Does anyone else worry about kids safety on a cruise ship? Or is it just me?

[micmacmissy]

So, I've cruised before, but never with my kids (who are 8 and 10 and are NOT the crazy hyper types).

We're thinking of taking them on a DCL cruise...but in the back of my mind, I worry about them falling off the ship! Now I know this could only happen if they were climbing the balcony, or leaning way over a railing somewhere...or something equally stupid, but in the back of my mind I still worry about it!

Just wondering if I'm the only mom out there with this worry, and what safety instructions, if any, do you give your kids before a cruise? Do you get a balcony cabin?

thanks!

 

[princessmom29]

My mother is the one who is nuts about this. My response is "She KNOWS better than to climb over the rails, so I don't see the problem." Serously, my DH and my dad build ships for a living. The railings and other safety systems are designed to make it almost impossible to accidentally fall overboard. You have to be trying REALLY hard to fall off the ship. I have personally NEVER heard of a child falling off a cruise ship. It is mostly drunk adults who do something foolish or those TRYING to jump off. Tell them not to climb over the railing and you will be fine.

 

[jerseygirl74]

We are about to go on our first cruise and I am worried to. I did get a room with a verandah but my DH assures me that our DD (5) will be fine. I want to have the full experience

 

[kcashner]

No child has ever accidentally fallen off a DCL ship. No one. Ever. Since 1998!

There was one incident of a teen jumping overboard while the ship was in port. He jumped from a part of the lifeboat area that has now been "walled off" to prevent this from ever happening again.

The ship is designed for safety. You can see metal railings outside the plexiglass walls. They are outside so there is no foothold on the inside. The plexiglass and railings are almost 4 feet high. No kid can go over unless they were to move furniture to the balcony edge and climb up on it. Public areas are at least as safe as the verandahs.

No company can totally prevent stupidity, but your kids don't sound like that type nor do you. Get the type of cabin that will work best for you. Obviously, give the kids basic safety instructions (and add no running or yelling in the halls....)I don't think you'll have ANY problems.

 

[tripsmom]

I took my 3 year old triplets on a DCL cruise and never felt uncomfortable. We had inside cabins but my parents had a veranda. The children enjoyed being out there and I didn't feel nervous. I think the children would have to really work at it to fall off! We told them to stick close to us but we didn't go into lots of details about what not to do. Sometimes I think the more we say the more ideas they get!!!!!
We are going on another cruise this summer - to Alaska - and I'm not worried about them - of course they will be 6 by then!

 

[hepburn]

No...you are not the only parent to worry about this. I worried about falling over myself!

We traveled last year with our 4 year old and were concerned. I just remember reading a post from a man that said something to the degree of "Disney has invested more in plexiglass than any other substance on the ship." He was right. the rails are high...very high. We had a veranda room and if you are thinking of doing it...please do. She loved when we pulled in and out of port. We enjoyed sitting out there reading and relaxing before and after dinner.

There are pictures elsewhere on the boards related to this subject. If you search just this topic I am sure you can find them. One showed 2 adults standing on one of the higher decks and in the backround you can see that the rail is as high if not higher than the gentleman in the picture. Hope this can ease your mind!

 

[CMOORE185]

No have never worried about it. When the kids were young they were never out of our sight anyway. As someone else said you would have to make an effort to go overboard, and most kids would be nervous just looking over the railing.

 

[MelissaE1]

You are not the only one who worries! I've seen many posts over the years about balconies, safety, etc. We moms like to make sure our kids are safe.

We do sail in a balcony (since our youngest was 4) as we were upgraded to one on our honeymoon and now DH is spoiled. The railings are quite high, I know I have a pic of my son at 11 looking out from our verandah and the railing is about at his armpit level. DD at 7 was still not as tall as the top.

As far as safety rules, we follow the same basic ones that we use on land for our kids. When they were little they were either in the programming or with us. As they got older, we discussed rules about where they could and couldn't be and how/when to check in or meet up with us.

Our kids are good about following the rules and we have never felt unsafe on the ship. Sounds like yours are probably the same and once you get onboard things just seem to fall into place and it's not scary at all. And the memories are priceless!

 

[scootch]

I was a huge worry wart on our first cruise.. but we did a b2b last time(kids 9 and 11) and I really trusted them. They weren't away from me much(other than the kids club) but I did let them run up to get pop and such. I figured I have to give them a bit of freedom sometime and these little bits were good for them and me.. just short amount of time intervals. We are sailing again, they will be 10 and just turned 13 and I feel very comfortable.

 

[jetskigrl]

I worried about my DS a little (he was 7 on our first cruise) and we only had one issue. He had been given the lecture about not going on the verandah alone, etc. He was very good about asking to go outside so I wasn't worried at all.

But our first night out, there was a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the ship, right where the water met the ship. DS couldn't see over the railing to see them so he pulled the chair up to the edge and started to get up on it. I was right there so I quickly stopped him and let him know why it was a bad idea (leaning over too far and losing balance, etc). In order to allow him to see the dolphins, I let him stand on the chair and look over with me holding him to prevent him from leaning over too far. After that, I told him the rule was that his feet should never leave the ground when he was by a railing (no running, no jumping, no standing on things...basically just walking and standing, LOL) and he followed the rules perfectly. I never worried about him around the railings again (we did two more cruises later that year).

Your kids are old enough to understand what should and shouldn't be done. Just have a talk when them about basic safety when you get on board. I'm sure it will be fine and you will have a wonderful trip