What age did you start letting kids stay in their own cabin?

[thepants]

Ours are 11,8,5 and we have a extra large family ocean view. We would be comfortable with connecting staterooms, but not across the hall (meaning they have to enter into a public hallway to even access our room).  If they are woken in the middle of the night and disoriented for some reason, sleepwalk, get sick middle of the night, have a nightmare, and try to locate us, they may attempt to walk down the hall or try to enter into someone else's room is very concerning to us. At what age would we be comfortable? Maybe 13 at the earliest, but more likely to be 15/16 for our family.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by thepants

[intr3pid]

We are also a family of five and have brought our kids up with independence in mind.  They are teens/tweens but very confident and totally bought into our values. 

 

Across the hall or even a few doors down is perfectly fine - just like it would be back home.  The biggest benefit of having two rooms is.. that there is two of everything. Particularly, the washrooms!

[Drinal01]

I just let my 17 year old and 10 year old have their own connecting room.  To me it was less about maturity it was about cost.  😛

[atobols]

I have two boys who are 11 and 13.  I would let them stay in a connecting room by themselves but wouldn't be OK with them in a non-connecting room.  I'll let them have free reign of the ship during the day but I want to see them at dinner and know they're in bed for the evening.  I wouldn't sleep well without knowing exactly where my kids were.  My husband would probably be 100% comfortable letting them stay on another floor by themselves.  🤣 

 

I say go with whatever makes you comfortable and lets everyone enjoy their cruise.

[mjkacmom]

11 hours ago, atobols said:

I have two boys who are 11 and 13.  I would let them stay in a connecting room by themselves but wouldn't be OK with them in a non-connecting room.  I'll let them have free reign of the ship during the day but I want to see them at dinner and know they're in bed for the evening.  I wouldn't sleep well without knowing exactly where my kids were.  My husband would probably be 100% comfortable letting them stay on another floor by themselves.  🤣 

 

I say go with whatever makes you comfortable and lets everyone enjoy their cruise.

Connecting cabins is like being in the same cabin, we’ve stayed in them since our youngest were 4.

[soozles]

We used to cruise a lot when I was a kid. When I was about 10 and my sister was 12 was when my parents said we can’t all be in one room anymore. We were usually next door, across the hall, or a couple doors away, cant recall that we ever had connecting rooms

 

now, my husband and I are going on a cruise with our 2 boys who will be 11 months and 21 months when we go. We got connecting rooms and plan to put them in the other room. I don’t really think having a connecting room with the door in between open to be any different than being all in one cabin. We figured with 2 pack and plays we would need to be in a suite to have the space. The 2 connecting rooms were cheaper and we get more space in total as well as an extra bathroom. We don’t get a balcony but I’ll survive. 

[NEGeekymama]

Direct from RCCL:

"For voyages originating in North America:
No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older. A guest's age is established upon the first date of sailing.

This age limit will be waived for children sailing with their parents or guardians in connecting staterooms; for underage married couples; and for active duty members of the United States or Canadian military.

Certain other restrictions and conditions will apply; such as compliance with the age twenty-one (21) alcohol policy, and proof of marriage for underage couples or proof of active duty military status required."

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-age-policy


We primarily sail on Carnival, which has similar age rules. Since our's will be 15 and 7, we booked two cabins with a parent/child in each, then let both kiddos sleep in one cabin. They were 13 and 5 the first time we did this.

[MCManders99]

I agree it all depends on the child. Connecting rooms to me are like one big one as long as the door is open between. This year we would of had two connecting balconies with DH and I in one and the kids (12 & 9) in the other. Next year the cruise we have booked, we are back to one room as the price is much more for connecting balconies then being in 1 so we opted for one with a Pullman. I won’t put my kids in another room unless it was connecting. 

[Kayak32]

Everyone has a different threshold.  Our children are 11 and 8.  I would be fine with them being across the hall.  

[the_dylaness]

We were planning on a TA cruise this November.  Our kids were going to be in a connecting balcony room- ages 9 and turning 6 on the cruise.  We are doing the same cruise next year (hopefully!) and they will be 10 and 7.  I'm ok with connecting room.

[CabanaLife]

We've gotten connecting staterooms with balconies and my kids stay in 1 room, my husband and I in the other. My kids were 11, 7, and 5 the first time they stayed alone. Since the rooms connect, it's like 1 big room. It works out really well.