things I've taught my children while cruising

[suzsummit]

Ok - families -- this thread is for you to list the things or learning opportunities you have had with your family while cruising. Please share so that other families may learn or get ideas from your experiences.

 

 

 

 

I'll go first -- On a Panama Canal cruise we learned

about the Panama canal and Lock system

about how viruses spread and the importance of washing our hands

about how salt water dries and leaves the salt behind on out balcony railing

frog legs DO taste like chicken:D

how to tip a room service attendent

 

and many more things which I'll continue to share as this thread goes on....

[cruisinqt]

I think this is an excellent idea. Kids can learn so much while cruising and it requires little effort. I know the kids get some education from the kids center because that is a big trend in the cruising idustry.:) The workers in the kids centers all have a degree in some child related field such as teaching and these people are more than qualified to teach our children. And most of the kid friendly cruise lines are now setting up an educational curriculum that is both fun and educational. But we can contribute to our kids educational experiences while cruising by just doing a few simple things. Here are a few of the things we do when we cruise with our children:

 

1. We like to book personalized excursions by a local that takes us on a tour of the entire area, including poor areas and tiny one room school houses. Our kids now realize not everyone lives like they do. They now appreciate what they have. A tour of the tiny one room school house makes a big impact.;)

 

2. When cruising to an area where there are coral reefs get a book about it with good pictures, I guarantee it will make your little one start reading. The same goes for Mayan ruins, sea creatures you will encounter such as dolphins, stingrays, whales, etc. It whets their appetite for the next port you stop at as well as getting them to read and learn about that port.

 

3. Another thing we like to do is teach them to give to others. We always take along the kids backpacks from the previous school year and fill it with stuff for someone in particular. Once we brought extra school supplies to the tiny one room school house. Another time our kids filled their backpacks with stuffed animals and donated it to the relief center in Grand Cayman for children who were victims of the hurricane. The center was right there in town and it only took a few minutes. It taught our kids the lesson of giving to others who are less fortunate than you.

 

A cruise can be very educational, but it takes effort and planning ahead on our part to make it that way. I don't think we should take all of the fun out of cruising and overdo it on teaching our kids. Everyone needs a break every now and then, even kids. But I do think we can teach our kids just a few things while cruising and it will make a big impact on them because the teaching is followed by hands on experiences such as reading about stingrays and then swimming with them in Grand Cayman. The things my kids learned while cruising has really stuck with them because of this. Just getting a few books from the library and then taking them along on the cruise can be very educational and fun. We will be seeing howler monkeys in Belize so I will be bringing a library book on howler monkeys along on our cruise. I look forward to reading about the things other parents have done to make their cruises more educational for their kids.:)

[Chucksta63]

On our first cruise my son learned where not to pet the dolphin and what the hole on the top is for. Learned how smooth the dolphins skin is and about their learning ability!!!! Also learned about how the sun is diffrent in the Bahamas than New England!! Ouch!! Hard lesson there...

Second cruise he learned not to wipe his hands on his pants after feeding the stingray!!!! Opps... Learned about the stingrays and how to feed one!!! We went scuba diving and learned about the coral reef and who lives there and how fragle they are!!!!

Actually there is so much he learned I would need to write a book!!!!!

This is a great time for learning!!! This is why It does not bother me to take him out of school to cruise!!! He would never learn these things in person in school!!! He also learned how to call room service when Mom and I were out playing in the evenings!!! LOL

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

Eli's Ecotour in Antigua was outstanding! The kids learned so much about turtles and about protecting the environment....He was very passionate about what hotel developers are doing to his beautiful country. They served a feast of local foods and drinks. We spent a good 1/2 hour carefully watching a razorback snake stuck in a hole as he was unwilling to give up his prey. Outstanding! I could go on and on about this one excursion.

 

But, as far as life lessons go, nothing beats interacting with the kids in Roatan, Honduras.

[massachusetts_mama]

I'm going to do some of them. I'm especially interested in making some sort of donation to the poor on the islands. How do you find out where to give, what to give?

 

My kids will be 13 and 9 when we go in to the Western Carrib in April 2006. I'd be happy to bring school supplies for local kids, if I know where to bring them.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

I'm going to do some of them. I'm especially interested in making some sort of donation to the poor on the islands. How do you find out where to give, what to give?

 

My kids will be 13 and 9 when we go in to the Western Carrib in April 2006. I'd be happy to bring school supplies for local kids, if I know where to bring them.

 

In Roatan, we just brought toys and things, and handed them out as we went along. In Grenada we left stuff with our friends (missionaries) to distribute in their congregations.

 

I know some people are really organized about this. Some go to schools or orphanages. It would be best to do a search on the actual port of call. I know I've seen quite a few posts on this topic...get recommendations from long-time CC posters.

[Bigoldhag]

I can't decide what to list first! I think that most of all they have learned how important they are to us, because they see "all the other kids staying home while their parents are on vacation". I think the cruise that they learned the most on was when we visited Roatan. As spoiled as kids are today, I wanted them to see how other people live. They saw women washing clothes in streams, naked kids playing in the mud, kids their age begging, no toys, houses that they would have only believed with their own eyes. I took a 15 year old back to the ship early because he was crying and told me "I can't take any more". I think it was then that I knew I was doing the right thing by taking them out of school, now he wants to go back there and take things to give the kids, which we will do on the next stop to Roatan.

[cruisinqt]

Massachusetts_mama, to answer your question,we had booked a private tour in Belize from a local tour operator. I e-mailed him asking if he knew of anyone in Belize that needed donations and he directed me to a local one room school house that needed help. That's how we found out where to donate in Belize. We booked our stingray excursion through Nativeway watersports in Grand Cayman. Nativeway helped us locate the local center that accepted donations for the hurricane victims. That's how we found out where to donate in Grand Cayman.

 

I guess what I am saying is, when we book our tours through local tour operators (which is what we always do), we always e-mail them and ask them if they know of any place that needs donations. Most of the places we go to have poor areas that need help like Jamaica, Cozumel, Belize, Progresso, and Costa Maya. Grand Cayman would not normally need help but it was just devastated by a hurricane when we went. In fact, we were one of the first ships that were allowed back in after the hurricane.

 

Just go to the boards of the port you're going to and post a question about how to help with donations if you aren't booking through local tour operators. Most of the boards have a local or two from the area that pop in periodically and answer questions. I know Tom from Cozumel is always on the Cozumel boards. And I can't remember the name of the local guy from Belize but he is on the Belize boards. You'll get the info. you're looking for if you try. Good luck, and enjoy your cruise.:)

[sross6019]

My sons have learned more about giving to others, different cultures, that most people around the world are basically the same, how to entertain themselves on sea days without video games, t.v., etc, and one remarked to me that he had pretty good parents after all seeing some of the others on ship! Also, they learned they could live together in a small room for 7 days without killing each other! But I learned from them; excepting others (patience) easier, not to try to be like everyone else, enjoy what God has made and letting us see it first hand.

[familycruzer]

The biggest thing by kids have learned on our past cruises is that we love them, want to spend quality time with them, and want to give them the world one island at a time. They have also learned how to be patient during a 2 hour dinner and manners that many other cruisers have appreciated. The biggest being elevators and doors.

 

Before we head out to a new island, we spend many hours researching the history and culture so they knew what to expect and what they want to see.

 

I great tool to bring it all together has been the digital camera in conjunction with a journal that I make them write in each night/day. When we come home, each child turns the pictures and journal into a power point slide show that will then be taken to school to share with teachers and fellow students. Plus, it is a great momento to remember all that they did.

[serene56]

My kids have learned that tasting new foods on a cruise ship is the best place to try it. THey have discovered the like soup-- be it strawberry or pumkin--even apple soup.. and everyone disliked the boney little pheasant. (it did not taste like chicken--lol

 

That although they are on vacation it always was a family vacation and dinner as a family unit was mandatory no matter what. They realize now that they are older--family IS and always will be #1

[cruiseLMG]

My kids learned how to act in a very formal settting. They are teens and have never been to a meal with so much silverware.They learned the correct piece of silverware to use with each course of the formal meals - I think there were 13 piece to chose from on formal nights. This may seem trivial, but, it was so much fun for all of us