Oosterdam Cruisers w/Infants: Crib/Babysitting Questions [Archive]

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forevercruising1

February 23rd, 2005, 11:18 PM

We will be sailing on the Oosterdam with our 18 month old son and we have a few questions:

1. Does anyone know what kind/type of crib/playyard HAL will be providing in the cabin? Does anyone have a picture available? We are trying to plan our space and items we bring for our son. We'll be in an "S" suite, so we should have plenty of room, but we are wondering if we will want a 2nd play yard.

2. Any advice on the babysitting services on the Oosterdam? When/Where do you suggest we request babysitting services? Any success or horror stories of on board babysitting services on the Oosterdam?

Thanks, in advance, for your replies! :-)

forevercruising1

February 25th, 2005, 08:51 PM

Bumping this up, hoping some cruisers with infants or toddlers have some advice for us.

Thanks!

AmyinVail

February 25th, 2005, 09:13 PM

forevercruising1

February 25th, 2005, 11:36 PM

Thanks for the links, Amy -- I appreciate it!

forevercruising1

February 26th, 2005, 12:18 AM

Lk - here is a post about onboard babysitting:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=122111

Here is the link to the family cruising board, where you may be able to search out some of your answers! Sorry I can't help more!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Happy Cruising!

Amy -- I read your post on the link you gave me and it said you'd be sailing HAL with your kids. Have you sailed yet? If so, what were your HAL experiences? If not, when do you sail? Perhaps I can get a crib/babysitting review when you return!

The information on the family board was very interesting, but I'm hoping to find specific information/advice regarding the Oosterdam and/or HAL.

Thanks, again, for your help! :-)

AmyinVail

February 26th, 2005, 12:30 AM

LK,
I haven't sailed w/ HAL yet - am going in April and will certainly answer any questions I can upon my return. If you read one of the last posts on the first link I pasted (onboard babysitting thread), you'll see a post from Newport Julie who used the oboard babysitting on the Oosterdam just a few weeks ago....I'm sure if you post to her she could give you first hand information.

We're looking forward to our cruise, will also be sailing in a suite (S cat) and will forward all information I can!!

Nautical Wheeler

February 27th, 2005, 08:25 PM

Hi,
We sailed last October with our 10 month old Granddaughter. It was wonderful.
HAL offered a pack and play as a crib so we were happy to have brought our own as we were sure of it's cleanliness. I doubt if they do a complete wash down of those things between babies. We felt more comfortable with our own. She shared an SS suite with her parents and it was quite adequate. She wasn't at the "getting into everything" stage so she had the run of their suite, our suite, and both balconies as we had the partition between them opened.
Babies in diapers are not allowed in the pools but the pools were not that exciting anyway. She had a wonderful time at the beautiful beaches especially half moon cay. I don't know if you are going there, but if you can get a cabana it is wonderful especially if you have children with you. You can spend the whole day and have a place for them to get out of the sun and even nap.

Nautical Wheeler

February 27th, 2005, 08:29 PM

Oops! Forgot to address the babysitting topic. Baby sitters are available for $8/hr. I believe you call guest services to arrange for them. My daughter used a sitter on both formal nights and it worked out very well. The young lady who came worked at the pursers office during the day. They were so pleased with her they requested her for the second night. I think they called a day or two in advance of when they wanted her.

NewportJulie

February 27th, 2005, 09:22 PM

you'll see a post from Newport Julie who used the oboard babysitting on the Oosterdam just a few weeks ago....I'm sure if you post to her she could give you first hand information.

Okay, here is the lowdown:

We just returned from the Mexican Rivieria on the Oosterdam. We had 4 children in our family group (cousins & sibs aged 1, 2, 4, 8 years). HAL provided a Pack & Play for the 1 year old. The others slept in the pull-out beds or shared with mom & dad.

We hired babysitters 3 times for DD 4 yrs and DS 2 yrs. The sitters were front-office gals who wanted to make extra money during their off-hours and once we had the girlfriend of an officer who was vacationing for the week. They we all wonderful, and DD even cried on the last day when she found out we couldn't take her favorite sitter home with us.

Make your reservation as soon as you board, for the maximum you think you'll need so you have first dibs. You can always cancel. Another couple travelling with us was not able to get a babysitter halfway into the trip because they were all booked up.

We paid $13/hr ($8 for 1st child, $5 for ea addl). It is cash only. Because our kids are so young, we didn't trust in-cabin sitting (although it was an option on HAL) we always had the sitters take them to Club HAL which requires kids under 5 to be escorted by an adult. Our kids had an 8 yr old cousin in the club too so he kept an eye on things, although we felt very comfortable with eveything anyway.

Usually we took the 2 & 4 year olds (ours) to dinner in the Lido or ordered room service, then we had the sitter take them to Club HAL - they were open from 8-10pm. Then we ate in the Pinnacle (4 nights) or ate with them in the Lido. The 1 & 8 year olds ate with their parents in the dining room then the 1-year old went to bed :D and 8 year old went to Club HAL afterward.

On sea days Club HAL was open for younger kids from 9-12, 2-5pm, 8-10pm. The hours were different for teens, the club is small so they segregate by age.

We also carried walkie talkies, just in case they needed to contact us. They never did ;)

NewportJulie

February 27th, 2005, 10:36 PM

One more thing, I wanted to mention the reality about taking small children in the swimming pool. I DON'T want to incite a riot here because I know there are strong feelings on this issue. If you are getting upset reading this, then perhaps you should just click off unto another thread. I am only stating my recent experience and do not intend to invite hostility.

Having said that, the non-potty trained 1 & 2 yr. olds in our group swam in the Lido pool nearly everyday with her parents wearing tight-fitting swim-school approved type of rubber swim pants. It was not the Huggies Swimmer-type which takes on water, but the watertight kind. No one said anything, and there we no signs posted that refered to anything about diapered children not being allowed or otherwise.

The aft poll is adults-only and there were signs posted saying diapered children were not allowed. Just thought I'd let you know...

forevercruising1

February 28th, 2005, 12:28 AM

NewportJulie

February 28th, 2005, 03:52 PM

Thanks, Amy, Nautical, and Julie, for such great information!

Nautical and Julie: Do either of you have a picture of the playyard provided by HAL? Also, when you used babysitting, did they provide pagers or anything for contact purposes? The walkie talkies are a great idea -- we'll have to bring some of those!

Thanks, again!

Sorry, no photos of the play yard, and no pagers were available. We always let th babysitter know our general wherabouts (dining at Pinnacle, working out at gym, etc) even though she had our walkie talkie. The Oosterdam is so easy to navigate, on several occasions, one of us would zip up to the 10th floor to Club HAL and peek in the window at the kids. If you're careful you can be stealthy and they won't catch a glimpse of you :D They always looked like they were having a blast. One of the Club HAL counselors told me she worked on the Disney cruise line for 3 years and was used to having 1000+ plus kids in the club. There were never more than 10 in Club HAL. These ladies are well equipped to enteratin the few kids they have!