Missing Child incident on Disney Cruise

[ChuckElias]

I would have freaked...my brain would have gone to . . .did he go overboard

The father definitely over reacted, but I'm guessing when he read "unreadable" on the screen, his mind went to that dark place of the band being out of range or over board.

Once it was clear that nobody could locate him AND the band came up unreadable, my thought would clearly be "overboard". Scary, scary thought.

I am pretty stoic by nature however missing child and not seeing concern on Disney's part I could understand a meltdown of any parent especially coupled with the wristband not working.

Absolutely. I lost sight of my daughter once for about 15 seconds in a store at the mall, and it was a nightmare that felt like 4 hours long. I can't imagine the feelings this couple went through.

 

[jlsHouston]

Well..asking for a payday or not.. I lost my son when he was 3 at the park where there was a creek running along side of it. I was sitting on a blanket about 20 feet from the slide holding my infant daughter, and my son was climbing the ladder on the slide.. I look down at my daughter and a moment later look up and don't see my son..and I will never forget the full blown panic mode I went into as minutes creeped by and I was searching for my son and not finding him...and there was that creek...

I can never fault anyone for their reactions over a lost child. Thankfully it all ended well for this family..I can imagine they were furious at Disney..and I can imagine the feelings that I paid for this? Give me my money back...actually I am not really a litigating sort of person...but I could see myself if I left my child in the care of others and returned to retreive my child and no one who had been responsible for my child could locate him/her...well actually a refund might not be all I would want...

If disney or any cruise line or resort is going to offer daycare/child activities where you leave your child with adults to be supervised, then those people need to know where each child left in their care is at all times. Period. Anything less than that is negligence.

 

[flynnibus]

People obviously have not been on the ships.

All guests have photos taken of them prior to boarding. These photos show up on the terminals when they scan your card. Your card must be scanned whenever you board or leave the ship.

This is in addition to the arm bands kids in the club get when registered. Kids are not allowed through the gates at the club entrance without being scanned. It would take the front desk being unattended or someone missing a child going through to not be signed in/out

Not saying that's impossible- but some of the comments here seem unaware of how the boat operates.

 

[jlsHouston]

I had your exact thought when reading about the Dad wanting a public announcement made. That's why stores use the Code ADAM system, named for John Walsh's deceased son.

EXACTLY ...

 

[DAKOTADISNEY]

As a parent I would be a nervous wreck in that situation but I would be thankful that the child was not in any emotional distress at all. Probably woke up from a little catnap and wondered what all of the fuss was all about.

 

[Phonedave]

One question I do have is about the father being allowed in the club to look for his son. Is it normal for parents to come into the child care areas when it's NOT Open House to be amoungst the kids? If I had a little one in that club I'd be concerned what other guests would have access to my kiddo when I wasn't present. Ya know?

?

When you go to get your kids, you go to the front desk and they scan your room key. IF the child that is linked to your room key is registered as in the club, then you get let in. You then go an collect your kid. When you get back to the front of the club with your kid, your room key and their wrist band and then scanned again. If they match, you are released (the gate opens) and your kid is now registered as having left the club.

There have been a number of times when I went to pick up my kids and it took a while to find them. The clubs are big, and my kids move around a lot. I would look in one room, and they would be in another. Then when I went there, they went to the room I just looked in. There are some places a kid could fall asleep and not be seen, but not many. I would think the CMs would know the "hiding places" and check them - not just with a missing kid, but on a regular basis.

As for the band not working. It sucks that it was a perfect storm of events. It not working when you needed it most, but that is Murphy's Law. Things break, things malfunction. Who knows why I did not work. Maybe the kid wacked it on the floor and then washed his hands. Who knows? I am sure DCL is looking into it, but all any of us can do is guess.

-dave

 

[jlsHouston]

The original story doesn't say where the child was found.. that's convenient isn't it?
Overhead announcements are not the way to do things.. this isn't KMart.

The kid bands actually show location in the clubs - not just when they check in/out. They let the staff know which part of the club the child is in.

It sounds like overreaction both during the event and after by the father to me.

Notice the guy didn't ask for his child when he got to the club? He chose to look for child himself.. yet he paints the staff looking at him and offering assistance as something 'behind the curve..'
Notice he didn't talk about how children are not allowed OUT of the club without having their band checked?

He immediately jumped to 'child anywhere on the boat!!' instead of focusing on what they knew.

That is not how I read the two articles..what I read was the dad entered the kids club to pick up his child and it was dimly lit and he looked around and did not see the youngster immediately. He notified a caretaker he was there to get his son and he was directed to "look" around for his child. While looking and calling his child's name he was unable to locate his child and he asked for help from the staff . And in the article I read the child was found sleeping under some chairs or blocks or something..I got the impression the child found a cozy little spot and fell asleep and no one caring for this child ever noticed the child was not in the group..nor did they put the child down for a nap...And so the child never left the daycare facility. There was no explanation as to why the tracker would not work if the child was inside activity center. But regardless as to the way the "picking your child up" system worked which appeared to be a rather loose system, or how he was aided or his wife was comforted...the fact that the activity center was responsible for a minor child and a very young one at that and did not know the whereabouts of that child...

 

[jlsHouston]

When you go to get your kids, you go to the front desk and they scan your room key. IF the child that is linked to your room key is registered as in the club, then you get let in. You then go an collect your kid. When you get back to the front of the club with your kid, your room key and their wrist band and then scanned again. If they match, you are released (the gate opens) and your kid is now registered as having left the club.

There have been a number of times when I went to pick up my kids and it took a while to find them. The clubs are big, and my kids move around a lot. I would look in one room, and they would be in another. Then when I went there, they went to the room I just looked in. There are some places a kid could fall asleep and not be seen, but not many. I would think the CMs would know the "hiding places" and check them - not just with a missing kid, but on a regular basis.

As for the band not working. It sucks that it was a perfect storm of events. It not working when you needed it most, but that is Murphy's Law. Things break, things malfunction. Who knows why I did not work. Maybe the kid wacked it on the floor and then washed his hands. Who knows? I am sure DCL is looking into it, but all any of us can do is guess.

-dave

This clarifies how the pick up system works at the centers.

 

[Phonedave]

EXACTLY ...

Stores use Code Adam for a number of reasons

Unlike the ship, the doors to a store a not secure. There is no scanning of a key card liknked to a picture of your face being done by a full time door security station when you leave the store. There is on a ship

Not all store employees have communications devices. Many do now, but when code adam was initiated many time the only way to communicate with all employess was over the PA. On the ship, all CM's have a raido.

In a typical store, the customers vastly outnumber the employees. Try finding somone you help you in a typical store. Alerting everyone in a store has a certain benefit, it puts many more eyes out there in locations where there are no employees. On a ship, there are CM's everywhere. All that making a PA announcement would do is alert any abductor that they are now looking for them, and possibly cause a mass stampede to the kids clubs of parents going to check on their child. Theyby swamping the front desk of the club, and hampering the existing serach efforts.

All CM's should have been alerted via radio about the missing child. Why the gangway CM's indicated that they had no knowledge of a missing child is something I can't answer. Maybe that is protocall. Guy comes running up and says "hey my kids is missing, has so and so left the ship yet". Without proper ID and clearance, maybe they are not allowed to divulge that information. Who knows.

-dave

 

[jlsHouston]

People obviously not been on the ships.

All guests have photos taken of them prior to boarding. These photos show up on the terminals when they scan your card. Your card must be scanned whenever you board or leave the ship.

This is in addition to the arm bands kids in the club get when registered. Kids are not allowed through the gates at the club entrance without being scanned. It would take the front desk being unattended or someone missing a child going through to not be signed in/out

Not saying that's impossible- but some of the comments here seem unaware of how the boat operates.

Well I am totally ignorant how the boats operate..but I can imagine it is just not that easy to get on and off a boat...however as a parent and grandparent...the thought of a missing child on a boat is terrifying...whether they wandered off, whether they were snatched , whether they did crawl under some hiding area in the kids center and asphyxiate. Phonedave has outlined the protocol he is accustomed to when retrieving his child from one of those centers. It appears fine. No one can enter to retrieve a child unless the room key has linked their child to it. And likewise leaving with the child the key and the wristband must match, so there is a secure system for retrieval. However, it does seem like if the center is so large a parent walking thru it has to wander and search for their child maybe that part of the retrieval process should be "fixed". And certainly a child left in anyone's care should have their whereabouts monitored within those four walls at all times. That's the point of leaving your child in a SUPERVISED environment.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Obviously, there are going to be multiple angles to this story and everyone on here can have their own opinions on how the father reacted...I just have this...

I don't care how your system is supposed to operate...if you are supposed to watch my child and you lose them...you've got a SERIOUS problem. End of story.

 

[flynnibus]

That is not how I read the two articles..what I read was the dad entered the kids club to pick up his child and it was dimly lit and he looked around and did not see the youngster immediately. He notified a caretaker he was there to get his son and he was directed to "look" around for his child.

That's not how it works. You can't just walk in.. You have to be let in by a cm. you can ask to go see/get your child but you don't go in without interacting with a cm. it's gated.

He glosses over parts and leaves out other essentials because his focus is the uncertainty and his rush. Notice he didn't really share what the club cms instructed him to do as well?

The guy freaked and you can't take his telling of the story as compete

 

[flynnibus]

However, it does seem like if the center is so large a parent walking thru it has to wander and search for their child maybe that part of the retrieval process should be "fixed". And certainly a child left in anyone's care should have their whereabouts monitored within those four walls at all times. That's the point of leaving your child in a SUPERVISED environment.

Again - you are taking this guys story as gospel while not being familiar yourself.

When you goto the desk, you can tell them who you need and they can tell you which area they are in the club. Also generally the cms are familiar with the children if they are there frequently so it's not uncommon for the cm to even know where your child is on their own accord. Depending on how busy they are they will even go and get them.

It can get busy at the desk depending on the time and that is when parents tend to go and get the kids themselves

 

[GrumpyFan]

He glosses over parts and leaves out other essentials because his focus is the uncertainty and his rush. Notice he didn't really share what the club cms instructed him to do as well?

The guy freaked and you can't take his telling of the story as compete

Exactly. We don't know the whole story, and we probably never will. Is his story a rant? Probably so, and there is probably some exaggeration and inaccuracies in his version. Did Disney do more than what he says? Again, probably so, but these are details that we'll never know. Not defending the guy, but, I do think we should give him a bit of a break. He and his family were in an unfamiliar place, and the people he left his kid with, (according to him) were somewhat clueless and not very concerned about where his kid was. I would venture that most parents would react in a similar manner if the situation were repeated.

 

[Master Yoda]

Exactly. We don't know the whole story, and we probably never will. Is his story a rant? Probably so, and there is probably some exaggeration and inaccuracies in his version. Did Disney do more than what he says? Again, probably so, but these are details that we'll never know. Not defending the guy, but, I do think we should give him a bit of a break. He and his family were in an unfamiliar place, and the people he left his kid with, (according to him) were somewhat clueless and not very concerned about where his kid was. I would venture that most parents would react in a similar manner if the situation were repeated.

Does the guy deserve a break his actions on the ship? Sure. Being calm and rational in a stressful situation like that is hard for anyone. However, once he wrote it down in rant format on the Consumerist after he had plenty of time to digest the facts of the situation he lost any sympathy from me.

 

[flynnibus]

(according to him) were somewhat clueless and not very concerned about where his kid was. I would venture that most parents would react in a similar manner if the situation were repeated.

According to him - key point. I have severe doubts the staff in the club brushed him off at all. Probably more like.. he was running 1,000 miles an hour and wouldn't wait for anyone else. You see it all the time.. the people that want to rush right off the edge without even taking a half second to blink or take a step back and collect yourself.

The staff on the cruise ships are 10x more attentive then you find anywhere in the parks. I never saw a single person that wasn't willing to personally guide you through something way beyond what you might expect. So, no I don't really believe the entire club staff (which in the clubs is going to be 10+ people) all collectively, and at the same time, decided to brush him off and not treat a missing child as significant.

The guy is running all over the ship in a matter of minutes. He put himself in front of the crew doing their duty and then was flippant when they weren't jumping through the hoops he setup.

Afterwards, instead of taking a step back to understand what was happening outside his head.. and take in all the information that he may not have understood at the time.. he pushes his narrow slice of the event as the sole truth and why he should be compensated. Notice the lack of any post-mortem assessment outside of his initial sequence of events?

He isn't interested in understanding what really happened or why he might have been 'way out in front' of everyone else.. he got himself upset.. and wants compensation for it.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Does the guy deserve a break his actions on the ship? Sure. Being calm and rational in a stressful situation like that is hard for anyone. However, once he wrote it down in rant format on the Consumerist after he had plenty of time to digest the facts of the situation he lost any sympathy from me.

Perhaps, and after looking at his blog, on which he advertises himself as a "marketing consultant and entrepreneur, who specializes in social media marketing, content marketing, and viral content creation", you might have a point. I hate to say this, but I'm starting to wonder if he's not trying to leverage this for more than it's worth.

 

[flynnibus]

a man who makes a living trying to sell hype... over hyping a personal situation by using the web? no way!!!

 

[GrumpyFan]

a man who makes a living trying to sell hype... over hyping a personal situation by using the web? no way!!!

He should join the ranks here, he would fit right in!!!
Actually, I think there's another community who would love him.

 

[jlsHouston]

Again - you are taking this guys story as gospel while not being familiar yourself.

When you goto the desk, you can tell them who you need and they can tell you which area they are in the club. Also generally the cms are familiar with the children if they are there frequently so it's not uncommon for the cm to even know where your child is on their own accord. Depending on how busy they are they will even go and get them.

It can get busy at the desk depending on the time and that is when parents tend to go and get the kids themselves

Okay... not sure if I would agree I am taking this guys story as gospel. More accurately I am giving him the benefit of the doubt when the father says he showed up to retrieve his kid and the staff at the childcare center told him to go look for his child he was around there somewhere. When he was unable to locate child while searching he asked for further assistance and then the staff couldn't find the child either and the child was not responding to his name being called. At that point the articles state they (staff with father)went to check the bracelet since it apparently has a tracking device in it and it showed tracking unavailable.
In this particular instance, according to the articles, no where does it state anyone who was responsible for the child's welfare and whereabouts while he was in the childcare center knew where the child was. To me that is negligence.