Sticking to a schedule?

[elmom]

Parents cruising, do you have a basic schedule you stick to? Hubby and I have been talking and have come up with a rough plan for the days on board (its a 7 day, we will be getting off twice). I am wondering if it is silly, or if it will help the 5 and 6 y/o feel more comfortable and get the sleep they need.

 

6am wake up (not by choice, of course, but we know the kids)

have breakfast, enjoy the ship a bit, do some educational projects

10am drop the kids off at kids club, go to gym

work out, shower, relax.

pick up kids for lunch

family time (what ever)

Dinner

Drop kids off at club, hubby and I enjoy a few drinks or a show

10pm (or before) pick kids up, put them to bed

 

repeat...

 

We aren't party animals and with the kids with us, I doubt we will be drinking super heavily. Is it too type A to have a basic plan and schedule?

[cb at sea]

Lots of folks plan to the minute....but when we vacationed with kids, we didn't stick to a rigid schedule....we sort of let the kids attitudes tell us when to go and when to stop...

Even without kids, we don't drink to oblivion, so that isn't an issue whether the kids are there or not!

 

Sure, make your plans, but be prepared to be flexible with those plans....everyone will end up happier!

[reallyitsmema]

I don't think you are too type A, I would just see how it flows and adapt as needed. Even though your kids are early risers, they might surprise you and sleep in a bit since they will be busy all day long. i wouldn't wake them up though to keep them on a schedule, since bedtime is probably later on the ship than usual.

 

Check out the next days schedule before you go to bed and do what works for your family.:)

[elmom]

Yes, for sure staying flexible! It is a must. Although, as long as we are healthy we really want to get to the gym every day. That is our main goal (and yes, we enjoy the gym)

[sandytoes03]

Educational Projects? I wouldn't worry about anything like this while on vacation (unless you mean homework the kids have to bring along). I would just go with the flow and enjoy.

[nessz79]

We typically cruise in the summer so we don't worry about bed times as much. That being said, the kids are usually in bed by 10 and up around 7-8 AM. Their school schedule combine with our work schedule makes it so they have to go to bed and get up much earlier than those times, so those times are luxurious for us :).

[B_Mc]

My DS is much younger, but we basically plan around his schedule and have a rough idea who's on baby duty when. We know the AM is the best time for family/kid stuff and early afternoon is the best for an adult activity, so that's how we plan.

 

I would say go with the flow of what your kids want to do (they might love/hate kids club, they might love/hate the pool, they might love/hate mini golf, etc...), but stick to regular mealtimes, bedtimes, etc.

[lgionet]

We try to stick to a "schedule" but some days the schedule didn't always happen. I find it works best for my son to have a schedule but we know we are on vacation and schedules are a littler harder to follow. I find my son is really good when we travel so it's fun ! Try to follow the schedule but be flexible and go with the flow ! Have fun

[askimdog]

I think keeping them on a routine as close to the one at home is the way to go. We have a 7 year old girl. We try to get her to do her homework in the morning, otherwise time runs out at night. Also, exploring the ports with us, walking around towns and up hills etc.. wears her out. So, she is tired at night. Early seating a must, her normal bedtime is 7:30/8 PM. So on the cruise it is 8 PM. This means dinner then a bit of time to play before bed, as mentioned if homework is not done in the AM, it makes for a boring evening for her.

[elmom]

Educational Projects? I wouldn't worry about anything like this while on vacation (unless you mean homework the kids have to bring along). I would just go with the flow and enjoy.

 

Oh but why miss a chance to really learn from the vacation? Our teachers aren't assigning homework but want the kids to be ready to come back and tell their classes about their trips.

 

The 6 year old is going to keep a scrapbook journal he can work on every morning. Also he will chart our course on a map and other boating stuff we can come up with (like learning boat terms). I have some other ideas but we will see what kind of time we have.

 

5 year old will keep a journal too but mostly drawings and art. She will also make post cards for her teachers.

 

Oh, and for down times I bought mad libs...which are the greatest invention ever. Kids dont even know they are learning!

 

Our kids actually love to learn and work on projects...homework not so much.

[nw2this]

Oh but why miss a chance to really learn from the vacation? Our teachers aren't assigning homework but want the kids to be ready to come back and tell their classes about their trips.

 

The 6 year old is going to keep a scrapbook journal he can work on every morning. Also he will chart our course on a map and other boating stuff we can come up with (like learning boat terms). I have some other ideas but we will see what kind of time we have.

 

5 year old will keep a journal too but mostly drawings and art. She will also make post cards for her teachers.

 

Oh, and for down times I bought mad libs...which are the greatest invention ever. Kids dont even know they are learning!

 

Our kids actually love to learn and work on projects...homework not so much.

 

So your kids are 5 and 6 years old? Its a lot easier to get kids to do stuff at that age. I'd love to hear if you can still get them to do this stuff when they are 11+ years. Anyway, you sound like a great Mom, keep up the good work! I used to be like that. Now I'll settle for getting them to do all of their school related educational activities. :o

 

Back to the original topic, our only schedule is to try to make it to breakfast before it is over, get to excursions on time, get to bed at a decent hour on the night before an early excursion, be back in the room right after kids club closes at latest, and make it to dinner at the scheduled time. Other than that we go with the flow.

[TheCalicoCat]

We try to keep to a schedule similar to that at home & so far with our cruises being in our time zone it has worked. (I have no idea how well this will work with our upcoming Alaska cruise...) But we are not hyper rigid about it.

 

(Some things, like dining & camp, are set for you...)

[elmom]

So your kids are 5 and 6 years old? Its a lot easier to get kids to do stuff at that age. I'd love to hear if you can still get them to do this stuff when they are 11+ years. Anyway, you sound like a great Mom, keep up the good work! I used to be like that. Now I'll settle for getting them to do all of their school related educational activities. :o

 

Back to the original topic, our only schedule is to try to make it to breakfast before it is over, get to excursions on time, get to bed at a decent hour on the night before an early excursion, be back in the room right after kids club closes at latest, and make it to dinner at the scheduled time. Other than that we go with the flow.

 

Yeah they are def easier at this age to get to comply. It is also personality related. Our son wont sit still to do a worksheet, but will work on projects for hours. Our daughter will do anything as long as she can do it *her* way and not have me butt in.

 

We never traveled in the school year with our teenagers (16, 17, 18), so I never really tried to make our vacations educational. But my husband happens to be great at explaining things, and the kids feel lucky to have his attention, it seems to work out.

[Julienatul]

That typically sounds like our schedule. My kids wake up between 6-7am. I take them to breakfast so hubbycan sleep in. We explore the ship or go back to the room and play with quiet toys until the kids club opens at 10 drop them off and then sit an relax on deck for a few hours, get thier lunches ready and pick them up then they eat lunch, dd goes back to camp while hubby goes back to room with DS for nap time. We get ready for dinner and sometimes the kids accompany us to shows sometimes we go by ourselves. We also fit homework time in there if we pull DD out of school (she started Kindergarten this year). We are always flexible though. Some mornings we play put put golf with DD or watch the kids swim in the pool instead of camp. The idea is to have a rough plan but be flexible.

[lman2b]

We just naturally put the kids to bed maybe no later than an hour after their bedtime. They were ready for it! It was easy to stick to that schedule, and yes they still woke up early as expected.

 

I made my schedule each night after I got the cruise calendar for the next days' events. Then I highlighted the events our family might be interested in doing, and the next morning we went over it and planned what we wanted to go to or participate in that day.

 

Plus be aware, the weather might not do what the weather report says (as ours did not and we had rainy and cold days!!). So when you think the pool is a good idea, it might not be and you have to find other things to do. Be ready to be more flexible to accommodate those issues, or sea sickness etc.

 

I wouldn't worry about planning beforehand (other than excursions or things you know you will do for sure) as it will all work out on the ship once you know what everybody is more interested in doing.