In all our planning for our recent Disney cruise, I never once thought about what happens if someone got sick. Maybe I should have…I certainly came prepared for headaches, blisters, cuts, sun burns and everything else – other than the stomach flu.
Hours before our excursion on Nassau, my youngest ran to the bathroom and wasn’t able to leave for hours. While my husband and our two other daughters went to swim with dolphins, I stayed behind with my youngest wondering what to doThankfully, our concierge team were amazing and they knew exactly how to take care of us. Here’s what I learned if your child gets sick and it interferes with any prepaid excursions you have to miss:
- go to the medical clinic (normally located on the first floor). Even though the excursion tickets are non-refundable, if you have a doctor’s note, you will be refunded for the child plus adult staying behind to take care of them. Thankfully, Disney didn’t charge us for the doctor’s visit.
- because your child is underage (even if you have a teenager), an adult must stay with the child at all times.
- you will need to stay in your stateroom for 24 hrs (from the time you go to the clinic) basically you are quarantined.
- there are unlimited movies you can watch on the tv – new and old movies.
- room service is there to provide anything you need – they recognize it’s not fun for the adult to stay behind so they try to make things as accommodating as possible.
- you will receive a letter from the captain requesting the need to stay in your room for the full 24 hrs.
- any adult can stay behind with the child. My husband switched places with me after he got back from the swimming with dolphins so I could leave the room and go down for dinner and a movie.
- Your child’s key card will be restricted – meaning, if they attempt to use it for anything it will be denied (after all, they are supposed to be in the room).
- the staff who interact with you on a daily basis (stateroom service, concierge, dining staff etc) are all made aware of the illness. They will continually ask how the child is doing – which is really nice – but know that they are helping to keep an eye on the situation (as they should).
It’s never fun being sick on a cruise or having a sick child but thankfully, it was easily manageable. While my youngest slept all day (thanks to the medicine she was given by the ship doctor) I was able to relax, watch a movie, read a book and even sleep…after all, that’s what you’re supposed to do on a cruise right…relax?
ps. Thank you to the crew aboard the Disney Dream for everything!
