melissa@cruisecritic Posted December 12, 2008 #1 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Costa Cruises recently announced a family promotion with attractive children’s pricing. But, in a change from the norm, children don't need to be third or fourth passengers in a single stateroom in order to qualify for these lower rates. Instead, Costa will be allowing children younger than 17 to stay in cabins by themselves, whereas most cruise lines' rules state one person in a cabin must be at least 18 or 21 years of age. Click here for the full story. Would you let your kids sail in their own cabin? Vote in our poll and be sure to share your opinion below! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arwenmark Posted December 12, 2008 #2 Share Posted December 12, 2008 No I would not but I know many would and HAVE, I was once unfortunate enough to be in a cabin next to four children, no adult they were actually on another floor! the oldest child appeared to be between 12 and 14 and it was HORRIBLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa@cruisecritic Posted December 12, 2008 Author #3 Share Posted December 12, 2008 It'll be interesting to see how many passengers have broken other lines' rules as far as kids staying in a cabin unsupervised...thanks for posting! No I would not but I know many would and HAVE, I was once unfortunate enough to be in a cabin next to four children, no adult they were actually on another floor! the oldest child appeared to be between 12 and 14 and it was HORRIBLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted December 12, 2008 #4 Share Posted December 12, 2008 On RCCL, you can book your own children into a stateroom directly across the hall or next door to your own room. They've had this policy for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa@cruisecritic Posted December 12, 2008 Author #5 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Thanks for sharing those details! We've added that further example to our story. On RCCL, you can book your own children into a stateroom directly across the hall or next door to your own room. They've had this policy for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notentirelynormal Posted December 12, 2008 #6 Share Posted December 12, 2008 My kids stayed in their own cabin by our third cruise. The were closely monitored and near us - like across the hall.... most of the time. Not all kids are noisy and obnoxious. Mine knew the rules of behavior and followed them. Believe me, my DS would have told on my DD if she didn't and she knew she was responsible for her brother. She was 12 and he was 8 the first time. Even home they were not wild kids. I'm sure I'll get comments back that "ya sure, when you weren't around they really weren't" but don't bother. I know my kids and don't really need them judged by what other people's kids do. Besides, now that they have kids of their own, they'd have 'fessed up and told me. I got compliments then and I still get compliments about what nice people they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted December 12, 2008 #7 Share Posted December 12, 2008 None of the cruiselines really care who sleeps where--that "must have an adult" thing is for booking purposes only. They want to make sure adults are ON the cruise--not just booking for underaged cruisers who will be on their own. I mean, I'm sure there are families with, say, 8 children and they will need 3 or 4 rooms....no way will you be able to book an adult in each room...and that's ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiserbryce Posted December 12, 2008 #8 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Its impossible to say that kids at age XX are mature enough or not to sail in their own cabin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted December 12, 2008 #9 Share Posted December 12, 2008 If they are older teens and are in a cabin right across the hall, then I see no problem. But I've seen many parents who want to have their kids who are under the age of 10, alone in cabins. That's a very bad idea. I guess parents don't realize that anyone with a master key can get in the cabin, and that could spell disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutrat Posted December 12, 2008 #10 Share Posted December 12, 2008 We have booked seperate cabins for our kids for five of our past cruise. They are always across the hall and I have never had a problem. We on the other hand tend to stay together and travel as a family and we don't let our kids roam free once on board. The only time that they are not with us is when we have dinner at Portifino's or Chop's which we do once per cruise to have some adult time;). In fact Carnival has always booked them alone without a parent in the cabin, same with Royal Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy ks Posted December 12, 2008 #11 Share Posted December 12, 2008 We've booked our kids in their own cabin for several years now. Actually, we book one parent and one child in each cabin and have new keys made once we board. The ship has no problem with this scenario, but the computers at the cruiseline won't allow the booking any other way. Our family is like the above (cutrat) in that we pretty much stay together all week, our kids (now late teens) have never enjoyed the organized kids clubs very much. To date, other than them wanting to sleep late, we haven't had any issues with them in their own cabin. We do get a spare key for their cabin, so we can enter whenever we want. We would also not consider having them anywhere other than immediately across or next to us on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncar T Posted December 13, 2008 #12 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Our children were 19 and 16 when they took their first (Carnival) cruise with us earlier this year. They are well behaved, so it wasn't a problem. However, I wouldn't even consider leaving them in their own cabin if they were under, say, 14 years of age. It's not fair to them or to other passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akheila Posted December 13, 2008 #13 Share Posted December 13, 2008 it would depend oon their ages...and frankly if they could handle it....but I wouldn't want them on another part of the ship...they would need to be next door or across the hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherylandtk Posted December 13, 2008 #14 Share Posted December 13, 2008 For me it depends not only on the age of the kids, but also the current maturity level being demonstrated by said kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northshorecruisers Posted December 13, 2008 #15 Share Posted December 13, 2008 On our Princess cruise my 16 y/o and his 18 y/o friend were in an inside cabin down the hall from us. It worked out fine. Having the extra bathroom is worth every penny. On our next cruise, my now 18 y/o son will be sharing an inside with his 25 y/o brother. I'm sure they'll just sleep there as we have gotten an aft suite with large balcony for us:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NorbertsNiece Posted December 13, 2008 #16 Share Posted December 13, 2008 it would depend oon their ages...and frankly if they could handle it....but I wouldn't want them on another part of the ship...they would need to be next door or across the hall. Ditto. Couldn't put it better myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan_Strick Posted December 13, 2008 #17 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Yes if the rooms adjoined. I have a 15 year old and 9 year old who are deathly afraid of the rath of dad :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean s Posted December 13, 2008 #18 Share Posted December 13, 2008 My son is an adult now but I would have allowed him and a friend (our sone is an only child and we always brought a friend) to have a cabin either beside us or across from us. He was pretty good at following rules. We also kept a very close eye on him always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplelife Posted December 13, 2008 #19 Share Posted December 13, 2008 If the kids are only in their cabins for showering, dressing, and sleeping, I see no problem with them being in a separate cabin near the parents if they normally do these things on their own when not vacationing. By age ten or so this should not be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruzin' Posted December 14, 2008 #20 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Would you leave your kids in their own room in a hotel at home? Sometimes passengers leave their common sense at home because they feel nothing could happen bad on a cruise..How about looking into getting adjoing rooms..You and your kids might be fine with separate rooms but remember you are sailing in tight quarters with 1000+ strangers.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizaMM Posted December 14, 2008 #21 Share Posted December 14, 2008 When i sail in 4/09 my kids will be in a cabin across the hall from me. I voted "that depends" because I would not have done it when they were very young OR if I did not think they would follow the rules. They will primarily be in the cabin to sleep, shower and dress. I will be with my mom in a balcony across the hall where i am sure they will want to "hang out". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klct39lg Posted December 14, 2008 #22 Share Posted December 14, 2008 It depends... I have 2 teen sons, and I wouldn't be comfortable with them in a different cabin unless it adjoined ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jade13 Posted December 14, 2008 #23 Share Posted December 14, 2008 We like Celebrity's policy and have done this at age 16. I am not sure of their ciutoff, but the child has to be in the same general quadrant on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeve Posted December 14, 2008 #24 Share Posted December 14, 2008 First off these Costa cabins tend to be far smaller than the regular cabins US cruisers are used too. Then the way I understood it - it would be interleading cabins only that is why the programme is currently restricted to certain cruises only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northshorecruisers Posted December 14, 2008 #25 Share Posted December 14, 2008 It depends... I have 2 teen sons, and I wouldn't be comfortable with them in a different cabin unless it adjoined ours. We have the Front Desk make an additional key for the boys room so I can get in if needed. The teens like to stay up late and sleep in - especially in an inside cabin where it's dark 24/7. One morning we had an early shore excurion and I knocked on the boys door a couple times. I could hear them in there going "you get it" then "no you get it". Finally put my card in the door and got as far as sticking my head in when I heard "OK, we're up". From that point on they learned to set up a wake up call. But, it just gave me more piece of mind knowing I could enter at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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