Money For teen/teen club

[torcruise]

Hello I'm thinking about taking my 15 year old niece on a cruise on the Grandeur. and would like to find out information about the teen clubs. Also how much money do you think a teen would need each day on there card? I'm guessing they need money to play games and get sodas and stuff. I'm a little concerned about her safety on the cruise. I'm thinking I will not allow her to walk around the ship by herself, however I want her to have fun without anchoring her to me and my 3 year old toddler. I need help since I'm not a mother of a teenager and want her to have fun but also be safe.

Edited May 6, 2014 by torcruise

[blueblock]

I have taken two 14 year old nieces on cruises. I did let them go around by themselves, with certain restrictions; they were not allowed to go to anyone's cabin or bring anyone to ours; they could only be in public places (Windjammer, Promenade, etc.); they had curfews and check-in times. They both enjoyed the teen clubs, but sometimes groups of teens would meet up there and then go elsewhere on the ship, and I didn't have a problem with that as long as they used good judgment. They knew that if the other kids started doing stupid/dangerous stuff, I expected them to leave.

 

My nieces got money from their parents, and I don't know the amount.

[Robrud]

I had my 12, 13, and 14 y/o's recently on EOS. I did let them go around the ship themselves, but we did have a "contract" with some rules they needed to adhere by (similar to the OP). My kids had the soda package, so except for the rare times they wanted to play in the arcade, they asked/needed no other money.

What a wonderful aunt you are. Have fun!

 

 

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[Harooni]

i got my 13 year old the soda package and 0 privileges spending. i took him to the arcade a few times using my card. he entered ping pong tourneys and swam everyday and had a blast

[torcruise]

Thanks

Since my niece will be by her self I'm a little worried about her walking back to the room alone. I was thinking of making check in times though out the day where she has to come back to the room to check in with me, has anyone had a check in system?

[Harooni]

Thanks

Since my niece will be by her self I'm a little worried about her walking back to the room alone. I was thinking of making check in times though out the day where she has to come back to the room to check in with me, has anyone had a check in system?

i brought cobra walkie talkies from walmart. rechargable worked great. once you get used to the ship its not that big. and it is safe dont worry. i only allowed my son on the 9th floor so i knew what level he would be at all times.

[33tekfan]

We always use a check in system with our teens. We talk in the morning about their general plan for the day then use check ins based around that.

 

I understand your wariness since she'll be alone sometimes. Not sure how I would handle that but if she makes friends easily then she won't be alone much :)

 

As others have mentioned, if you buy the soda package, she won't have to pay for those individually. The only other thing I can think she would spend money at is the arcade or on a virgin drink (my kids LOVE virgin Pina Coladas!). Or Ben and Jerry's :D

 

There is a contract somewhere on here with rules for teens - has some good suggestions, although not everything may apply to your situation, it's a good base for coming up with your own rules/expectations.

[33tekfan]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1152757

 

As I said, it'sd a good base to use to come up with your own rules! Happy sailing!

[idamae3218]

We cruised a lot with our 2 teen sons. Most of the time they were not in the same age group. They made friends easy though. As someone else said, we had rules about where they could be., public places. Also, they had a certain amount of time to get back to the room after the last activity at night, or mom & dad would come get them. Fortunately for them, we never had to do that. Soda package, no spending (until older); not sure it's the same, but we were able to add cash to their card for the arcade. That way we didn't have to be there. Once it was done it was done. Hope this helps. Have a great cruise.

 

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[jerrib]

I'm thinking of loading a certain amount on my 15-yr-old's card primarily for the arcade. If someone could tell me how much the games are I would better be able to judge what that amount should be.

Thanks.

[torcruise]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1152757

 

As I said, it'sd a good base to use to come up with your own rules! Happy sailing!

 

thanks! this was really helpful!

[torcruise]

Does anyone know how much the virgin drinks are? and the Ben and jerrys?

[33tekfan]

Does anyone know how much the virgin drinks are? and the Ben and jerrys?

 

My kids tell me their virgin drinks were $4.60. Ben and Jerry's is roughly the same - depending what they get, similar to an ice cream shop, there are choices :)

[33tekfan]

I'm thinking of loading a certain amount on my 15-yr-old's card primarily for the arcade. If someone could tell me how much the games are I would better be able to judge what that amount should be.

Thanks.

 

Standard arcade fees: .50 up to a couple of dollars for the "fancier" games.

[deedeetoo]

Last summer the only thing my 15yo dd used the teen center for was a meeting place. She met a group of friends on the first night and they all hung out together all week. The only organized teen activity that she participated in was one night when they "took over" the flowrider. She didn't spend much money but then again she doesn't do video games. Other than one dinner at Johnnie Rockets with her friends, I don't think she charged anything to her card. We didn't have preset check ins but we did run into her regularly on the pool deck (where she pretended she didn't know us). She's responsible and smart so I didn't have any trouble letting her go around the ship on her own.

[cb at sea]

There is no reason to allow your child to "roam"...if they want to go from point A to point B...let them...then have them check back in with you before they go on their next adventure. Roaming at will is bad. Doing stuff on their own is good. You need to differentiate between the two. It's called "parenting".

[panoramaofthepast]

Hello I'm thinking about taking my 15 year old niece on a cruise on the Grandeur. and would like to find out information about the teen clubs. Also how much money do you think a teen would need each day on there card? I'm guessing they need money to play games and get sodas and stuff. I'm a little concerned about her safety on the cruise. I'm thinking I will not allow her to walk around the ship by herself, however I want her to have fun without anchoring her to me and my 3 year old toddler. I need help since I'm not a mother of a teenager and want her to have fun but also be safe.

 

 

I took my granddaughters on a cruise; they were 10 and 13 at the time. We discussed where they would be going. If they changed destination, they were to let me know, either in person or by leaving a note on the mirror. (Dry erase markers are great!) they were not allowed in another room and could not have anyone in our room unless I was there.

 

I put a spending limit on their cards of $125 each for the week for the arcade and other things. Neither girl came close to that. BTW, it had to be weekly, not daily, at least on Carnival.

 

We had a great time!

 

 

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[33tekfan]

There is no reason to allow your child to "roam"...if they want to go from point A to point B...let them...then have them check back in with you before they go on their next adventure. Roaming at will is bad. Doing stuff on their own is good. You need to differentiate between the two. It's called "parenting".

 

Did you mean for this to be as harsh as it came across?

[deedeetoo]

There is no reason to allow your child to "roam"...if they want to go from point A to point B...let them...then have them check back in with you before they go on their next adventure. Roaming at will is bad. Doing stuff on their own is good. You need to differentiate between the two. It's called "parenting".

 

You do realize this thread is about teenagers right, not 8 year olds. Teens should not have to check in after every adventure, as you call it.

[Harooni]

You do realize this thread is about teenagers right, not 8 year olds. Teens should not have to check in after every adventure, as you call it.

 

at 15 girls are very mature. i think in todays world people forget that. when i was young i "roamed" all over the streets and played basketball and stickball and so did all my neighbors who were around 12-16 . this was the 80's . now we live in an age if i leave my 13 year old home alone for an hour they want to call social services. meanwhile he is kissing girls already and walking them home. lol

[torcruise]

Any parents with teens not buy the soda package?

[nascar junkie]

You know your niece and how responsible she is. We turned our daughter loose at age 13 with rules and check in times. She had a group of friends almost immediatly and tended to hang with "like minded" teens. I did see everything from kids groping and almost having sex in crooks and crannies to being typical teens but I'll bet the sexters were like that pre-cruise and they weren't the one's my daughter hung with. My point is set your rules and boundries and you can tell by listening to a lot of what's happening and going on.

[clochette]

Any parents with teens not buy the soda package?

 

We never buy the soda package for our girls, they do not want it, as they don't drink that much soda, thye both like iced tea and lemonade and can get that as much as they want in windjammer and the dining room

[NatashaB951]

I will be cruising with my teens DD-13 & DS-16 for the first time soon. They have $100 OBC that they will split and I will put $100 on each of their seapass cards. I can already see that my daughter will spend most of hers at the $10 store on board so she has pre-budgeted that amount already in her head. Neither are crazy about sodas so no soda package purchased. My daughter has budgeted $20 for sodas during the 7 days. This is a surprise for my DS so I have asked for everyone to donate cash towards his seapass account as he is an arcade guru..lol..I feel that the $150 is plenty for my two.

[Psycopuppy]

My teens aren't big soda drinkers, but did some damage last summer at the coffee places so I will get the $20 package which includes bottled water which they also drink a lot of. My kids are pretty good about asking to spend, so if they need something, they have the latitude to buy items they understand are within reason. Both have had preloaded debit cards for some time and they have to manage and budget for expenses. As for being out, they have access to cars at home and time when we are not there. I don't think being on a ship will entice them one way or another.

 

Set expectations and limits in advance and it should work out for you. Ask them what they might want and there are resources out there to estimate costs with you so they understand.