Parents & Kids in different cabins

[CruisingLover]

We will be cruising with my husband's entire family; brothers, sister in laws, parents, nieces & nephews......19 total. Anyway, my father in law booked the cruise for all of us but we are the only ones that have 3 kids (every other brother has 2 children). So, for that reason, he had to book us in 2 cabins (one balcony the other inside across the hall). One reservation is in my name with my 2 sons and the other reservation is in my husbands name with my daughter.

 

I am wondering what we do in order for all 5 of our key cards to be able to open BOTH cabin doors? I would like all 5 of us to have access to either room.

 

I asked the girl at NCL (told her I, obviously, would be in the cabin with my husband while my kids would be in their own cabin) and all she said was "don't tell us that information" :confused:

 

I'm assuming there are other families of 5 out there that don't splurge for a huge suite and have been in my situation. If so, what did you do in order to have your key cards work for both doors?

 

We will be on NCL Pearl to Alaska :)

 

Thanks!

[mom2tcdx2]

Yes you can get keys to both cabins that will open the doors. We do this when my kids are sailing along with my parents and I. Just go to guest services when you arrive.

[CruisingLover]

Yes you can get keys to both cabins that will open the doors. We do this when my kids are sailing along with my parents and I. Just go to guest services when you arrive.

 

Thanks!

[bmlovell]

We sailed last year with my 10 and 11 year old across the hall . I was nervous but it worked out great ! My kids had keys to both rooms and we all got keys made from service desk. I gave them some ground rules to keep them safe which they obeyed :D. This was so much better than being packed into one room:).

Enjoy your trip!

[maggie cruises]

We will be cruising with my husband's entire family; brothers, sister in laws, parents, nieces & nephews......19 total. Anyway, my father in law booked the cruise for all of us but we are the only ones that have 3 kids (every other brother has 2 children). So, for that reason, he had to book us in 2 cabins (one balcony the other inside across the hall). One reservation is in my name with my 2 sons and the other reservation is in my husbands name with my daughter.

 

I am wondering what we do in order for all 5 of our key cards to be able to open BOTH cabin doors? I would like all 5 of us to have access to either room.

 

I asked the girl at NCL (told her I, obviously, would be in the cabin with my husband while my kids would be in their own cabin) and all she said was "don't tell us that information" :confused:

 

I'm assuming there are other families of 5 out there that don't splurge for a huge suite and have been in my situation. If so, what did you do in order to have your key cards work for both doors?

 

We will be on NCL Pearl to Alaska :)

 

Thanks!

 

I hold on to one of their keys . I have never bothered to give them one of our keys because we have had connecting cabins until last cruise.

 

But anyway....our policy with 4 dd's from current ages 11 to 22 is that they always need to be at least 2 together..always..anywhere...of course an exception can be made..but there never has been an issue as they love each other and are concerned as young women that they should be in pairs anyway on a ship full of strangers especially.

 

so, I usually take one of their 4 cards...the 16 yo is always happy to give it up so she doesn't need to worry about it. If that particular kid needs to go back to the room she turns to one of her sisters and takes them with her.

 

as the 4 of them have 3 cards between them there is never any problem finding a card.

 

my dh has his card and I have my card and we have never had an issue with them needing to get into our room when we weren't there to open the door for them anyway.

 

since you have 3 kids..and 2 of them are boys....I would hold on to the youngest ones card. that way you know where he is and when he is going to the room as he will have to ask you for it or will need to tell one of his older sibs when borrowing their card.

 

 

I know there are better ways to do this...but when we cruise, which is quite often, we like to hang out together..the kids and us....so someone with a card is always at hand.

 

in your case you will probably be spending loads of time with the adult family members however

Edited April 22, 2013 by maggie cruises

[bugspost]

We have two mini suites booked on Jewel which are adjoining..........we booked me w/DIL & two kids & hubby w/son & two kids in order to get AARP discount. We plan on making sure the adjoining door is always unlocked so noone has problems getting in cabin. (obviously, son & DIL will share cabin) BUT it will be convenient if we can just get all keys to work on either cabin. Thanks!

[LucyR.]

What are the ages of your three kids? The reason that the girl at the NCL said not to say that your kids would be in one room was because most likely NCL prefers to have one adult on each cabin.

My advise is to change over to two window cabins that are connected for the safety of your kids nomatter what their age is because there have been

cases where kids can get sexually abused by other kids on the cruise or a

predator of kids.

 

You all looky loos have to believe me. Just go to Events at sea website and you will see some of crimes committed against children.

Recently a young teen girl was raped by other teens on the ship. I forgot what ship it happened at but it is a reality that cruiseships are not always safe.

One time I saw a teen girl running down some stairs with some cruise ship friends and she fell hard down the stairs and seriously injured her back.

Meanwhile her parents were having a fancy dinner at some diner not realizing what her child was doing. It was really sad to hear that girl screaming with pain.

Another time a teen girl with all her clothes on jumped into the cold ship pool late at night and it was really a cold night. I ran to my cabin to get her a large towel. Kids do crazy things on ships to impress the other kids on the cruise ship.

 

The majority of times nothing happens to kids but who wants their kid in

trouble when on a cruise? Accidents do happen also.

[SissasMomE]

What are the ages of your three kids? The reason that the girl at the NCL said not to say that your kids would be in one room was because most likely NCL prefers to have one adult on each cabin.

My advise is to change over to two window cabins that are connected for the safety of your kids nomatter what their age is because there have been

cases where kids can get sexually abused by other kids on the cruise or a

predator of kids.

 

You all looky loos have to believe me. Just go to Events at sea website and you will see some of crimes committed against children.

Recently a young teen girl was raped by other teens on the ship. I forgot what ship it happened at but it is a reality that cruiseships are not always safe.

One time I saw a teen girl running down some stairs with some cruise ship friends and she fell hard down the stairs and seriously injured her back.

Meanwhile her parents were having a fancy dinner at some diner not realizing what her child was doing. It was really sad to hear that girl screaming with pain.

Another time a teen girl with all her clothes on jumped into the cold ship pool late at night and it was really a cold night. I ran to my cabin to get her a large towel. Kids do crazy things on ships to impress the other kids on the cruise ship.

 

The majority of times nothing happens to kids but who wants their kid in

trouble when on a cruise? Accidents do happen also.

 

Agreed. Leaving 9-, 10- and 11-year olds in a room by themselves?! Yikes!!

 

I posted that article here - about the rape - and the board monitor removed it. :rolleyes:

[SissasMomE]

We sailed last year with my 10 and 11 year old across the hall . I was nervous but it worked out great ! My kids had keys to both rooms and we all got keys made from service desk. I gave them some ground rules to keep them safe which they obeyed :D. This was so much better than being packed into one room:).

Enjoy your trip!

 

I'm glad it all worked out for you guys. Honestly, I'd be scared to death to leave kids that young by themselves! Then again, I bet they listen better than most teens do!! :)

[maggie cruises]

What are the ages of your three kids? The reason that the girl at the NCL said not to say that your kids would be in one room was because most likely NCL prefers to have one adult on each cabin.

My advise is to change over to two window cabins that are connected for the safety of your kids nomatter what their age is because there have been

cases where kids can get sexually abused by other kids on the cruise or a

predator of kids.

 

You all looky loos have to believe me. Just go to Events at sea website and you will see some of crimes committed against children.

Recently a young teen girl was raped by other teens on the ship. I forgot what ship it happened at but it is a reality that cruiseships are not always safe.

One time I saw a teen girl running down some stairs with some cruise ship friends and she fell hard down the stairs and seriously injured her back.

Meanwhile her parents were having a fancy dinner at some diner not realizing what her child was doing. It was really sad to hear that girl screaming with pain.

Another time a teen girl with all her clothes on jumped into the cold ship pool late at night and it was really a cold night. I ran to my cabin to get her a large towel. Kids do crazy things on ships to impress the other kids on the cruise ship.

 

The majority of times nothing happens to kids but who wants their kid in

trouble when on a cruise? Accidents do happen also.

 

absolutely...connecting cabins is the way to go. and even though 2 of our kids are over 18, my preference is still 2 connecting cabins. The last cruise on the Ruby Princess was adjoining for one reason...the ship doesn't have any connecting OV's. That's all.

 

to the above poster..you are hitting on a topic that I am always interested in...as to why these kids on cruises think that the "new best strangers" that they just met at the kids/teen club are anything but total strangers that could care less about them? As evidenced by the teen raped by the other teens.

 

Do parents actually look at some of the kids that are on cruises? I do and other than on a Med cruise, which tends to have a different type of teen/kid cruiser..i.e. one that wants to experience history versus one that may want to roam around drunk until 3am, you know.."because it is their vacation too" (roll eyes)..there are few other kids/teens on cruises that I seriously want my kids to meet. Then again I bring 4 of my own with me, so no need for others.

Edited April 22, 2013 by maggie cruises

[CruisingLover]

Thanks everyone.

 

Our kids will be with us every single minute except when it's time to go to bed. They aren't interested in going to the kids club, plus we are going on a family vacation so we want to be with them :)

 

We have already talked to them about no one leaving the cabin, and IF they need to come to our cabin for any reason they are to call our room first so we know their door is open. Also, they are not to open the door to anyone but our family members.

 

Believe me, I am a nervous wreck about them in their own cabin but my father in law is paying for this cruise so we, unfortunately, can't really ask him to spend more on us for the kids to have a balcony cabin.

[SissasMomE]

Thanks everyone.

 

Our kids will be with us every single minute except when it's time to go to bed. They aren't interested in going to the kids club, plus we are going on a family vacation so we want to be with them :)

 

We have already talked to them about no one leaving the cabin, and IF they need to come to our cabin for any reason they are to call our room first so we know their door is open. Also, they are not to open the door to anyone but our family members.

 

Believe me, I am a nervous wreck about them in their own cabin but my father in law is paying for this cruise so we, unfortunately, can't really ask him to spend more on us for the kids to have a balcony cabin.

 

They will be fine! As others have said, just go to guest services when you board, and you can get extra room keys.

[bmlovell]

I'm glad it all worked out for you guys. Honestly, I'd be scared to death to leave kids that young by themselves! Then again, I bet they listen better than most teens do!! :)

 

Yes I was nervous but my kids are very good at listening and being responsible . so it really depends on your child another thing I forgot to mention they could not leave room unless they called are room first, and that was to just step into our cabin they were always with us usually till bed time then we would tuck them in and my dtr would lock door . Our cabin steward was also great and he complimented my kids on there behavior and how they cleaned up after themselves. So it really depends I guess on maturity of the kids:)

[bmlovell]

Thanks everyone.

 

Our kids will be with us every single minute except when it's time to go to bed. They aren't interested in going to the kids club, plus we are going on a family vacation so we want to be with them :)

 

We have already talked to them about no one leaving the cabin, and IF they need to come to our cabin for any reason they are to call our room first so we know their door is open. Also, they are not to open the door to anyone but our family members.

 

Believe me, I am a nervous wreck about them in their own cabin but my father in law is paying for this cruise so we, unfortunately, can't really ask him to spend more on us for the kids to have a balcony cabin.

 

That is exactly how we did it and you can be surprised how a little responsibility given to your kids allows them to step up and be mature:D

[OCruisers]

You'll have no problem getting the extra key cards from customer relations once you are on the ship! People do this all the time. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Tutankhamen]

Do the extra keys have charging privileges? Can OBC be split between cards? Wife is with out one daughter in one cabin. I am with the other daughter in the other cabin. Plan is to move kids physically.

[SissasMomE]

Do the extra keys have charging privileges? Can OBC be split between cards? Wife is with out one daughter in one cabin. I am with the other daughter in the other cabin. Plan is to move kids physically.

 

The extra key is soley to enter the room. Everyone will have their regular key, which they will use to enter their own room and charge, etc. The extra key is a dummy key, only good for opening the door to the other room.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks everyone.

 

Our kids will be with us every single minute except when it's time to go to bed. They aren't interested in going to the kids club, plus we are going on a family vacation so we want to be with them :)

 

We have already talked to them about no one leaving the cabin, and IF they need to come to our cabin for any reason they are to call our room first so we know their door is open. Also, they are not to open the door to anyone but our family members.

 

Believe me, I am a nervous wreck about them in their own cabin but my father in law is paying for this cruise so we, unfortunately, can't really ask him to spend more on us for the kids to have a balcony cabin.

If you are a nervous wreck, it is easy to rectify....you in one cabin with your daughter and your husband in the other with your sons. The safety of your children should be your top priority. NCL has the rule in place for a reason, because obvious things have happened and it is best to abide by the rule.

[SissasMomE]

If you are a nervous wreck, it is easy to rectify....you in one cabin with your daughter and your husband in the other with your sons. The safety of your children should be your top priority. NCL has the rule in place for a reason, because obvious things have happened and it is best to abide by the rule.

 

We did it last year in adjoining cabins, with NCL booking us that way. The kids were 16. Even at 16, I'd never do it again. It was too nerve wracking. Not that they are bad kids - not in the least ... but anything could have happened. I see some parents are putting young teens (and younger) in these cabins alone. I don't know what they are thinking ....

[shelly11]

My daughter has cruised with us twice, both times bringing a friend. She was 14 and then 15. We booked a room across the hall. They did do most things with us but also enjoyed some free time. I would not book my teen in a room with me unless it had 2 bedrooms, mom and dad need private time, i mean we are on vacation!

[mjkacmom]

One time I saw a teen girl running down some stairs with some cruise ship friends and she fell hard down the stairs and seriously injured her back.

Meanwhile her parents were having a fancy dinner at some diner not realizing what her child was doing. It was really sad to hear that girl screaming with pain.

Another time a teen girl with all her clothes on jumped into the cold ship pool late at night and it was really a cold night. I ran to my cabin to get her a large towel. Kids do crazy things on ships to impress the other kids on the cruise ship.

 

The majority of times nothing happens to kids but who wants their kid in

trouble when on a cruise? Accidents do happen also.

 

Kids can fall down the stairs at school, at the mall, at home alone. I can't imagine being such a helicopter parent that I couldn't have dinner alone with DH! And a teen jumping in the pool, and getting COLD?! Oh, the horror - if I saw my teen do that, I certainly wouldn't be running to get a towel. Stupid stunt, deal with the consequences.

 

I have three teens, and the older ones are out and about all of the time - movies, beach, restaurants, mall, city... Normal teens are without adult supervision sometimes. Sure, bad things can happen on a cruise - same things could happen on land, but without security cameras, and I could be hours away.

 

My rule is that they are not allowed in anyone's cabin but ours. Sure, they could break the rule, the same way they could go to a party where there are no adults, while at home. At some point you have to trust them to do the right thing.

 

Heck, my 15 and 17 year olds went into Nassau with a bunch of other teens. I told them to be careful, the same way I tell them to be careful when they go into NYC unsupervised.

[NLH Arizona]

We did it last year in adjoining cabins, with NCL booking us that way. The kids were 16. Even at 16, I'd never do it again. It was too nerve wracking. Not that they are bad kids - not in the least ... but anything could have happened. I see some parents are putting young teens (and younger) in these cabins alone. I don't know what they are thinking ....

I think adjoining cabins are okay, as long as the door between the two remains open. If I had to weigh alone time with my husband and the safety of my children, I'll always pick the children's safety. People just have different priorities; it seems that your's and mind are similar - the children's safety comes first. NCL has these rules for a reason and I think anyone at NCL who knowingly knows or suggests that children are in a cabin without and adult should be terminated immediately. What people don't realize is that the best of kids can make a decision that puts them in danger.

[NLH Arizona]

Heck, my 15 and 17 year olds went into Nassau with a bunch of other teens. I told them to be careful, the same way I tell them to be careful when they go into NYC unsupervised.

And Natalee Holloway went to Aruba and I'm sure her parents told her to be careful as well.

[mjkacmom]

And Natalee Holloway went to Aruba and I'm sure her parents told her to be careful as well.

 

And I am sure her mother is sad. However, I'm not keeping my older teens locked up - that's just crazy. Two of them are going on a school sponsored trip to Montreal this year. Last year they went to California. Dd17 will go away with her friends/boyfriend on prom weekend. Three months later, she will go away to college, attend parties, and walk across dark campuses.

 

At what age should people be allowed out in public unescorted? Senior citizens get raped and murdered. It would seem that the most likely adult victims would be those that were oversheltered.

 

The world is a safer place than when I was growing up, it's just the media that makes it seem oh so scary. Bad things happen - always have, always will. My 10 year olds will still walk to school (have since 2nd grade), go out for lunch, and play outside.

[mjkacmom]

I think adjoining cabins are okay, as long as the door between the two remains open. If I had to weigh alone time with my husband and the safety of my children, I'll always pick the children's safety. People just have different priorities; it seems that your's and mind are similar - the children's safety comes first. NCL has these rules for a reason and I think anyone at NCL who knowingly knows or suggests that children are in a cabin without and adult should be terminated immediately. What people don't realize is that the best of kids can make a decision that puts them in danger.

 

I've booked our family of 7 on 3 NCL cruises - every agent I've ever talked to told me that it doesn't matter who sleeps in what room. Why do you think they have no problem changing key cards? My job is to keep my children safe, while preparing them for the world, bit by bit. Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child. Our job is not to raise children, it's to raise adults. This whole new helicoptering of children is sad.