Opinions/advice needed on child care at night

lisa6191

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
Messages
48
Hi all -

We are getting excited for our March 20 Eastern cruise! I have a question about how people handle night activities with their kids. We will have four kids in our party, ages 12, 9, 9 and 6. It is two families in adjoining rooms. If the grownups want to go out late to a movie or a club, do you think we can leave the kids in the rooms to sleep? I know the kids club is available late but I'm not sure I would want my kids to stay up that late. I honestly don't know if this will even come up (and even if it does it would only be for one or two nights I'm sure), but I was curious how other people have handled this situation.

Please, no flames about how I am a horrible parent for wanting to spend time away from my kids - I have read some of those threads and I am not interested in that kind of feedback. I am mainly asking because I have never been on a ship before and I just don't know how secure I would feel about the kids being alone in the room. For what it's worth, the 12 year old is very responsible and I would use her as a sitter at home.

Thanks for any help!
-Lisa
 
We have 2 DS's ages 12 and 6 on our last cruise. The 12 year old we trusted to be on his own when he wanted. He would be in the room watching TV when he wasn't in the lab. The 6 year old was left in the lab when DH and I wanted to stay out later. (We had a hard time getting him to leave - he really enjoyed it) The nights that we were out later in the evening - the kids in the club would be laying down watching a movie. We didn't feel that we could leave our two alone in the room together and have them not be fighting and causing a ruckus:rolleyes:

If you would trust the 12 year old to babysit at home - I don't see any difference between that and having her watch the others on board.
 
My nephew-8 fell asleep during 2 of the late night seating dinners. This was ok. He ate plenty during the day. We knew that he was out!! Again, no flames please. My bil took him back to their room. We all took turns checking every 30 min. and we weren't out that long. We all turn in pretty early and get up early.

We were all just sitting outside enjoying the evening. And my niece-12 turned in shortly after my nephew. Also, my nephew was very comfortable on the ship. We knew that if he did wake up, he wouldn't panic. He knew he would turn on the tv or just go back to sleep.

Now my ds-12, he stayed out later than all 4 adults! He loved the clubs.

I would imagine decisions should also be made depending on the child. Some kids would probably get upset and that might not be a very good idea.
 
I have cruised with my daughter from age 4 (another cruise line) till now...she is celebrating her 13th birthday on our next cruise. I would echo the comment that if you would allow the 12 year old to babysit at home, it is more than fine on the ship. Actually, the ship is probably safer than at home. First, for a problem, all he/she has to do is press the "guest services' button on the phone. Secondly, if the kids are registered in the kid's programs, you will have a pager, and they can call the club/lab and have you paged. On one trip, we had walkie-talkies. One was in the cabin and one with an adult so that a child in the cabin could always reach us.

The ship is a very contained, safe environment. I wouldn't have a problem with leaving a sleeping 6 year old in a cabin under the supervision of a 12 year old. Alternatively, some of the kid nights in the club/lab are "sleep overs." They actually set up tents in the club and pretend to be "camping." They are encouraged to fall asleep. Yes, there is a midnight or 1 am pick-up time, but they don't play till midnight.

Consider having your DD take a "safe sitter" course before the cruise, and plan to enjoy yourself.
 

Consider purchasing walkie-talkies, then instant contact would be possible. I agree it is likely safer to leave the 12 year old "babysitting" in the cabin than at home ... You can always be back in your cabin in minutes should the need arise.

I believe there is a "peep hole" on the door ... if you have a balcony, the door is hard to open, but I believe a 12 (possibly even a 9 yo) could open it, so you may have to address that issue.

Maybe someone can confirm the possibility of your 6yo falling asleep at the club? I'm hoping they wind down at a reasonable hour to some quiet activities, maybe even some sleep? (ds will be 5 on our next cruise ........)

diana
 
Anytime we went to the club after about 10 p.m. all of the kids were laying on individual mats watching movies on the big screen tv. There were several that were sleeping. Our DS was 6 at the time and he never fell asleep...
 

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