Mum2Mercury

I would've backed you too. Years ago -- when my kids were teens -- I wrote up a list of expectations, and I shared them here. It seemed to be 50-50: some people said, "Give the kids some freedom! Ships are safe!", yet I saw variations on my list show up for years after. I was never unhappy with my kids' behavior onboard, and I really think it's because I let them know exactly what I expected. Let me see what I remember: - Don't go into other people's cabins. Don't allow others in our cabins. - Be polite to all crew and all guests at all times -- help elderly people and people with small children in the Windjammer and on elevators. - You may eat breakfast and lunch with new friends, but leave us a note letting us know where you are. - We eat dinner as a family. - After dinner we are together OR you're in a teen club activity. - We will all leave notes in the room saying where we are. Check in with us every 2-3 hours. - We leave the ship as a family. - You will not have charging privileges on your Sea Pass, but tell us if you want to buy something. - You will have a soda package. Do not accept drinks from anyone except a ship employee. Do not finish a drink that's been out of your sight.

Kids sail free is a genius promotion ... fills cabins during less popular times of year, shows parents that cruising is an easy vacation with children, then the parents will continue to pay after the kids are too old for the promotion. No, the promotion isn't the problem. It's the lack of parental supervision and too lax rules on the part of the cruise line. We only cruise in off-season because we dislike crowds. When you cruise during kid-season, more cabins have 3-4 in the room, and that adds up to crowds.

Agree ... I think it's an event that'd draw enough people to justify its existence. Yeah, you're fine with downloading it for your own personal use.

Probably true. Yes, I see the same things. I just retired after 30 years, but I'm working a couple days a week as a permanent sub, and I'm loving it: no lesson plans, no grading, no meetings. I walk in 10 minutes before the first bell and walk out with the kids at 2:15. I get to work with the kids, see my teacher friends, act as a mentor to the younger teachers ... but I can say NO when it suits me. I'm only 56, which is way too young to dip my fingers into my savings ... so the bit of extra money is nice. True, but no one would think they need to say, "Please don't break our stuff!"

Royal, are you listening? Cruiers want more supervision for teens / more authority for crew to stand up to these offenses / consequences for teens or adults who disrupt other people's vacations and destroy property.

I didn't hear about chair exercises, but -- if you have the video downloaded on your phone -- you could do them in your own room. Or in the gym. They offered water aerobics fairly early in the mornings. Another option is just simply walking on the jogging track.

I often keep quiet in my classroom and listen to what kids say during transitions, etc. I once heard a girl telling another how to get into prostitution /what a great job it is. She wasn't joking. I've taught several senior girls who worked as strippers. And, yes, social media affects our teens. When I started teaching, I saw lots of kids who thought they'd be in the NFL or be singers /rappers. Today they want to be Influencers. I have one 9th grader who tells me 9th grade is just too much work; he's going to drop out and go into music. His grandmother says he has the best voice she's ever heard. (Yeah, 'cause grandmothers are a reliable source on that topic.) I asked him how he's going to get jobs, and he looked at me like I have two heads -- you just put a few songs on You Tube and wait for the checks to roll in! I asked one of my fellow teachers, who is a successful working musician, to talk to him about the business end of that type of work. The kid thinks that teacher is a liar. Oh, I love corner aft cabins.

Wow, you chose the wrong week to cruise. We've always been fall cruisers, and you're reinforcing that choice. We once sailed on Thanksgiving and definitely didn't enjoy the crowds ... seems like Spring Break is worse. Why would anyone lie about this stuff? Especially when other cruisers are on these boards and will likely collaborate. These things also tend to show up on You Tube, though usually not until after the cruise. We all do. If only the tech were real! We're talking about teenagers. As a high school teacher, I can say this for certain: Post-Covid high school is a very different place, and not different better. Kids "lost a lot" in terms of seriousness towards academics, willingness to put in effort, willingness to abide by dress code, and general people skills. I see kids who are genuinely confused by the concept of "be in the room when the bell rings, or you are tardy". If I see it at school, I'm not surprised to hear that similar behaviors show up on vacations.

Maybe go with him the first time. At least to see him started. When my oldest girls grew old enough to be in the Solarium, I talked to them about being allowed into an "adult area", and I talked to them about behaving like adults and behaving as ambassadors for other young people. Never had any problems.

At home I try to make every plate 50% green vegetable ... and I try to do the same thing on a cruise.

We've always been more strict than most parents too. Our kids grew up more family-oriented, more focused on academics and church, less worldly, more sheltered than average. No regrets. Definitely people (of any age) in a pack will do things they would not do on their own. Haven't we all heard parents brag about this very thing? Put 'em in a separate cabin down the hall, mom and dad enjoy all their meals kid-free, no support for the ship's (very late) teen curfew, give them alcohol on the downlow. That's too bad. My kids used to really enjoy the teen club ... but one of our rules was, We eat dinner as a family and after that you're either in a teen club activity or with us. Definitely! And they are the majority ... but the bad apples stand out. Who's offended? Seems like people on this thread are united in their disgust at these particular teens' (or families') behavior!

I was excited to see this thread title, as I've been wanting to learn this game -- but $70? No way.

Well, it seems obvious that if your cabin is damaged, you're the one to blame. Either you did it, or you allowed someone in who did it. If your kid did it, you're still responsible. Agree that anyone responsible -- regardless of age -- should be kicked off at the next island and banned for life. If I were a big wig in a cruising company, I'd push for coordination between companies to ban these people from all cruise lines. These aren't customers anyone wants. I think anyone who's been through the new passport facial recognition system has been amazed, and if the passport people can do it, so can the ships. Good security is good for their reputation and their financial security. Yes, when our kids were teens we talked to them about the behavior we expected -- and we were very exact about those expectations. I made sure they understood that their behavior could lead to the family being kicked off the ship. I never thought they'd be the kids to destroy things or be rude to others -- but I told them to walk away from kids who did behave this way, lest they find themselves caught up in something not of their own making.

All this on one cruise? WOW. But I don't accept that "teenagers will be teenagers", meaning they will misbehave. I can count on one hand the number of times I had real trouble from my kids when they were teens -- and it was always about wanting to drive somewhere I felt they weren't ready to drive on their own. We did a 3-day cruise for the first time last December (couldn't resist the $99 price tag), and we did note a difference in our fellow guests -- but I'm glad to say we didn't see anything like you describe. In the last 5-6 years, my high school students have started asking for food at school -- and if they don't like what I have (for example, I almost always have packets of plain crackers and fruit cups), they'll say, "No, I don't like that. Don't you have any protein bars or something sweet?" So they aren't too hungry. Agree 100%. And parents should be held accountable for their children's behavior. We've all heard that we should assume we're on camera in all public areas on the ship, so it shouldn't be too hard to identify the culprits. Agree that few teens are destructive, but it only takes a few to lead the others in a bad direction. Agree that a small brig would be a good idea -- even our local mall has a small jail! I only know because my daughter (when she worked at the mall during her college years) was frequently sent to the jail to identify /retrieve things shoplifted from her store -- she kinda liked going, and it became one of her special tasks. She'd come home joking, "I went to jail today, Mom!"

I think it's safe to say that more than 99% of us don't eat in 5 star restaurants every night at home ... yet to hear some posters talk about this and that being disgusting, awful, etc., you'd think they do nothing but eat at the best of the best restaurants every day. Personally, the best food I have ever had came out of my own kitchen (and off my husband's grill). I don't expect the ship to equal what I can cook myself, especially as I am able to tailor it to our specific taste. Oh, I think the menu will continue to shift every couple years, and people will continue to wail each time it happens. I suspect that'll just result in a slightly lighter wallet. This is to be expected: you'll find some things you really like, some things you just don't love. These too-small vegetable portions concern me. I need my vegetables! Y'all have been to some pretty good cafeterias. I liked the Beef Stroganoff, but I wouldn't call it a favorite. Now that's true.

We have that here in NC too. Everything's good, but their Chicken & Waffles are the best.

I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but I'm with the majority in saying fly in the day before. We still talk about driving to Florida for our first-ever cruise: We were stopped on the interstate for over three hours. When we were finally able to move, we found out an 18-wheeler had turned over and burned on the interstate ... so they had to put out the fire, then move it off the road. We were so, so relieved that we were only heading for a cheap hotel that night. Sure, that's not something that's likely to happen again, but we consider the night-before stay to be the cheapest possible insurance against missing our ship. Having said that, we usually get a basic hotel from Priceline ... we're easy to please for a night-before hotel. We have had good luck several times with Days' Inn in Titusville when we sail out of Orlando. We had a bad experience with La Quinta (North? -- it was across the street from a Mercedes dealership) and a good experience with Spring Hill Suites in Fort Lauderdale.

Yes, stick close to the interstate: cheaper prices, plenty of restaurants, and it'll get you back on the road fast the next morning.

Well, is that true? I'm thinking that they don't want to disturb diners who are already served -- and those people are easy to "scan" since they will stay at their tables. On the other hand, people at the pool and around the ship are harder to "scan" since they are constantly moving here and there -- it'd be hard to know whom you'd already scanned. Sounds like they did right by telling you WHY you were going to the assembly stations -- and no one needed to panic because you all knew YOU weren't the person in the water. Everyone to the dining room? Not to their assembly stations? But, then, why did they bother to assign the assembly stations? Can everyone on the ship fit in the dining room? I'd be both fascinated and terrified to see this happening. That's dumb -- I mean, I understand they had to verify a headcount, and it's possible that your wife could've thrown you overboard, but couldn't the cabin attendant see you while you slept? Agree. I've never had to go to my muster station for real, but a friend of mine has (twice on the same cruise!), and she said it was a quick, easy process -- once her family was accounted for, they were dismissed. Efficient.

No to water play, but I have a grandson that same age, and if I were cruising with him today I'd plan on beach days for the island stops. Bring along some sand toys, and he will be in heaven! Side note about babies and water safety: My daughter only allows my grandson to wear swim trunks in shades of red, orange or yellow -- you know, bright colors, which are easy to spot. They're not so easy to find, as so much swimwear gravitates towards blues, but I agree it's worthwhile to know we can spot our boy in the water. Definitely bring plenty of the snacks he enjoys at home. One-year olds aren't known for their love of new foods! Individually wrapped cookies and fruit pouches would work great. As others have said, processed /packaged foods -- granola bars, bags of peanuts, cheese crackers -- are not a problem. We didn't travel when our kids were small /pre-schoolers either, but we made up for lost time once they were both in elementary school. I'm cruising with extended family next year, and I am 100% willing to babysit my grandson -- I'm glad to give his parents a dinner to themselves or take him to the splash pad for a while. His other grandmother wants time with him as much as I do! On the other hand, I might not be willing to take him on excursions, given that our choices may not match his age /abilities. I think the right answer is, Talk to your family and see what they're thinking. Don't assume.

This is good advice. Reserve something now (something that can be cancelled) and hope for a better price. If you don't do this, you may end up with only the $$$$$ places available for your one-night stay.

We stop in Fort Lauderdale -- hotel prices tend to be better. The drive to the port is something like 45 minutes, which we find acceptable. Side note: Be aware that Royal sails from two different terminals in Miami. We just assumed that all Royal ships sail from the big, new terminal -- but, no. Explorer sails from an older terminal.

I was interested in buying some hard-sided luggage, thinking it looked tougher -- then I looked at some at Marshalls (?). Even in the store it was banged up, and a few pieces even had holes. That was enough to convince me to stick with soft-sided stuff.

I don't disagree on food waste; I'm not all that interested in that topic. I'm saying that food -- purchased in bulk -- is just not that expensive, so restricting plates here and there isn't going to make or break Royal's bottom line.

Evidence to the contrary. I don't know how much the average cruiser drinks, but I am sure it varies widely -- but I think you've missed my point. Yeah, I'm done.