Cruise Talk: Anyone with young children on Rhapsody Nov 17

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»	Cruise Talk » Young Cruisers Forum » Anyone with young children on Rhapsody Nov 17

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Topic: Anyone with young children on Rhapsody Nov 17

Michelle Berg
Just Boarded
Member # 854

posted 10-20-1999 10:33 PM

Is anyone with young children going on the Rhapsody RCCL 11 day cruise to Mexican Riveria. Our children are 3 and 5. Let me know.

Posts: 7 | From: Wainwright,Alberta, Canada | Registered: Oct 1999 | IP: Logged

donney
Just Boarded
Member # 861

posted 10-24-1999 09:53 AM

Re your query on the RCI Rapsody, I have not been on this vessel, but recently went to Bermuda with RCI and may be able to provide some input if this is your first experience with children on cruises.
Children now seem to be welcomed by most cruise lines. Cruises now are more like family outings than the leisurely voyages they were as recently as a year or so ago. To younger families with children its a real asset. To most travellers without kids its a real pain.
Some day you may be able to board and have the kids placed in suspended animation instead of having your picture taken at the dock. This way they could be stored in a clean hold and returned at the end of the ten days allowing you to enjoy shipboard. Unfortunately we"ll have to wait for science to catch up on this.
Children are very well cared for on RCI ships. They are not picked up from your cabin. You must deliver them and can pick them up at the up in the evening. Meantime they are fed, entertained and dewatered etc. I am not sure as to whether this applies to days ashore or not. For children up to about seven or eight years of age, this is ideal and they are kept out of the way so as not to be a nuisance to other passengers. Kids between approximately nine and fifteen dont seem to use this service and tend to monopolise the pool and the hot tubs during the daylight hours making them unusable to adults for quiet relaxation.
Some words of caution. It has been rumored that some young children have been lost overboard in the last year or so. It has been guessed that they slip between the ships railings. This would mainly be on promenade deck or pool deck. Check your cruise ticket because its almost certain that the line assumes no responsibility while childre are in their care.
Finally, if you have not yet booked, try for an upper outside cabin. We found on our cruise that there were a large number of teenagers on board. They were not around during daylight hours but appeared at around 8:30 as we were going to second sitting. They congregated around stairwells and the stairs on lower decks and generally partied to the early morning hours. They generally blocked off elevators,possibly by jamming the doors. Its for this reason I suggest a higher deck where you probably wont be too inconvenienced.
I hope that this info and my own experience may help

Posts: 5 | From: burlington, ontario, canada | Registered: Oct 1999 | IP: Logged

Kas
First Class Passenger
Member # 250

posted 10-24-1999 01:21 PM

Obviously Donney you do not like or tolerate children, from the wee ones to the larger ones. All Michelle asked was if there was anyone with young children on the cruise she would be taking. You did not respond to her query.
I suggest that if you want to avoid children, you go on very, very long cruises, or on very expensive cruises where you will not find children.
Michelle, hope you have a wonderful time with your children on the Rhapsody. The counsellors take great care of them and they will have lots of fun. I for one have never heard of a child falling overboard as Donnery suggests. Don't know where he ever heard this. I have heard of a drunken girl from the Casino staff throwing herself overboard, but children falling overboard - no way. Furthermore children have always been welcomed on board cruise ships, for many, many, many years, not just recently as he states.

[This message has been edited by Kas (edited 10-24-1999).]

Posts: 35 | Registered: Aug 99 | IP: Logged

CTrail
First Class Passenger
Member # 64

posted 10-24-1999 07:46 PM

Whole heartedly agree Kas. Michelle, I think that Donney was out of order. He has an axe to grind and is just taking it out in the wrong place. I to have never heard of children falling overboard, as a matter of fact I am not sure that there is a much safer place for them than on board the ship. A family vacation should mean children included not excluded. Donney, it is your decision not to have children. Don't exclude that priviledge from others. I know that sometimes the parents can be a pain by not watching how their children behave nor care about their manners but take it out on the parents, not the kids. We wouldn't go without ours. They had a ball and so did we. Michelle you will find that there will be plenty of other kids there about the same age group and yours will fit in and have a great time. Family vacations are great. Don't let the Donneys mess up yours.

Haveagreatcruise:-)

Posts: 332 | From: Kitchener, ON Canada | Registered: Apr 99 | IP: Logged

joe at travelpage
Administrator
Member # 622

posted 10-24-1999 09:49 PM

Rest assured, no children have fallen overboard from a cruise ship recently. A few adults have, but they were almost always somewhere they shouldn't have been - sitting or walking on a railing.

The space between the horizontal rails of a cruise ship is about 6 inches which makes it almost impossible for anybody to slip through accidentally. Whenever we travel with our children we point out the rain gutter (which is about 10 inches wide) between the deck and the railing and tell them that they cannot step beyond that. This seems to be a simple and effective way to get the message across that the railings are off limits.

Joe at TravelPage.com

Posts: 29976 | From: Great Falls, Virginia | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

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