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kids roaming free?


pumpkin228
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Ok, so we've just booked a cruise for July and have 5 children coming with us. My son who is an experienced cruiser is 11 and wants to roam the ship with his cousin. Go to mini golf, or slides etc. In the past I really don't recall children being able to roam freely nor am I sure that I am completely comfortable with this. I guess my question is... Is there a rule about children walking around by themselves and at what age?

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My youngest were 10 and 12 on our last cruise, and they were allowed to go off on their own, as long as they stayed together, told me where they were going, and either stayed there, or returned to the cabin. My oldest two were 9 and 11 on our first cruise (DCL), and I gave them the same freedom.

 

At home, they go to the park with friends, get pizza, go to the movies, etc., without adult supervision.

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My youngest were 10 and 12 on our last cruise, and they were allowed to go off on their own, as long as they stayed together, told me where they were going, and either stayed there, or returned to the cabin. My oldest two were 9 and 11 on our first cruise (DCL), and I gave them the same freedom.

 

At home, they go to the park with friends, get pizza, go to the movies, etc., without adult supervision.

 

Yeah that is kind of how I feel about it. At home he gets the freedom to go to park etc. Didn't know if there was some rule about it onboard I guess.

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I think that 11 is an OK age to roam around a ship...as long as they are well behaved. We let our kids do it, but they had to let us know where they were going.

 

I did see it an the extreme though....some parents went out to dinner and sent their kids to get dinner by themselves (I know b/c their kids ate with us, since they had made friends with my kids....I couldn't imagine them eating by themselves so I asked them to join us).

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I think that 11 is an OK age to roam around a ship...as long as they are well behaved. We let our kids do it, but they had to let us know where they were going.

 

I did see it an the extreme though....some parents went out to dinner and sent their kids to get dinner by themselves (I know b/c their kids ate with us, since they had made friends with my kids....I couldn't imagine them eating by themselves so I asked them to join us).

 

Why is that an extreme? My 12 year olds have been going out to lunch once a week with friends since the 5th grade. It seems a lot easier on a ship, where they don't have to worry about having enough money for the check, and calculating the tip.

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I think it's a good thing to give kids a bit of freedom to grow, albeit on a short leash. It's all just pretty much common sense parenting. I think the key is to somehow balance letting them enjoy themselves but remembering that they are around a lot of strangers who are drinking at all hours.

 

Only the parents will know the maturity and decision making level of their kids.

 

I would consult the parenting manual you were given when they were born. :D

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I think that 11 is an OK age to roam around a ship...as long as they are well behaved. We let our kids do it, but they had to let us know where they were going.

 

I did see it an the extreme though....some parents went out to dinner and sent their kids to get dinner by themselves (I know b/c their kids ate with us, since they had made friends with my kids....I couldn't imagine them eating by themselves so I asked them to join us).

 

Why extreme? My girls are both young teens and they ask to go eat in the buffet alone a couple times each cruise. We travel a lot (not just cruises), they appreciate the chance to do something alone after all that "family togetherness" :p

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I think that 11 is an OK age to roam around a ship...as long as they are well behaved. We let our kids do it, but they had to let us know where they were going.

 

I did see it an the extreme though....some parents went out to dinner and sent their kids to get dinner by themselves (I know b/c their kids ate with us, since they had made friends with my kids....I couldn't imagine them eating by themselves so I asked them to join us).

My son was 11 when he begged us to let him go to dinner alone with his buddy he'd made in the kids club. Did I allow it? You betcha! It was a big deal to him. We walked past a couple times secretly spying on him, just to make sure the friend had showed up, and such.

Edited by LrgPizza
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I guess I thought it was extreme (and maybe that's too strong of a word)....because their parents barely saw their kids or did anything with them the entire week. You could tell their kids wanted the attention of adults, b/c of stuff they said/did with us all week. But to each their own...

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We let our kids start independent activities when they were 8 and 10. They were not allowed to roam. If we knew where they were going they could go get food, get ice cream, go to the arcade. They had to stay together and return within an hour. I would let 10 year old head to the room to shower/rest while we were still at the pool and she was allowed to go with friends she made to various places on the pool deck (ping pong, hot tub) while we were on the same deck but not within eye sight. Not dd8. They had been on many cruises before this and so they knew how things worked.

Never would let them roam without a plan. That's the only time my friends and i would get in trouble as teens. When we were bored and together, bright ideas, Yikes! And i've seen this too many times on ships.

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We had our four kids on past cruises and we would let our three older kids go together to places on the ships without us. On one cruise, my then 13 year old was bunking in with his Grandpa in their suite because my Dad snored lol.....so My Mom bunked in with my daughters in their suite....well one night my Mom had to go back to her original room to get something and nobody was there lol! My Dad had gone to the casino and he gave my son permission to go up to the chocolate buffet by himself........when I found out the next day I laughed so hard.......my 13 year old son had been roaming the ship, eating chocolate and lots of other food and getting unlimited "cokes" with his arm band....super funny. We still giggle about it!

 

Leah

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I think as long as you keep fairly decent tabs on your children and they aren't out of control, roaming around a cruise ship is an awesome experience.

 

I think all of us have memories from our childhood of exploring places with a group of friends or cousins.

 

I don't understand how people get bent out of shape simply because kids are alone without their parents.

 

Let kids be kids, unless they are totally out of control, bullying people, or committing criminal acts. I think its a wonderful experience.

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I wouldn't have a problem with them going here or there...but they would need to physically check in with me before going to the next place..no "free-roaming"...that's asking for trouble!

 

Agree with you. We do the same.

 

We got walkie talkies for this very thing. Then the walkie talkies started to become obnoxious. :D

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Agree with you. We do the same.

 

We got walkie talkies for this very thing. Then the walkie talkies started to become obnoxious. :D

 

I agree. I have seen kids being "wild" like running up and down stairs/halls almost knocking me over, fry fights and pushing every button on the elevator. Then I have witnessed kids (teens) being dangerous. Having sex, or at least close to it, in the hot tub, chugging leftover drinks, and even throwing pool chairs overboard, my husband had to stop them when we were walking the decks one night. They ran off before we could get staff there, not sure if the videos caught them. On one cruise a family was even thrown off our rccl spring break cruise because of their teens drinking. All of these things have been in the late evenings so that is probably key to the problem.

I don't think my kids would ever do such things but there are so many kids and you don't know how those kids are raised. I dont want my kids to even be put in that situation where they would have to be the whistle blower on perfect strangers really. At home it's different because i know the kids they hang out with and they would find it easier to call each other out for bad behavior.

Anyway, best to have a set plan and guidelines, no roaming, and check that they are following through.

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Ok, so we've just booked a cruise for July and have 5 children coming with us. My son who is an experienced cruiser is 11 and wants to roam the ship with his cousin. Go to mini golf, or slides etc. In the past I really don't recall children being able to roam freely nor am I sure that I am completely comfortable with this. I guess my question is... Is there a rule about children walking around by themselves and at what age?

 

Please keep tabs on your children at all times. and do not let them roam free on the ship....that is when children seem to get into mischief...also keep tabls on them at all times at the pool area....last year a child drown in the breakaway pool due to parents not keeping an eye on their child....also please have respect for other passengers sailing as well....they are here to enjoy the ship and other areas plus activities as your family is... they are your children and you are responsible for them at all times....

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My youngest were 10 and 12 on our last cruise, and they were allowed to go off on their own, as long as they stayed together, told me where they were going, and either stayed there, or returned to the cabin. My oldest two were 9 and 11 on our first cruise (DCL), and I gave them the same freedom.

 

At home, they go to the park with friends, get pizza, go to the movies, etc., without adult supervision.

 

I would never give my child permission to go off and roam around on their own...when i go on family vacation, we go as a family, and stay together as a family...what would you do if something would have happened to them? Sorry but i am not as free as you are as a mother....as parents we are responible for our children while as home and on a family vacation...

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Wow....I have to say that I have four amazing kids and they did go off together at times to do certain things...not roam freely or cause problems but they always were fine and enjoyed a bit of freedom. Certainly not the pool or anything like that. But we don't all have kids that behave badly.

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Wow....I have to say that I have four amazing kids and they did go off together at times to do certain things...not roam freely or cause problems but they always were fine and enjoyed a bit of freedom. Certainly not the pool or anything like that. But we don't all have kids that behave badly.

 

 

No one on Cruise Critic has children that behave badly. ;)

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