Sea Pass and kids expenses

[birthdaysurprise]

Ok how do manage your kids sea pass account? I have a 17/14/and 12 year old. One is hot after the golf simulator so that will eat up some cash. The other one likes video games. Of course there are all the little extra drinks and fun stuff that they want to experience also. They would not drink enough pop for a soda package each so I think I will let them just get what they want drink wise. They seem fine with iced tea and lemonade but the milk shakes at johnny rockets they won't be able to say no to! Since they are old enough to be off on their own pretty much how do you keep a tab on the spending? Do you pre load the card with money or can you set a limit for each day that they can't exceed? Grandpa and Grandma have given them all money for the cruise for fun stuff so I want to know how best to aply it. How does it all work and what worked best for you.

 

Thanks:confused:

[AllieInMD]

You can back the kids seapasses with cash - deposit a certain amount. You can check their spending either on your tv in the cabin or by stopping by the Purser's Desk.

 

 

Ok how do manage your kids sea pass account? I have a 17/14/and 12 year old. One is hot after the golf simulator so that will eat up some cash. The other one likes video games. Of course there are all the little extra drinks and fun stuff that they want to experience also. They would not drink enough pop for a soda package each so I think I will let them just get what they want drink wise. They seem fine with iced tea and lemonade but the milk shakes at johnny rockets they won't be able to say no to! Since they are old enough to be off on their own pretty much how do you keep a tab on the spending? Do you pre load the card with money or can you set a limit for each day that they can't exceed? Grandpa and Grandma have given them all money for the cruise for fun stuff so I want to know how best to aply it. How does it all work and what worked best for you.

 

Thanks:confused:

[familycruzer]

I link the kids sea pass cards to my credit card and give them an amount they can spend over the coarse of the cruise. I get a print out each day to keep tabs on them and when the money is spent, there cards are cut off. It certainly teaches them how to manage their money and not over spend on the first day.

[uksimonusa]

We set our daughter, 13, a limit each day for incidentals, drinks Ben & Jerrys, Arcade etc. If she want to actually purchase something, photo gift shop etc, then she always asks first. She has always been responsible and never gone over her daily limit. We check each day, either on the TV, if available, or get a print out from Guest Services

[bplazo]

I have always told my daughter that I will give her a certain amount and if she goes over it she is responsible for the difference. As someone else mention, it is a good learning experience. I do check the account daily.

[green eyed lady]

You can go to the Purser's desk and set a limit for the kids even if it's attached to your cc. We give them $100 each for the week (they are 17,19,20) and they never even spend it all. I buy the soda cards ahead of time so they really just use the $$ for specialty coffees and Johnny Rockets. They're not into video games (good thing :rolleyes: )

[galavant3]

We pay for the cruise, soda cards and excursions. Our kids are responsible for all else. Interesting, they always seem to end up with a zero balance on their seapasses.

[cb at sea]

Put an amount on their card. Just let them know, when it's gone...it's gone! It's good to learn about limits early in life!

[bajathree]

I just put my 2 girls cards on my account with no limits....they are 10 and 14. We all trust and respect each other and my wife and I have thought them the value of things as best we can. They never abuse the privilege and will always ask first if it is anything more than a soda, ice cream, postcard or $5 or $10 for the day in the arcade. To be very honest we hold so much trust I never even look at their daily spending till I get the bill at the end of the trip. In several years of doing this I haven't been disappointed once.

[AllieInMD]

So do I - my kids had no limits - it went directly to my folio/credit card.

 

I have heard some horror stories at Purser's Desk and at meals - one 8yo ran up a $1500 bill the first day - arcade, ice cream, buying stuff in gift shop. One hopes he didn't know the card was a charge card and it cost. However, the parents were stuck - once it was spent - it was spent. One 18yo on his parents card had to be cut off by his father after a very expensive night in the casino. Seemed many parents weren't aware their kids cards could charge - or that they could turn them off. I didn't know we could turn them off - and my friends were shocked that I hadn't. Then again - their kids were the kind that would run up the bill!

 

 

I just put my 2 girls cards on my account with no limits....they are 10 and 14. We all trust and respect each other and my wife and I have thought them the value of things as best we can. They never abuse the privilege and will always ask first if it is anything more than a soda, ice cream, postcard or $5 or $10 for the day in the arcade. To be very honest we hold so much trust I never even look at their daily spending till I get the bill at the end of the trip. In several years of doing this I haven't been disappointed once.

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

We have always told our kids thay have a certain amount to spend. After that, anything they spend comes out of their bank accounts when we get home. If they don't spend it all, we deposit the balance in their bank accounts. We usually check the balances on the TV at night. We give them the $ in a gift certificate (home made) at Christmas, along with some other cruise essentials. It's amazing how little they spend when it's their money;)

[bajathree]

So do I - my kids had no limits - it went directly to my folio/credit card.

 

I have heard some horror stories at Purser's Desk and at meals - one 8yo ran up a $1500 bill the first day - arcade, ice cream, buying stuff in gift shop. One hopes he didn't know the card was a charge card and it cost. However, the parents were stuck - once it was spent - it was spent. One 18yo on his parents card had to be cut off by his father after a very expensive night in the casino. Seemed many parents weren't aware their kids cards could charge - or that they could turn them off. I didn't know we could turn them off - and my friends were shocked that I hadn't. Then again - their kids were the kind that would run up the bill!

 

LOLOL....that reminds me of a story our friends told us. They had their wedding at Atlantis (second marriage with 5 kids). So in any case they invited their immediate family and put them up in rooms for the wedding. They never removed any charging privileges from the cards on the neise and nephews room cards. Well our friend see's them walking around with bags of stuff from the designer shops:eek: :eek: :eek: she goes checks her account and not only were they buying stuff for themselves but all their friends gifts back home :rolleyes:

[rclcruzer]

We started cruising when our 3 kids (now all teens) were 8, 10 and 13. They were so busy with kids clubs, the pool, rock climbing etc....they never really had a chance to charge that much. The only thing we set limits on is the arcade. We gave them a little at a time every day. In the end, they still didn't rack up the money for that. Our last family cruise they were 11, 13 and 16 and their total for the week combined was just under $130. It was mainly Johnny Rockets and specialty coffee drinks.

 

Tell them their limits, check their accounts on the tv and believe me, they will be so busy with other things that they wont have to much time to spend the green :):)

[T&Tmom]

I like the idea of a pre-set limit and checking it each day, just in case. Here is my issue. My teenager will be staying in a room with his cousin - not in my room. How can I check his sea pass card? Their room will have an onboard credit that will take care of some expense, but my son's sea pass card will be tied to my credit card.

[AllieInMD]

if it's tied to your credit card you should still be able to see it on your tv - his folio is tied to yours. on mine in '06, the kids charges showed up in their own folio first, then xfer'd to mine after a day or so.

 

 

I like the idea of a pre-set limit and checking it each day, just in case. Here is my issue. My teenager will be staying in a room with his cousin - not in my room. How can I check his sea pass card? Their room will have an onboard credit that will take care of some expense, but my son's sea pass card will be tied to my credit card.

[familycruzer]

I like the idea of a pre-set limit and checking it each day, just in case. Here is my issue. My teenager will be staying in a room with his cousin - not in my room. How can I check his sea pass card? Their room will have an onboard credit that will take care of some expense, but my son's sea pass card will be tied to my credit card.

 

If your sons sea pass card is linked to your credit card, you can get a print of what his card has used even if he is in a different cabin. Just go to guess relations, and ask for the paperwork for his card. We did this in January on Enchantment. I believe it can be done through the TV as well, but I liked the hard copy.

[T&Tmom]

Thanks! :) Looks like it is pretty easy to track.

[01Sweetpea]

We tried to put cash on the kid's sea pass accounts then back that with my CC, and it was a big mess! My boys shared a cabin, and for some reason all my younger son's charges wound up on my older son's account. By the time I realized what was going on, we were half way thru the cruise. I tried twice to get it straightened out, and eventually gave up.

 

In the end, each child knew how much they were allowed to spend, they knew to save their recepits, and they knew I could check their accounts any time I wanted to.

 

Next time I will have them give ME their cash, and I will back the sea passes iwth my cc. If they go over, I'll shut off their charging privilidges.

[hardinggrad]

We just got off the Mariner last week. We got the coke card for my son and the only other thing he spent money on was the arcade. You can check their sea pass activity on the TV every night. They have it separated by person so you can know exactly what they charge.

[bajathree]

Boy with all the money that apparently gets spent in the arcade I am surprised they haven't switch the size of the spaces with the gym.

[misty57]

Good question and similar to one that I have. Our 2 college age sons are traveling with us. We have two reservatons.. one son with me and one with my DH. My DH and I of course will atually be in the same cabin and the boys together but the LA booked it this way so we could take advantage of the savings certificates for two cabins. My question is this; each cabin has $100 OBC ( more if the fuel surcharge in credited:D ) but my reservation has $500 OBC. I would like all charges for the two cabins to be combined so they come off of the OBC. How does that work? Has anyone had similar circumstances? Sorry to tag along on the OP's question:o .

[cruiseguy1016]

We've always told our kids that we will allow them a reasonable amount to be spent on their cards. We told them no more than two sodas a day. We never gave them a daily dollar figure. They have always been very responsible and never gone over board (figuratively, not literally, of course), usually only one (or none) soda a day. If they wanted anything from a shop, they always asked first. With so many activities on board they are always busy and never felt a need to spend money to break the boredom. Their final account has always been much lower than what we expected. I guess it all depends on how your kids have been raised and how responsible they are.

[ccc321]

I trust my kids, but I've still given them a spending limit for our upcoming cruise and I plan on checking their charges daily.. Although I trust them, they are children and children make mistake. There comes a point in time when a child will test their limits and if my kids or my dn (who is cruising with me) decide to test their limits with their seapass, I'd rather catch it early by checking early than at the end of my cruise when the damage is 9 times what it could have been. giving them unlimimited access to my cc not the kind of trust I'd give a teenager or child. I'd rather trust them to be home on time, to get their h.w and chores done, or to tell the truth when it may be the hardest thing to do.....unless/until they give me reason not to.