How strict is the children's program about age?

[MLW143]

My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and "potty-trained", does anyone know if she will be allowed to the Children' Programs?

[julierika]

They are strict. You must be three by the first day of sailing to participate.

[julierika]

Check out this link to a new program coming for younger children...

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041027/flw027_1.html

[MLW143]

What if there are not many children? My 5 year old will be there too. Are you familiar with the "in-cabin" babysitting?

[julierika]

The number of children does not affect their rules. I suppose you could always try, but I've never heard of anyone who has gotten a younger child in.

 

Your 5 year old will be in the Aquanauts group - 3-5 yr olds.

 

There is "in-cabin" babysitting. Arranged in advance through the purser's desk, about $8/hour.

[Jyllie63]

They are very strict. I even asked if I could bring her in to the room just to color and play with ME there and they said no. She was also 2 1/2.

[flagger]

Check out this link to a new program coming for younger children...

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041027/flw027_1.html

That press release should settle once and for all the question about children belonging on cruises or not. Obviously, RCCL wants the business and has shouted from the mountaintops that yes, indeed children DO belong on cruises.

 

Sorry, Folgy :D

[MLW143]

Did you ever get a babysitter to come to your cabin?

[MLW143]

That program does sound great, but it is not in place yet- maybe next time.

[flagger]

Did you ever get a babysitter to come to your cabin?

On Infinity, yes we did. We used the services twice.

 

Our daughter will be 19.5 months on our next cruise and we plan on using them at least that much possibly more. It is something you need to book as soon as you board. We were lucky in that we had the same person for both nights.

[MLW143]

Thanks for the info- happy cruising!

[Gaynors]

The article states that the new programs were starting on the Explorer. Has anyone seen it yet?

 

I guess it won't be available on our Radiance sailing this Sunday.. :( ... My 20 month old would love it.. :rolleyes:

 

It's too bad you can't even take your younger child in WITH the parent, RCI get up to speed. We used the 3-6 year old room a lot on Princess for our 18 month old. As long as a parent was with them it was allowed. We made a point of not interfering with the other activities going on for the children actually in this group. :cool:

[lorimay]

We were on the Rhapsody a couple of years ago. Our son was three and they made us show his birth certificate before they would let him in. I don't think they are flexible on that rule.

 

I can see why they don't let in younger kids even with parents. First, there's the leaky diaper issue - the same reason they don't allow non-pottytrained kids (besides not wanting to change diapers). Second, the room for the little kids on the Rhapsody wasn't big enough to accomodate toddlers along with the other kids. Third, some of the things they do aren't approprate for toddlers, who would still want to participate.

 

Never used a babysitter on board any of our cruises - my kids like the kids clubs too much.

[ritarussell]

We are off the Enchantment today with our 3 and 6 year olds. And yes they are strict when it comes to age. Not only do they have to be potty-trained, but they must be able to use the bathroom without help. They need to be able to tell when they have to go, go into the bathroom, wash hands, etc without any help from the staff.

 

I didn't see where there would be room for toddlers in the Enchantment's Adventure Ocean. They did have a nice kiddie pool on deck and I saw lots of little ones enjoying that.

 

One idea if your child is 2 is to try Carnival. You only have to be 2 to participate and you don't have to be potty trained. My 6-yr old said that the two programs were pretty much even. They LOVED both!!!

[LogansDad]

Did you ever get a babysitter to come to your cabin?

 

Yep. Go to the Purser's desk at least 24hrs in advance of when you want the sitter. The sitters are off duty crew. We got a very nice young lady (Eastern European) to watch our 4 and 8 year old the second night on Voyager. It's pretty cheap too! I think it was $8/hr (plus tip, if so inclined to such things :) )

 

A few nights later we specifically asked for the same young lady from the purser. We asked in the morning to see if she could do that night (as soon as we found out it was midnight buffet night!). They want 24hrs notice, but we requested and the Purser said she'd try. By 2pm we had a call to confirm that we could get a sitter - the same young lady we requested and had used several nights before.

 

She was again terrific.

 

All in all the in-cabin sitting is great, as is the purser's office!

 

 

jim