teen's curfew

[4spring]

For those of you traveling with teens & tweens, what do you think a reasonable time to ask them to be back in the cabin by, would be? I'm remembering that in cruises past, there was still quite a bit going on later in the eveing (even a dance contest up on the lido one night). My thought is that I'll plan to hang out in some of the general areas & have them check in periodically.

[ohitssunshine]

Out of our 3 kids, our 13 year old is the only one interested in being up and out that late. We usually have him check in with us around 11 and go from there. If we are up and out, then 1am curfew. If we are beat and going to relax in the cabin, then usually midnight.

[ckdmom]

For our 14 year old, the curfew was midnight. Most nights he was back in the cabin before that. He knew that we would be in for the night or at least checking in, so the one night he was doing something, he met us at midnight and made other plans with us.

[Doug910]

My daughters had to check in with us at 11pm and again at 1 am. The knew they could always find us in the Casino. If we weren't there, they knew they needed to pick up a house phone and call us in the cabin. They could stay until 1:30 only if they were being walked back to the cabin. If they had no escort, I would meet them (usually on Lido or the Promenade) and we'd go back to the cabin together. Well, ummm, we'd usually stop for a slice of pizza first! :-)

[Cruzface]

Our 16 and 14 year old boys had a 1:30 a.m. curfew most nights. The last night, they begged to pull an all nighter. We relented. They came in at 3:30 a.m. and had to be up by 7:30. They knew the consequences. To their credit, there was no complaining. Ir is easier when you have 2. Safety in numbers.

[tappyZ]

I usually have my teen check in around 11 or so also and let me know what is going on and who he is with - I like to meet them if at all possible!! Some times I give him green light to stay out late, sometimes I say as soon as that (whatever they are doing) is over come to the room. He will be 18 five days after we get home from upcoming spring break cruise (birthday present) and I know he will want more freedom. Although he is a good kid and knows the rules I still worry but heck, he is almost an adult-sorta....Not sure how much freedom he is going to get in 13 days on the Freedom. Will just have to wait and see how I feel about the kids I see him with, what activities the older kids are doing, etc.. It is a tough call. They say the first 40 years are the hardest. LOL!! Btw...I make him wear a watch so he can't tell me he didn't know the time!!!

[Catrin]

When they are in the Circle C age group, I always said they needed to be "home" within 10 minutes of the last activity ending.

 

In the Club 02 age group, it varied night to night, but between 12 and 1 was the norm.

 

They always had to be in the Clubs, or we would need to know about where they planned on being. .... that usually lasts the first few nights. After they get a regular group of friends, we tended to be more lenient, as long as they acted responsibly.

 

Catrin

[Cactuscruise]

For those of you traveling with teens & tweens, what do you think a reasonable time to ask them to be back in the cabin by, would be? I'm remembering that in cruises past, there was still quite a bit going on later in the eveing (even a dance contest up on the lido one night). My thought is that I'll plan to hang out in some of the general areas & have them check in periodically.

 

Only you know your children and their level of maturity. You are the only one who can set a reasonable curfew for them.

[bplazo]

Well, for a tween (I am assuming that is under 13) I would not let them roam the ship at all unless they were in the kids club.

[npb1999]

I guess I must be overprotective, but my daughter is 16 and I have twin boys that are 13 and I don't think I would let them be out til midnight without me, especially on a ship, where there are a lot of strangers and many open decks. If they were at the camp, then that is one thing, but out roaming the ship with other kids til midnight? I don't think I could possibly do that...would make me way too nervous!

[bunchesofun]

I'll be monitoring the replies to this as when we sail in December our daughter will be 12 and in Circle C and our son will have just turned 18 and his friend who is going with us will be 16. How to keep track of where everyone is. I'm afraid that if I tell our dd, the younger one, that she needs to stay at Circle C, that all the kids will decide to leave and that would leave her there alone if I don't allow her to go with them. Last cruise ds refused to go to Club 02 until the last night when he met a bunch of kids and stayed out till 3:30. He was mad at himself for not going earlier. But he won't be allowed in 02 this year. However he will still be in high school and I've heard that sometimes that will allow them to be in the club even though they are 18.

[Jpod]

I would definitely tailor it to the child. Let them know ahead of time there will be a curfew, but you can adjust it onboard if circumstances require it. You could make it a bit earlier on nights before an early excursion, and later if there is something special going on and/or they don't have to get up early.

 

A lot of my kids friends are night owls, and a midnight or 1 am curfew would be appropriate. My kids are morning people and will go to bed voluntarily by 9 pm. My 16 year old actually tends to go to bed before my almost 13 year old, but he gets up very early in the morning. My problem tends to be more along the lines of setting a time in the morning before which they are not allowed to wake me up unless it's an emergency. :D

[19snapshot]

We look at the Capers every morning at breakfast. My two older kids don't enjoy the MDR, so we make breakfast our family meal everyday. We negotiate our check in times and curfew for the night at that time, depending on what interests them. My kids haven't pushed the curfew issue much, maybe because they know they won't be able to sleep in, as we eat breakfast together. This has worked well for us.

[laumicmah]

We like our kids to be in the cabin for the night when we go to bed...around 11-12. They have been on 3 cruises with us...the first was when they were 8, 8 and 10 (we had a cabin of 4 and MIL and FIL had a cabin of 3 with our DS-10). They went to bed when we did on that cruise (we did pick them up late one night from the kids club...like 1 or 2 one night when they had some sleepover party...it was a Disney cruise). The 2nd one they went on was 8/2010 and they were 11, 11 and 13 (and DS brought a friend also 13). The girls and I were in 1 cabin and DH and the boys were in another (next door)...our friends with their DD-11 were in another cabin next door. We all went to be at the same time (the kids didn't really do the clubs on this cruise...the boys didn't want to leave the cabin too often and the girls weren't happy to be the oldest in the kid club that was for 8-11 year olds) Last cruise they went on was 8/2011 (they were 12,12 and 14) and again DS brought a friend-14 that didn't want to do anything. The boys were in an inside cabin and DH and I were with the girls across the hall in a balcony. We all went to bed at the same time again. I couldn't go to sleep if my kids were out and about on the ship (not at this age...maybe when they are closer to 17-18) and I'm not all that able to stay up past midnight.

[schultz]

Depends on whether they are coming back to the cabin alone or being escorted. My 17 yr old DD has a 1:30 curfew But she must have one of the other kids she will meet escort her back to our room. I don't sleep well until I know she is back.

[Poohbeck]

On our last cruise (our first cruise ever) our boys (DS12 & DS14) went to Circle C. They would stay out until that last Circle C event was over. We would meet them at the event with LOTS of other parents. On a few occasions they had made plans with their friends to go our for pizza after the event and my husband would go with them, but, not sit with them.

 

Our next cruise I will have one son in Circle C and the other will be in Club O2. We'll see how that goes...

[RyanMorgan]

For those of you traveling with teens & tweens, what do you think a reasonable time to ask them to be back in the cabin by, would be? I'm remembering that in cruises past, there was still quite a bit going on later in the eveing (even a dance contest up on the lido one night). My thought is that I'll plan to hang out in some of the general areas & have them check in periodically.

 

I'm a teen and normally my parents don't give me and my sister a curfew because were exhausted by 12. But, we normally do check in with our parents at 11.30. My parents choose a random place and time and we have to meet them there, if we don't, then we get in trouble or something. But, we always meet them because..just why not. Its stupid not too!:cool:

[Tbay-eh]

In reading the posts there are a variety of times and reasons. Only you know your child and if they can or cannot make smart choices. We generally set the same curfew that we set back home. Our code of conduct is "respect yourself and respect others" and that covers almost every behaviour and believe me - they know the consequences.

[Tbay-eh]

I'm a teen and normally my parents don't give me and my sister a curfew because were exhausted by 12. But, we normally do check in with our parents at 11.30. My parents choose a random place and time and we have to meet them there, if we don't, then we get in trouble or something. But, we always meet them because..just why not. Its stupid not too!:cool:

 

Smart kid - smart parents.

[crusinfamof4]

Our boys were 14 & 12 on our last cruise. They would come back in the cabin around midnight, sometimes ask to go back to the arcade and I let them. My husband was always asleep. One night in Circle C they had midnight dodgeball and the kids did that. Our boys were always in bed by 1:30.

[MrsZee]

I guess, since I have a 4 year old, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I hope that in ten years I can trust him to not be stupid, but my worries come from not being able to trust all the OTHER kids.

[tracyanns]

This is our daughters first year in Circle C. We plan on going over the events with her and seeing what she is doing. At the end of the last even we will go and pick her up wherever they may be...no way could I go to bed without her being in the cabin.

[Andoria]

I guess, since I have a 4 year old, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I hope that in ten years I can trust him to not be stupid, but my worries come from not being able to trust all the OTHER kids.

 

 

Start drilling it in your son's head now that it doesn't matter what his friends do or don't do. He's responsible for his own behavior.

 

My son was 12 on our last cruise and he had a 1:00-1:30 curfew. The upcoming cruise he'll be one month shy of turning 14 and he has begged not to have a curfew but he can keep on begging.

[4spring]

Thanks for the great feedback. Like others, I can't sleep if my kids are out & about so I usually make it a point to try to be out on the decks somewhere. This definitely helps me have a better defined time frame. I was thinking somewhere between 11 & 12 so I'll stick with this plan.

 

And Ryan, thanks for sharing your feedback - its always good to have a teen's point of view!

[19snapshot]

I forgot to add that we have a strict no wandering the open decks or stateroom hallways policy. They need to inform us if their plans change. We use post-it notes on the closet door for communication. The kids have always been good about letting us know what their plans are.