Leaving kids in kids club when you go on shore

Has any of you left your kids in kids club while you go on shore excursion? My kids are 5 and 3 and am debating whether to do it when we go snorkelling (kids can't swim yet). I know they would be perfectly happy in kids club, and it would only be for half days. What do you think? Any of you ever done it?

I'm wondering the same thing. We'll have our 4 kids with us in Cozumel, one of which will be 1-1/2 yrs old. Hoping to leave her with a sitter for a few hours while we take the older kids snorkeling.

Lots of people would never, ever, but I've done it and many others do as well. Personally, for a snorkel excursion I would only choose one through the ship as there's much less chance that the ship will leave if something delays getting back on time.

Best,

Mia

Has any of you left your kids in kids club while you go on shore excursion? My kids are 5 and 3 and am debating whether to do it when we go snorkelling (kids can't swim yet). I know they would be perfectly happy in kids club, and it would only be for half days. What do you think? Any of you ever done it?

My son was a bit older when I left him in while doing an excursion in Alaska but yes I did. There is always a few paranoid parents who live in a world of what's if, to them say have faith. The ship can be safer than many excursions I have taken my kids on.

Enjoy.

I didn't used to leave my now 6yo in the kids club, but more recently (probably since she's turned 5) I let her stay because she begs to stay and not be dragged on shore!

I wouldn't. And no, i'm not overly paranoid. I'm usually pretty laid back actually. But i'm just not comfortable with it. To each their own!

By asking this question, you're basically asking what type of parent we all are.

Facts are:

The Kids' Club is open and thousands upon thousands of kids have been left there during port days. I am not aware of any reports of anything bad happening to any of these kids.

I have not left my child yet, but only because the opportunity didn't present its self. When it does, I have no problem leaving him.

Only you can decide what is best for you, your child and family.

In the unlikely event that anything goes wrong, they'll still be looked after. In that sense it's no different to when you go out to work and leave them in school/with child care.

We technically did. Our kids were 4/2 and we left them in Camp Carnival to go parasailing. My husband's 92 yo old grandparents were on board. They aren't capable of taking care of the kids (can't even lift them) but could probably watch them over night if something had happened.

In the unlikely event that anything goes wrong, they'll still be looked after. In that sense it's no different to when you go out to work and leave them in school/with child care.

I beg to differ that leaving a child on board while parents go ashore is like sending a child to school or daycare. When I send my children to school, I remain in control of my ability to return to them when needed, have multiple back up plans if for some reason I cannot get to them in a timely manner, and I am aware of the local nuances associated with travelling in the area. There is no risk of my children leaving the country without me. There is a risk, albeit small, that the ship could leave without you. I'm not comfortable with that situation, so we don't leave our children aboard ship alone. Yes, the children would have their basic needs met if they were alone on the ship, but I don't want to find out what sort of psychological trauma I cause to my children because DH and I wanted to have a few hours to ourselves in port.

JMHO

I beg to differ that leaving a child on board while parents go ashore is like sending a child to school or daycare. When I send my children to school' date=' I remain in control of my ability to return to them when needed, have multiple back up plans if for some reason I cannot get to them in a timely manner, and I am aware of the local nuances associated with travelling in the area. There is no risk of my children leaving the country without me. There is a risk, albeit small, that the ship could leave without you. I'm not comfortable with that situation, so we don't leave our children aboard ship alone. Yes, the children would have their basic needs met if they were alone on the ship, but I don't want to find out what sort of psychological trauma I cause to my children because DH and I wanted to have a few hours to ourselves in port.

JMHO

What don't kill them will make them stronger or they choose a messed up nursing home for you:D.

In areas prone for natural disaster/earthquakes, being in control is not an option, so you learn to trust and have faith.

However , I would love to tell my grandkids about the time when I was abandon on a cruise ship with all the food I could eat

My kids get to hear how I was traumatized from having to walk up hill both ways by myself to school.

OP- a life lived in fear is one half lived. You could take them on an excursion and have an accident, with the parents badly hurt. Now you shouldn't leave the ship...NO!.

Have faith and trust this has been done countless time without incident.

Yes' date=' the children would have their basic needs met if they were alone on the ship, but I don't want to find out what sort of psychological trauma I cause to my children because DH and I wanted to have a few hours to ourselves in port.

JMHO[/quote']

 

Clearly it depends on the kids. Mine wouldn't have fallen apart under those circumstances, even as toddlers. I guess if you think it would cause your kids severe trauma to spend the night with babysitters on a cruise ship, I wouldn't want that to happen either so wouldn't go snorkeling or zip lining - though shopping near the port or doing a half-day excursion during the morning of a full day stop is an extremely low risk.

 

Best,

Mia

Clearly it depends on the kids. Mine wouldn't have fallen apart under those circumstances' date=' even as toddlers. I guess if you think it would cause your kids severe trauma to spend the night with babysitters on a cruise ship, I wouldn't want that to happen either so wouldn't go snorkeling or zip lining - though shopping near the port or doing a half-day excursion during the morning of a full day stop is an extremely low risk.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

I would not judge either or .If someone did a safe trek out on a ship excursion or shopping right close to the dock I think it would be ok other wise I would not do it. I would be a nervouse wreck my DW would not allow it any how. Then again she would not go off the ship alone anyway. I have a few times to grab a few things when the wife and kid did not want to. I basically have included my DS who is 10 now and cruising since he was 5 on every excursion I have gone on. But the issue now is he wants to do things that I know my DW would never do like scuba diving he is a excellent swimmer way better than I am and DW is phobic. I guess next cruise she will be left on the ship. Probally buying everything up to get me back lol.

We left our 7yo in kids club on our first cruise. She came with us to the first port and was bored with walking around looking at the sights and Just played her DS.

She begs to stay in kids club.

We did a tour ( of lord of the rings set) and it was probably the first time my husband and I have done something together - by ourselves, since she was born. It was lovely.

If you do a ship organised tour they won't leave without you anyway - stop stressing - it's supposed to be a holiday :)

Voyager of the seas Dec 2012,

Radiance of the seas Oct 2013

I personally would not do it, but not because of worrying about something happening to her or us. My (now 5 year old) has been cruising with us since she was 3. She has done every single excursion that we have done from zip lining on her own, swimming with the stingrays, dolphins and manatees, cave tubing, held tarantulas, ate termites, has been snorkeling since she was 3 at every port we could, held the monkeys...and well you get the picture. She treasures every single memory we make with her and it's all she talks about. I think she's as addicted to cruising as much as we are. She counts down the days until the next and constantly brings up every excursion we have done with the "Remember when we....." line. :) I can not even imagine not including her with anything we do. But that's us. She would never forgive us. :D

Our last cruise, we also had my oldest daughter (now 24) and my grandson (also age 5) with us and he is an entirely different child than my youngest daughter. He does not enjoy the excursions or walking or anything too strenuous and my oldest daughter decided to take him back to the ship when we were in Roatan and used their sitting services. He had a blast that day and did nothing but talk about how much fun he had. No crying or fussing (like he was when we were off the ship) and had a smile on his face when he was picked up. (Now I do have to say that my oldest DD was right there at the beach in port, Mahogany, so it's not like she went off on an excursion, but I'm sure she wouldn't have had a problem with that either).

My point is, each child is different. Each parent is different. How the child and parent reacts to either situation will be different for everyone as it is within my very own family. :)

DH and I just got off Freedom (sail date 8/18/13) with our 5 and 2 yr old. We did not leave our kids while in port as we chose to cater our activities around them. But we did use the aquanauts camp and nursery (for fee) every day. The staff is amazing and I really trusted them with my kids. I was especially impressed with the nursery for babies and toddlers up to 2. The staff were top notch. Because of this, if you are comfortable wi leaving your kids, I would totally trust these staff. I can only speak to the staff I encountered on Freedom.

I have done it on Carnival several times with an infant and also on Disney twice with a 2 and 4 year old. I consider myself more overprotective and careful than most, but I am fine with it. I only took tours through the ship though. I did not really see it any different than leaving your kids at daycare while you are at work. My kids had a blast talking about the Mickey show and characters and such. I was gone about 4 hours each time.

I have done it on Carnival several times with an infant and also on Disney twice with a 2 and 4 year old. I consider myself more overprotective and careful than most, but I am fine with it. I only took tours through the ship though. I did not really see it any different than leaving your kids at daycare while you are at work. My kids had a blast talking about the Mickey show and characters and such. I was gone about 4 hours each time.

Well, the difference is that with daycare you can be reached immediately and likely be there in a short period of time. If you are off on an excursion, they may or may not be able to reach you and you may or may not be able to get back to the ship quickly. It is also a falisy that the ship will wait for you if you are on a ship sponsored tour. They will take responsibility for getting you to the next port but that's all. Of course, someone from the staff will care for your child until the next port.

I have done it on Carnival several times with an infant and also on Disney twice with a 2 and 4 year old. I consider myself more overprotective and careful than most, but I am fine with it. I only took tours through the ship though. I did not really see it any different than leaving your kids at daycare while you are at work. My kids had a blast talking about the Mickey show and characters and such. I was gone about 4 hours each time.

I agree. There is no guarantees but knowing your kids will be taken care of if the worse happens is a good start.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

Well, the difference is that with daycare you can be reached immediately and likely be there in a short period of time. If you are off on an excursion, they may or may not be able to reach you and you may or may not be able to get back to the ship quickly. It is also a falisy that the ship will wait for you if you are on a ship sponsored tour. They will take responsibility for getting you to the next port but that's all. Of course, someone from the staff will care for your child until the next port.

Well that could be true for some, but here where I am it can be a two hour drive from work to my sons daycare depending on traffic...so I would probably be closer on a ship excursion!! We plan on leaving our 3.5 year old in the ship for one or two port days, specifically planning excursions so they are not full days!

Absolutely leave my kids at the kids club!! First time with my daughter at age 2 and now with both my daughter (7) and my son will be almost (3). If I trust to leave my kids with anyone for any length of time, I trust them period. I won't ever forget the stories our dinner mates with kids the same age as our daughter was, they were miserable, both children and parents when they took them off. Too hot, kids got tired, hungry, uninterested in activities, tour bus too loud and difficult to enjoy the beach for long when worried about the kiddos. Part of the reason we love to cruise is eo hubby and I can be adventurous without having to worry about our kids. This time we will be taking both off once for Coral World and my daughter off for horseback riding at Grand Turk. Leave your kids in great care and enjoy your snorkeling adventure!

Exactly!

What don't kill them will make them stronger or they choose a messed up nursing home for you:D.

In areas prone for natural disaster/earthquakes, being in control is not an option, so you learn to trust and have faith.

However , I would love to tell my grandkids about the time when I was abandon on a cruise ship with all the food I could eat

My kids get to hear how I was traumatized from having to walk up hill both ways by myself to school.

 

OP- a life lived in fear is one half lived. You could take them on an excursion and have an accident, with the parents badly hurt. Now you shouldn't leave the ship...NO!.

Have faith and trust this has been done countless time without incident.

IMHO it depends on your child. We left our kids on board on our first Disney Cruise when DD was 4 and DS was 7. They even had friends with them the same age. We were in Nassau and only went on a small trip to the Atlantis Casino and then back for some shopping in the Straw Market. We were in the Straw Market when the kids club paged me. This was only 2-3 hours after we had left the ship. DD was crying and they couldn't calm her down. When we got to the kids club she said she was afraid we had left her there "forever". Now DD had never been in a daycare environment, having been watched by my Aunt while we worked since birth. The fact is neither of my kids ended up liking the kids clubs on any of the cruises and went less than a handful of times over their 10 cruises since then. That was the first and last time I left them on a ship. After that we always went together.

I can't say for sure if I would leave my daughter on the ship, but that is only because she has never been to the kids club (she was too young during her first cruise). Our upcoming cruise will be her first time doing Adventure Ocean. If she is the type of child that loves it and wants to spend the majority of her time there, then I would consider leaving her on the ship.

The other issue that concerns me is what happens to her if something happens to me. LIke if I miss the ship or have an accident in port.

There are some excursions we do where DD comes with us, and there are others that she stays on board in the kids club.

On some cruises, we have other family members traveling with us, but most cruises are just the 3 of us.

One trip comes to mind when we were on a Southern Caribbean cruise during thanksgiving week, and the ads for all the Black Friday sales in St. thomas (our last port stop) looked amazing to get a jump on our christmas shopping.

Well, DD, then 8, took one look at the shopping list being developed and said, "I"d rather stay in the kids club- just get me some pink to blue (color changing) nail polish at del sol while you're out."

So everyone was much happier with this arrangement, and we were back by 1:30 to take her to the butterfly place right near the dock.

Overall, I think it depends on how old your kids are and how well they enjoy the kids club (DD wasn't a big fan when she was younger- she enjoys it more now).