leaving kids on ship while you go into port...

[hjensen]

Hi again!! Yes another question... I was wondering if anybody has left their younger children on the ship while they went into port? TA said I could that but I am not entirely comfortable with that...I was wondering if anyone has done that before and if so how did it go?

 

[Landy]

We got off for a couple of hours at the Bahamas a few years ago when our daughters were 6 & 4. No problem whatsoever and we wouldn't usually do something like that but it went fine.

 

[DrCavin]

We left ours on board while wife & I went shopping in St. Marteen. Of course the pager went off about an hour into our journey

 

[lillygator]

so the pagers work even off the ship?

 

[mickeyboat]

You will get varying responses on this one. I did not choose to do it, but you need to do what makes you feel comfortable.

I am not sure the reach of the pagers off the ship - I don't believe it is very far.

Denae

 

[lindakmonty]

Yes, that is the first time I left my son w/anyone that was not family! DS was 18 months old and we left him onboard while we went on an excursion and it was fine. Your pager will work if something does come up. He has cruised twice since then and they remember him... and I am not one to leave him for very long or anything... he was probably there maybe 4-6 hours in 7 nights... I was very comfortable with the nursery and the club! He loved it too, which makes it easier!

 

[TheWog]

We left our DS6 on board for a couple hours when we got off the ship in St. Thomas for some shopping. He loved it and barely knew we were gone. We on the other hand, couldn't wait to get back, but we did get what we were looking for.

CMs told us the pagers wouldn't work off the ship in St. Thomas. We were anchored in the bay.

 

[Parkhopper]

We are usually very overprotective parents. We left our DS then 8 on the ship while we went into Nassau. We asked and were assured that the beeper would work to alert us. We were only gone about 2 hours and had no problems at all. It would have been quite difficult to get our DS out of the kid's club (he enjoyed it so much that even removing him for dinner - we eat dinner as a family - was a battle at times!)

Suzi

 

[poohssmum]

We did leave our DS (5 at the time) on the ship while we did some shopping in Cozumel. At first I said I'd never do this ... but after dealing with 2 whining, cranky, miserable kids in Key West and then again in Grand Cayman ... I caved and things couldn't have worked out better. DS was happy, DH and I were happy and the 3 year old that we did bring into Cozumel (changed his mind about staying on the ship at the last minute) slept in his stroller through most of the stores.

I certainly wouldn't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with, but I wouldn't feel at all uneasy about leaving the kids on the ship. For our upcoming Western Carribean, I've already talked to my boys about what they want to do off the ship ... if anything. The younger one (he's 6 now) just wants to make sure I'll bring him back some Key Lime candy from Key West and he'll stay in the club

 

[goofymama]

so the pagers work even off the ship?

They don't always work off the ship. It depends.

We left our kids while in port a couple of times - they were just too young to snorkle or swim with the dolphins when we went last time. The kids were fine and loved the clubs. Our 3 y/o did try to page us while we were snorkeling. but we were in the water and obviously didn't have our pager on us - I don't know if it would have worked where we were or not. But as we were retunring to the ship, i saw that we had been paged.

I'm an over protective parent as well - but the only time I worried about it was when we were in Cozumel. We were further away from the ship than Grand Cayman and the taxi cab drivers were from Hello! I just kept thinking that if we died in a car wreck, our kids would be on the ship all alone and what would happen to them??? The kids, of course, were safe ... not really any difference that leaving them home with a babysitter ... I was only worried about us being safe and the kids being orphaned so far away from home

Thankfully, we made it back alive and that was our last port other than CC, which of course, they got off the ship with us.

but IMHO, if you are just going shopping in the port not too far from the ship, I'm betting that your kids would be happier in the clubs than being dragged around shopping with you in a foreign country.

 

[rsjj]

have 2 DSs, were 2 & 4 at the time. at cozumel, all 4 of us did an excursion, went back to the ship for lunch, and wanted to go back for some shopping. 4 yo wanted to stay at the club...didn't want to go shopping! so we left him at the club. took our DS2 w/us, in his strollers. walked around & shopped, while he slept in the stroller for his nap! turned out great! DS4 had fun, DS2 had his nap, we got some shopping done! i was a bit hesitant, at first...leaving him on the ship while we were off...but we said we'd be gone for 2 hours or so. and everything was fine!

this time, DH mentioned that we can go into town on our own, and leave the kids at the club. (they're 3 & 6 now, so they can both go to the club) i know they'd be fine...but it's at cabo, where you'd have to tender into the port...so that's kinda "new"...i don't know, being able to walk right into the ship seems a lot better for me, than having to tender back onto it...should anything happen...not that i think anything would. what do you all think? maybe this is just another of my (many) "crazy thinking"!!

 

[dletz]

this time, DH mentioned that we can go into town on our own, and leave the kids at the club. (they're 3 & 6 now, so they can both go to the club) i know they'd be fine...but it's at cabo, where you'd have to tender into the port...so that's kinda "new"...i don't know, being able to walk right into the ship seems a lot better for me, than having to tender back onto it...should anything happen...not that i think anything would. what do you all think? maybe this is just another of my (many) "crazy thinking"!!

I'm thinking the same way. When we're in cabo we're doing the chileno bay snorkeling. Since it gets over just after noon, I thought we'd go back to the ship for lunch then off again for shopping. If my daughter decides to stay on the ship I figured I would let her. But then I realized we'd be tendering back and forth, and my level comfort changed. Though we will probably still leave her on the ship if she wants. Much easier than taking a child who doesn't want to be there.

Donna

 

[rsjj]

I'm thinking the same way. When we're in cabo we're doing the chileno bay snorkeling. Since it gets over just after noon, I thought we'd go back to the ship for lunch then off again for shopping. If my daughter decides to stay on the ship I figured I would let her. But then I realized we'd be tendering back and forth, and my level comfort changed. Though we will probably still leave her on the ship if she wants. Much easier than taking a child who doesn't want to be there.

Donna

i'm glad i wasn't the only one thinking of that! so maybe it's not my crazy thinking!! yeah, i think i'd just play it by ear, if they wanted to stay, and if i felt fine w/it. i think i'll just have to wait & see how i feel right at the moment.

have fun on your repo!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

so the pagers work even off the ship?

I would assume that it depends upon how far away you are from the ship.

We left DS (just under 3yo) in Flounders while we did a snorkelling excursion. We let the counsilors know what excursion we were doing and they still insisted that we take the beeper with us for the times when it was still in range.

Funny thing is, by the end of the cruise, DS was doing go well in Flounders that they started forgetting to give us a beeper. When I'd call them to let them know that I didn't get a beeper, they would just say that was fine... see ya at pickup time. (Your milage may vary, as parents of many 2-1/2 to 3 yos will tell you their kids get too bord in Flounders).

 

[DrCavin]

We were not very far from the ship, could actually see it very easily. St. Marteen has a water taxi that can take you downtown, so we just hoped on the closest one & headed back to the ship. I doubt the pagers will work very far from the ship, they cant be pagers that have a long range due to being used in a broad geographic area. My pager from work lost signal shortly after leaving PC & did not return until we came back & it has national coverage.

 

[hjensen]

Thank you everybody!!!! You have really eased my mind!! I dont think I could do an excursion but just knowing that if I wanted to do a little
shopping without having the 3 yo with sounds SOOOO NICE!! Thankx Again everyone you've really helped me!!

 

[lbgraves]

I would rather leave the kids, or at least DS, on the ship than listen to them whining aobut wanting to go back & get in the pool or bicker with each other.

 

[lillygator]

anyone else have any recent experience?

DH and I would love to do a snorkeling excursion but I just am not sure how leaving the kids would be....they will be 3 and 10 months....they both go to daycare, so are used to being around others...I guess my fear is being off the ship....and not being able to be reached were something to happen.

 

[Michelle2]

I am in the same boat. My DS will be almost 3 and a half and DH and I want to go on excursions with the other 3 kids that DS3 will be too young to do...I just get worried that they could need to reach us and we will be too far off....

Do the clubs have alot of computers with little kids games or learning games on them? My son would be happy as a clam just playing those for a few hours.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

anyone else have any recent experience?

DH and I would love to do a snorkeling excursion but I just am not sure how leaving the kids would be....they will be 3 and 10 months....they both go to daycare, so are used to being around others...I guess my fear is being off the ship....and not being able to be reached were something to happen.

From what I understand (or at least been told by a cast member), the ship is in radio contact with most excursion opperators. So in a worst-case situation, they can contact you.

Additionally, these are not just teenage baby-sitters watching the kids. They are trained for what to do in a medical emergency and the ship's doctor is also available.