plaz70

2 hours ago, Ysya said:

Grow up, they promised us these perks.  You can have a say when you have cruised as many times that I have.  And by the way, if you think we haven't paid for these perks, you are wrong.

This post made me laugh because I just said something similar to my teen tonight about her abusing the privilege I gave her to sometimes use my car.  This is also how my parents spoke to me and if the debate gets heated enough, still do.  That's when I like to ask them how old they think I am.  The response is normally "It doesn't matter you're still my child"  I like to respond with "How does it feel to have a child that's pushing half a century?"  

Don't consume more calories then you use.

This is our first Christmas cruise.  Santa already came, but I have 3 teens and between school, sports, jobs and appointments, in order for us all to be together, we had to do it this weekend.  The only gift they will get on the ship is a small OBC.

Perks are not earned.  You earned money and then spent it on a cruise.  You pay for your vacation and anything that's thrown in as an extra is at the discretion of the company and this is true for any vacation not just cruises.  It's a loyalty program designed to keep customers coming back, but it's not a right and it's not owed to you unless it's specifically stated in the contract you signed.  If you are not happy with the vacation you receive for the price you paid, you have the right to spend your money somewhere else.  This is true for any transaction.

Kids get their own cruise compass with kids club activities delivered to their stateroom.

I refused to take my kids on a cruise when they were toddlers, but that's because my oldest is only 11 months older then my twins.  There was no way I was bringing 3 or even 2 that were not fully toilet trained, meaning they didn't need my help at all in the bathroom, on a cruise.  We did go on vacation, but they were shorter trips and much less expensive then a cruise.  With 3 so close, I didn't feel like it would be relaxing at all.    I have a BIL who took his wife and 2 kids on a cruise while the youngest was 3 still in diapers and regretted it.  The 3 year old wouldn't remember anything and the 7 year old remembered very little and the parents didn't feel like they were on vacation.    Mine were 9/10 when we took them on their first cruise.  They could shower alone, get their own food from the buffet, carry their own bags, read the cruise compass, etc.  If there was several years between them, I may have considered it, but  with 3 so close in age, I chose to wait until they were more independent and I'm glad I did.

We are booked in 2 adjacent cabins on Anthem.  Parents in one, 3 teens (all under 18) in the other.  The cabins are adjacent, but not connecting.  We were prepared to book 1 adult in each cabin, but when my husband called, the Royal agent suggested we book the teens together since it's allowed as long as the cabins are adjacent or directly across the hall.

For your situation, you could book 2 adjacent cabins.  Have 1 adult and 3 kids split between these 2 cabins.  Book a 3rd cabin nearby with 1 adult and 1 kid.  That would satisfy Royal's booking requirements.  When you get on board, get extra keys.  Have the adults sleep adjacent to the younger kids.  Have the older kids sleep in a nearby cabin.  As long as they behave, no one will care where you all sleep.  

On 11/23/2019 at 9:56 AM, legaljen1969 said:

I think I have finally definitively discovered the real problem with the dress code or dress suggestions.  It isn't too much weight in the luggage. It isn't the type of clothes to be worn. It isn't the number of nights the suggestion exists. 

 

It is the fact that there is a "suggestion" at all. It looks too much like a "rule" to some people and there are people who make their whole life's mission to not comply with suggestions, rules, guidelines, et cetera.   

 

 

No one is refusing to dress formal as a way to rebel against suggestions.  People are not dressing formal because they don't want to and there is no requirement to do so.  Society changes with time.  Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.  Better or worse is often just an opinion.

1 minute ago, BND said:

 

 

But, WHY are you so against adults having one space to themselves?  

I'm not.  I haven't been on a ton of cruises.  One had an adult area sun deck with a couple hot tubs, a bar and a salad bar.  It was the most crowed area on the ship.  The one time I stood in line for a salad, all I heard from fellow passengers was complaining.  I took my salad and ate on another deck where it was quiet.  Not that I would have been able to get a seat on the adult deck anyway.  The hot tubs were packed to the gills during the day, but empty at night.  My husband and I would go there at 11pm and watch all the men come up one by one and place their towel/book/flipflops on chairs for the next day.  I don't care that kids were not allowed in that area.  They wouldn't want to be there anyway. 

  Another cruise had an indoor solarium with a pool for adults only.  The quiet space was nice.  My husband and I would go there to read.  There were very few people in the solarium whenever we were there and I never saw anyone in the pool.  I thought it was a waste to have a pool in the adult area.  That empty pool could have been used by others and the adult area could have been located somewhere else and didn't need a pool.  I'm not trying to take anything away from adults.  It just seemed to me that a large amount of space was being reserved for a very small number of people.

Cranky Old people is the term my daughter uses.  She's been using it ever since she got chewed out by a group of baby boomers accusing her of cheating on 80's music trivia.  They insisted she cheated because she wasn't born in that era.  They were quite upset that she won the ship on a stick.

3 minutes ago, BND said:

Some people seem to forget that the Solarium was built and designed specifically as an adult only area.  

I don't think anyone forgets.  I know I haven't.  My teens don't want to hang around an area built for "cranky old people" anyway.  I just think that if the main pool is crowded and the solarium pool is empty, the solarium pool should be opened up for all ages.  An adult only sundeck would be sufficient if it seems the adults would rather use the main pool over the solarium pool.

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

An hour for adults or 10 minutes every hour? Can't believe I just read that. This is a vacation and not a swim club. Why do kids need to be in adults only places? Are the kids so attached that can't leave the parents? There are other times and places for the parents and the kids to be together and the solarium isn't one of them. 

All, I'm saying is that if the main pool is surrounded by adults and the solarium pool is empty then why should that empty pool not be opened up for all ages?  I understand wanting an adult only area on vacation.  Sometimes, I prefer that too.  I don't understand why someone would choose a mass market cruise line with a flowrider, rock wall, bumper cars, video games, water slides, etc., geared  towards kids, expect there be an adults only pool and then not use it.  Adult only areas don't need to contain a pool is no one is going to use it.

10 minutes ago, Max and Ruby said:

Here's another perspective on behavior.  We were on Anthem this summer (family with 13 and 15 yo girls).  Anthem has nice Solarium pool, an indoor pool and outdoor pool.  Well when I went with my girls to the outdoor pool the looks I got from the older folks sitting by their pool with their beers.... How dare I a 45 old woman attempt to swim in the pool?  NOT splashing, trying to stay away from others.  Just doing the doggy paddle to get some exercise and accompany my daughters.

 

Note, at this time there were no other children at the pool.

 

If you want to just sit there with your beer, go to Solarium, don't give me and my girls looks!

 

We left after maybe 20 minutes because I got out to sit on a chair and my girls said they felt uncomfortable!

There was one cruise we were on where the indoor solarium pool was empty.  We never saw anyone in it.  I thought it was a waste of space to have an adult pool if no one was going to use it.  A quiet adult area, yes, but in my experience, adult areas aren't always quiet anyway.  It depends on the line and the ship.  Why not open all the pools to all ages and have an adult only hour or adult swim for 10 min every hour like they do at some swim clubs?  I'm all for an adult only hot tub though or at least old enough to sit still and not swim around in it like it's a pool.

Having 2 that will turn 16 a few days into the cruise and 1 that will turn 17 in Jan, I can say from my own observation with my own kids and their friends that traveling in large packs is not as common in this age group as it was in the 12-14 year range.  At this age, they have the handful of friends they prefer to hang out with who share the same interests and they are much more subdued when together in their small like minded groups as they were a few years ago.  My boys will likely have no interest in the solarium.  They will either be on the sports court or eating.  My daughter will spend her time on arts & crafts, music, reading, writing and drawing.  She looks like she could be 18 and if she were in the solarium, the last thing she'd do is bring attention to herself.  In fact, if she even decides to enter the solarium, which in her mind will be filled with "old cranky people", you would never notice her because she would find a corner away from people to read/write/draw in quiet.

It's what you wear from ear to ear and not from head to toe that matters

I would give the same freedoms and rules I give at home.  Stay in public, populated areas.  Set a curfew and enforce it.  Ours is when the teen club closes or there are no more appropriate activities for the night, it's back to the cabin, unless they are with a parent.  Never invite anyone into her cabin and don't go into anyone else's cabin.  Have her go to the teen club on the first night. Choose a ship where there are many activities in public spaces outside the teen club she can attend with her new friends.

It depends on what's on the menu in the MDR and the day's activities.  The quality of the food varies ship to ship and at dinner, the buffet can be rather quiet.  Sometimes, it's quieter than the MDR.  If we are tired from the day's activities, we may not want to sit through a long meal in the MDR.  In the buffet, we can take bite size portions of several items and try foods we might not normally eat without the worry of needing to order something else if we don't like it.  Sometimes, the MDR can be busy so we prefer not to wait.  We don't like to make advance reservations for dinner.  We are on vacation and want to eat when we are hungry.  We aren't always hungry at the same time.  For us, being served or not is not important.  Being waited on doesn't make us feel special.   It's the food, timing and company.  We don't have to cook or clean up either way.  We've had very enjoyable meals in the MDR, but we've had very enjoyable meals in the buffet as well.

Stairs mostly.  I only use the elevator if I'm in significant pain.  Upstairs is rarely a problem, but downstairs is harder on my knees.  Downstairs is easier if I turn backwards, but I won't do that if there's a lot of traffic on the stairs.

It was really annoying to not be able to get a chair near pool for the 30 min the kids would be in the pool when they were young.  One or two chairs were enough for 5 of us.  As teens, they can swim without a parent now so it doesn't matter where we sit.  On a Carnival cruise a couple years ago, my husband and I used the hot tub on the serenity deck late at night several times.  Most times we were the only ones in it and stayed until the attendant had to close it.  It's amazing how many people, mostly men although some may have been sent by wives, came to lay out their towels or other items on chairs between 11pm -midnight.  The thing that baffled me was the serenity deck was packed during the day, hot tubs fill to the max and salad bar with a longer wait in line then the windjammer at lunch.  It was anything, but serene.  

We've only cruised the Caribbean, but we took a 2 week land trip to France and Spain.  Our boys were 14 and daughter 15.  I made sure that in addition to history/sightseeing tours, to schedule something active and also let them go off on their own for a while.  That depends on the area you are visiting, but normally areas catering to tourists are ok if you use common sense.  I rented bikes for a week in Girona, Spain and let them ride around on their own sometimes.  Mostly, the boys rode to a park to play soccer and bought a lot of snacks, but I've found that when they perceive a destination as boring, giving them a little freedom makes everything more interesting to them and they are more agreeable when I insist on doing something as a family.

Connecting rooms have 2 interior doors.  One on each side just like connecting hotel rooms.  We've used them with our kids and on at least one ship, when the doors closed, they automatically locked.  So when we "closed" the door, we kept something in the doorway to prevent it from closing completely, but kids were young and we didn't want the doors to lock closed.  We couldn't open the kids door from our side.  For adult kids, I would just book 2 separate rooms and wouldn't worry about them connecting.  If you book 2 balconies, you may be able to connect the balconies, but unless you all want to spend a lot of time on the balcony together, it really doesn't matter where your rooms are in relation to each other.  We spend very little time in the room.  There are plenty of quiet places on the ship during the day to meet.  

Don't enter anyone else's cabin and don't let anyone into your's.

Stay in public areas of the ship. Avoid secluded areas

No climbing/sitting on railings (keep feet on the deck) and notify a crew member if you see anyone do this.  

Set a curfew.  Ours varies according to when the teen club closes or organized activity ends, but there is rarely an excuse for        teens to be out past midnight unless they are with parents.

I have 2 teens boys soon to be 16.  Being a teen boy is no excuse for bad behavior.  My boys spend a lot of time at the sports court and utilize the jogging track.

Make them understand that if they misbehave, the entire party can be put off the ship at the next port.

Set consequences and follow through.  I stayed in the cabin with my daughter, then 11, for an entire day once because she brought a couple of girls into her cabin so they could apply make up in the bathroom.  She's never let anyone in her cabin again.  

Go to guest services and tell them what limit to put on their charging privileges.  You can return later and add more if you wish.  I normally do this the first day and when they run out, that's it.  They need to learn how to budget.  If they run out of funds, there is enough included entertainment and food/drink.

We've never brought any kids other then our own on a ship so can't help you with those details.

All 3 of our kids are booked in an adjoining room, not connecting for our December cruise and they are all under 18 so I'm not sure why you were told they couldn't be booked in their own cabin, especially since one of them is over 21.  As long as it's adjoining or directly across the Hall, Royal allows it, but you have to call them.  We always get 5 keys to each room.   

In PA, one can be put on the registry for "interference with the custody of a child".  That could mean a non custodial parent returned a child a few hours late and the custodial parent gets mad and reports it.  There doesn't need to be any type of child abuse to get put on the registry for this reason.

We've done 3 Thanksgiving cruises  9& 10 days.  The first was the explorer and the kids had a blast.  They were 9,9 &10 at the time.  There were 850 kids on board and the worst thing I saw the entire cruise was once I got in the elevator and all the buttons were pushed.  I did hear a few people complain about the number of kids on board, but if you are going to cruise a mass market line over a school break, you should expect a lot of kids.  We did do one cruise over Thanksgiving on NCL that had some badly behaved kids, but mine refused to hang out with them.  The Thanksgiving cruise we did on Carnival had some badly behaved adults.  There were not "young adults".  Most were middle age and older.  There were groups who took the fun out of all the games and trivia by constant complaining.  I've never seen so many people upset because they didn't win the "ship on a stick", "boat on a rope", keychain or pen.  We really liked the explorer.  I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on that ship again.

3 hours ago, velmasue said:

As suspected, it was a waste of time to call RCCL.  I was told after the agent checked with supervisor that he would need to put $500 cash down the day of cruise.  She couldn't tell me what would be done if he didn't have $500 or couldn't pay balance at end of cruise.   She also said I could not put "no charging privileges" on his set said pass since he is an adult.  I just went into the account and changed it to no charge so that was wrong information.

 

We'll figure it out.  Thank you.

 They can issue extra cards that can be used only for opening the cabin door at guest services.  We always book 2 rooms for our family of 5 and I've always been able to get 5 cards to each cabin.  The duplicate cards can only be used to open the cabin door.  They can't be used to charge anything or to get on and off the ship.  You could hold on to his first card and let him carry the duplicate while on the ship.