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Crusing with teen and tween


IslandLife17
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We are heading out in June for our first family cruise (Carnival Horizon) and trying to plan so everyone has fun and is safe.

If you've cruised with your tween/teenaged children, what are some tips? Any specific rules that you have them follow (ie: don't go into another person's room, etc.) If they want to go do an activity while you are poolside, is it safe/reasonable to let them? How do you get in touch while on the ship (neither have cell phones just yet)? Not sure if either will have any interest in kids clubs. We want them to have fun and not feel like they have to stick to us the whole time. TIA!

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We are heading out in June for our first family cruise (Carnival Horizon) and trying to plan so everyone has fun and is safe.

If you've cruised with your tween/teenaged children, what are some tips? Any specific rules that you have them follow (ie: don't go into another person's room, etc.) If they want to go do an activity while you are poolside, is it safe/reasonable to let them? How do you get in touch while on the ship (neither have cell phones just yet)? Not sure if either will have any interest in kids clubs. We want them to have fun and not feel like they have to stick to us the whole time. TIA!

 

Depending on the age of the tween, they may be in the 12-14 age group, which automatically means free roam of the ship, except by parent rules - there is no strict structure to camp like there is in the younger groups and they no longer have sign in/out. We just pre-register our son and send him on his merry way. If they are going to use the club - which can be fun if they are in the older groups as a way of meeting other kids - it is critical they go the first night. That is when the groups form and they start hanging out.

 

The ONLY other rule I need (other than the one you mentioned, to include no one is allowed in your room, and leave if the room steward needs to come in) is DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULDN'T DO WITH ME STANDING THERE LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU! :D That covers it all...no running, cursing, bad elevator manners etc. If you have a well behaved child, it is zero issue to let them have freedom on the ship, IMHO. There are only so many places they want to be - sports square/golf, kids club, pool or promenade.

 

And honestly, I don't worry about getting up with them during the day. I require them every night to be SHOWERED and dressed per the dress code of the evening and ready for dinner in their room at whatever time we have pre-set. Their ship time is mostly their own, except for dinner. Often, they will chose to go to a comedy or playlist show with us. And shore days are always spent ashore as a family. For us it is the perfect balance between adult and family time. Our youngest (now 14) tends to want us to wake him for breakfast in the MDR, so we enjoy that time together and we each go about our day.

 

Its really easy to find each other on the ship. But, if you are really worried, for $5 per phone, you can use the HUB APP for texting on board (and give them one of your phones)...we don't mess with it because we don't want to be carrying our phones around. When my kids were younger, with sign in/out, they either had to be in there room, with me, or at a pre-discussed location. It's pretty easy to say I will be lounging in this chair til X time; please come back at Y time and check in.

 

Oh - and the most important - make sure they know the consequence up front. My kids both know that if they are caught breaking a rule, it is cabin confinement for 24 hrs...seems to do the trick!:')

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It's all about how well you've taught your kids to follow your rules! I have no problem letting older kids come and go to places for specific reasons....however "aimless roaming" is a HUGE NO. That's just asking for trouble. I tell the kids where we will be, and find out their plans...If their plans change, they come to me or hubby and give an update IN PERSON...we want to SEE them...texting tells you nothing. Occasionally, if our plans change drastically, we will go and find them and catch up on the next couple hours.

 

There is never, ever a reason for your child to be in a cabin hallway that isn't YOUR hallway....and definitely they are NOT allowed to go to anyone's cabin nor is anyone allowed in our cabin, unless WE invite them!

 

It's really up to how responsible your kids are!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm so glad I found this thread. May 25th we'll be cruising for the first time with our 3 kids (11, 10, and 9...yes i know, yikes!) My husband and I have cruised together twice before kids (11 years ago!). I love all the rules suggestions. I am nervous about letting them "roam" the ship. Not really sure if they'll be into the kids clubs all day every day. We have the grand suite on deck 10 and love the extra "perks"that come with it so the price was worth it for us. Any other advice about spending time together or separately? having meet up times is a great idea but don't I have to "sign them out" of the kids club? I'm new to all this so thanks in advance for all the help!

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I'm so glad I found this thread. May 25th we'll be cruising for the first time with our 3 kids (11, 10, and 9...yes i know, yikes!) My husband and I have cruised together twice before kids (11 years ago!). I love all the rules suggestions. I am nervous about letting them "roam" the ship. Not really sure if they'll be into the kids clubs all day every day. We have the grand suite on deck 10 and love the extra "perks"that come with it so the price was worth it for us. Any other advice about spending time together or separately? having meet up times is a great idea but don't I have to "sign them out" of the kids club? I'm new to all this so thanks in advance for all the help!

 

Are you on Carnival like the OP? If so, you can grant all 3 sign - in /out privileges and they will be in the same camp as the age block is 9-11. The kids schedule is put out at the beginning of the week - so they can have an idea of what they are interested in doing. It is VERY important that they go the first night to the meet and greet.

 

As I said above, breakfast (with my youngest) and dinner (with both) is a requirement, as are days ashore. The first day we board, before they were season cruisers, we would explore the ship together after lunch, have some down time on the balcony after sail away, unpack and then prep for dinner. Others have suggest planning a scavenger hunt to promote familiarity. On a 7 day cruise, you generally only have 2-3 sea days and that's where the schedule comes in handy. Its good dinner time conversation to just plan ahead for each day.

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  • 2 months later...

Beware of feral children! We sailed last summer on the Carnival Magic with my 12-year old triplets. The tween club was horribly supervised and the children (not mine) were proud of breaking things. I am very nervous about my upcoming RCCL cruise and having my boys in a group that ranges from 12-17. My boys are on the young side with two of them having disabilities. I will, of course, check it out, let them test it out, and use my best judgment.

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Back this week and had an amazing time!

The one bummer was that we didn't get to the kids clubs, at all. My younger DD managed to find 3 friends in the pool that she hung out with, but older DD never really found anyone. They both still loved the whole experience though. Once we got comfortable with the layout, we had no issues letting them go and do things on their own. All in all a great family vacation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for this thread, y'all! I've been wondering some of the same things about our family cruise soon, and you've given me some good ideas and a lot of reassurance. Our family doesn't travel a whole lot, so we don't have a background of Travel Etiquette to draw on. Normal etiquette, yes. Looking forward to a new adventure soon!

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  • 2 weeks later...
We are heading out in June for our first family cruise (Carnival Horizon) and trying to plan so everyone has fun and is safe.

If you've cruised with your tween/teenaged children, what are some tips? Any specific rules that you have them follow (ie: don't go into another person's room, etc.) If they want to go do an activity while you are poolside, is it safe/reasonable to let them? How do you get in touch while on the ship (neither have cell phones just yet)? Not sure if either will have any interest in kids clubs. We want them to have fun and not feel like they have to stick to us the whole time. TIA!

 

We just came back from a cruise with a teen (13) and tween (10). We were on a Baltic cruise so it might attract a different population than a carnival cruise...that said, I gave my 13 yo free reign, he has a very good sense of direction and we were on a huge ship, and he also has decent common sense when it comes to safety. I’d tell him when to come back, and he mostly respected that thoug at times he didn’t. once he decided to try the teen club he wanted to spend a lot of time there. He also went to meals on his own at the buffet, got himself sodas etc. But we were actually on the ship for relatively little time.

 

My 10 yo has a terrible sense of direction and is much less cautious than my son, so I didn’t really let her do things on her own much . I did however let the 2 of them wander the ship together or go to the buffet together. I also let them stay in the cabin together or her alone (they both often stay alone at home). Usually they wanted to go to the buffet and we didn’t so we’d go elsewhere for dinner while they either hung out in the room or my son went to teen club. My daughter refused to try out the kids club for her age...when we were on DCL she wanted to be there all the time but this time wouldn’t even try...so we were with her a lot!!

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