rrr

The Carnival customer service rep told me group babysitting is available for an 18 month old for $6/hour every day from 9 am to 3 am. I need to confirm this as I have read posts stating that babysitting is only available after 10 pm and for a few hours while in port.

Mellie

Why in the devil would you want to bring an 18 month old baby onboard a ship to have it babysat all those hours..Let an indulgent grandparent babysit..

rrr

Hi Mellie-<BR>I have NO intention of leaving my precious son in someone else's care all day. I am only interested in using a service for a couple of hours a day. Just wondering what is available in terms of group babysitting. Perhaps I should have been more clear in my original post. I am a stay-at-home mom and spend all day with my four children. I would love to have a couple of hours alone with my husband on our vacation. We don't have anyone with whom we can leave our children while we are away. But thanks for the suggestion...

Paul Therault

Carnival does not hire special staff for babysitting. Youth counselors will do it in their spare time if they so desire. You will have to sign up as soon as you arrive on-board. It is not group babysitting. They sit in your cabin. I do not know how many parents would leave a stranger to watch their child. Most do the trade-off thing. One watches the toddler in the evening (usually naps) and the other enjoys the festivities. During the day the entire family is together and has a great time.<BR><BR>The 10pm to 3AM babysitting program is for the older (2 and up) children. It is group babysitting and is a watching TV type slumber program. We did allow all our children to do this and felt they were safe. We did pop-in occasionally as with other parents.<BR><BR>Good luck,<BR><BR>Paul

Mellie

If you are a stay at home mom with four children.....you deserve to go on a romantic vacation with your husband sans children.. Possibly you can find a relative or two to give you a break. Stay at home moms...are to be applauded, but you should have a break and spend some precious and romantic time with your hubby. BTW congrats for being a stay at home mom!!

jan

Geez! As the mother of four (which I am) why would you want to take a &quot;precious&quot; 18 month old on a cruise. Sounds like you have some separation problem...leave the child at home and have a romantic trip with your husband.

Read

Jan and Mellie, perhaps having all those children has destroyed too many brain cells - rrr has already stated that she has no one to leave her children with, and you also might consider that they want to take the older children on a cruise - which is a fantastic family vacation by the way.<BR><BR>Unless you're volunteering to take the kids off her hands for a week?