Child Safety at Sea- How much do you know?

As a parent to 3 girls, I am often considered by my eldest two as ‘ over protective’ but I feel I  would rather be safe than sorry.

Do you know what really goes on to regarding Safety on board Cruise Ships?

It is hard to get a balance as my girls get older of allowing their freedom and being a responsible parent.

My eldest daughter turned 18yrs a few weeks ago and although I am just about getting used to the idea of letter her venturing more than 200 yards from home, its always a worry what dangers are out there these days.

We all cruised as a family last year and Abbie, my eldest took her friend with her. It was their first cruise and didn’t take long at all to familiarize themselves with the goings on of life onboard.

They ventured to the dining room in the evening most evenings and often relayed tales of stories from the people they were sharing their table with. Whilst seeing the confidence they showed as mini adults, it worried me that we don’t really know who these ‘ people’ are sharing our conversations with over dinner.

I spotted a very interesting article this week that enlightened me a little into a few cruise lines behind the scenes level of safety. Firstly, they are starting to introduce Life Guards to the pools again. I do think this is a good idea. Ultimately, it is the parents responsibility to watch their children around water and it amazes me every year when I see youngsters playing for hours alone by the poolside without a glance from parents, but with this introduction it may assist in real emergencies when people do get into difficulty etc. Norwegian Cruise Lines are trialing this at the moment through the Red Cross who will train their pool Monitors and this will be then fed throughout their entire fleet after initially on the family focused Ships. Royal Caribbean are already re introducing lifeguards to every pool on every one of their ships.

Lets hope that other Lines follow suit.

Whilst most parents do know where their children are most times, with these lines that allow the children to sign themselves out of the kids clubs, its a bit of reassurance as a parent knowing that pool areas are monitored.

The Staff in these clubs are highly qualified with most carrying a degree in a field matching their role such as Early Childhood development.

Another amazing revelation was how another Cruise line maintains their safety on board. Royal Caribbean check all passengers booked on each one of their sailings and sends over the passenger manifest to a third party a short time before each sailing. These companies then check every passenger booked onto the sailing details against Sex offenders lists and anyone found on will have their cruise cancelled. This seems a great leap in the right direction. Knowing as much as possible that these risks are being reduced to allow our children to be children.

What are your thoughts about the safety on Ships? Do feel they are safer than hotels or could more be done?

I would love to know your thoughts and views.

Di x