How do you time babysitting?

[gshoemate]

I'm a newbie to the board, we are thinking of taking a spur of the moment cruise in November. I know there are alot of onboard activities for children but how do you sign up for them? We have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. We would like to have the 18month old in the babysitting at the same time our 5 year old is doing an onboard activity but how do I time this out right? I know for the babysitting this has to be reserved on the day you depart but haven't been able to find any info on how to get registered for the onboard activities. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[moinab]

The nursery times are much more limited than the Oceaneers' Club times. I think the best strategy is to start by figuring out what time you want to be alone as a couple. Do you want to go to Palo, the spa, the nightclubs, etc? Then, check out the activity schedule for the Club and the availability of the nursery. For the nursery, you have to reserve time in a minimum 2-hour block. You are allowed to request 3 reservations. After that, you have to check for availability.

Have you checked out Dave's site dcltribute.com or Barb's and Tony's site castawayclub.com ? They have Navigators posted, which will give you a good idea of what to expect, regarding scheduling.

We took a spur of the moment cruise in July with our almost 3 yo DS and 5 month old DD. We had a great time.

Good luck!

 

[jennyl772003]

Your 5 yo old will only need to be registered once for the Oceaneers Club and can then be checked in and out whenever you want. The activities will be listed in the Children's Navigator you will get when you sign the 5 yo up. You do not have to check them in specially for the activities, nor do the children need to stay for an entire activity. The only time you cannot check a child in or out is when the children are being moved to a new location.