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How to keep my kid from spending my retirement on the cruise


Shoppie124
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You keep the kids from spending a ton by telling them not to spend a ton, and making clear what the consequences to them will be if they do. It’s called basic parenting. If your kid doesn’t get it, then you’ve got way bigger issues than money.

 

 

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Pretty sure they will have a soft served ice cream machine. My 9 year old loved it.

 

Maybe she could get cookies from the buffet to put in.

 

Enjoy your trip ;)

 

The machine is in the buffet, and is free. I found cookies hard to come by on our last cruise. When I asked for them, the buffet server told me that cookies come out around 2pm. This was on the Dawn.

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I need to do the cash account for my husband. He is not responsible on a cruise. Can you say two new watches and other "stuff". Wouldn't that be funny when he goes to use the card and it's out of money!?!

We husbands of the world did not come here to be made sport of.:D

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Be warned...... the video arcade room will be your biggest concern..... you use your card to activate a game and sometimes there's a delay in the credits being applied so an impatient child (and adult) may swipe multiple times thinking the first swipe didn't process. Guest Services aren't that forgiving if you complain a $100 charge took place in the arcade (games run between $1 - $5 so it adds up)....... it may be a pain but you can also go to Guest Services daily and "recharge" her account with cash so she doesn't blow through the $400 on day one....

 

 

This, set her with a daily amount, but let her know if she doesn’t spend it all that day the next day will add to it so if she has her heart set on getting something she can save to get it. Spend all the daily amount early and no extra, she has to wait until you refill in the morning. Good teaching lesson. If you limit her on the week all at once she may not quite get it and spend it all early then be miserable the rest of the cruise.

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My kids used their own money. If they were younger (8-9-10) I would have given them maybe 30 dollars or so. For the whole trip. Mine were old enough to earn their own money (Jr high and high school) when we started cruising so I paid for cruise they paid for everything else

 

 

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I want a well rounded young lady who is world savvy. Our trips are alway an adventure! Again I don’t care if she spends money, I just don’t want $1,000 bill from her.

 

 

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It might be a pain but she would gain “ownership” of the money, the amount and the responsibility if you took her each day to add whatever amount you choose to her card.

 

You could also change it up totally by giving her some jobs now, that pay in “cruise cash” (or if you have time order some cruiseline gift cards), that she then pays at check in on her own account. You said she is responsible when it’s her own money. The trick is to make it her own money, not yours.

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I think you were trying to say it is easy to do when you actually pay for what you use (which is NOT nickel and diming)... My signature has never been more relevant.

 

Nope. I said exactly what I was trying to say, not what you tried to change it to.

 

P.S. I have signatures turned off so don't know/care what yours says. :D

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There was but I don’t trust giving her Unlimited charging privileges

 

 

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My ‘kids’ are now adults (27 & 29). We’ve taken them abroad on land trips and on several cruises, ever since they were small children. They were told at the beginning of the cruise that they each had $25 (and as they got older $50) to spend on ‘extras.’ My daughter would blow through her money the first few days and that was it! She would then spend the rest of the cruise begging my son for some of his money, to no avail. He would come home with about $20! Today she a lawyer and pretty frugal, and he is an accountant, still counting every penny :') . I know $25 doesn’t go far these days, but the premise is the same. Give a child a set amount, check daily on the tv to see how much they have left, and remain firm. It really works!

Edited by roddy good boy
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Was on the Escape last year and saw a guy's kids rack up over $3000 in the arcade!!!! (YES...THREE THOUSAND!)

He argued with the crew, purser, etc. and they eventually dropped it down to $300

 

Set a limit, get her own card funded with cash. You can always fund more...its hard to do the reverse.

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We took our 5 kids on many cruises. Got them a soda package and that was that. Never entered our minds (or theirs!) to allow them charging privileges. They were totally happy just to be on a (free!) cruise. I can report that they're all now very well rounded and successful adults. We would give them a small budget for souvenirs in port but the ship is so full of freebies that none of us (adults included) felt there was much we had to buy.

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Yup, easy to do on (N)ickel and dime ©ruise (L)ine.

 

Blink and your account can be over 1000 bucks.

A big help to the OP I'm sure.

 

 

Give it up you HATE NCL , we get it.

 

OP , I would do as others have mentioned put a set amount on a seperate account for her and tell her when it's gone her spending is over.

 

And check it (whatever amount it is) and remind her daily what she has spent.

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I have 5 kids who have always had charging privileges on vacations. I usually tell them they have a $25 budget, and if they go over, they will be paying that money back, plus an additional punishment. Not once have they ever gone over, because they know I’m serious. This is an easy one.

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You keep the kids from spending a ton by telling them not to spend a ton, and making clear what the consequences to them will be if they do. It’s called basic parenting. If your kid doesn’t get it, then you’ve got way bigger issues than money.

 

 

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THIS^^^^

 

My son knew exactly what his spending limit was and the one time he played an extra arcade game, he fessed up right away and apologized as he returned from the arcade. He knows honesty is the best policy so we let it slide. (And we knew he went over because of the app we used on the ship)

 

All the food he liked was pretty much at the buffet anyways, ice cream, bacon, French fries, lol, so need to worry about him spending money there.

 

We set up rules and he followed them. It was pretty simple.

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Calling all parents!

 

How do you keep your kid from charging a bunch to the room? Besides tying them up in the cabin.[emoji23]

 

I want her to be able to buy things just don’t want her to spend hundreds on ice cream. She’s been to Disney and understands the power of the magic band!

 

 

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i wouldnt program her card for purchases. ice cream is free at the buffet.

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I have the same concern with my teen, since this will be his first cruise and probably will be clueless about what is an upcharge and what comes free. I was hoping I could set up his keycard with a small amount of cash at the start of the cruise for video games and other extras. Once he blows through that he can take his own cash out of the ATM (with a large fee) and replenish. He HATES to spend his own cash, so it will be effective I am sure.

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I have sailed with my two kids three times, and on the last trip, even added a few kids. Up until the last cruise (when my kids were 17 and 16) we never let the kids have charging privileges. On the last cruise, they used their own money to settle their shipboard accounts. My sons was less than 15 and my daughters was 0. Most things are free with the cruise, and the things that weren't could always be acquired in the company of an adult. It is so much easier that way: avoids drama and confrontation. They get juice from the buffet instead of sodas, play basketball on the sport court instead of video games, and eat soft serve instead of gelatto.

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Unless I'm missing something, just tell your children they can't charge anything without your permission. That should take care of the issue, shouldn't it? As pointed out, ice cream is free at the buffet, as are juices, water and milk. Tell them what the activities are that cost money and have them ask you for permission to use the "fee" based activities or snack items.

 

Not seeing the issue, unless you are fearful they would go against your wishes. In that case, that's a different discussion.

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We too learned the hard way!

 

When my kids were little, we kept noticing candy, mugs, hats, etc. in our room.. I didn't pay to much attention to it but I finally asked my boys, 'Who are those for and where did you get them'? They looked at me and seriously said, 'Dad, they're free and they're for gifts for grandma and grandpa. Just go to the gift shop and show them your room key and they'll give them to you'! OMG!! It was so hard not to laugh, but we explained to them that they were NOT free, lol!

 

Lesson learned, lol! After that, we were able to limit their spending....

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We too learned the hard way!

 

When my kids were little, we kept noticing candy, mugs, hats, etc. in our room.. I didn't pay to much attention to it but I finally asked my boys, 'Who are those for and where did you get them'? They looked at me and seriously said, 'Dad, they're free and they're for gifts for grandma and grandpa. Just go to the gift shop and show them your room key and they'll give them to you'! OMG!! It was so hard not to laugh, but we explained to them that they were NOT free, lol!

 

Lesson learned, lol! After that, we were able to limit their spending....

 

 

That one made me laugh out loud!

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We too learned the hard way!

 

When my kids were little, we kept noticing candy, mugs, hats, etc. in our room.. I didn't pay to much attention to it but I finally asked my boys, 'Who are those for and where did you get them'? They looked at me and seriously said, 'Dad, they're free and they're for gifts for grandma and grandpa. Just go to the gift shop and show them your room key and they'll give them to you'! OMG!! It was so hard not to laugh, but we explained to them that they were NOT free, lol!

 

Lesson learned, lol! After that, we were able to limit their spending....

 

 

 

I’m glad to see it’s not just my kid who is in the “magic band” Dream.

 

Disney has a way of ruining you. “Hey Mom I just swiped my magic band and the gave me a Mickey Bar! Isn’t that cool?”

 

She’s pretty good with money but tends to get caught up in the excitement and her love of strawberry ice cream. [emoji847].

 

She is also the kid who buys her friend milk at lunch when they don’t have money.. while that’s admirable, I could see her getting taken advantage of.

 

I’ve gotten some really good ideas on how I can limit the damages.

 

 

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To be clear, I don’t mind her having a couple hundred dollars to spend. I just know she could easily blow through $300 in 5 days in ice cream ( saw this firsthand at gymnastics camp). She also tends to be generous. She has been known to give kids money for lunch at school.

 

I was looking for a way to limit her spending but still allow her to spend.

 

 

 

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you said in a prev post, she tends to be better with her own money.

my idea, tell her $____ is her spending limit and ANY amount OVER that , SHE owes

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