Photo of child dangerously close to ship balcony railing sparks child safety debate

• A photo of a child standing on a stool right next to the balcony railing of their cruise ship has sparked a child safety debate.
• Many cruisers reacted with anger, believing it’s a dangerous situation.
• Some cruisers believe furniture should be removed from cruise ship balcony staterooms that have kids staying.

A photograph of a young child dangerously close to the edge of cruise ship balcony has been gathering attention on social media. The photo shows a young child standing on a stool, right near the edge of the balcony railing for their private stateroom.

Given that just a few weeks ago, the cruise world was rocked by the dramatic story of a young child who fell off a Disney cruise ship, whose Dad jumped in to save her, before both were rescued by Disney’s emergency team, the photo appears to be invoking extra emotion in cruisers.

The child in the photo is being supervised by an adult, but cruisers are unhappy that she was even allowed to get so close in the first place.

Falling from a cruise ship balcony is extremely dangerous and has a low survival rate. While families can supervise their kids, it only takes one moment or one slip for a kid to fall, and few parents would be able to recreate the heroics of the Dad from the Disney ship.

Cruise lines generally have strong warnings against kids getting too close to railings, but it is something almost impossible to enforce in private staterooms, and is the responsibility of the parents to make sure their kids act in a safe manner. Tragically, there have been fatal incidents of kids falling off cruise ship balconies.

Many cruisers with young children have even commented that simply won’t book balconies, due to safety concerns.

One cruiser wrote: “A balcony is not for kids. Not mine. They can get same view from the deck.” and another wrote, “My daughter and son-in-law won’t book a balcony. They have 3 little boys, they don’t trust them enough to act appropriately while on a balcony.  Oceanview only is what they book.”

Other cruisers were distraught by the photo.

One wrote: “There are no accidental fallings on ships, only poor choices and decisions.”

Many wrote that parents need to take more care in these situations: “Parents please start being responsible for your kids! That scene is just ridiculous! I know you love your children dearly so please watch them very very closely.”

Another cruiser wrote that in their experience, there generally isn’t furniture on balconies when they cruise, as there is in the photo: “When we travel with Royal Caribbean with a young child our balcony’s don’t have tables and foot stools. It’s sad that it takes things like this to ruin it for others. Clearly there’s someone older on the balcony with the child, which makes it even more irresponsible for the people in the cabin. Unfortunately, common sense is clearly not applicable!”

Another cruisers echoed this idea of removing furniture from balconies: “The tables should be brought inside or asked to be removed completely by the staff. Prevention is key. Remove unsafe hazards with tragedy potential.”