Relating an incident of an unsupervised child at CC

[MsJiminyCricket]

Hi Everyone,

I was on the Eastern at the end of July and want to relate a story to you. This is not judgemental or flaming, just a story. I was in the water at CC waiting for my family to return from Pelican Plunge when a little boy - 1st grade - paddled up to me to say 'hi.' He was wearing one of the life vests provided by DCL. I asked him where his parents were and he responded that his mother and sister were passed out on chairs and his dad was sleeping in the hammock. I asked him if they were ok with him being in the water without them and he said his dad said it was ok as long as he was wearing the life vest because he can't swim. Long story short, as a parent - teacher - former lifeguard, I was concerned. He hung around and talked with me for over 30 minutes before his mother and sister woke up.

I know that everyone has different expectations for supervision of children. That's just the way it is. However, please remember that DCL cruises are still a community of up to 4,000 strangers and when adding water to the mix - especially if a child can't swim - there is potential danger that is totally unavoidable. It would have taken only a second for him to try to adjust the life vest and fall out of it into the water. Luckily, everything was fine - but just wanted to relay this experience.

 

[hanscarlet]

That's disappointing, water is serious stuff. This is similar to my story to the 4 year old I found walking around lost on deck 9 of the Magic last year (with no life jacket on I may add) and I walked the deck twice with her expecting to see two adults looking around in horror for their lost child but I found no such thing. I asked her where her parents were and she said her brothers were in charge of watching her (9 and 12). I could tell she was scared and I held her hand and talked to her about disney characters and then after going around the deck twice I informed a CM who right away sprung into lost child protocol action (which was impressive, you could tell immediately that all CMs were trained in it). Unfortunately this little girl didn't have a magic band on her either which contributed to the delay of finding her parents but she was able to tell us her last name. The next day at CC, as we were exiting the ship, there was a hold up in line - a family held up the line because they forgot their KTW cards and dad had to run upstairs and go grab them while mom waiting with the kids - guess who it was? The very family of the little girl I found walking by herself on deck 9. At least I took comfort in her being back with her parents... but total clueless parents in my opinion

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

That's disappointing, water is serious stuff. This is similar to my story to the 4 year old I found walking around lost on deck 9 of the Magic last year (with no life jacket on I may add) and I walked the deck twice with her expecting to see two adults looking around in horror for their lost child but I found no such thing. I asked her where her parents were and she said her brothers were in charge of watching her (9 and 12). I could tell she was scared and I held her hand and talked to her about disney characters and then after going around the deck twice I informed a CM who right away sprung into lost child protocol action (which was impressive, you could tell immediately that all CMs were trained in it). Unfortunately this little girl didn't have a magic band on her either which contributed to the delay of finding her parents but she was able to tell us her last name. The next day at CC, as we were exiting the ship, there was a hold up in line - a family held up the line because they forgot their KTW cards and dad had to run upstairs and go grab them while mom waiting with the kids - guess who it was? The very family of the little girl I found walking by herself on deck 9. At least I took comfort in her being back with her parents... but total clueless parents in my opinion

Your story just jogged my memory that on this very same cruise from July we found a lost and crying girl at the elevators. She was also in the care of an older brother, who was nowhere to be found. The girl thought her dad was at the adult pool, so we walked her up there and happened to run into her mother. The mother didn't seem overly alarmed either.

A couple years ago on the Fantasy, one of my older kids returned a lost kid to guest services.... only to receive a note and chocolate covered strawberries as a thank you later on in our stateroom. It seems there are a lot of lost children on the ships.

 

[Hundredacre]

We "lost" a child on cc once. It was about five minutes but seemed like eternity. A cm put him in scuttle's cove. He had just arrived there when I checked scuttle's cove as kind of a last resort thinking maybe for some reason he ended up there. Now I know that if your child has a magic band the kids club is the first place you should check because that is where they put them. So I advise everyone to get the magic band for their child even if they are not planning on using the kid's club.

 

[Jestocost]

Your story just jogged my memory that on this very same cruise from July we found a lost and crying girl at the elevators. She was also in the care of an older brother, who was nowhere to be found. The girl thought her dad was at the adult pool, so we walked her up there and happened to run into her mother. The mother didn't seem overly alarmed either.

A couple years ago on the Fantasy, one of my older kids returned a lost kid to guest services.... only to receive a note and chocolate covered strawberries as a thank you later on in our stateroom. It seems there are a lot of lost children on the ships.

We were on a Fantasy EC in March and were doing one of the Midship Detective Agency stops near an elevator bay when a group of people who had just boarded the elevator popped out to ask if anyone around was with a little boy (probably 3-4) who had joined them. There was no one in the area who even knew the boy, however, and we flagged a poor woman from the spa who just happened to be walking by delivering appointment cards to staterooms. She was not as prepared as I would expect an actual crew member to have been but helped with corralling the boy while we called security. A few minutes later the boy's sister--all of maybe 6-7 years old--showed up to claim him. They were in two adjacent cabins halfway down the ship, and mom and dad had deliberately locked them out in the hall while they were getting ready for dinner.

One of our friends and the woman from the spa walked them both back to the cabins and knocked on the doors, but nobody even answered! Security arrived shortly thereafter and apparently the dad was very aggressive with them. As far as I know nothing ever came of it and we saw the dad with the little boy on the beach at CC a couple of days later.

 

[sunshinemelody]

We were on a Fantasy EC in March and were doing one of the Midship Detective Agency stops near an elevator bay when a group of people who had just boarded the elevator popped out to ask if anyone around was with a little boy (probably 3-4) who had joined them. There was no one in the area who even knew the boy, however, and we flagged a poor woman from the spa who just happened to be walking by delivering appointment cards to staterooms. She was not as prepared as I would expect an actual crew member to have been but helped with corralling the boy while we called security. A few minutes later the boy's sister--all of maybe 6-7 years old--showed up to claim him. They were in two adjacent cabins halfway down the ship, and mom and dad had deliberately locked them out in the hall while they were getting ready for dinner.

One of our friends and the woman from the spa walked them both back to the cabins and knocked on the doors, but nobody even answered! Security arrived shortly thereafter and apparently the dad was very aggressive with them. As far as I know nothing ever came of it and we saw the dad with the little boy on the beach at CC a couple of days later.

Yeah right, "getting ready for dinner." More like they were doing the hibbety-dibbety with their kids out in the hallway.

 

[wilkeliza]

Reminds me of our snorkeling experience on CC. We were out by the rope enjoying the deeper snorkeling and this kid comes up and starts chatting with us. Telling us how he isn't' really a strong swimmer but he wanted to see the cool stuff he read about in a book and his parents said as long as he had the floater vest on he would be fine. I was kind of shocked. He was a little older (maybe 9 or 10) but still to send your not strong swimmer out to the deepest portion of the snorkel reef seemed like a bad idea. We let him swim around with us a little but when I started getting tired and headed back in he said goodbye and told us he was going to stay out there. I do wish I would have told a life guard. Thankfully nothing happened and he came back in a little bit later but I was kind of shocked someone let their kids go out so far with out at least a buddy.

I think everyone is right that people think this is Disney nothing bad is going to happen well until it does.

 

[cruisehopeful]

This is not judgemental or flaming, just a story.

I think the most extraordinary thing in your post is that you did it without being judgemental. I hope to be more like you someday.

 

[hanscarlet]

We "lost" a child on cc once. It was about five minutes but seemed like eternity. A cm put him in scuttle's cove. He had just arrived there when I checked scuttle's cove as kind of a last resort thinking maybe for some reason he ended up there. Now I know that if your child has a magic band the kids club is the first place you should check because that is where they put them. So I advise everyone to get the magic band for their child even if they are not planning on using the kid's club.

Yes this experience for me made me realize how important it was to put a magic band on the kid, even if they don't go to the clubs, it's a great precaution in case the kid gets lost.

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

I think the most extraordinary thing in your post is that you did it without being judgemental. I hope to be more like you someday.

Haha - thanks. I've been on this board for years and have already been burned for not wording things gently...... not intending to go that route again.

 

[SuperLuckyMamaBear]

We lost one of our 5 (almost 6) year olds on the ship last year. DH and our oldest were in the room, I went to get our twins from the kid's club. One wanted to take the steps and race us on the elevator. We almost always took the steps and we were only I think 2 floors away (maybe 3) so they were pretty comfortable with where to go and what deck to stop on. I stupidly let him and when we got to our deck he wasn't there. I went to the room to see if he'd gone ahead, I went to lido to see if he'd gone too far while DH stayed in the room in case he went there. I went back down to the kid's club and asked if they could track them anywhere on ship, they said they couldn't but he got lost and checked himself back in. That was terrifying and also reassuring that he knew the best possible place he could've gone if he was separated from us.

 

[Amy11]

I worked at a science museum and we were all trained in procedures to follow for a Code Adam. I am sure the CMs deal with this situation all the time!

 

[olookasquirrel]

it was ok as long as he was wearing the life vest because he can't swim

As a former lifeguard myself, and a current mom of a small child, life vests are not magical force fields. Small, weak swimmers can panic and easily drown in a standard life vest, since if the weight isn't enough below the actual vest you won't necessarily stay upright/face up if unconscious. Those little puddle-jumpers that are all the rage now (picture a chest band attached to arm floaties) actually *put* my son face down in the water if we let go of him! He's 2 but sized/muscled more like a 3-4 year old.

I'm all for giving kids freedom and trying not to judge - for instance, at 5, I was swimming circles around adults, and my grandmother would let me stay in the shallow end while she went to the bathroom, and probably by 6 or 7 while she made lunch. If you walked into the situation, most people would probably be inclined to panic and think "this kid is too young to be unsupervised in a swimming pool!" But I was an insanely strong swimmer even at a very young age. This kid clearly was not.

 

[disney789]

On our last cruise on the Dream this past June we also had a similar situation. Myself and 2 daughters (10,9) had just walked to the pool when a little girl age 5 or 6 (can't remember) not wearing a life vest or a magic band walked up to me and said "can you ride with me on the aquaduck?" She wasn't tall enough to ride by herself. I found it very odd, I was a complete stranger to her. I thought at any moment her parents would be horrified looking for her but nope.

So my 2 daughters and the little girl proceeded to get on the aquaduck. When we got off I told her let's walk around to see if we see your parents. Still no sign of any family. She felt completely comfortable with me, not scared at all. We proceeded to get on the aquaduck again (she asked to ride again). When we got off this time I was scared of what her parents may be thinking since they're probably looking for her. The little girl wanted to ride again. I'm really worried at this point. I went into Vanellopes Sweets and asked a CM could she assist with the location of the little girls parents. The little girl didn't know her room number.

At last they were able to locate the room number because the little girl said her mothers first and last name. Luckily mom answered the phone, apparently the older brother and sister were supposed to be watching her but left her unattended. Mom came down and it was a happy ending. But what if the little girl had gotten into the wrong hands or got into something she shouldn't have been. Me being a mother I was sooooo scared. I say don't let kids watch kids.

 

[Bettyscruise]

I guess I'm old and grew up in a time when kids played unattended all of the time and yet somehow survived. How did we make it? No bike helmets, no life jackets, no adult to supervise our every second, walked to school, saw a doctor only when sick, (not very often). Mom did worry about Polio; "don't play in that creek!". How did I make it this far? My advice, relax and enjoy life. Not every event or risk is worth the 7th Cavalry.

 

[wilkeliza]

On our last cruise on the Dream this past June we also had a similar situation. Myself and 2 daughters (10,9) had just walked to the pool when a little girl age 5 or 6 (can't remember) not wearing a life vest or a magic band walked up to me and said "can you ride with me on the aquaduck?" She wasn't tall enough to ride by herself. I found it very odd, I was a complete stranger to her. I thought at any moment her parents would be horrified looking for her but nope.

So my 2 daughters and the little girl proceeded to get on the aquaduck. When we got off I told her let's walk around to see if we see your parents. Still no sign of any family. She felt completely comfortable with me, not scared at all. We proceeded to get on the aquaduck again (she asked to ride again). When we got off this time I was scared of what her parents may be thinking since they're probably looking for her. The little girl wanted to ride again. I'm really worried at this point. I went into Vanellopes Sweets and asked a CM could she assist with the location of the little girls parents. The little girl didn't know her room number.

At last they were able to locate the room number because the little girl said her mothers first and last name. Luckily mom answered the phone, apparently the older brother and sister were supposed to be watching her but left her unattended. Mom came down and it was a happy ending. But what if the little girl had gotten into the wrong hands or got into something she shouldn't have been. Me being a mother I was sooooo scared. I say don't let kids watch kids.

I think a lot of parents think it is a ship on the open sea so the kids can't go anywhere but the boat and forget that even though it is Disney there can be bad people ranging from other guests to unfortunately even crew.

 

[disney789]

I think a lot of parents think it is a ship on the open sea so the kids can't go anywhere but the boat and forget that even though it is Disney there can be bad people ranging from other guests to unfortunately even crew.

I agree

 

[lorimay]

I guess I'm old and grew up in a time when kids played unattended all of the time and yet somehow survived. How did we make it? No bike helmets, no life jackets, no adult to supervise our every second, walked to school, saw a doctor only when sick, (not very often). Mom did worry about Polio; "don't play in that creek!". How did I make it this far? My advice, relax and enjoy life. Not every event or risk is worth the 7th Cavalry.

Not on a cruise ship.

 

[wilkeliza]

I guess I'm old and grew up in a time when kids played unattended all of the time and yet somehow survived. How did we make it? No bike helmets, no life jackets, no adult to supervise our every second, walked to school, saw a doctor only when sick, (not very often). Mom did worry about Polio; "don't play in that creek!". How did I make it this far? My advice, relax and enjoy life. Not every event or risk is worth the 7th Cavalry.

Back then did you know many kids who had the run of their entire town? I walked home from school and rode my bike around the neighborhood with out a helmet and unattended too but if I was caught going all the way to the corner store for candy under say 12 I would have been in big trouble when I got home.

 

[laceltris3]

I guess I'm old and grew up in a time when kids played unattended all of the time and yet somehow survived. How did we make it? No bike helmets, no life jackets, no adult to supervise our every second, walked to school, saw a doctor only when sick, (not very often). Mom did worry about Polio; "don't play in that creek!". How did I make it this far? My advice, relax and enjoy life. Not every event or risk is worth the 7th Cavalry.

Yes. We all made it through the 70s and 80s, except for the ones who aren't here because they didn't. I got a serious concussion in a bike accident (likely prevented with a helmet) as a child and am very fortunate we didn't have a car wreck when I was napping in the back of the station wagon, or it likely would not have ended well.

I am not a helicopter parent and allowed my 8 year old to check herself out of the clubs when the event she was interested in ended but I still sit on the edge of the Mickey pool and watch the younger ones like a hawk.