Is it normal to he terrified of a balcony room?

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I never even noticed the lock towards the top of the door, as the regular latch was nearly impossible for me to work. And then the door was really heavy and required a lot of work to get it open.

My son figured out child locks, was a climber, etc etc, but I wouldn't have worried at all (if I had the firsthand knowledge of the balcony doors) about him on the ship, because no matter how strong he was "for an X year old", he's not THAT strong.

This was our experience as well. The lock is way up at the top. And the sliding door is a heave-ho. It always took me a solid 2-3 min to figure out how to open it every time!

If you are diligent about the lock at the top, I don't see anyway a lil one could get the door open. But that is a call you have to make!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Here's a picture I have from a veranda on the magic. I held the camera over the side more to take a picture of an odd reflection of the water through the plexi glass. Just so you know the bars you see are on the outside of the glass

 

[beaglefan]

We just returned from our second Disney cruise aboard the Magic with our adventurous and curios DS3 and DS4.

The lock is so high up there is no possible way they could unlock the balcony door. If you want to be out there with them, it is a great experience, and we had many snacks and a few days of breakfast out on our private verandah. I am glad we did it, and you get the added benefit of being able to quickly dry your swimwear in the ocean air. (bring clothespins to clip the clothes to the chairs).

We are booked on two more cruises, both with balconies. I believe that cautions parents would have nothing to worry about and would create some nice memories for the little ones.

 

[aes74]

All railings on balconies and public decks) are lined with plexi glass so children (or adults) can't get a foothold on the railings.

Of course adult supervision should be maintained whenever a child is out on a balcony and public decks....but it would be pretty hard to just fall over....DCL has literally had tens of thousands of children in the balcony cabins over the years and none have fallen overboard.

MJ

Ok THIS is what my paranoid heart needed to hear lol!

 

[anna08]

I think the only danger comes in unattended little ones on the balcony. I think the balconies at Bay Lake Tower are so much more of an issue than on DCL. Our rule is no grownups out there, no kids out there.

I would remove the furniture if I had any concerns about a climber.

 

[Lita]

I have three children, my youngest is a 4 year old boy. He is a climber, and likes to figure out how things work. He has managed to get childproof bottles open, and how to climb up cabinets to get something he has had his eye on. He is not hyper at all, or even really disobedient, he just likes to climb and figure out how to solve problems. My husband would like a balcony room, but the idea terrifies me. I know he can figure out how to unlock doors, and I can see him climbing over the railing. I dont know if he would, but thats what I picture in my nightmares. I would rather not have a balcony.

We have never cruised with children, and never with Disney. I know this is a ridiculous question, but how do they keep kids from falling over the railing on all the parts of the ship? I am sure you are laughing at me, but I've never done this before! I'm so paranoid!

I have the same fear. We booked a Deluxe family ocean view for this very reason. I don't think my children will go near the balcony, but I am super paranoid.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[texasgirl29]

My daughters are 13 and 15 but that doesn't keep me from being paranoid either. I scare myself all the time with crazy ideas and scenarios. I don't like to stand next to railings on balconies or windows on high rise buildings. (What if the bolts holding them in break? What if an earthquake or tornado comes along?) Yes, I know, delusional. But crap does happen all the time. If I were the OP, and my son was small and apt to climb on stuff, I'd just get the oceanview until he was older.

 

[BDmom]

I have a climber too. She's been on 4 cruises every single one of them inside or ocean view. Why tempt it. Parents who don' t have climbers don't understand their minds. I am certain a climber could figure it out. The lock looks secure.

We are scheduled on a Guarantee for November, I really hope I don't get a balcony. Probably the only person ever. Our kids are older now 10 and 12, I'm still not comfortable with a balcony. Why cause yourself stress it's your vacation.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I feel the same way. I booked a balcony room back in 2007 on a Disney cruise when my kids were 3 & 4 because I wanted the family style room. I was terrified but not necessarily for my kids! The lock was high up enough that I felt safe they could not get out but I went out on that balcony ONCE and had vertigo and a panic attack. NEVER again will I get a balcony on a cruise ship. In fact, I haven't been on a cruise since because it scared me that bad and my husband won't go on a cruise WITHOUT a balcony. Hmm, this probably isn't the kind of post you wanted But seriously, you are normal in your fear. But I'll tell you that I felt very safe on the ship and the decks and felt my children were safe as well with us and in the kids clubs. The cruise itself was fabulous and everything was wonderful. If you truly are that scared, don't book the balcony. It won't be worth the worry you have

 

[Presley]

I have the same fear. We booked a Deluxe family ocean view for this very reason.

Same here. My kids are grown and I'm still worried about them going over.

 

[Meghatron]

From a trip report....here...over at the trip report threads...I read it just now...

"So one story that is pretty funny in hind-sight is how we lost our daughter on the verandah. On three separate occasions, she crawled into one of our neighbors verandahs. The first time we panicked when we looked out at the veranda and she was gone. We found it odd to hear the neighbors rearranging their deck furniture so we peeked over and saw our little girl playing next door. She is a toddler who walks primarily but her world is only 2 feet off of the ground. She must have seen something that caught her eye and crawled right under the divider. The first two times we lured her back with a toy and then pulled her under the wall again. The third time, our neighbors were on the verandah so they were kind enough to deliver her to us out in the hallway. Again, it is pretty funny now since no-one plummeted off the side of the ship. We also had to tell our son (multiple times) to never-ever-ever stand on the furniture on the verandah."

They got to 3 OP, just don't get to 1

I have been on four cruises on the classic ships and cannot fathom how this is physically possible unless it happened on one of the new ships with the removable divider? I just got off the Wonder yesterday with an extremely inquisitive nine-month-old and there is no way he could have gotten through the few inches of space between the side wall and the plexiglass. I am paranoid (wouldn't let anyone hold him near the rail in case they lost their grip for whatever reason) and had no concerns about him crawling around on the verandah with one of us out there.

I haven't been on the Dream class yet, so I don't know what the clearance is between the removable divider and the floor. I will say, though, that regardless of the size of the space, no child should have been left alone on a verandah long enough to be able to crawl under THREE separate times. If I had been those neighbors, after the second time I would have reported that family to security for negligence.

 

[jetskigrl]

I have been on four cruises on the classic ships and cannot fathom how this is physically possible unless it happened on one of the new ships with the removable divider? I just got off the Wonder yesterday with an extremely inquisitive nine-month-old and there is no way he could have gotten through the few inches of space between the side wall and the plexiglass. I am paranoid (wouldn't let anyone hold him near the rail in case they lost their grip for whatever reason) and had no concerns about him crawling around on the verandah with one of us out there.

I haven't been on the Dream class yet, so I don't know what the clearance is between the removable divider and the floor. I will say, though, that regardless of the size of the space, no child should have been left alone on a verandah long enough to be able to crawl under THREE separate times. If I had been those neighbors, after the second time I would have reported that family to security for negligence.

There is more of a gap on the Dream. We had a neighbor's baby get 1/2 way under the divider onto our balcony before they pulled her back. Luckily we were right there and would have been able to get her for them, if needed.

To the OP, it is kind of scary. I had a talk with my DS about ship safety before we went on our first cruise but we still had one small incident.

We were all standing on the balcony watching dolphins swimming along side the ship. DS was not quite tall enough to see over the top of the railing and down the side so while all 4 of us were out there, he got up on the chair to see over. I was right next to him and immediately put my arm around him and explained how doing that was dangerous, etc. He didn't think he was disobeying my earlier safety rules, he just wanted to see what the rest of us could see. So we had to revise our safety rules a bit

But to ease your worries, I would just make sure that your child is never on the balcony alone. You can remove the furniture if that helps, but I think you being there with them will be fine.

Also, in addition to the locks being up high and the door being hard to open, there is also a very noticable whoosh of air that comes in when it is first opened. I know others have posted concerns about children opening the doors while they are sleeping but I think that change in air and noise level in the room makes it impossible for that door to be opening without someone knowing.

Here is a picture of my DS at the verandah railing (this was on the Wonder). He was 7 1/2 in this picture. The plexiglass is on the inside of the railing so there is nothing on the railing itself for them to climb on.

 

[kistner5]

I have 3 kids (8, 6, 4yrs) and share your concern. On our first cruise (Dream) we booked the family oceanview room with the huge porthole window. It was awesome! The kids loved sitting in the window seat and it was nice to be able to look out as a family and have no concerns at all about safety. When the kids are older we will get a balcony but for now we love the oceanview family stateroom and can't wait for our Fantasy cruise in November.