Cruising with kids

i am a single mom cruising next week on EOS and looking for any advice, tips, kids schedules (camp program)

Is the ship safe to let them wander and be independent.?

I am a single mother and have been cruising with my son (now 12) for the past 12 years. We've been on Royal 3 times. EOS is a large ship and it is often difficult to find one another if they are permitted to roam aimlessly. If your kids are 11 or under- do not give them signing out privileges. You will always be looking for one another.

As for safety- that's a relative term. I think they are safer on a ship than on land and I've allowed my son to go from place to place alone. As long as your kids are well behaved and won't be pushing all the buttons on the elevator or running in the halls, etc.- then it's not really an issue. I just know that no matter how hard you teach them things- like don't go swimming without asking me- they sometimes don't obey. So- if they want to go get a slice of pizza and come right back- that's one thing. Leaving them to their own devices without supervision for hours on end is not safe.

What my son does is look at the schedule of activities to see what he will enjoy. Drop the kids off when they want to go- then check on them every couple of hours to see if they want to go. This isn't difficult on a ship. It isn't hard to check on them.

Adventure Ocean is a lot of fun and I think your kids will love it.

Thank you so much..... They are 13 and 9 and "usually" very well behaved and considerate. I am disappointed they will be separated in the Adventure Ocean club.

single mom here too - taking my 4 year old on his first cruise in the Fall. I've cruised lots, but never with him, so I'm pretty lost as far as the kids amenities as well. No clue about anything, so I've been combing the boards as well...looking forward to learning a ton! It'll be a different animal cruising with a kiddo, but I'm so excited to introducing him to it!

You will get addicted to cruising! The first cruise where I used the youth program was when my son was 3 almost 4 and he loved the kids program. I'm sure your child will love cruising.

I have cruised as a single mom (just my and my son) many times now. It is our favorite vacation because he can do his thing- I can do mine and then we also enjoy activities together- like the evening shows, etc. You'll have a ball.

One of the things that makes it more fun is by getting involved in trivia games with other passengers. I make friends that way and always have other adults to hang out with. Go to trivia on the first day- you will be invited to join a team or just ask if you can join in with a group. Trivia people are friendly!

If you can do the early assigned seating. You will often be sat with another single parent or at minimum another family with kids. This is another way to make new friends.

I feel very safe traveling alone on a cruise. There is a medical center at your disposal- there are caring adults in the youth program and you bond with more people than on land because the same people are on the cruise the entire time (unlike when you go to a resort and people are coming and going).

The teen club is considerably different than the kids club. Even if you 13yo likes hanging with his 9yo sibling the other teens would likely not care to, so having the kids in separate activities is probably a good thing :)

The 9yo will find plenty of other kids in their same age group. The 13yo will not have a lot of rules w/i the program so make certain s/he understands your expectations for behavior and what is and what is not acceptable.

The one thing I would caution your 13 year old against is sitting on the stairs. This is one of the things I see some of the young teens to. It's not a huge deal but they really shouldn't congregate on the stair cases. I think your 13 year probably knows not to run in the halls etc. But remind them to be quiet in the halls and such late at night.

The teen club on Royal is really empty by day for the most part. In the evening the teens seem to go more. My son is 12 and really didn't care for the teen program. I am hoping that we have a better experience this spring on Celebrity. My son does like the structured activities and they weren't really that structured on Royal in the teens club. 12 is an in between age though.

On ship days- I suspect your teen will sleep in but it is good idea to discuss what activities you want to do before lunch. I like trivia and your kids might want to join you for that. It will be harder to keep track of a teen though because you don't need to sign in or out of the teen program.

For your teen- it might be a good idea to all meet at a certain time during the day in the cabin. Noon is a good time because there aren't usually activities going on then. So you can all meet up in the room at this time and have lunch together. Then you can look at the daily activities and see which ones the kids want to do and plot your afternoon.

Thank you so much..... They are 13 and 9 and "usually" very well behaved and considerate. I am disappointed they will be separated in the Adventure Ocean club.

1) they may prefer to be in separate clubs

2) aren't they in different schools?

3) as someone else said, the other teens wouldn't be happy having a 9-yr-old hanging out with them