kids roaming free?

[driftingaway2017]

I think that it completely depends upon the maturity of your child. How well behaved are they normally? Would you let them go to the mall unsupervised? Some kids at that age are perfectly fine to have some freedom, while others need constant supervision.

 

My daughter is 12 years old, & I would be okay with letting her have a limited amount of freedom, but she is well behaved and very responsible. She participates in an after school teen program that that expects participants to be responsible (because they volunteer in community). She follows directions well it's always where she supposed to be, and has demonstrated that she knows what to do in an emergency. Therefore I would expect the same thing of her on the ship...just my 2 cents :-)

[52marv]

We let our then 10 and 13 year olds roam free. That being said, our younger child preferred to meet people in the kids club and spend her time there, supervised, even though she knew she was free to call us to check her out and roam. Our son met kids in the teen club and then spent his days hanging out with his friends playing sports. These are our ship rules that have stood us in good stead:

 

1. Never go into room corridors or any rooms, even ours, on your own, without one of your parents. There have been assaults against children. Stay in the public spaces.

 

2. Call me in the room from a ship phone when you get where you are going. If you are leaving a venue, call me again and leave a message.

 

3. NCL has iconcierge which allows you to use your cellphone to call & text on board for @ $7-8 per person during the cruise. It's a wonderful adaption that has given responsible kids more freedom.

 

4. Check in with me at the end of every hour, up until age 13. Then check in at breakfast, lunch and dinner at older ages.

 

5. Port days are family days.

 

6. You have to eat at least one meal a day with your family. And you have to attend one "formal" dinner with the family.

 

7. Be polite and stay out of trouble. I will be stalking you to watch how you behave. Immediate grounding/confined to cabin if I see or hear of any rudeness or bad behavior. My husband and I figured out the places our kids liked to go and introduced ourselves to the staff. We told them to feel free to call us if there was any problem, and told the kids we were doing this. We never had bad reports, in fact, we got compliments on their behavior.

 

8. Use common sense: no drinking, drugs, sex. Home rules apply to ship behavior.

 

My kids are now 14 and 17 and they have never had a problem or caused one. We give them increasing freedom, as we see them handle their freedom well.

[browniegirl]

We let our then 10 and 13 year olds roam free. That being said, our younger child preferred to meet people in the kids club and spend her time there, supervised, even though she knew she was free to call us to check her out and roam. Our son met kids in the teen club and then spent his days hanging out with his friends playing sports. These are our ship rules that have stood us in good stead:

 

1. Never go into room corridors or any rooms, even ours, on your own, without one of your parents. There have been assaults against children. Stay in the public spaces.

 

2. Call me in the room from a ship phone when you get where you are going. If you are leaving a venue, call me again and leave a message.

 

3. NCL has iconcierge which allows you to use your cellphone to call & text on board for @ $7-8 per person during the cruise. It's a wonderful adaption that has given responsible kids more freedom.

 

4. Check in with me at the end of every hour, up until age 13. Then check in at breakfast, lunch and dinner at older ages.

 

5. Port days are family days.

 

6. You have to eat at least one meal a day with your family. And you have to attend one "formal" dinner with the family.

 

7. Be polite and stay out of trouble. I will be stalking you to watch how you behave. Immediate grounding/confined to cabin if I see or hear of any rudeness or bad behavior. My husband and I figured out the places our kids liked to go and introduced ourselves to the staff. We told them to feel free to call us if there was any problem, and told the kids we were doing this. We never had bad reports, in fact, we got compliments on their behavior.

 

8. Use common sense: no drinking, drugs, sex. Home rules apply to ship behavior.

 

My kids are now 14 and 17 and they have never had a problem or caused one. We give them increasing freedom, as we see them handle their freedom well.

 

This is a fabulous set of rules!!! We had basically the same rules for our kids and we had more compliments on our kids during the last couple of cruises....they liked the freedom but also the boundaries!!!

[buckirj1]

We let our then 10 and 13 year olds roam free. That being said,...

 

I hated to trim your text, because it offered such good advice, but that was a lot of text to copy. I loved reading your post: parents actually communicating expectations, monitoring behavior, and letting kids think for themselves. Good for you!

Edited February 2, 2015 by buckirj1

[GoofyCrew]

I hated to trim your text, because it offered such good advice, but that was a lot of text to copy. I loved reading your post: parents actually communicating expectations, monitoring behavior, and letting kids think for themselves. Good for you!

 

I agree as well! Love to see parents who set practical guidelines for their children to follow but yet at the same time give them an appropriate amount of freedom. Time with friends is important but time with family is important too.

 

Our kids were only 7 and 11 on our cruise so they got no solo time (other than a 15 minute time frame here/there when we left the room to get ice or a snack while they were watching a movie). But even that was a big deal to them! If our youngest was older, or we were traveling with someone closer to our 11 year old's age, I would consider letting them go out on their own for a bit to get some food, go to the arcade, etc. I wouldn't let them use the pool alone with a friend (but I am pretty sure they have to be 14 to be unsupervised there).

[umpy10]

Kids aren't the problem, the parents are. Their actions good bad or otherwise is a direct example on how they are treated or disciplined @ home.

Now please don't flame me, I love kids, have 3 grown boys and 3 grandchildren was involved locally in coaching minor hockey and summer ball. My problem is with the parents especially cruising parents, the worst kind from my experience. When on the Jade a few years ago we witnessed on numerous occasions "gangs" (4-6+) of kids running around not looking where or whom they're bumping / knocking over.

 

On one particular occasion, 3 boys ( 10-12 yrs.) ran thru the buffet area to but in line with their parents,knocking over a rather elderly woman with a cane and didn't even look back to see who or what they hit. After helping the elderly lady up, she and I approached the parents who shockingly blamed the woman with a cane for being in the way in the first place.

It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. The one lesson we learned was to never ever book a cruise when school is out.

 

Now having said this, let me say that we found more children who were the exact opposite of those brats and some were extremely well behaved, but that again is a direct reflection on their upbringing. I in no way am lumping them all into a bad basket, but the next time I have to play dodge ball in the buffet or elsewhere for that matter while cruising, may leg may accidentally may slip off to the side and accidentally cause an accident.

For goodness sakes, it would be just a tragedy if one of those running fools end with a rug burn from accidentally face planting in to the carpet :eek:. But all of this is JMHO.

 

cheers...the Ump...:D

[Mirrasi]

No one thinks their child is going to misbehave, otherwise they wouldn't let them roam. I don't let mine. I KNOW he wouldn't act up....but.....what if I were wrong :eek: Even more than that, the little girl incident in the Disney elevator was enough for me to never allow my kid to roam. A cruise ship is the perfect place for those pedos to work. I'd rather not take any chances. But everyone has their own comfort level with what they let their kids do.

 

But know this, if you are on a cruise with me and your darling angels are being brats, I have no filter in not bursting in to mom mode on them. I'm surprised no one's mother has come to me pissed about reprimanding their kid. :rolleyes:

 

The last cruise I was with a friend on the Disney island and the little girl in the icecream line in front of us decided to attempt to stick her face directly on the machine and fill her mouth. She got yelled at by us both :D

Edited February 2, 2015 by Mirrasi