Teens and drinking

[lucymorgan]

I agree with a lot of the posters that you need to discuss what is expected in advance. You may also want to discuss the risks of 'too much'. If your teen has already used alcohol on land (with or without your knowledge), you should discuss the severe consequences of drinking to excess on board (such as very risky behaviour that could lead to someone falling/jumping overboard, being put off the ship etc). A teen sneaking a drink or a couple of drinks is very different to one who drinks so much that they lose all sense of consequences. At least with that discussion, if they have been inclined to sneak a drink or two, they will be aware of what could happen and hopefully will moderate their behaviour.

[bigque]

Your fears aren't irrational. My son is 19 and I have the same fear about falling overboard! I have probably read every article online about people who fell overboard and how! I think it isn't because they are irresponsible but some kids, especially boys, act first and think later. All I can say is this does g...r...a...d...u....a....l.....l....y improve as they get older. I reassure myself with the fact that it doesn't seem to be teens or kids who fall overboard. However I am still having the talk about if by chance you fall in, you are 90% chance dead!

 

At 19???

[MrsPete]

Yes thank you. It's not that my son is bad, he's just a normal teenager who sometimes pushes the limits and I know from experience cruise ships have a lot of temptations. My 14 yr old daughter will be a dream as she already told us she just wants to hang out with us the whole time. My son has always been more independent.

Yep, we're on the same page. Give them some freedom, but remember that they can only be what they are: Teenagers. Protect them from their own immaturity.

 

 

These kids will be off to college very soon, and will most likely be drinking. Let them know your expectations on the cruise.

I teach high school seniors, and I'm always amazed when they come back to visit me 6 months or a year after graduation. The difference between in-high-school and out-of-high-school is huge, so being close to college age means nothing.

 

 

However, I totally agree with making your expectations clear. Whether we're talking about going to the dentist or going on a cruise, my kids ALWAYS behaved better when I took time to be crystal clear on what was going to happen and how I expected them to behave.

[mackjack9139]

I went on a cruise at 17 and made friends with a group of teens who were drinking, one of them had brought a half gallon of vodka from home. They would go to their cabin and mix drinks in those thermos cups that come with the soda packages, then take them to the hot tub or wherever.

 

Another teen bought plastic pints of rum in port and got them back onto the ship in their shorts pockets. They were taking nips out of that in the hot tub one night and a whole bunch of security crept up and then put their flashlights on us. They took that kid to security and made his parents come get him...

 

There was also a lot of weed going around. Letting you know in case it helps to discuss with the teens that you're aware all this may happen. I forget if it's Bermuda or the Bahamas (or both) but in some places weed caries a very severe charge.

 

I never participated in any of that because my parents let me drink in port/on those booze cruise catamaran excursions with the rule that if I got caught drinking on the ship it would be bad news bears :)

[Palmetto Pilot]

Yeah at 17-18 I wouldn't want to be chained down to my parents. You even said yourself that when you were younger you were able to be a teen and let loose.

Neither would I. My folks trusted me enough to let me do my own thing, even signed the beer and wine waiver for me back in RCCL still had it and everything turned out just fine.