Getting kids ready for cruising

[erin1998]

Hello everyone,

We are going on our first cruise on 11/28 and my 7 year old is pumped with excitement. Thank you all very much for the tips. They are all great ideas that surely help me in preparing my child for our trip.

Thanks a lot

erin:)

[calmac]

Our son (then aged 9) was really looking forward to our first cruise this summer - to Alaska. A very excited family embarked and went to our cabin. The safety video was on with instructions about muster drill. Our son started to get very worried about muster drill and what would happen. He'll be OK for our next cruise but it's probably worth talking children through this BEFORE embarkation just so that they know why the drill takes place, and when.

[TexasFyre]

My son and I sail in 141 days. So what i have done so far is this:

 

I printed out the "Camp Carnaval activities" for his age group and pinned it to the wall in his room.

 

a few weeks later, i printed out the picture of the layout of the Carnival Conquest and pinned that right under it.

 

Now, being the only child his manners are fine at the table, BUT he has this horrid problem with talking to himself for hours...drives me bonkers! So, to help curb this I got out my picture stock paper, and printed a very beautiful picture of the Ship, and taped it to his mirror in his bathroom at eye level, so he has quit talking to himself and stares at the ship instead.

 

I do volunteer work at our local library, and many of you don't know this, but they offer DVD and VHS to check out. I am going to get a documentary of where we are going and let him watch it, and also sent off a information package from the cruiseline it self in regards to the ports.

 

so far, he doesn't know 100% that he is going (every time he has a case of the "tude" with me I tell him I can just go alone) so he is trying very hard to stay focused in school with grades.

 

He was on the A-B honor role all year last year, and struggling to stay this year, he deserves the cruise and WILL go...I am just mean by not confirming it.

[Nicki_p100]

I came across a great article on MSNBC on travel safety and wanted to pass it along. Great reminders even for adults on being safe during your vacation. Also, follow the link in the article (called "how to cruise with kids") for more tips on how to prepare kids for a cruise.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9546629/

 

Oh, and always make sure your kids memorize their room number and ship name.

[cc cruiser]

I must say this thread is much more encouraging than the one titled "Have you ever had people give you a hard time about children on a cruise." (Or something like that.) After I read that thread I had a fear of some one saying something to me or my grandchildren that would ruin the cruise. Here I see children can be coached ahead of time and have a pleasurable experience! (As well as be a pleasure to our fellow passengers!)

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

Cruising 101 begins with my grandchildren immediately!

[CurtS]

I know I sound like a tyrant but we have a lot of fun.. just as long as they stay away from the railing and the elevator buttons ;)

 

Not at all! We have six children and without some sort of control THEY would be the ones climbing on the railing and pushing all 11 elevator buttons (or even pushing the buttons AND climbing up and down the elevator walls)!

 

At least I know my children will be safe and a minimum distraction to myself, my wife and, most important of all, other passengers. I've already explained to them that our house is not a democracy and dictatorship (with a bit of tyranny thrown in for good measure) is something they will have to deal with until they are 18.

 

One of my biggest concerns is how the kids will react to flying, so about a week before we leave I line up the kitchen chairs like a plane and explain all of the bumps, noises and feelings that they will have during take off, flight and landing (especially when the landing gear comes up and the plane touches down). We also map out the path of the plane (given good weather). I think that makes the flight much more fun for everyone.

 

Curt

[helenb]

Thanks for recommending Look Mom I Have Good Manners! It has worked out well for my 5 year old!

[LizaMM]

I have always taken my kids out to nicer restaurants and would prepare them in advance by reminding whem that it was "adult behavior. When I booked our first cruise I changed the language to "cruise restaurant behavior" and we have done this ever since, even while dining at home. I have taught them to say thank you after they place their order etc. and this little reminder goes a long way in the attitude druing the whole meal.

 

Additionally, I let my kids pick out their clothes for the cruise. They really get into selecting dinner outfits and wearing their nice stuff helps them to remember that this is "adult time" for them.

 

We practice "sunscreening" with moisturizing lotion in advance. I am a sunscreen fanatic and require that the first thing they do before dressing (while naked) is to sunscreen from head to toe and then reapply often throughout the day. This is a good one! NOTHING ruins a great cruise like a kid with a burn!!!!

 

Pressing elevator button is an adult job! If they are very good they can earn the right to press a button and since it is earned then they only press the one!

 

NO walking off anywhere without an adult....once we are settled for a couple of days I let them walk over to the ice cream machine or pizza and get their own and they are so proud to earn this right that I am SURE that they are exemplerary in their behavior! I have even gotten to the point that I let them go to the cabin (buddy system) and retrieve something and they just love it!

 

I pay my teen DD's to babysit at night in the cabin from time to time. This works our quite well. I usually wind up offering the younger kids some payment for being well-behaved and they all get room service and are allowed a movie. This is money that offers them to buy souveniers in the next port of call or in the ship gift shop or photos.

 

I let my older kids have their own Cruise Critic screen names and post to the roll call thread.

 

My DD made a paper chain (this has become a vaction tradition) to countdown to our cruise which we hung in the living room and pulled off a piece each night.

 

I have lots more and will post as I think of them!

[chrly]

We explained to the kids on their first cruse and air flight what was expected of them beforehand so that they knew the rules. My 2 DD's absoulutly loved flying...especially as it was explained to them. A plane ride is like a car ride...you just feel like you are on a roller coster on the way up and on the decent. Both kids still talk about flying in an airplane. My 2 DD's were 3 and 9 on our cruise...and were for the most part extremely well behaved. They loved being treated like "adults" in the dining room. Especially the 9 year old who wanted to try new dishes (escargot is a new favorite of hers). We made sure that they each had their own "backpack" with fun things to do that were new to them. We also let them pick out the shore excursions we would be doing on the trip...and watched a video about the ports of call that we got from our TA.