leaving kids on boat

[smahoney6]

do most people leave younger children (ages 8 to 3) on the boat when you go into st thomas and san juan? I assumed you would bring them but wonder.....

 

[sandygirl]

In the 3 cruises we have been on, 2 Eastern and 1 Western, we have only left DD(then 4) on ship once while we went the St Maarten. And that was only because we were shopping for jewelry and she had already had a full day touring the island and was tired. They give you a pager. We didn't take long and I was anxious to get back.

She toured St Thomas on foot with us on that same trip. One of our best memories. She also toured Cozumel on foot when she was 5. I know many people leave their children onboard, I'm just not that comfortable leaving her in that situation in case something should happen. Now if I had another family member or close friend onboard who would take care of her in an emergency until we could get back to the ship, that may be different.

 

[denise5374]

Do the pagers they give work that far off the boat?

I don't think I would love my kids on board either. Basically because if something happened I don't know how quickly I could get back. I know I wouldn't enjoy my excursions.

JMHO

 

[aprilgail2]

I was under the impression that the pagers do not work off the ship.

 

[smahoney6]

So we can go on the island and then come back to the boat and then return to the island? Like you both- I don't know about the idea of leaving them but I'm hoping they'll fall in love with the programs and be extremely happy and entertained.....(heard of children crying when they had to leave- hope if works that way for me!!

 

[Empire Day]

While at Nassau we left DS 7 in the club, to do a quick shop-n-eat, as we sat down and had our first drink at senior frogs and were ordering lunch we were paged! (so they go at least that far from the ship) we had let the CMs know that we would be in port for a couple of hours. Turned out when we went to get DS they had just started lunch and he refused to leave, he just thought we were swiming without him

The main reason we left him on board was that, Nassau is not the safest place to be and we had no plans of excursions just a quick shoping trip

 

[Redmic]

Just to let you know , there is very little going on at the kids clubs during the day when you are in port. My 2 DDs tried the kids clubs 3 times and there were no organized activities, just computer games for the lucky few who could get a computer. After the third time they refused to go back to the "boring" kids club and I didn't blame them.

Most of the fun stuff takes place between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., after both dinner seatings have finished. My kids don't stay up that late.

We had a great time on our cruise, but the kids clubs were a major disappoinment.

 

[geffric]

We took the kids with us to St Maartin and they were BORED, BORED , BORED. Moaned and groaned... that they were bored...

When we went to get off at St Thomas, they both refused and stayed in the LAB. They had fun with the other kids that were there.

Both boys were 9 and 7 at that time.

 

[Karel]

We had the same experience as geffric. Rented a car, toured St. Marten, stopping in Marigot. Kids were hot and did not want to shop. We gave them the choice in St. Thomas to come with us to St. John or stay in the kids clubs. Two of them - 7 and 9 - were more than happy to stay and did not even want to leave when we got back. I think the 9 yo even ate dinner with his club that night. Our oldest went with us to St John and it was a really nice experience for the three of us. I felt very comfortable leaving them, figuring if we got left behind the crew would take care of them!

My guys loved the kids clubs but also spend some one on one time alone with us, which was really nice.

When we go to Key West, we're hoping to catch up with my brother in law and leave the kids on the ship so we can have a little adult time.

 

[smahoney6]

Ya'll are awesome to respond! This helps me so much to figure the whole thing out.....

 

[amgpmg]

When we cruised in January, I felt the same way. I kept saying that I would not leave my kids on board while we went an walked the shops in Nassau, but once the kids got into the kids club they did not want to leave. My DD was 3 at the time and my DS was 6. We were lucky, they did not want to leave the club the whole time we were there. The only thing that got them to leave was if we told them that we were going swimming or the club was closing for the evening. I had a wonderful experience, and although I do not think I would leave them on board for a long time while we did an excursion, I would probably leave them on if I was just going to shop for a little bit close to the port.

Kathy

 

[disney6]

When we were in St. Maarten we left all 5 kids on the ship. In the AM they came off with us to purchase our "goodies" (color changing shirts and tropical outfits). In the afternoon, they went to the club/lab while the adults did the catamaran. We chose the afternoon excursion WITH DISNEY (in case something happened they could get us!) because the morning of port days is more free play. The afternoon definately had structured activities to keep the kids more occupied. The kids were 3,4,6,10,10. They had a GREAT time and so did we! No problems. The 10 year olds HAD to stay in the lab while we were off the ship and they did (normally they had sign out priv.)

 

[wink]

We took our kids with us to Nassau in the morning, returned to the ship for lunch, and they both stayed at the kids club/lab when we went back to shore in the afternoon. (5 yr old and 10 yr old). I wanted them to step foot on land to say they'd been there, but they really were having such a good time in the clubs that they prefered to be there in the afternoon. We let the clubs know where we were going and when we expected to be back. I guess it probably just depends on your kids.

 

[jrabbit]

If you decide to leave your kids in the clubs -- Make sure you change your watches to the correct time and KNOW the time you need to be back on board the ship!!! The ships leave on time regardless of you being on board or not. Last year (or maybe the year before) a couple left their kids on board and the Magic left with out them. When the captian found out that kids were on board and the parents on shore, he turned around and went back to st. thomas and picked them up. Probably cost DCL a ton of money and I remember people saying that their Castaway Cay day was cut short because of it.

Know the local time and the time the ship is to leave!! And have some fun on your own.

 

[KathyTX]

Maybe I'm overprotective, but I would never be comfortable leaving DS10 on board and us leaving the ship.

As others have pointed out, so many things could happen! You could miss the departure time somehow. The kiddo could need you quickly (I don't know why, just my worried-mommy instincts.)

 

[geffric]

It is a tough decision.. everyone knows their own children the best. Some children are more self reliant than others.

On the 7 day, boys were very comfortable with being on the ship alone, loved being with the other kids in the LAB, and this was their 2nd cruise so they had a comfort level and they weren't alone, each had a brother with them. I think all that helped too.
On our next cruise, both want sign in and out privileges, DS 12 , soon to be 13, wants to be a teen cruiser and just have the run of the boat... not sure how I feel about that but...that's a 2004 worry.

 

[hydster]

I'm with you KathyTx! I dont think I could ever leave my kids on board while I was off on an excursion! I guess I could but I wouldnt enjoy the expensive excursion! We generally let the kids decide with us what excusrions that we can do as a family. If there arent any we make a deal that we go shopping in the morning when we get into port and then if it is hot or boring we go back for the rest of the day but our rule is we have to get off and try it at least. So far we have only had to go back for the afternoon once and that was when it rained in Cozumel and we couldnt find anything we wanted to do while it rained! Our kids LOVED getting off at the port because they knew the deal was if no excursion was planned that made us all happy we would shop and get a taste of the local country and maybe a short taxi ride around the island and then we were back on board to just enjoy! I dont think my kids would be very happy being on board alone either.

Kids are all different and I think it is something that only you and your kids can decide.....

Heidi