the kids had those plasticy ones, you know like the ones you get when you go into a club? But I could have been wrong, I dont have kids, and when I was little, I never remembered wearing one.

[crusinmama06]

RCCL uses plastic. You can see the green bracelets in the picture of my kids with the white background. That was them on Freedom of the Seas.

 

I have seen young ones put them around their ankle. But then you would never be able to remove it. :(

[shrimp0]

I totally understand having a child with sensory issues. You may want to start using some type of bracelet at home to get used to it being there.

 

last year on the Freedom (Royal Caribbean) they also used bracelets in the kids club with radio frequency alarms on them... they were used every time a child entered the kids program room and removed when signed out.

 

I believe I have heard of parents using permant marker for those children that are highly sensitive to the bracelets... writing the muster station ID directly on the childs wrist.

[lovemylife]

I'd contact your cruiseline. They must have run into this before.

Get a note from her dr saying she can't wear one, and maybe you can put hers on a pin on name badge? Same info , but pinned to her shirt.

[crusinmama06]

I totally understand having a child with sensory issues. You may want to start using some type of bracelet at home to get used to it being there.

 

last year on the Freedom (Royal Caribbean) they also used bracelets in the kids club with radio frequency alarms on them... they were used every time a child entered the kids program room and removed when signed out.

 

I believe I have heard of parents using permant marker for those children that are highly sensitive to the bracelets... writing the muster station ID directly on the childs wrist.

 

Oh I totally forgot about those too! Good point! Your 3 year old will also have to wear an alarm band on her wrist when she walks into AO. When she is signed in, she can't be taken out of the AO room without the alarm going on. (They cut the bands off of their wrists each and every time they leave AO)

 

There is an email address for Special Needs @ rccl...this would qualify. You might want to drop them an email and see if they can suggest something else.

[mark3232]

We had the same problem with our two year old daughter not wanting to wear the wrist band period. My wife cut it off and it went unnoticed until we were to go a shore and were told that we had to get her a new one then and there before we left the ship(before all of this she would never allow up to put any sort of hood or hat on her head).

 

At the same time we were waiting to get the replacement band, another couple was there with their son and she told the staff that he was diagnosed with sensory issuesproblems and she was asked if she had a note from the doctor.... They said no. After a ten minute argument the staff finally used a permanent marker and wrote the muster station on their little boys arm rather large. They ended up doing the same for our daughter.

 

For the next cruise(3 months later) we started weeks before and worked to get her acclimated to something around her wrist using some yellow Lance Armstrong wristbands. That finally worked. So during the cruise she had the yellow Lance Armstrong on one wrist and the Carnival on the other. It did take some work on our part.

 

Luckily she(age 8) has out-grown this and we just hope she won’t come home with any tatoos or piercings.

[ratherBcruizin']

We took our dd's off both times. Once on Carnival, once on Royal. She never stepped foot into the kid's program. No one said a word to us either time. If she had wanted to go the kid's club she would have kept them on.

 

ETA she was 3 both times.

[MommaOML]

My son also has SPD (tactile/oral hypersensitive). He was fine with the muster station band at 6 months, but at 19 months, I don't know how he'll cope with that. If he wigs out, I'll just write his muster station on his hand in sharpie. He's not old enough for regular Camp Carnival, so the only time he'd be away from us would be if we took him there for babysitting in the evenings.

[NoelsCat]

On our cruise (Jewel of the Sea on 1-6-08) --none of the kids in our group (11 months, 2 years and 13) had to wear armbands. I was really dreading it, too.

[Onessa]

On our cruise (Jewel of the Sea on 1-6-08) --none of the kids in our group (11 months, 2 years and 13) had to wear armbands. I was really dreading it, too.

 

None of them would have been required. The band is to alert the kid's program counselor's as to the child's muster station. Since the 11MO and the 2YO were too young for the program, and since band are not required for the teen program (12YO and up). No bands.

 

If your child has a diagnosed sensory issue, Do go to the special needs folks prior to your cruise and see if you can address the issue. If it is more that your child is going to throw a fit, work with her now to get her used to the idea -- it will be easier for this one cruise and for your next visit to camp snoopy or where ever!

[ymann]

Thanks for all the great ideas. My daughter is very quirky. We first noticed this problem while she was at a birthday party and someone put a temp. tatoo on her. she freaked. she does not like anything touching her arms. It has been a real struggle in the winter months. I will get one of those armstrong type bracelets and try that. I will also be sure to have a Dr's note. thanks again for all the help

[rebeccalouise]

My son hates the wrist bands and takes them off every chance he gets. Too bad they haven't come up with a better material. I can understand why the kids don't like wearing them.

[mdlex]

My son was three on a recent Disney cruise, and he would not wear the wristband. We tried it on his ankle and for some reason that seemed to work. I think because he wasn't constantly reminded of it. Once he started to play he forgot it was there. The kids club didn't mind.

[funfamilyfun]

How about either writing on the child's arm. I heard permanant marker comes off with sunscreen.

 

OR putting it on an ankle, over a sock. Just a few ideas.

[bcsurvivor05]

Ok, I am SURE that I am going to get bashed for this one but here it goes...not only did my dd not wear a wrist band, we never went to the muster drill to even get one. 1 person said something to us the night we signed her up for Camp Carnival but no one after that said a word. My theory was this...my husband is so overprotective that he would have gotten to them MUCH FASTER then they would have brought her to us. There was no chance that she would have kept it on anyway.