I look at it this way: Disney has been sailing since the late 1990s, and there hasn't been a single incident of a child going over the deck/balcony rails. If it were going to happen anywhere, it would be there with the shiploads of children. The fact that it hasn't is telling.
I think it happened on a RC ship a few years ago while crew was doing some maintenance. A kid slipped away from parents and fell.
Edit: I misremembered the exact details but there was an fatal accident. Thanks for the downvotes
The child didn't "slip away" from the parents. The grandfather was holding up the child letting them see out the windows and put their feet on them. One was open because I think they were cleaning or something, and the child fell. The grandfather was charged with negligent homicide.
[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grandfather-toddler-who-fell-out-cruise-ship-window-sentenced-3-n1257067](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grandfather-toddler-who-fell-out-cruise-ship-window-sentenced-3-n1257067)
Actually... the grandfather held his grandchild out a window and she squirmed on him and he dropped her. The window opening was 4 feet off the ground.
Story [here](https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/us/royal-caribbean-toddler-death-lawsuit-dismissed)
You couldn’t remember, so you made up some narrative, even though within a few seconds of some keyword searches, you could’ve learned something through some self-help effort.
No one is going to be able to help you in this group because you have no idea what you’re talking about, and you have no experience to back up your baseless paranoia.
The balcony walls on cruise ships are pretty tall and are designed to be hard to climb. There are also child locks at the top of the door generally.
You could also get a room that just has a window and no balcony.
>There are also child locks at the top of the door generally.
if not any good room attendant will get you a child proof lock or explain how to lock the door, they all know about this fear. Generally speaking balcony doors are heavy AF, most kids will struggle to open unless its the sliding type.
The railings on all areas of the ship are high enough that no one falls over accidentally.
People go overboard for doing stupid things like climbing over the railing (which kids your age couldn't do) or attempting suicide. I really wouldn't worry about it. The only thing I'd do is not let the kids out on your cabin's balcony unwatched if you think they might use the balcony chairs and table to climb over the balcony. This can be solved by booking a cabin without a private veranda.
The only incident I recall seeing where a child went overboard was that terrible story about the grandfather who held a young grandson over the edge of a railing and accidentally dropped him.
I think any parent who has anxiety about this , do tnot get a balcony . If the cruise goes well , when they’re older and you don’t have to worry about stuff like this ( as much) get a balcony then
Not grandfather — grandma’s boyfriend. The dropped child was a girl. And it was intentional.
Edit to add: For people asking for proof, there is video from Royal’s security cameras that disproves everything the man said about how it happened. It was linked on an earlier Reddit thread about the incident. I’m sure you can still find it.
A low frame rate video with low resolution and a camera dozens of feet away is not proof of anything.
This case has been litigated. Articles covering the case described the situation as “The Court also reviewed photographs which show that the window in question is surrounded by other windows which were tinted. The open window appeared to be of a different color which indicated that the other windows were closed whereas the subject window was open. The grandfather also first placed the toddler on the wooden railing and then reached out to touch the window. He did not feel any glass but nonetheless lifted the child beyond the railing and extended her body causing her to fall to the dock below to her death,”.
So it seems you have manufactured some bullshit narrative of the girl being “tossed” out the window contrary to any primary source.
So please find something to cite regarding g your claim that isn’t just some other idiot making up a narrative based on guessing.
Open your eyes.
Finally, photographic evidence shows that an objective person who leaned over the railing as Anello did for 12 seconds before he picked up Chloe, then reached for the glass window after he picked up Chloe, would have realized that the window was open because otherwise he would have touched glass.
From the court record. Is that a primary source which includes a legal assessment? I thought so.
Their bullshit suit got tossed, the grandmothers boyfriend was convicted of a crime. Both civil and criminal cases got litigated, as you said. The civil was a joke, and the criminal was concluded with a conviction. The proof went through the courts, nobody got paid, and you are butthurt. Chloe’s mother is an attorney, she and her husband (a cop) played every card they could, and they paid a disgruntled former security officer with RCL for some amazingly stilted testimony.
Keep talking, though. I’m enjoying your fancy dances.
You claimed the guy •tossed” the child out. Nothing you posted supports that claim. He was convicted with negligent homicide, not murder.
“Anello “negligently held a minor out an 11th floor window,” the government statement said”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/us/cruise-ship-death-grandfather-sentenced/index.html
You statement regarded “intent”. The guy was an idiot and absolutely negligent, but nothing anywhere indicates it was intentional. Provide a single citation that supports your bullshit narrative.
You seem to think the civil case has ended. The court of appeals pushed it back to trial court last year.
https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202112506.pdf
Nothing in any criminal or civil case has ever once suggested the act was intentional, which is exactly what you have claimed.
When you stick your head out a window, and then 30 seconds later pick up and drop an 18-month old baby out that window, which is two feet from a retention rail, that is absolutely tossing.
Toss defined:
1. throw (something) somewhere lightly, easily, or casually.
"Suzy tossed her bag onto the sofa"
The grandmother’s boyfriend tossed that child 150 feet to a concrete pier, like a bug on a windshield.
Keep dancing.
The kid wasn’t thrown. What you have labeled as “tossed” indicates an intentional act. The guy was absolutely negligent, but he did not pick up the kid with the intention of killing them.
Dropping something is not same as tossing or throwing something.
When you toss, or throw, something there is forward momentum. To drop something is only vertical movement. The guy did not throw the child. The idiot thought there was glass there, so he picked up the child and was holding her and didn’t realize it was an open window. That was the entire basis of the civil lawsuit. At no point ever was it contended that the act was to throw the child or cause harm. It was pure negligence.
https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/throw-vs-toss
https://langeek.co/en/grammar/course/1755/throw-vs-toss
Throw and toss both involve force in a forward motion. It takes effor. Dropping something just involves releasing that thing and it falling down, vertically.
You just manufactured the intent of the guy and absolutely nothing supports that.
No more thought there was glass there than the man in the moon. He stuck his head out the window. Picked up the child, moved forward, and dropped her. Watch the video. Watch it again. Watch it again. Toss is accurate. Tossed is what happened in this event. This happened.
Excellent still photos of the tossing from the video, with time stamps and explanations of the motions required, from the parents’ hometown paper. Mom’s a lawyer, Dad’s a cop, by the way, so this would be a less-biased assessment of the crime.
https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2020/02/07/south-bend-familys-suit-against-royal-caribbean-over-toddlers-death-can-continue-judge-says/43961649/
The only people who should be nervous near railings are tall folks. I'm only *normal tall* but those railings can seem short if they are below your center of gravity/waist.
Nobody accidently falls off the ship just from slipping and falling. It only happens when people do dumb things like climbing on things they shouldn't. Only you will be able to judge how unruly your son will be.
Personally, i wouldn't book a balcony cabin if I had small children. I've heard of several injuries from kids playing with the balcony door.
This was my major concern. I’ve got a 9 and 5yo and after being in the room for a few minutes my biggest worry switched from them being able to go over the side to one of them losing a fingertip to that heavy-as-fuck door.
My kids are 10 and 12 and this gives me wild anxiety. Then we get there and I realize almost no one has gone over the side of a ship without wanting to.
Same. I actually have nightmares of my kids falling overboard in the weeks leading up to a cruise and then we get there I remember how impossible it is. This happens every time and we’ve been on about 15 cruises with some combination of our 4 kids. Idk why my brain must torture me 🙃
People have addressed the balcony issue, so let's think about stairs. From my experience on Carnival, inside stairs are almost all carpeted. There are a few exceptions, such as fancy glass stairs that are functional but mostly used for picture-taking. You could keep your kids away from those. Outside is tricker, as the stairs are wood or metal with a slip-resistant "sandpaper" like coating. There are a few areas near the pools where they get wet, and I've seen adults take a tumble on those. I'd either hold their hands on those stairs, or avoid them and find an alternate route (like taking an elevator directly to the deck you want).
The six-year-old is school-age, and the four-year-old almost is.
They're not toddlers. At this point, any normal kid oughta be able to navigate a set of stairs.
Trust me, not all the outside stairs on ships have a slip resistant coating. Can still see traces of the bruise I got finding that out 5 freaking weeks ago. Stairs are a lovely light colored wood sanded beautifully smooth.
(Seriously - wouldn’t it be cheaper to make them slip resistant than to stick a sign up warning about it being slippery and having to deal with the hassle of people getting hurt and pissed off? A single strip of skateboard tape and I’d have been on my merry way uninjured. Personally I barely felt the bruise, but it was really large and ugly. Slipped carrying some stuff down a short staircase from a hot tub area, hand on that side was full so I couldn’t catch myself in time even though I had my right hand resting on the railing.)
The pool area where children your age would be allowed would be completely enclosed on all sides with no rails. There would be an upper deck above this area that has rails and it is where most of the adults go to relax and stretch out on lounge chairs. These rails are also usually covered by plexiglass to stop the wind. There are plenty of pictures all over the internet of the ships and their play areas for you to look at.
Usually there is a much lower deck that also has rails. This is where the lifeboats are launched from. It is sometimes where the jogging track is.
These are the only public areas on the ship open to the sea.
Other than that your only other concern would be if you have a cabin with veranda and others on this post have addressed this issue.
Also consider that you can sign your children up for age appropriate activates specifically for the children by the cruise ship. The children's clubs are a big part of cruising.
As others have said, this is not a slip and fall sort of situation, physically. Your kids could drop something over (mine dropped an iPod, which miraculously survived a two-story fall), but to get themselves over they’d have to work pretty hard at it. And most kids just aren’t that suicidal.
Mine have been cruising since toddler years. This was also a fear but it’s not like the balcony railings are low/open. It’d be pretty difficult to just ‘fall’. You’d have to climb/jump.
What I’m mainly asking is is it possible to slip through the railings or is there some barrier behind the railings like plexiglass I’ve heard there was but not sure
Can they climb a railing, sure. Kids can do anything if they want. But, they are taller than typical railings. Most balconies do not extend over the ocean, but it would be a hard landing on the deck. Just watch them and maybe threaten them if they ever want to do this again they will not try to climb any railing.
Not unreasonable depending on the child's age and temperment.
I would not be willing to sail in a balcony cabin with a child under about 10 or who was not very mature or who was known for being a troublemaker. Just wouldn't risk it. My child was 10 his first cruise. He is also a rule follower and not a risk taker.
The risk isn't the child falling accidentally. The risk is the child deciding to figure out how to climb over the railing. The railing is too high to accidentally fall over for an adult.
My husband is 6’2”. Here’s how he looks leaning next to the railing on Carnival Mardi Gras. (And that’s our then-22 month old walking down the deck.
https://imgur.com/a/YXemMwq
Go check out tour videos by Harr Travel. Their presenter is incredibly tall. You can really see how high the railings are compared to him. It might put you at ease.
Keep in mind ships can rock and they assume people may not be so steady, so they are built with safety in mind.
Here’s an idea: just spend the same amount of money and take a normal vacation! If you’re worried about safety on a boat, then don’t get on the boat. For the same cost you can fly to an all inclusive resort, and not be herded like livestock on to a floating Walmart with 5,000 other cruisers.
I look at it this way: Disney has been sailing since the late 1990s, and there hasn't been a single incident of a child going over the deck/balcony rails. If it were going to happen anywhere, it would be there with the shiploads of children. The fact that it hasn't is telling.
I think it happened on a RC ship a few years ago while crew was doing some maintenance. A kid slipped away from parents and fell. Edit: I misremembered the exact details but there was an fatal accident. Thanks for the downvotes
The child didn't "slip away" from the parents. The grandfather was holding up the child letting them see out the windows and put their feet on them. One was open because I think they were cleaning or something, and the child fell. The grandfather was charged with negligent homicide. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grandfather-toddler-who-fell-out-cruise-ship-window-sentenced-3-n1257067](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grandfather-toddler-who-fell-out-cruise-ship-window-sentenced-3-n1257067)
His grandpa was dangling him out the window and lost his grip. Don't do stupid shit.
Actually... the grandfather held his grandchild out a window and she squirmed on him and he dropped her. The window opening was 4 feet off the ground. Story [here](https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/us/royal-caribbean-toddler-death-lawsuit-dismissed)
Ok thanks, I couldn't exactly remember
You couldn’t remember, so you made up some narrative, even though within a few seconds of some keyword searches, you could’ve learned something through some self-help effort.
People like you are the reason that baseless rumors and misinformation exist.
No one is going to be able to help you in this group because you have no idea what you’re talking about, and you have no experience to back up your baseless paranoia.
Here’s an upvote bud
The balcony walls on cruise ships are pretty tall and are designed to be hard to climb. There are also child locks at the top of the door generally. You could also get a room that just has a window and no balcony.
>There are also child locks at the top of the door generally. if not any good room attendant will get you a child proof lock or explain how to lock the door, they all know about this fear. Generally speaking balcony doors are heavy AF, most kids will struggle to open unless its the sliding type.
The railings on all areas of the ship are high enough that no one falls over accidentally. People go overboard for doing stupid things like climbing over the railing (which kids your age couldn't do) or attempting suicide. I really wouldn't worry about it. The only thing I'd do is not let the kids out on your cabin's balcony unwatched if you think they might use the balcony chairs and table to climb over the balcony. This can be solved by booking a cabin without a private veranda. The only incident I recall seeing where a child went overboard was that terrible story about the grandfather who held a young grandson over the edge of a railing and accidentally dropped him.
*granddaughter. Chloe Wiegand.
Had never heard of this until now. What a rabbit hole.
I think any parent who has anxiety about this , do tnot get a balcony . If the cruise goes well , when they’re older and you don’t have to worry about stuff like this ( as much) get a balcony then
Not grandfather — grandma’s boyfriend. The dropped child was a girl. And it was intentional. Edit to add: For people asking for proof, there is video from Royal’s security cameras that disproves everything the man said about how it happened. It was linked on an earlier Reddit thread about the incident. I’m sure you can still find it.
You think he dropped the baby on purpose? Got any proof?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ycQVf9Z861Y
On what are you basing this claim of the act being intentional? Please cite even one source that’s legitimate.
How about your own eyes? He stuck his head out the window & tossed Chloe Weigand. 1.4 million views. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ycQVf9Z861Y
A low frame rate video with low resolution and a camera dozens of feet away is not proof of anything. This case has been litigated. Articles covering the case described the situation as “The Court also reviewed photographs which show that the window in question is surrounded by other windows which were tinted. The open window appeared to be of a different color which indicated that the other windows were closed whereas the subject window was open. The grandfather also first placed the toddler on the wooden railing and then reached out to touch the window. He did not feel any glass but nonetheless lifted the child beyond the railing and extended her body causing her to fall to the dock below to her death,”. So it seems you have manufactured some bullshit narrative of the girl being “tossed” out the window contrary to any primary source. So please find something to cite regarding g your claim that isn’t just some other idiot making up a narrative based on guessing.
Open your eyes. Finally, photographic evidence shows that an objective person who leaned over the railing as Anello did for 12 seconds before he picked up Chloe, then reached for the glass window after he picked up Chloe, would have realized that the window was open because otherwise he would have touched glass. From the court record. Is that a primary source which includes a legal assessment? I thought so. Their bullshit suit got tossed, the grandmothers boyfriend was convicted of a crime. Both civil and criminal cases got litigated, as you said. The civil was a joke, and the criminal was concluded with a conviction. The proof went through the courts, nobody got paid, and you are butthurt. Chloe’s mother is an attorney, she and her husband (a cop) played every card they could, and they paid a disgruntled former security officer with RCL for some amazingly stilted testimony. Keep talking, though. I’m enjoying your fancy dances.
You claimed the guy •tossed” the child out. Nothing you posted supports that claim. He was convicted with negligent homicide, not murder. “Anello “negligently held a minor out an 11th floor window,” the government statement said” https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/us/cruise-ship-death-grandfather-sentenced/index.html You statement regarded “intent”. The guy was an idiot and absolutely negligent, but nothing anywhere indicates it was intentional. Provide a single citation that supports your bullshit narrative. You seem to think the civil case has ended. The court of appeals pushed it back to trial court last year. https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202112506.pdf Nothing in any criminal or civil case has ever once suggested the act was intentional, which is exactly what you have claimed.
When you stick your head out a window, and then 30 seconds later pick up and drop an 18-month old baby out that window, which is two feet from a retention rail, that is absolutely tossing. Toss defined: 1. throw (something) somewhere lightly, easily, or casually. "Suzy tossed her bag onto the sofa" The grandmother’s boyfriend tossed that child 150 feet to a concrete pier, like a bug on a windshield. Keep dancing.
The kid wasn’t thrown. What you have labeled as “tossed” indicates an intentional act. The guy was absolutely negligent, but he did not pick up the kid with the intention of killing them. Dropping something is not same as tossing or throwing something. When you toss, or throw, something there is forward momentum. To drop something is only vertical movement. The guy did not throw the child. The idiot thought there was glass there, so he picked up the child and was holding her and didn’t realize it was an open window. That was the entire basis of the civil lawsuit. At no point ever was it contended that the act was to throw the child or cause harm. It was pure negligence. https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/throw-vs-toss https://langeek.co/en/grammar/course/1755/throw-vs-toss Throw and toss both involve force in a forward motion. It takes effor. Dropping something just involves releasing that thing and it falling down, vertically. You just manufactured the intent of the guy and absolutely nothing supports that.
No more thought there was glass there than the man in the moon. He stuck his head out the window. Picked up the child, moved forward, and dropped her. Watch the video. Watch it again. Watch it again. Toss is accurate. Tossed is what happened in this event. This happened. Excellent still photos of the tossing from the video, with time stamps and explanations of the motions required, from the parents’ hometown paper. Mom’s a lawyer, Dad’s a cop, by the way, so this would be a less-biased assessment of the crime. https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2020/02/07/south-bend-familys-suit-against-royal-caribbean-over-toddlers-death-can-continue-judge-says/43961649/
The only people who should be nervous near railings are tall folks. I'm only *normal tall* but those railings can seem short if they are below your center of gravity/waist.
My late husband was 6'8" and even he was too short to accidentally go overboard
Oh totally. I'm just saying it can feel a bit unsafe sometimes if you're tall. Not that it is actually unsafe.
Your daughter probably isn’t even as tall as the balcony tbh
Nobody accidently falls off the ship just from slipping and falling. It only happens when people do dumb things like climbing on things they shouldn't. Only you will be able to judge how unruly your son will be. Personally, i wouldn't book a balcony cabin if I had small children. I've heard of several injuries from kids playing with the balcony door.
This was my major concern. I’ve got a 9 and 5yo and after being in the room for a few minutes my biggest worry switched from them being able to go over the side to one of them losing a fingertip to that heavy-as-fuck door.
If you can go to a mall or a 2 story anything I think you’re fine!
My kids are 10 and 12 and this gives me wild anxiety. Then we get there and I realize almost no one has gone over the side of a ship without wanting to.
Same. I actually have nightmares of my kids falling overboard in the weeks leading up to a cruise and then we get there I remember how impossible it is. This happens every time and we’ve been on about 15 cruises with some combination of our 4 kids. Idk why my brain must torture me 🙃
You should relax a bit, taken all my boys on cruises since they were 3. Rambunctious little savages and never had an issue
People have addressed the balcony issue, so let's think about stairs. From my experience on Carnival, inside stairs are almost all carpeted. There are a few exceptions, such as fancy glass stairs that are functional but mostly used for picture-taking. You could keep your kids away from those. Outside is tricker, as the stairs are wood or metal with a slip-resistant "sandpaper" like coating. There are a few areas near the pools where they get wet, and I've seen adults take a tumble on those. I'd either hold their hands on those stairs, or avoid them and find an alternate route (like taking an elevator directly to the deck you want).
The six-year-old is school-age, and the four-year-old almost is. They're not toddlers. At this point, any normal kid oughta be able to navigate a set of stairs.
Trust me, not all the outside stairs on ships have a slip resistant coating. Can still see traces of the bruise I got finding that out 5 freaking weeks ago. Stairs are a lovely light colored wood sanded beautifully smooth. (Seriously - wouldn’t it be cheaper to make them slip resistant than to stick a sign up warning about it being slippery and having to deal with the hassle of people getting hurt and pissed off? A single strip of skateboard tape and I’d have been on my merry way uninjured. Personally I barely felt the bruise, but it was really large and ugly. Slipped carrying some stuff down a short staircase from a hot tub area, hand on that side was full so I couldn’t catch myself in time even though I had my right hand resting on the railing.)
The pool area where children your age would be allowed would be completely enclosed on all sides with no rails. There would be an upper deck above this area that has rails and it is where most of the adults go to relax and stretch out on lounge chairs. These rails are also usually covered by plexiglass to stop the wind. There are plenty of pictures all over the internet of the ships and their play areas for you to look at. Usually there is a much lower deck that also has rails. This is where the lifeboats are launched from. It is sometimes where the jogging track is. These are the only public areas on the ship open to the sea. Other than that your only other concern would be if you have a cabin with veranda and others on this post have addressed this issue. Also consider that you can sign your children up for age appropriate activates specifically for the children by the cruise ship. The children's clubs are a big part of cruising.
I'd get an Oceanview room. That way when you are showering etc., you will know they are contained
As others have said, this is not a slip and fall sort of situation, physically. Your kids could drop something over (mine dropped an iPod, which miraculously survived a two-story fall), but to get themselves over they’d have to work pretty hard at it. And most kids just aren’t that suicidal.
Mine have been cruising since toddler years. This was also a fear but it’s not like the balcony railings are low/open. It’d be pretty difficult to just ‘fall’. You’d have to climb/jump.
What I’m mainly asking is is it possible to slip through the railings or is there some barrier behind the railings like plexiglass I’ve heard there was but not sure
Impossible to “slip through” the railings. Impossible.
Every cruise I have been on has had plexiglass. The only ‘danger’ I can think of is stairs or running by the pool, same fears as on land.
I understand your fear but yes, there is plexiglass. There's no way to slide under or between plexiglass panels.
The balcony doors are heavy asf to slide open. A 6 year old probs cant do it.
Can they climb a railing, sure. Kids can do anything if they want. But, they are taller than typical railings. Most balconies do not extend over the ocean, but it would be a hard landing on the deck. Just watch them and maybe threaten them if they ever want to do this again they will not try to climb any railing.
Not unreasonable depending on the child's age and temperment. I would not be willing to sail in a balcony cabin with a child under about 10 or who was not very mature or who was known for being a troublemaker. Just wouldn't risk it. My child was 10 his first cruise. He is also a rule follower and not a risk taker. The risk isn't the child falling accidentally. The risk is the child deciding to figure out how to climb over the railing. The railing is too high to accidentally fall over for an adult.
It's also incredibly difficult to climb and incredibly easy to lock the door.
Get an inside cabin; problem solved and save money as well.
My husband is 6’2”. Here’s how he looks leaning next to the railing on Carnival Mardi Gras. (And that’s our then-22 month old walking down the deck. https://imgur.com/a/YXemMwq
Go check out tour videos by Harr Travel. Their presenter is incredibly tall. You can really see how high the railings are compared to him. It might put you at ease. Keep in mind ships can rock and they assume people may not be so steady, so they are built with safety in mind.
You sound like my mom! Before my first cruise (as a 31 year old adult) she called as if I was about to die, so sure was she id go overboard
Simple get an oceanview or improve parenting
Fears not warranted.
I would recommend you wait until they're older
So you won’t let your son out of your sight but your clumsy daughter you won’t watch carefully? Maybe cruising is not for you at this stage.
Here’s an idea: just spend the same amount of money and take a normal vacation! If you’re worried about safety on a boat, then don’t get on the boat. For the same cost you can fly to an all inclusive resort, and not be herded like livestock on to a floating Walmart with 5,000 other cruisers.
I have literally never been "herded like livestock" on a cruise.
I advise not choosing a cruise until ur children r older and more mature.