Cabin Minibar and Young Children

[noelea626]

Good Morning fellow cruisers,

 

This will be my family's first cruise on NCL Encore out of NYC 2020. Just a quick question: Is it possible to have the minibar emptied before getting into our cabin? My children will be 9 and 11 when we sail and I would much rather them not have access to anything in the minibar fridge, alcohol or soda. I am securing them each a soda package so I do not think they will need anything from the fridge and I don"t see myself or my husband indulging in any of the alcohol in the cabin.

 

TIA for any information that will be helpful

[KarlChilders]

yes you can  ask the steward to empty it. But be aware they will probably place the contents in a pillow case and stash them under the bed or under the sofa. We discovered this on our first cruise as we were checking to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything when packing for home.

[noelea626]

Just now, KarlChilders said:

yes you can  ask the steward to empty it. But be aware they will probably place the contents in a pillow case and stash them under the bed or under the sofa. We discovered this on our first cruise as we were checking to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything when packing for home.

Thanks Karl. I do not care where they store it, I just want to make sure that my kids don't get curious and say oh look what mischief we can get into. My oldest is a STEM student(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and I can just see her and the 9 year old trying to experiment something at mine and my husbands expense. Lol

[KarlChilders]

3 minutes ago, noelea626 said:

Thanks Karl. I do not care where they store it, I just want to make sure that my kids don't get curious and say oh look what mischief we can get into. My oldest is a STEM student(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and I can just see her and the 9 year old trying to experiment something at mine and my husbands expense. Lol

No problem just wanted to make sure that you knew it may still be in the cabin.  If you had a concern that the kids might get access to the alcohol, just make sure they don't go digging around the cabin.

[noelea626]

2 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

No problem just wanted to make sure that you knew it may still be in the cabin.  If you had a concern that the kids might get access to the alcohol, just make sure they don't go digging around the cabin.

I think I will just make sure that they remove it completely. I think I am correct in saying my 9 and 11 year old will not be allowed in the cabin without an adult present. Is this correct? If so, then I guess myself and my husband are safe.

[KarlChilders]

There cards will work as keys to open the door, so whether or not they are allowed in the room by themselves will be up to you and how much freedom you allow them. Haven't sailed with kids that young, so maybe others can weigh in on if they can sign themselves out of kids club or not.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, noelea626 said:

I think I will just make sure that they remove it completely. I think I am correct in saying my 9 and 11 year old will not be allowed in the cabin without an adult present. Is this correct? If so, then I guess myself and my husband are safe.

Why not? From 19+ we allowed our kids to be alone in the cabin (and in our home). NCL doesn’t care.

[jlabs03]

My daughter was 9 on her first cruise she is now 12 and I usually get the minifrig emptied because we like to use it to store milk or other things since room service is now a charge.   I just explained to her that the items provided in the room are not free and she should not eat or drink anything without asking first and they will know if she does eat/drink anything, by 9 kids should understand this, she also knows that it would come out of her spending money for the cruise if she did eat/drink something, but like I said she never has and would not expect her to.  They sometimes have bottles of water as well which are not free, which I guess you could ask to be removed as well.  My daughter is responsible (she is not a kid that makes trouble, annoys other, or is loud because these would be unacceptable behaviors and she would lose her freedoms if she behaved in this manner and her freedom matters to her), and even at 9 I would let her go to the pool by herself or with a friend (I would check on her periodically) and stay in the room by herself for a couple of hours or when she got back from the kids club before I got back from what I was doing.  If you use the kids club I believe it is by the time they are 10 or 11 you can give them permission to check themselves in/out.  So my daughter now goes to the kids club by herself and we have a rough schedule of when we will meet up and leave each other notes if we miss each other in the room.  I am a single parent and my daughter is responsible and well behaved, I also trust her not to get into trouble.  I always explain the rules, be careful around strangers, and such and she knows the consequences of misbehaving, which she has never done on a cruise.   By the way the cruise ship does not know who is in your room and when unless the room steward is cleaning you room.  So I am sure people leave much younger kids a lone in their rooms, it is a parents choice based on their kids.

[Defhermit]

19 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Why not? From 19+ we allowed our kids to be alone in the cabin (and in our home). NCL doesn’t care.

 

Huh? 19 year olds are adults.

[noelea626]

8 minutes ago, jlabs03 said:

My daughter was 9 on her first cruise she is now 12 and I usually get the minifrig emptied because we like to use it to store milk or other things since room service is now a charge.   I just explained to her that the items provided in the room are not free and she should not eat or drink anything without asking first and they will know if she does eat/drink anything, by 9 kids should understand this, she also knows that it would come out of her spending money for the cruise if she did eat/drink something, but like I said she never has and would not expect her to.  They sometimes have bottles of water as well which are not free, which I guess you could ask to be removed as well.  My daughter is responsible (she is not a kid that makes trouble, annoys other, or is loud because these would be unacceptable behaviors and she would lose her freedoms if she behaved in this manner and her freedom matters to her), and even at 9 I would let her go to the pool by herself or with a friend (I would check on her periodically) and stay in the room by herself for a couple of hours or when she got back from the kids club before I got back from what I was doing.  If you use the kids club I believe it is by the time they are 10 or 11 you can give them permission to check themselves in/out.  So my daughter now goes to the kids club by herself and we have a rough schedule of when we will meet up and leave each other notes if we miss each other in the room.  I am a single parent and my daughter is responsible and well behaved, I also trust her not to get into trouble.  I always explain the rules, be careful around strangers, and such and she knows the consequences of misbehaving, which she has never done on a cruise.   By the way the cruise ship does not know who is in your room and when unless the room steward is cleaning you room.  So I am sure people leave much younger kids a lone in their rooms, it is a parents choice based on their kids.

Thank you for this information. My children, also, being 9 and 11 at the time of the cruise, and also well behaved, due to my old school upbringing of them will be on their best behavior. I am going to have the items removed. As far as them roaming the cruise ship on their own, I don't think so. This is my own personal preference and I don't think my husband will go for that either. I trust my kids, however, I do not trust human nature.

[noelea626]

3 minutes ago, Defhermit said:

 

Huh? 19 year olds are adults.

I just cannot see my 9 and 11 year old at the time of the cruise being in the room by themselves, and especially with a balcony. No thank you!

[jlabs03]

I  completely understand, everyone is different.  We always have a balcony, my daughter does not go on the balcony when I am not there, even if she did she would just sit there on her iPad or be drawing.  If I say do not do this she will not do it, I am very lucky that she has a good understanding that adults and older kids have more freedoms and can do things that are not appropriate for kids her age, she has always accepted this. When my daughter was 9 I was much more restrictive but now she comes back after I am in bed since she loves the NCL kids club and stays there until close which on our last cruise was 10:30 or 11.  She asks me to sign her up for after hours but since that is an extra charge I refuse to pay fo it.  

[noelea626]

4 minutes ago, jlabs03 said:

I  completely understand, everyone is different.  We always have a balcony, my daughter does not go on the balcony when I am not there, even if she did she would just sit there on her iPad or be drawing.  If I say do not do this she will not do it, I am very lucky that she has a good understanding that adults and older kids have more freedoms and can do things that are not appropriate for kids her age, she has always accepted this. When my daughter was 9 I was much more restrictive but now she comes back after I am in bed since she loves the NCL kids club and stays there until close which on our last cruise was 10:30 or 11.  She asks me to sign her up for after hours but since that is an extra charge I refuse to pay fo it.  

We are in the same boat. If I tell them both that they have do something they do it. I am going to 100% sign them up for the kids club because they are both so outgoing that I think meeting other kids would be great. I may do the after hours if it is worth it. We will have a balcony also. That is my main concern only because we are on the 12th floor and they really have never experienced a balcony in their lives. I know they will both listen to not go out on it without us present but I still am a nervous mommy!! LOL

[mjkacmom]

24 minutes ago, Defhermit said:

 

Huh? 19 year olds are adults.

Oops, 10+

[mjkacmom]

Keep in mind they will be in different age groups.

[noelea626]

56 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Keep in mind they will be in different age groups.

I am glad they will be in a different age group. It would be better for both my daughters to mingle with kids in their respective age groups.

 

[LrgPizza]

I can honestly say that I never for a second worried that my 11 year old would sneak alcohol from the mini-fridge. 

[careyayn22]

My kids were nine when we last cruised. They will be eleven this summer when we cruised. (Twin boys) 

 

At nine, they could not sign themselves in or out. They were either with us or another adult at the splash academy or family. We had our fridge cleaned out due to a medical need at the time. 

 

This time, I plan on letting them choose to be alone in the room and check themselves out (and maybe in) at the splash academy. I want them together though. They stay home alone for a couple hours at a time and will be together in the room and on the ship. 

 

My one son has pretty severe ADHD and limited impulse control, but still isn’t the type to run around a ship and seems to have a healthy self preservation instinct. 

 

I am looking foreword to the freedom. 

[jethrojam]

12 hours ago, LrgPizza said:

I can honestly say that I never for a second worried that my 11 year old would sneak alcohol from the mini-fridge. 

I was a good kid growing up and my parents raised me right.   BUT, I had a cigarette at 10, and I'd imagine there could have been a chance I would have tried a drink at 11 given a blind eye towards it.   Good kids make stupid decisions every now and again.  Why not play it safe and get rid of the chance?

[don't-use-real-name]

If you don't need the safe - put all the mini-fridge stuff in the safe & tell the cabin attendant.

[gizfish]

11 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

If you don't need the safe - put all the mini-fridge stuff in the safe & tell the cabin attendant.

I doubt you could fit even half the stuff from the fridge in the safe.  You can't even fit a laptop in them.