Nursery on Royal Caribbean

[mconthehighseas]

CruiseGirl06, at least one of your questions can be answered from the Royal Babies and Tots flyer in this post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41378086&postcount=116

The number of hours may change depending on which ship you are on and how long your cruise is; I only know what's on that flyer.

 

As you said, it may be more crowded during Thanksgiving week, but it really will just depend on how many babies are onboard. Hope you get it lucky and you get to pick whatever times you need!

Edited March 3, 2014 by mconthehighseas

[flhokie]

I have a few nursery questions, I'm going to add them here instead of starting a new thread since they are related.

 

1. How is availability, specifically evenings and port days? If I go sign up right when we board should we get the times we want. We're cruising thanksgiving week, so I'm thinking there may be more babies (certainly more school-aged kids)

 

We booked on day 2 for a middle of the cruise night without any issue. There were an average number of babies on board & we were told on day 1 that we did not have a limit of time we could book that day. They said that (10 hours I believe) applied on more full sailings, but even then there was usually more time available after the initial bookings on day 1. They said the booking was mainly to make sure they had the necessary staff (more kids = more staff). It was 1 staff member per 4 kids and a minimum of 2 staff members at all times.

 

2. Is there a cap to how much you can book on the first day? (I.e. You can book 10 hours embarkation day and then add more if it's available the next day).

 

3. Do they make a decent effort to calm the kids (similar to daycare?) our baby will be right around a year old, which is when I remember separation anxiety kicking in with our older child. She would usually be fine within a few minutes, so I am hoping this won't be an issue.

 

DD was 2 & the only issue was getting her to leave. The staff immediately got her involved as soon as we arrived. While I finished up with staff (what they had available for dinner, what we had in her bag, etc) she was already playing with toys. When we went to pick her up I saw a staff member rocking a child in a rocking chair. Another one was with the children in cribs in the back. They give you a phone that works onboard (no charge unless it isn't returned/broken) so they can get in touch with you if necessary. If you have others sailing with you, you can give names of up to 4 additional people who can pick her up from the nursery.

 

Also, I'd love any updates on toy lending.

 

See my responses in the quote. The Nursery was great on our sailing! Have fun!