Parents, please keep track of your kids

[4 cruisers]

Newcruisefan, I now see what you were up against. 14 days was a long time to be facing this situation!!! Times certainly are changing. My husband and I and friends our age are often amazed at responses we get from our kids' friends at times! We would never have dreamed of talking to adults the way these kids sometimes talk to adults (us :eek: ).

 

I'd love to hear more about your experience on this trip, though! We just loved the Crown, but not sure how we'll feel about her after the "stretch" so to speak?! The trip you took is one that my husband and I are hoping to take sometime in the future!

 

Sorry about the "bad seeds" on board your cruise!

 

Nanette

[Monalisa67]

I have 2 kids (10 & 6) and I would never leave them unsupervised on a cruiseship! Even if they were teens! Main reason: safety.

[NewCruiseFan]

Nanette,

 

Loved the Crown and her crew, everyone was so sweet and thoughtful. The Asian themed restaurant was not much fun but the other restaurants were all terrific.

 

Great ports of call, in Puerto Chacabuco you'll want to do the ships excursions as the town is pretty bleak and taxi service is nearly non-existent. Other than that, unless you're landing on a holiday (Christmas, New Years) or a Sunday you're in fine shape to wing it. A variety of penguin or seal view options which are fun.

 

After reading some of the other posts want to reiterate that for those parents who do keep track of their kids and who have those terrific kids, this request was not made to you. Your kids do make the trip more fun and interesting.

 

This is for those parents who seem to think that the ships crew is part of their private babysitting staff and can thus spend their time drinking and tanning without care as to what their kids are up to. The crew and your fellow passsengers don't want to pick up garbage left from someone else's kids, don't want to slip on the stuff they've removed from the planters, or discover the damage they've caused in elevators. Not interested in worrying about them sitting on the ships rails and whether they'll go overboard or simply land on a balcony. Not interested in hearing their conversation from across the auditorium during a lecture or performance, nor in having them dancing on the stage during shows. Not interested in having them toss deck furniture overboard and wondering if they are about to follow it. Definitely not interested in hearing drunken arguments between parents and children at 4am when the parents decide to return for the night.

 

fyi, I'm mid- forties and am often asked to babysit for my friends as their kids adore me - and I them.

 

lisa

[dkjretired]

Reported on the Celebrity board that on one of the Christmas cruises there were a number of unruly kids and that four families were actually thrown off the ship mid-cruise.

 

Don

[ciship]

Well, of course a cruiseline like Celebrity is NOT going to tolerate this kind of behavior.....they respect their passengers AND their passengers money way to much. Carnival needs to learn from this. Carnival has plenty of customers to go around. They won't crumble and fall by getting rid of a few bad apples and keeping the "good" apples happy and satisfied. I'm sure the crew would be happy to get rid of them also so that they wouldnt have to deal with them or clean up after them.

[smg669]

Newcruisefan,

Thank you very much for your informative post.

 

Too bad some people took your post as criticism....it actually is a wakeup call to those who are new to cruising with their children.

 

BTW- since it involves families cruising, surprise ...it belongs on a family cruise board!

 

I would postulate that those of us who would actually take the time to visit a cruising message board and read/post in the "Family Cruising" section are not the ones who need to be lectured/given a wake-up call on the topic of child behaviour. It's the children of the lunkheads who never in a million years would find their way in here who were defecating in the halls and pouring instant coffee crystals down their throats. That's what the "anti-breeder" types who post in places like this never seem to figure out. They're preaching to the converted.

 

S

[bmgaritty]

I would postulate that those of us who would actually take the time to visit a cruising message board and read/post in the "Family Cruising" section are not the ones who need to be lectured/given a wake-up call on the topic of child behaviour. It's the children of the lunkheads who never in a million years would find their way in here who were defecating in the halls and pouring instant coffee crystals down their throats. That's what the "anti-breeder" types who post in places like this never seem to figure out. They're preaching to the converted.

 

S

 

SMG,

I would not call the OP "anti-breeder" type. Other posters called her condescending. She was posting about family/parental issues she experienced on her cruise.

 

I do not assume that posters to the family board are all responsible parents - I would call them inquisitive but not necessarily responsible. I have seen posters that wonder if its safe for a 7 -8 year old to wander around the ship, why does my child have to leave the disco at midnite, or the "let kids be kids" attitude.

The "let kids be kids attitude" has varying degrees. For instance, kids running up & down hallways, blocking stairs & leaving trash, babies cooing, all fall under the "lets kids be kids" expression. Some may think in all the instances stated that they as parents are responsible, while others may not think so. I'm just using some examples to illustrate my point and not making a judgement.

 

I think the original poster was trying to give a wake up call to families who are cruising. If you take a look at her other posts, she does mention that there were quite a few young ones on board who were well behaved.

 

This is a family cruising board - I am sure irresponsible as well as responsible parents read and post to it.

 

Have a great weekend!

[4 cruisers]

By the way, I'm a responsible parent, but that doesn 't mean my sons don't mess up once in awhile!!!! :o

 

I actually DO think they should be allowed in the disco after 12 on vacation... if we had to be there with them...no problem.

 

Glad to hear the Crown's staff is still great. Sad that we felt the reg. dining was really good before they added the darned alternative dining and NCL took her over. Still for the itinerary, it would be worth it one day!

 

Lisa, what a great trip for you to have the opportunity to take! I'm late 40's and hubby 50....it's still on our wish list!

 

I have a feeling that most of us who come to this board ARE the better parents of young cruisers, or we wouldn't bother worrying about what other people think. Just my opinions! :cool:

[smg669]

SMG,

I would not call the OP "anti-breeder" type. Other posters called her condescending. She was posting about family/parental issues she experienced on her cruise.

 

I do not assume that posters to the family board are all responsible parents - I would call them inquisitive but not necessarily responsible. I have seen posters that wonder if its safe for a 7 -8 year old to wander around the ship, why does my child have to leave the disco at midnite, or the "let kids be kids" attitude.

The "let kids be kids attitude" has varying degrees. For instance, kids running up & down hallways, blocking stairs & leaving trash, babies cooing, all fall under the "lets kids be kids" expression. Some may think in all the instances stated that they as parents are responsible, while others may not think so. I'm just using some examples to illustrate my point and not making a judgement.

 

I think the original poster was trying to give a wake up call to families who are cruising. If you take a look at her other posts, she does mention that there were quite a few young ones on board who were well behaved.

 

This is a family cruising board - I am sure irresponsible as well as responsible parents read and post to it.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Nah, I didn't get an "anti-breeder" vibe off of NewCruiseFan either. And I'd be righly P.O.'ed just like she/he was. And I understand that there will be varying levels of strictness amongst parents in any group. However, I'll stand by my theory that the parents of the type of over-the-top-misbehaving children who were featured in the original post would not be sniffing around in a place like this. And if they were, NewCruiseFan already admitted that this type of parent is deaf to criticism or advice and ignorant of the pain they inflict on others. So, like I said, preaching to the choir and/or falling of deaf ears.

 

S

[Girlsnightout]

Well gee, thanks for that helpful suggestion, I never would have thought of keeping track of my kids.......now where did I put them????:rolleyes:

[nikatina62]

As cruise lines advertise to attract families, they should also have policies in place to discipline any unruly passengers, young or old. I have been on many cruises from when I was single to now as a family, I would expect any one to notify me if my child was disturbing them by misbehavior. That said, I have had a miserable time on cruises before where drunk passengers were allowed to be obnoxious, loud, and outright crude, with running naked in the halls, to keeping their door open while having sex. My point is that you should complain directly to the cruise company, they need to put language in their contract so they can reprimand anyone who is blatenly disturbing the other passengers and send them packing.

 

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.

[EXBRIT]

I don't understand why anyone would let their children wander unaccompanied on a cruise. Many of the dangers on land are also on ships. Child molesters, criminals and abusive people cruise too.

[Guest OBAYbee]

OK, after reading these boards over the years the complaints don't seem to change. I wish that those referring to children as "brats" would be careful not to group kids in that name calling bracket. Mostly, instead of coming in here and complaining do so on your cruise .. get names..get room numbers.

Chances are like several other posters have already mentioned, parents who let their kids run array most likely don't come to these boards. Parents like myself who have raised children (not brats) seem to come here for information. And then there are those who come here to name call and whine. Fix it on your cruise not here. *sigh*

[cali-croozer]

As cruise lines advertise to attract families, they should also have policies in place to discipline any unruly passengers, young or old. I have been on many cruises from when I was single to now as a family, I would expect any one to notify me if my child was disturbing them by misbehavior. That said, I have had a miserable time on cruises before where drunk passengers were allowed to be obnoxious, loud, and outright crude, with running naked in the halls, to keeping their door open while having sex. My point is that you should complain directly to the cruise company, they need to put language in their contract so they can reprimand anyone who is blatenly disturbing the other passengers and send them packing.

 

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.

 

 

OMG.............what cruise were you on, with naked people and public sex?

[Guest OBAYbee]

hehe.. ok I KNOW it's not REALLY funny..but the visual I got of drunks running naked and having sex with doors open caught me off guard

[ALIASapoFan]

Wow....I can't believe what you and other guests had to put up with. I will never understand parents who allow this behavior in their kids. I would hope that if their were kids throwing things overboard the cruiseline would step in and toss these families off.

We are travelling with our kids for our first cruise next month and I am nervous at how other guests will react, but I know that I am a good parent who keeps her kids in as much control as I can. They will have their moments, of course. They are well-behaved, but not perfect.

I don't like hearing people say that kids shouldn't be on cruises, but I can understand some saying this if they had such a bad experience. I would hope though that they would give the well-behaved kids (and their parents) a chance in the future though.

Unruly kids bother me as much as druken, obnoxious adults do. If while on my cruise my children are subjected to nakedness and sexual activity in public areas, I will be MORE than mad.

We each need to remember to behave in any public venue with respect for others. No matter our age or cultural background.

[ALIASapoFan]

LOL...as I finished writing my above post, I saw a commercial for that Nanny show where the kids are more than unruly...

[NewCruiseFan]

:-) well, I've never been called "anti-breeder" and I'm going to assume SMG didn't intend to direct that at me but was making a general statement. As I've mentioned previously, my friends kids adore me and I'm often sought out as a sitter - we have a great time and the kids are never out of sight of the designated adult supervision (me).

While I would love to believe that all of the 120,469 CC members (from the CC site stats) are responsible and those in that number who are parents would never have their kids roaming aimlessly, I suspect there are a few out there who are not so responsible. My posting was not an indictment of parents or children - as I have said several times. Also mentioned previously, 12 (of 110 total) kids, about 11% of the kiddling population, were causing problems. The remaining 98 kids (89% of the kiddling population) were terrific kids and I struck up a friendship with several families.

Also mentioned, parents with children on board were just as pissed as those of us without children on board. And, we did complain to crew and the Captain. My note here was not intended to berate NCL publically but as a reminder to other families that being on the cruise is not liscense to abdicate parental responsibilities.

I'm sorry that some parents seemed to take my post personally, if your kids are not wandering about without supervision, this was not intended for you to help resolve but as a note of caution. I'm pretty sure the responsible parents out there wouldn't want their own kids hooking up with some of the kids I saw and who were apparently simultaneously cruising on Celebrity. There are kids who may be influenced into doing things they may not ordinarily contemplate, it's part of being a kid.

I'm sorry some folks think I'm anti-breeder, nothing could be further from the truth. I posted the same note on the NCL board since my cruise was an NCL cruise, it just made sense to me to post under families as well.

For the folks who mentioned similar groups being booted, I think that's a fine idea. It surprised me and the others on our cruise that our crew didn't boot folks. We could only assume it was because we were in such a remote part of the world those left ashore would experience severe financial difficulties in getting to where they needed to be. As much as I would have loved to have been left behind in Ushuaia I couldn't contemplate it as eventually I would still need to come back to the real world.

Those of us who were ready to toss this small number of children (and parents) over the edge began our cruise with concern about the childrens safety. The day we set sail the kids were playing on the deck which is outside the railing - nothing to prevent them from falling over and lot's of equipment on which to get hurt. Concern escalated to complete lack of patience over time - I did not start out annoyed but worried.

My note, and the ones about similar incidents on other cruises, should be read like a Cinderella story. If the shoe fits....

[Girlsnightout]

It's generally considered bad form to give unsolicitated parenting advice to complete strangers who probably aren't in need of it, especially when one isn't even a parent. :rolleyes:

[cruzinrn]

There seems to be quite alot of generalizationsand imaginations going on in the family threads these days:D !!!

[Zeno]

Girlsnightout: Unfortunately my take from your comment is that non-parents should just "suck up" or ignore ANY inappropriate, dangerous, truly annoying and possibly illegal activity children (being under-supervised by their parents on a cruise) get involved in because non-parents are not entitled to opinions when it comes to children. I strongly disagree particulary when these "activities" can endanger the children or other passengers. On my last cruise an under-supervised child nearly drowned in the pool - who saved the child - other cruisers - not the parents. Sorry but apparently some parents do need to be reminded of the consequences of under-supervision. Personally I think the majority of parents who post on this board are responsible but every once in a while a post gives me pause to wonder.
"Is it OK to leave my toddler unattended in a cabin while my husband and I enjoy the pool ?" "Is it a good idea to let 8 year olds wander the ship unattended?" "My 13 year old thinks a 2AM curfew is too early - what do you think?" "We always leave our 13 year old responsible for his younger siblings - so we can enjoy the bars and casino. They just roam the ship and have a good time." The previous are paraphrased but you get the idea.

[Girlsnightout]

[quote name='Zeno']Girlsnightout: Unfortunately my take from your comment is that non-parents should just "suck up" or ignore ANY inappropriate, dangerous, truly annoying and possibly illegal activity children (being under-supervised by their parents on a cruise) get involved in because non-parents are not entitled to opinions when it comes to children............................................."Is it OK to leave my toddler unattended in a cabin while my husband and I enjoy the pool ?" "Is it a good idea to let 8 year olds wander the ship unattended?" "My 13 year old thinks a 2AM curfew is too early - what do you think?" "We always leave our 13 year old responsible for his younger siblings - so we can enjoy the bars and casino. They just roam the ship and have a good time." The previous are paraphrased but you get the idea.[/QUOTE]

Equally as unfortunate, is that your "take" is incorrect. That's okay, people misinterpret all the time.....oh, and regarding stupid questions asked on these boards that are highly indicative of poor judgment, I don't believe parents have cornered the market on those. I give you the ubiquitous "Should I bring scented candles, irons, etc. on my cruise?"

Like I said, stupid people come in all categories but yes, I get the idea.;)

[Zeno]

Girlsnightout: Well I am relieved that I misinterpreted your post. And no I most certainly don't think parents have "cornered the market" re: stupid questions - I love those "can I burn the ship down" type of questions. My point was that it is unreasonable to assume that every parent posting and reading this board intends to provide adequate supervision to their children onboard. Therefore I don't see why it is not appropriate for anyone (parent or not) to point out situations where children have been unsupervised to the detriment of other passengers (and even sometimes to the detriment of the children). Just maybe it will make someone think twice before they leave their children unsupervised.

[Girlsnightout]

[quote name='Zeno'] Therefore I don't see why it is not appropriate for anyone (parent or not) to point out situations where children have been unsupervised to the detriment of other passengers (and even sometimes to the detriment of the children). Just maybe it will make someone think twice before they leave their children unsupervised.[/QUOTE]

I don't think it's innapropriate to point out those types of situations to the people responsible at the time they are occurring, but the OP's post just seemed to be a bit of a pre-emptive strike that wasn't entirely justified. After all, it's just as unfair to assume that there are all bad parents here as it is to assume that there are all good parents here, isn't it? Trust me, if my children are misbehaving, I want to know about it, immediately, because I will NOT tolerate it, but cruisesites are known for stereotyping all parents with the lunkheads who don't have a clue...it just gets old.

Absolutely, point out the rowdy ankle-biters and put a stop to them, just point it out to the people responsible! I wonder if the OP tried to intervene while on that cruise? I think that would have been the smart thing to do...

[Onessa]

OP should also know that just because no one was dealing with the behavior at the exact moment that the poster saw it, does not mean that the kids "got off" scot free.

Our "neighbors" on a recent cruise had a daughter our daughter's age travelling with them in our cabin, and two older sons (14 and 16) in the cabin across the hall. The younger boy was with a group that decided to leave the teen program and joy ride the elevators. While many pax may have been bothered by them initially, we observed them being "apprehended" (we were a few decks up at the time). We discovered later that their parents were notified and warned. I know that the son of our neighbors was punished.