Children in separate cabin not directly across?

[crzgrl66]

I asked this ? on the RCL board, but I thought those of you with kids would have more experience. We are sailing on Liberty OTS. Right now DH & I have aft balcony, kids have inside kitty corner from us. There cabin is right there, but when there door is open, we will not be able to see in. A D1 opened up and we can have the kids directly across. If anyone has done this before, did you keep your doors open at all? I figure the kids will shower, dress & sleep in their cabin and any hanging out will be in our cabin. Kids are 15, 9 & 7 and 15 year old is very responsible. Advice please...

[jerin]

You know your kids. I'm hoping that something like that will work for us when our kids are in that age range. So far, they're showing signs that it will (they're 5-11 so not quite there yet), but I know others (like my cousin) whose kids are questionable on their own and they're 17-20.

 

On some ships, the doors don't line up exactly anyway (just because they're across the hall doesn't put doors in line of sight all the time), so I'd think that kitty corner would be pretty much the same as across the hall in that situation.

[cb at sea]

You don't want the doors open..at least, not in your balcony room! Wind tunnel effect is enough to nearly knock you down!

They're old enough to have the cabin door closed!

[uppitycats]

I asked this ? on the RCL board, but I thought those of you with kids would have more experience. We are sailing on Liberty OTS. Right now DH & I have aft balcony, kids have inside kitty corner from us. There cabin is right there, but when there door is open, we will not be able to see in. A D1 opened up and we can have the kids directly across. If anyone has done this before, did you keep your doors open at all? I figure the kids will shower, dress & sleep in their cabin and any hanging out will be in our cabin. Kids are 15, 9 & 7 and 15 year old is very responsible. Advice please...

 

If they're going to shower, dress and sleep in their cabin, why would you leave the door open??? Even though they're KIDS, they deserve some level of privacy! If the door is open to you, so will it be to everyone else going up and down the hall! :confused:

 

Obviously you can get a key to their cabin and use it at will. But you don't really mean to leave to door open??!

[Smithkids5521]

Do you leave them at home alone now? My kids are only 7 and 3 so for us the answer would be no (obviously!), but for the ages of your kids I would think that if they are just sleeping, showering and dressing in there (and there is no balcony for their room) it should be just fine (you know your kids- if you trust them then go for it!):D

[rescue/fire]

i would have ur husband and ur self split up. the 15 year should not have to have the responsilbilty of watching the younger too. 7 and 9 is too young to be alone imho

[ddgleason]

I say go for it as it is. We had the same cabin set up on Mariner last summer. Aft baclony, kids inside kitty corner from us. And our kids did just fine. It was pretty much as you said- they slept, showered, etc in their cabin, but stayed in ours most of the time when we were in the cabin. 15 is plenty old enough (my opinion) and I don't think it is unreasonable to ask 15 year old to keep an eye on the other 2. The other 2 are also old enough to understand what you expect as far as behavior goes. Also, if something happens, they can call you or be right at your door. (We didn't leave them in the cabin alone unless we were in ours.) Go and have a super family vacation.

[crzgrl66]

I say go for it as it is. We had the same cabin set up on Mariner last summer. Aft baclony, kids inside kitty corner from us. And our kids did just fine. It was pretty much as you said- they slept, showered, etc in their cabin, but stayed in ours most of the time when we were in the cabin. 15 is plenty old enough (my opinion) and I don't think it is unreasonable to ask 15 year old to keep an eye on the other 2. The other 2 are also old enough to understand what you expect as far as behavior goes. Also, if something happens, they can call you or be right at your door. (We didn't leave them in the cabin alone unless we were in ours.) Go and have a super family vacation.

 

Thanks Donna! I was hoping that someone would chime in that had experience with the same configuration. I agree, we wouldn't leave them in their cabin alone unless we were in ours. We have done connecting hotel rooms and they usually hang out in our room until it's time to go to bed. We figure that if the youngest can't handle it, then we will move him into our room. I figure that my 15 year old has all day to hang with teens and it's not too much to ask that he sleep in a room with his little brothers. The alternative would be to all be in the same room and he would HATE that. ;)

[imsulin]

The only thing they'll probably bicker about is whether to watch cartoons or a movie on their cabin TV! Enjoy your cruise.

[reggiewhite]

I had a similar issue early in our trip planning. Our kids our younger and luckily we did have a cabin situation open up that was better. This forum really helped me, people were honest but gentle with their opinions. You really do know your children, you will know what is safe and in this instance you can trust yourself. Talk with your husband and don't second guess yourself once you have made a decision. In your situation I would be comfortable either way and wouldn't spend more money. If there was no price difference I would change just to feel better about the situation, but in the end it would really just be a "cosmetic" change probably.

Please enjoy your trip

[tblanch43]

We did the same thing 2 years ago. It worked out fine. Have fun.