Allowing independence for kids on cruises

We are taking our 7 year old on her 4th cruise. She is getting pretty independent now in general. Was wondering what age did you let your kids move about the ship themselves or with one other child? Just for little trips to the buffet to pick up icecream or sometging and come back to pool. Also hoping to have walkie talkies...hoping they will work.

thanks!

We are taking our 7 year old on her 4th cruise. She is getting pretty independent now in general. Was wondering what age did you let your kids move about the ship themselves or with one other child? Just for little trips to the buffet to pick up icecream or sometging and come back to pool. Also hoping to have walkie talkies...hoping they will work.

thanks!

Being I have 2 kids I waited till the younger one was nearly 8, her sister was 10. But when they were younger 6 and 8 we would let them go get refills or more food in the buffet or run to the washrooms at meal times and things.

We are heading out again this spring and now they are 9 & 11 i am expecting they are going to want to be more independent, the ship we are going on will allow both of them to self check out of kids club. In the past only the oldest could do that, we had set up with her where to find us and that if she left kids club to let us know where she was heading. It worked well. Having the 2 of them with this ability will be interesting to see how it goes but they tend to stay together.

I wouldn't allow that age to go anywhere out of my sight alone..perhaps with another child for a short, specific trip....and straight back to me. They certainly would NOT have "run of the ship" at that age!!

I can't imagine a 7 year old will want to lug a walkie-talkie around....I wouldn't want to, either! And, that sort of contact tell you nothing...physical confirmation is what you should rely on!

I wouldn't allow that age to go anywhere out of my sight alone..perhaps with another child for a short, specific trip....and straight back to me. They certainly would NOT have "run of the ship" at that age!!

 

I can't imagine a 7 year old will want to lug a walkie-talkie around....I wouldn't want to, either! And, that sort of contact tell you nothing...physical confirmation is what you should rely on!

Ditto. 7 is way too young to be alone on a ship. Would you let her wander the mall at home??

Intellectually/emotionally, there's no reason why a 7 year old can't wander about. I was one of 4 children, all of whom were old enough to walk alone to school (three quarters of a mile) and home for lunch, at age 4. And old enough to go into town on Saturday at age 6.

You will need to make your own mind up about the dangers of child molesters. Though they're far less likely to be found on board ship than on land, because of the obvious practical difficulties.

My granddaughter was 11 on our last cruise and she was always in sight.:)

We are taking our 7 year old on her 4th cruise. She is getting pretty independent now in general. Was wondering what age did you let your kids move about the ship themselves or with one other child? Just for little trips to the buffet to pick up icecream or sometging and come back to pool. Also hoping to have walkie talkies...hoping they will work.

thanks!

When my daughter was 8, I did not allow her to her sign out privileges. In fact, when her group (the tweens on Princess) were taking part in a passenger scavenger hunt, she had to be accompanied by a staff member. It was funny when hubby and I were having lunch in the buffet and she came up to us to see what we can cross off her list (her dad qualified for "bald passenger").

On our next cruise, she was 13 and she found a few other girls her age to hang with. Same with two years later (one of the girls from the previous cruises was also going on the same ship). She knew to leave us notes on the door or desk, and my hubby and I also communicated this way if we were going our own way. And since we were doing traditional dining (the previous cruise we were stuck with anytime which we didn't like), she knew when we were in the cabin getting ready so she can go with us. She would often ask if we were going to a specific show and come with us.

At the mall, she has to carry her cell phone and she has a time to return to our table at the food court to check in with us.

I wouldn't expect a child or any other passenger to be carrying around a walkie talkie on a ship -- much of the time they can't transmit everywhere on the ship, and they can be annoying to other passengers. Better to arrange meeting places and times, and leave notes. But again, I think kids under 11 or so are too young to be running around the ship by themselves.

I also think that 7 is too young to be allowed to go places on their own. The most I might allow at that age would be to get ice cream on the pool deck if it was within sight of me. My eyes were also on them at all times in the pool. IMO walkie talkies don't work well and can be very annoying.

We have taken grandkids 3-11 on cruises and even at 11 they were not allowed to roam on their own, but were allowed to make specific, quick trips back to the cabin or to get snacks with one or two of their cousins, with the caveat that they be back by a certain time. Also, an 11 year old boy who loved to play basketball could go to the court as long as stayed there and even then we checked on him.

When kids graduate to the teen program, I would allow more freedom, but still limited by guidelines we set up.

Intellectually/emotionally, there's no reason why a 7 year old can't wander about. I was one of 4 children, all of whom were old enough to walk alone to school (three quarters of a mile) and home for lunch, at age 4. And old enough to go into town on Saturday at age 6.

 

You will need to make your own mind up about the dangers of child molesters. Though they're far less likely to be found on board ship than on land, because of the obvious practical difficulties.

Yes, that's the way my childhood went as well - but that was over 60 years ago and things were way different. These days, a 7 year old wouldn't leave my sight - and in no way would I rely on a walkie-talkie.

At 7 one of my girls was allowed to go to the grill or get an ice cream alone while we were at the pool, go play mini golf with a friend while we were at the pool and the like. Nothing on passenger decks, but no issue with short outings on public decks. One of her same-aged friends, a boy, was allowed the same while another couldn't be trusted not to wander, so wasn't. To me, the exact age isn't as important as their maturity and responsibility. My other daughter needed more time, but at 10 was allowed to go get ice cream, etc as long as she was with her sister. One thing I do the first few days is make the kids lead me where we're going - they can get used to be lead around so they don't pay attention to where to go, so I make sure they know how to find their way around before letting them go alone on small tasks.

Best,

Mia

My biggest concern would be behavior. As a Grandma I know that kids, even good kids, can get into trouble when not supervised. I would want to be sure if one of my grandchildren was given the freedom to roam about the ship she knew that she needs to be polite and respectfully of other people on the ship. Kids running wild throughout the ship can be dangerous for everyone. Unsupervised kids often do things they would never dream of doing with Mom in sight. Freedom comes with responsibility. Only you know if your child I'd able to handle that responsibility.

We let our DD start checking in and out of the kid's club when she was almost 9, and she had already been on several cruises. She would leave the MDR to go up to the kid's club for evening activities, and we'd call the club about 10- 15 minutes later to be sure she arrived. We were also staying on the same floor as the kid's club, so if she decided she didn't like their activities, she could sign herself out and head back to our cabin- no roaming the ship.

We've had similar rules on her last cruise and will discuss them again for the upcoming cruise, although we may allow time with friends if she meets kids she wants to hang out with, but then there will be new rules there (no going to any one's cabin, no bringing anyone to our cabin, stay in public areas only, check in with us every hour , etc.) now that she is a bit older.

At the buffet, we probably let her go get 2nds while we watched from our table when she was 7, provided it was something we knew she could get easily and wouldn't make a mess or contaminate while serving herself.