Best Approach

[msstarr22]

I love to cruise! I would love to take my grand-daughter on a cruise. Now my kids are not interested (at all), so hard to believe!!! So my thought are how can I get them to let me take my grand-daughter on a cruise! I have some major health problems and she is still quite young but I really want to give her as many memories of time with me as I can. Not sure how long this ol girl is going to be able to cruise. So what might anyone suggest? She is just turned 4 and we do things overnight together but never far from home. Ohioan so please give me some thoughts....

[FlaMilkman]

Information is the key! Provide them with brochures and / or computer printouts detailing the Camp Carnival program. Let them know that your GD doesn't have to be with you 24/7. She can do as much with you (or as little) as she wants because there is a place that she can spend time with kids her own age. On the same note, they don't have to worry about you being overwhelmed because there are options available to you.

 

Point out how your GD will enjoy the evening shows, the pool, the waterslides, etc. She will be able to eat to her heart's content, have the opportunity to see great ports and experience things that she would never be able to experience at home.

 

You only come this way once and should be commended for wanting to be a "hands-on" grandparent. I couldn't get my father to watch my kids for a couple hours when they were young to let the DW and I catch a movie!

[okgirl]

I love to cruise! I would love to take my grand-daughter on a cruise. Now my kids are not interested (at all), so hard to believe!!! So my thought are how can I get them to let me take my grand-daughter on a cruise! I have some major health problems and she is still quite young but I really want to give her as many memories of time with me as I can. Not sure how long this ol girl is going to be able to cruise. So what might anyone suggest? She is just turned 4 and we do things overnight together but never far from home. Ohioan so please give me some thoughts....

 

Is there perhaps another family member or a close friend that you might also invite to come along. Hopefully that would address any fears your kids would have regarding you falling ill during a cruise.

 

As much as you want to share the experience of cruising with her, maybe you should take baby steps and first go spend a long weekend at a hotel that is close to a water park or amusement park. She might need a little adjustment to be okay with being away from her folks and in a strange place for more than just a night.

[kimberleyb1961]

First of all, my most favorite memories of all are of the times I spent with my wonderful, beloved, Nonnie. At my age, and her being gone for 20 years now, I still see a commercial for a trip or destination and instinctively reach for the phone to call her and suggest a little trip. Its only when I actually go to dial the phone that I remember, sadly so, that Nonnie now travels the world on angel wings.

 

So, I think it is absolutely over the top fabulous that you want to take your darling GD with you on a cruise and I think you absolutely positively should. My first cruise was a Trans-Atlantic on which I turned from 4 to 5. Of all the cruises I've taken since then, its my favorite and the one with the fondest memories. However, back then, we had nannies and there weren't formal children's programs like they have now, just nannies and a nursery.

 

Of course, by the age of 2, I was already a world traveler, had been on many planes, trains and automobiles and was used to traveling.

 

If this is her first trip without her parents, I would suggest working up the the length of the cruise. First, have her over for a girls only weekend. Get mani/pedis go out to a movie, have brunch. Then take her home. Try another little vakay for like four nights, visit some museums, go to the beach or the mountains, but come home for sleeping. Then, finally do a couple of nights at a hotel. And just stay at the hotel, swim there, eat there. That way she gets used to being away from her parents and eventually away from home. And realizes that while to her it seems like she is away forever, she will always come home to Mom and Dad and more importantly, come home.

 

Approach her parents with this series of outings as leading up to a cruise. Even if you weren't going to end up on a cruise, these outings will be important in developing her sense of self, her sense of belonging and her sense of stability and will make sleepovers with friends and summer camp easier to adjust to.

 

Then, get all the information you can on the ship you want to take, the itinerary, the children's programs and all that information. Share in the planning with the parents so they feel like they have some control over the situation because I guarantee you, its more about being separated from their darling daughter, than about you taking their daughter on a cruise. The little outings you two take together will also be good "training" for Mom and Dad, too.

 

I hope that by the time your GD reaches my age, that, she too, will have many happy memories of wonderful adventures with her grandmother.

[HarpHarp]

I love to cruise! I would love to take my grand-daughter on a cruise. Now my kids are not interested (at all), so hard to believe!!! So my thought are how can I get them to let me take my grand-daughter on a cruise! I have some major health problems and she is still quite young but I really want to give her as many memories of time with me as I can. Not sure how long this ol girl is going to be able to cruise. So what might anyone suggest? She is just turned 4 and we do things overnight together but never far from home. Ohioan so please give me some thoughts....

 

Make sure your kids know all about the kids club for your grand daughter. Will she like the pool and the water slides? Are you able take care of her around the pool etc.? A shorter cruise from a port you can drive to would be ideal, but not so easy from 44444. Make sure you have release forms from the parents. I'd really try to get someone else to go with you. It's pretty hard to manage a child that young on your own on board.

If you can't get someone else to go with you, I volunteer. I'm just west of you on SR 5:)

[msstarr22]

Make sure your kids know all about the kids club for your grand daughter. Will she like the pool and the water slides? Are you able take care of her around the pool etc.? A shorter cruise from a port you can drive to would be ideal, but not so easy from 44444. Make sure you have release forms from the parents. I'd really try to get someone else to go with you. It's pretty hard to manage a child that young on your own on board.

If you can't get someone else to go with you, I volunteer. I'm just west of you on SR 5:)

 

Lol, I have taken her on several overnights since she was a wee one. She is a good traveler. We are together every week as well. She spends every Tuesday with me instead of daycare. I have DH, but he is tired of cruising...something that I can say will NEVER HAPPEN WITH ME. When I quit cruising or turn one down then they can easily start planning the wake.

[WetToes]

OP - I agree with the others about taking someone else along. With "major health problems" would you really be able to care for a 4 year old all alone?

Spending the day, or an overnighter with her is one thing, a whole week ... .

I wish you well. :)