Children Clubs/Security...

[Tarabra]

I still might've thought the girl was telling tall tales if it hadn't been for the tablemates seeing them escort her back on. It still just sounds hard to believe. I wonder if she ever did get to see the card swipes or a video. It doesn't sound like it.

 

[kcashner]

I guess I can see it if she managed to blend in with a crowd and get off without having her card swiped...but they are pretty careful about that.

All I know is that when I was the last in line with our group of 6...the 18 year olds went thru with no issue. When the 17 year old gave his card the security man asked where I was--by name. We have different last names, so my name must have flashed on the screen when the young man's card was swiped.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

If it did happen as described it was the perfect storm of errors on everyone's part. You cannot possibly prepare for an event like that because SO many things have to go wrong simultaneously. Teach your kids as much as you can and definitely instill in them that they should NEVER leave the ship without either a. you or b. the kids counselors.

As for the tablemates seeing her being escorted back on, that may have been an embellishment by an upset parent. Or they may have seen something entirely different and mistook it, based on the parent's complaint, for part of the issue.

Also, how could they have been giving her the 20Q treatment at the blue tent if she was escorted BACK on the ship after passing the blue tent. I guess it could be out of context, maybe they went back ashore after retrieving her? Without seeing the whole narrative, its hard to tell.

Or perhaps the child did something they should not have and made up a story to cover? Kids do that. Based on what security told the parent, it sounds like they may not even have been able to substantiate that it happened.

 

[Anjelica]

Aren't they (DCL) in the process of converting from the "older" wristbands for children to something that has electronic tracking? I thought I read something about that recently.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

Somewhat OT but I have a question.

I have a child who is staying in the grandparents room on our cruise. Does that mean I will not be able to take him off the boat? I am guessing that I can go to guest services with the grandparents and have us added to my DS's card. But you all got me thinking.

 

[Anj]

On our cruise in Oct '09, they swiped each card and looked at each of our faces getting on and off the ship. The only way one would have gotten off without one of the many CM's at the embarkation point would have been to run straight down the middle, but there were CMs on the outside too.
With our kids, we had to swipe our cards to get them in and out of the kids club. I felt quite comfortable that our kids would not get out of the kids clubs.

 

[TinksDH]

Hi Everyone !

I'm new to this disscussion board. I'm hoping I can get some great advice over the next year, for my first ever planned Feb 2011 cruise.

My question/concern for now is the security in the kids clubs onboard Magic.
I was reading on a different board, a trip report posted by someone that got me more than worrried. She stated that her 10 yr DD, stayed behind in Oceaners, while they went ashore. At the end of the day her DD told them she managed to make it off the ship !! She then decided this was not a good idea and went back!!!

It was my impression that when you leave your child behind, you recieve a pager and they contact you if the child wishes to leave. How do they let a
10 yr old leave this area without being checked out by an adult to roam the ship ?!?!?

I'm hoping some experienced cruisers out there can help me put my fears to rest. Our selling point for this cruise was security. I'm now uneasy about leaving my 11 yr old in one of these areas !!

I doubt if this is a systemic breakdown. I liken it to the stories you hear every now and then that someone made it through airport security without being properly screened, and they had to shut down the whole screening process, evacuating the airport in the meantime. This isn't something that happens routinely, yet if a "perfect storm" of events transpire, it could possibly happen. It's like airline crashes - they happen every so often, yet most people still fly as flying is safer then driving on an exposure-hour basis.

 

[atm55]

Ok, I may be old fashion in my thoughts, but the best way to keep your kids safe - is to keep them with you. In my day, we didn't trust leaving our kids on vacation with babysitter services. The DCL kids clubs are great entertainment for them and a break for the parents while on board, that said, at the end of the day - you cannot blame anyone other than yourself when you leave the responsibility of your kids to anyone other than yourself, especially, when on vacation when you have no background knowlege of who is there caretaker. But that's me - I'd rather be safe than sorry, even if it is Disney!

 

[5lilfish]

Ok, I may be old fashion in my thoughts, but the best way to keep your kids safe - is to keep them with you. In my day, we didn't trust leaving our kids on vacation with babysitter services. The DCL kids clubs are great entertainment for them and a break for the parents while on board, that said, at the end of the day - you cannot blame anyone other than yourself when you leave the responsibility of your kids to anyone other than yourself, especially, when on vacation when you have no background knowlege of who is there caretaker. But that's me - I'd rather be safe than sorry, even if it is Disney!

You are right...that is you and that's fine. You are allowed to make that choice for your children. I am allowed to make that choice for my kids. I could attempt to make my points about how a parent is not doing their kids any favors by being overly protective, but I'd bet in the end we're both going to stand firm with our own beliefs.

I don't know if I would call it old fashion though. I know my parents were the furthest thing from over protective. I had a house key at 8 yrs old and I was riding my bike all over town by the time I was 11. I wouldn't let my kids do half of what I did when I was their age....even though I know it taught me to be independent and responsible (which is why I do give them more freedom than some kids have). I find this generation to be much more uptight about keeping kids under constant watch than the previous generation.

Jess

 

[5lilfish]

This is a piece of the strory I was questioning .....



went to that blue tent. Needless to say we started the 20 Q and she got frustrated and upset. We continued to question her and she plainly told us that she went looking for us. She asked a crew member how to get off the ship and they told her where she needed to go. She managed to make her way off the ship. I don’t know how but my DD (10) got off the ship without an adult. According to her, she made it past the “blue tent” and then figured out this was not a good idea and was making her way back. Luckily the men checking ID noticed she was alone and contacted the ship. They then had a crew member come meet her and escort her back to the Lab. Well, this will not do, not at all. We quickly made our way to Guest Services to discuss this with someone. GS didn’t have any information for us but said they would have someone promptly to speak to us. However, they were in the middle of a shift change or something and asked if we could come back. We didn’t want to be late for dinner so we told her we would be back. She told us that this would give them the opportunity to investigate and possibly view video footage and check the log that would show her card being swiped when she came back on board.
We went to dinner and it so happened that our tablemates saw her being escorted back on board. We just couldn’t believe it but did manage to have a pleasant dinner and then headed back to GS to speak to someone. They did have one of the head of security there to speak to us. He was very apologetic and said that this definitely should not have happened. As far as they could figure out is that she managed to leave when there were other adults leaving at the same time and the security just didn’t pay close attention. He informed us that he would definitely investigate this further and that this was most certainly an isolated incident. We were not upset but definitely relieved that nothing worse had happened. We just wanted DCL to inform their crew to pay closer attention.


How much truth I don't know?? I appreciate you all answering my question. Made me feel much better about the clubs. I again, was unaware of the sign out privilege....

If this is true, and I have a hard time not being skeptical... 1) I would address it with DCL. Something obviously went very wrong and it would need to be fixed. 2) I would be beyond pissed...at my kid. Not only would he/she be in trouble but he/she would be losing a lot of freedom until I was pretty sure he/she would not do something so stupid again. As I said, I asked my 10, 11 and 12 yr old about this yesterday at lunch. All 3 of them looked at me like I was nuts...they said they would have to be crazy to walk off the ship without me.

For me, one good thing that came up in this thread and not just on a cruise....I pointed out to my kids that they should only eat/drink something if they got it themselves and they should not put down their drink and walk away from it (then return to drink it). I really hadn't thought too much about that yet because they have been a little young to consider date rape drugs but they are getting older now. It is a good reminder. I do a lot of "what if" games with my kids. Like...what if someone asks you to go with them? What if they say they lost their dog? cat? etc...I will start including this senerio in these 'games.'


Jess