Kids Fallin' Off Verandah Paranoia........

[catjammies]

This'll be the first time we've EVER had a balcony.
I'm looking forward to it, but a little nervous.
Our kids aren't THAT young, but I worry about them getting on the chairs & falling into the ocean.
Seems like it'd happen a lot, but I've never heard of it!

Those who've had verandahs & kids, how did you feel about it????

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

I'm the worst person to respond to this because we do an outside cabin, no verandah, for this very reason!

However, the rails are pretty high.

In any event, I'd be scared if I had anyone younger than 10.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

DCL has been operating for over 5 years now and I've yet to ever hear of this happening.

To even get on the veranda, there is a complicated auto-closing lock located high on the door that makes it virtually impossible for the kids (and in some cases adults) to even get access to the veranda.

Once you've allowed your kids on the veranda, the railing can not be climbed because of a sheet of plexiglass covering it. So the child would have to climb on a chair as you mentioned.

So I think that basically either your children are too young/small to work the lock (therefore you control the fact that they can't get on the veranda unsupervised), or if they are old enough to work the lock, then they should be old enough to have the dangers of climbing on chairs on the veranda explained (as well as the punishment that will be swiftly served if they even think of breaking that rule).

 

[dletz]

Our first cruise our daughter was 3 1/2. I really wanted a verandah. Our daughter is extremely energetic (lots of bouncing off the walls) and has always had tons of energy, curious, and loves to be up high to get a better view. I wanted to book a verandah for our cruise. Howard said no way, he was convinced dd would climb up and over. I asked guestions read everything, but he wouldn't budge. When he started working at DL we canceled our whole trip and rebooked as we were saving money on our WDW portion of the trip (we didn't need park passes anymore) we splurged and went from the inside we had reserved to an outside. I tried even harder to convince him for a verandah, but still no luck. I figured I couldn't complain too much since his job was making our trip a lot cheaper than when we first booked the whole trip.

We got to the port and found out we were upgraded to the Navigator's verandah. We got our verandah. I was so happy. First thing I did was go out there and sit. I loved it. I couldn't get the door open, and Howard had to open it. He realized that there was very little chance of our dd falling over board. Not only was the door hard to open, the lock was up high, and no way for her to reach (or open). Once out on the balcony, it would have been impossible to climb over.

We booked the 14 day repositioning cruise, and while I was a good girl and got prices for the outside cabin too, I booked the Verandah again. She will be 6 1/2 when we sail, and I won't worry a bit. Of course, I have no intention of letter her out on the verandah alone however.

Could a child climb over board. Yes, they could find stuff, chairs, etc, to move close enough and eventually get it tall enough to maybe cause a problem. However I think it would have to be a taller child, who you would expect to know better. Could a child go out on the balony alone if the door were shut and locked. Not easily. I would never leave a child outside on the verandah unattended, because left to their own devices they will eventually find a way to do what they want, but I believe that it would take a decent amount of time for a child to get into trouble. Turning your back for 1 second would not be enought time to cause a problem.

Donna

 

[walczak4]

I have booked a cat 6 for our 02/28/05 cruise & I'm not worried about my 2YO . I am however worried that my little curious explorer will try to look over one of the deck railings & fall overboard! I used to think that parents that put their child on one of those leash things were cruel but now I'm starting to think "not such a bad idea".

 

[flexsmom]

I am however worried that my little curious explorer will try to look over one of the deck railings & fall overboard!

If memory serves, the decks are all lined with plexiglass, too - we found that our 3 yo couldn't come close to hauling herself up to a dangerous position.

 

[mark & sandra]

We sailed 1/17/04 and stayed in room 6106. The door lock did not function properly at all. We called maintainence, and it took a couple of days to finally fix the problem. They finally took off the lock and changed both it and the latch on the door jamb. My wife was terrified of my 9 yr. old son, doing what boys will do and hanging over the side and falling into the ocean. She was still a bit paranoid even after they fixed it. My suggestion is not to leave children out there unattended at all!...Mark

 

[jlawall]

I was worried about this as well years ago when my girls were smaller. When you see the room you will be reassured. It's very difficult to reach water from the balcony as others have described. The balcony is really wonderful and adds to the trip for sure.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

HOLY CROW! I never thought of this OMG OMG. I may have DS sleep with a life jacket on...oh the nightmares I will have tonight will be brutal UGH!

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

I have 2 boys and have never had a problem. And believe me they are 100% boy!!! I will admit there was a desire to climb on top of the little table that was out there, but since one of us was out there with them, that idea got squashed very quickly.

Worrying about them opening the door - not really a problem, they are very difficult.

Worrying about them climbing up the railing - not really a problem, there is the plexiglass.

Worrying about them climbing on the table or chairs and leaning over the railing and.... - YES definately a problem IF YOU ARE NOT OUT THERE WITH THEM!!!

My advice - be a parent and sit out there with them. And then enjoy looking for dolphins, watching the morning sun rise, seeing that beautiful golden sunset.....AHHHHHHHHHH......

 

[il-gander]

This was my thought as well. My DDs will be under strict orders not to be on the verandah without Mom or Dad (even if they can get the door open). I had nightmares about this early on after we booked our cruise as I have a generalized fear about heights and my kids falling (could care less for myself, LOL)...

Caral

 

[danicaw]

I had a nightmare about this a few months ago, I woke up as I was diving off our verandah after my DS. I have since relaxed a bit about it.
We have Nav. verandah booked for the May Repo and our DS will be just under 2. I agree that kids shouldn't be left unattended.
I remember how the verandah doors locked up high and think we will enjoy having a verandah on this cruise. I also think I will be watching my DS like a hawk.

 

[IrishCowboy]

We were also paranoid at first. It would be possible, but it would take a lot of effort.

HooKooDooKu is correct, no one has ever fallen off a balcony on a DCL ship. Although I do recall a teenager jumping off while docked in ST Maarten years ago.

 

[the4nitz's]

My DD4 & DD2 loved looking out thru the plexiglass. We never left them out there alone. Lock is hard to open, I had problems at first with it. Booked a verandah again for our 2nd cruise.

 

[momof3luvs2run]

My palms are sweating just reading this thread. I start thinking about one of my kids falling off the ship. UGH. We have booked a room with verandah. My kids are 4, 8 and 10.

 

[crisi]

As much as I like to think my kids are exceptional, they aren't that exceptional. If it were easy to loose kids over the railing, they'd loose a few every cruise. There are obviously worse parents out there with naughtier children (because we hear about them in the pool threads) and their kids haven't managed to go overboard (except the teenager who jumped while docked).