Getting adult kids to go on a cruise

[john91498]

If he asks you to go to a rave in Vegas for 3 straight days, would you go?

[babyher]

If he asks you to go to a rave in Vegas for 3 straight days, would you go?

 

 

Actually DW and I would *LOL* Much to the delight or total embaressment of our kids . depending on which one you asked :)

 

 

Actually what you describe is exactly the vacation one of my sons (24) loves.

 

A week of beach(pool), boozing , and girls. he works really hard , and plays really hard. Went on one cruise with us and enjoyed himself enough , but that was enough for him.

 

Once they are adults and on their own . Thats it. You do your thing and they do theirs.

[ABQrobin]

LOL... love all the responses.

Trust me, the apron strings were cut a decade ago, we had to kick him out of the nest kicking and screaming. We used to (the 3 of us) go on really exciting trips together, scuba diving primarily. He loves to travel, he loves history, he wants to see all the Mayan ruins.... so it isn't that he is not the type.

 

I guess I just need to find someone to share the cabin with him. (we did something similar a few years ago, invited his college roomie to go on a camping trip with us. LOL Yes, trapped him. )

Edited February 18, 2016 by ABQrobin

[missy428]

My DH and I are so frustrated. Our son is 27 and won't go on a cruise with us, even though we offer to pay for him. He keeps putting us off. Making me crazy!

 

How does everyone else here handle this? I know once he goes, he will have fun... uggghhh!!!! He lives in Houston, so we can fly there and go on a ship out of Galveston. So frustrated!

 

😳 😒 Can I be adopted? 😁❤️

[sunlite]

Must be a guy thing- our son will only come with us if one of his brothers come with, however they are still in college so usually wont work out. Guess our sons dont like to hang with the "old" people, even though we are very active and go zip lining, jet skiing, bar hops. Even though it is great to spend time with them, you cannot let it ruin your fun if the wont go.

[Michelle19]

Your son is an adult. Time to untie the apron strings. He doesn't want to go...go without him and enjoy your time with only your spouse.

 

We have 5 kids age range 18-27. We love going and sometimes even paying for them to travel with us. Has nothing to do with apron strings. Its very fun to have our kids with us on some vacations.. In all honesty though, they did not want to go on a cruise either. It took some persuading indeed.. They loved it so much and met so many great people they still keep in touch with. They keep asking when we are planning our next one! ;)

[Tapi]

Not everyone cares about cruising. It took my sister and brother in law SIXTEEN YEARS to join us on a cruise, and even though they had a great time, they aren't rushing to take another cruise. They love the destination (Alaska), but didn't care for much of what they experienced aboard the ship.

 

In your case, you made the invitation and offered to pay. Your son isn't interested, at least at this stage in his life. All you can do is invite him again in the future if you still would like for him to join you, but don't be aggravated or frustrated if he doesn't care for it.

[cruisinqt]

If he loves history and Mayan ruins then do a cruise to Mexico. There are lots of Mayan ruins and history there. And some of the best scuba diving spots in the world are in that area too. That and a room mate would probably get him on board with you.

[Keith1010]

You can only try so much.

 

Keith

[cruzeluver]

Cruising is definitely not for everyone. Let him be.

 

My parents could offer to pay for me to go camping or RVing (which they love) and the answer would be a resounding "heck no"!

[Vitamin_Sea]

Oh stop... He is 27yo and does what he wants to do. Leave him be.

 

have a good time

[Havingfun2010]

I work with a ton of people, who have adults kids, and honestly, I don't now of any of them that go on vacation together. Both of my adult kids are married, one with a child. I know someday they will join us again on a cruise, but they have their own life now. You asked, they said no, and then it's over.

[MAGNUM PI]

One of my daughters has been battling her husband, about taking a cruise. They have two teenaged sons. Only she has gone on a cruise. She finally used leverage to convince him to book a cruise. He intends on going on an Alaskan hunting trip. She imposed a stipulation, that they would have to take a family cruise, if that was the case.

 

They are booked with us on a Carnival Magic cruise, with our family group of 10 people.

 

So don't give up, trying to convince your son, to join you.

[ABQrobin]

If he loves history and Mayan ruins then do a cruise to Mexico. There are lots of Mayan ruins and history there. And some of the best scuba diving spots in the world are in that area too. That and a room mate would probably get him on board with you.

 

that is exactly what I have been trying to do...

[MommaBear55]

Fly to Houston, enjoy visiting with your son and then enjoy your cruise without him! And then visit again afterwards to rave about the cruise.

 

We love our kids and Grands to death, but trying to get a vacation without them is hard! The pouting and gnashing of teeth is difficult to ignore (and that is the adults!). We finally reserved a studio unit in Cancun so we could go alone. Yesterday's text to DD1: what cruise line did you take to Bermuda? Her: Oh! NCL! We were just talking about going again. When are we all going?. This was no more than 10 minutes before she sent out an email to all of us to set up a Hawaii land vacation in Oct. 2017. Not complaining!

[DirtyDawg]

LOL... love all the responses.

Trust me, the apron strings were cut a decade ago, we had to kick him out of the nest kicking and screaming. We used to (the 3 of us) go on really exciting trips together, scuba diving primarily. He loves to travel, he loves history, he wants to see all the Mayan ruins.... so it isn't that he is not the type.

 

I guess I just need to find someone to share the cabin with him. (we did something similar a few years ago, invited his college roomie to go on a camping trip with us. LOL Yes, trapped him. )

 

Give that a try. If it works, all's good. If not, go without him. We have three boys in their 20's. Two would go on a cruise with us but one has tried cruising a couple of times and you couldn't get him back on a ship even with a bribe. He just did not like it at all. To each their own.

[ABQrobin]

Fly to Houston, enjoy visiting with your son and then enjoy your cruise without him! And then visit again afterwards to rave about the cruise.

 

We love our kids and Grands to death, but trying to get a vacation without them is hard! The pouting and gnashing of teeth is difficult to ignore (and that is the adults!). We finally reserved a studio unit in Cancun so we could go alone. Yesterday's text to DD1: what cruise line did you take to Bermuda? Her: Oh! NCL! We were just talking about going again. When are we all going?. This was no more than 10 minutes before she sent out an email to all of us to set up a Hawaii land vacation in Oct. 2017. Not complaining!

 

Last Feb we did that... went to Houston, visited for 2 days, then went on a cruise. He couldn't go with us, we understood as he had just moved there, getting settled in , new job, etc. But now he has been there a year... time for us to start badgering him again. Especially since we want to pay for his room... I just haven't seen him for a year, and now that he is living in another state for the first time it is hard. We e-mail and text daily, it would just be so nice to hang out for a week, do things we all enjoy together again.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone... nice to see I am not alone.

[srlafleur]

All of my kids (as well as their spouses) would drop everything, if they could, to travel anywhere, if we were to pay for it!

If we expected any of them to stay in the same room as us, that might, at this point, be an issue, or maybe not, depending on the circumstances. Of course, now, they are all "coupled up," so we would have to spring for multiple rooms.

We have, a few times, rented a house near Disney for all 12 of us (4 "kids", 4 spouses, us, and 2 grandkids). The only issue was scheduling the vacation time.

Then again, they have each other to hang out with, which is a thing they do voluntarily

We are so lucky that they all get along so well! It was my biggest wish for them when they were growing up, that they would be friends as adults.

[Percyfitzgerald]

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[17andacruiseaddict]

This guy is crazy not to jump at this lol. I will be 27 this year. I love cruising. Been cruising since I was 6. But I can see him not wanting to go because when I tell people that have never been cruising that they should cruise with me, they start talking about sea sickness, "I don't want to be on a boat that long", blah blah blah.....

 

Maybe he isn't as outgoing as I am so he's afraid he won't have fun if he's traveling with his parents.

I feel like a way to make the cruise irresistible to him, might be to offer to pay for a friend and include the drink package. This way he has a party buddy and someone to help get him out there and meet some girls if he's shy. Plus, the drinks will help to make everyday a party. But make sure he knows that other onboard purchases and excursions are on him.

 

Only bad thing is, if he accepts this, he might expect it again lol.

[OrdieJ]

Maybe he has a fear of the ocean. Or maybe thinks he will get sea sick.

[ewenix]

My DH and I are so frustrated. Our son is 27 and won't go on a cruise with us, even though we offer to pay for him. He keeps putting us off. Making me crazy!

 

How does everyone else here handle this? I know once he goes, he will have fun... uggghhh!!!! He lives in Houston, so we can fly there and go on a ship out of Galveston. So frustrated!

 

Has he ever been on a cruise before?

 

You might also try the direct approach and just ask "hey, you seem to keep putting us off on this cruise, do you just not want to go?"

 

Both DDs and DW will go whenever we cruise, but DS just doesn't enjoy it as much. Most of the time we give him the option to go or not go, but if grand parents are going we make it a family trip and he goes. It could just be that cruising isn't your son's idea of a nice vacation.

[appletinine]

If you truly want to vacation with your adult child(ten) then include them in what they want to do. It will be their vacation also.

 

 

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[Princess_K]

Take meeeeeee!!!!

[ABQrobin]

Maybe he has a fear of the ocean. Or maybe thinks he will get sea sick.

 

No and no... we are a scuba diving family, not ever an issue.

 

He says he wants to go.... I was just looking to see if others have this problem or it is just us who keep asking and offering to pay with no result.

 

I think part of the problem is that 15 yrs ago, we used to laugh at the cruise ship people in Cozumel, as all we ever saw were drunks wandering around. We were there to scuba dive for week vacation. We all said we would never get on a cruise ship. We had no idea there were fun things to do on a ship, or that everyone isn't drunk 24/7.... We just went on our first cruise (me and DH) in 2014 and had a blast. The reason we decided to cruise is that we wanted to do an Alaska cruise, so thought we would try a Caribbean cruise to see if we could stand being on a ship for a week. Well, we loved it. Came back raving about how much fun we had, and immediately booked another cruise for a few months later, also to Caribbean. We are both hooked, just love the ship thing, love the excursions. Our son... we both believe... will feel the same way if we can get him ON a cruise. He is afraid it will be crowded and noisy and no fun.