Verandah with young kids?

[gina_g]

Can someone tell me about the safety of a verandah stateroom with young kids? We are looking into taking our first cruise in the fall with our DD who will be almost 4 and baby who will be between 4-5 months. We're pretty set on wanting the verandah to have a place to relax during naps, bedtime, etc. I've read that the doors to the veranda are childproof....can someone tell me exactly how childproof they are? Will a 4 year old be able to open it? Obviously we will be watching her closely, and she'll never be allowed outside alone, but I'm curious how easy it is to get outside. DD has been able to unlock and open deadbolts, sliding patio doors, pretty much any door, since she was about 2 1/2 so I figure we can't be too cautious. We call her our little escape artist. Thanks!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

The door is very heavy and the lock and handle or up high on the door. Very unlikely a 4 year old will be able to reach them unless standing on a table. Which, by the way, can be removed from the room if you request. The walls of verandahs themselves are impossible to climb as they are either solid or plexiglass. Don't worry and enjoy your verandah.

 

[gina_g]

Thanks for the info! I am pretty obsessive about planning vacations. I figure anything I worry about now is one less thing to worry about on the trip. Now I can check one thing off the list!

 

[HallsofVA]

The only concern we have with the Verandah and little kids is to make sure they don't try to push the chairs or table over toward the railing so they can stand on them and see over the railing. But as long as you're always out there with them, then I don't worry about it. And as the prior person said, the combo of the safety latch at the top of the door (which is hard for us short people to reach) and the heaviness of the door, makes it unlikely a child will sneak out there unless you've left the door open.

 

[Blanche_Neige]

The only concern we have with the Verandah and little kids is to make sure they don't try to push the chairs or table over toward the railing so they can stand on them and see over the railing. But as long as you're always out there with them, then I don't worry about it. And as the prior person said, the combo of the safety latch at the top of the door (which is hard for us short people to reach) and the heaviness of the door, makes it unlikely a child will sneak out there unless you've left the door open.

I really wanted a verendah but after many nights of having nightmares about my DS; my kids are escape artist and climbers as well

So we decided against a room with a venrandah and opted for 2 connecting staterooms. It has more space, privacy, 2 bathrooms, we get 2x the OBC and it turned out to be cheaper!

 

[tinkmom2]

I think the verandah doors are adult proof! It is hard for me much less my 4 year old to get it open. On our 4 day I did move the table on the verandah behind the chairs but the railings are really high and like you said they won't be out there unsupervised. On our 3 day both my children were fine but again weren't alone.
You can also request for your table to be moved out of your room.

 

[kcashner]

The verandah doors are VERY heavy and the locks are at about shoulder height on me....so maybe just under 5 feet above the floor. This makes them impossible for a young child to reach unless standing on furniture. Once on the verandah, the plexiglass (solid) is about 4 feet high. The metal railings are outside the plexiglass, preventing a child from climbing up it. Yes, if they stood on the table or chairs, they could theoretically get high enough to go over the railing. My only answer to that is that in 11 1/2 years, it hasn't happened. DCL has made it as safe as reasonably possible.

 

[caribear]

I had the same concerns as you do when we cruised with my DD when she was 3 1/2....but they were all for naught! She could not open the door by herself...and she was fine looking through the glass railing to see the water....if she wanted to see over DH or I would hold her for a moment so she could look over. We had booked a verandah for the same reasons you would like to.....as DD took a nap daily at that age and we wanted to be able to go on the verandah...eat a late lunch together or just read and relax while DD slept. It worked out great!

 

[gina_g]

Thanks everyone for the info! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with this fear. I figured if any child had ever jumped over, it would be in the news, but you never know how likely a close call is! Now I just have to decide if we're crazy to cruise with a baby.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

I think the verandah doors are adult proof! It is hard for me much less my 4 year old to get it open. On our 4 day I did move the table on the verandah behind the chairs but the railings are really high and like you said they won't be out there unsupervised. On our 3 day both my children were fine but again weren't alone.
You can also request for your table to be moved out of your room.

I agree!! Every cruise I have to re-learn how to open the door!!