new cruiser with questions

[sr11]

This is our first cruise and we are sooo excited!! All of this information has been great, but I have a few questions.... Can my teenage son wear jeans to dinner in the dining room? Is it safe for 14year olds to have the run of the ship? Will my six year old be allowed to attend the formal night?

I am a little nervous about the seas and being sea sick. We are departing on April 9 (AOS) out of San Juan. Is this generally a good time of the year for quiet seas or does it totally depend on the weather pattern of the week? I am so glad that I found this forum because I would be very overwhelmed with out it!!

Thanks!!

Susan

[hdawson]

Yes your six year old will be welcomed to formal night. Usually the earlier seating works best. The cruiseline requests that children follow the same dress standards as everyone else.

[Sue L]

I will try to answer, jeans and shorts at dinner are "frowned" upon in the dining room though there are those who do where them. And definitely not on formal night. I would say dockers and nice shirt would be very appropiate. All ages can attend formal night.

 

As far as your 14 year old , you only know how responsible he is . I know at that age I would have let my son go around the ship on his own and just check in at set times.

 

We just went out of San Juan in Feb and the weather was gorgeous, but you just don't know. Usually it is a nice time, but it seems the weather patterns everyway have been screwed up this year. If you feel seasick they do give "free" pills out at the pursers desk and they sell the seabands to go on your wrist in the shops or get them before you leave just in case!!

And HAVE a GREAT TIME!!!! Don't sweat the little stuff!!!

Sue

[Kissara22]

Oh you're going to have a blast, and don't stress over the little things. As far as your teen wearing jeans in the dining room, I say, ....sure why not, as long as they're clean, and probably not on formal night. You'll find many people who will scream at the thought of jeans in the dining room but it's not against the rules. As far as safety goes, ..if you're concerned about his safety I think he'll be ok. You know your kids better than we do. If he's the wild child type, he'll find friends who are also wild, and they sure can get into trouble and find trouble. Of course your 6 year old is permitted on formal night, like the previous poster stated, ..there is a dress code and they have to abide also. Which is great really, ..think of the great pictures you can get.

 

We're taking all the kids ( ages 19, 16, 9, and 7) on their first cruise in two weeks and I can't wait to see my 9 year old in suit. We're also thinking about taking some walkie talkies to keep tabs on each other.

 

Hope this helps,

Have a blast!

[cb at sea]

If you give your 14 year old "run of the ship", make sure you check in with him frequently. Remind him there are adult only areas! Please tell him not to push all of the buttons on the elevators, as they are slow enough on their own! Remember that he won't be running alone for long, so just keep an eye on him. He is your responsibility!

[cruisin granny]

Buy Bonine(sp) before you leave. Here, you have to get it from the pharmacist-not on the shelf. Take one every morning and you will have NO problems with sea sickness. I take them with me on every cruise even tho I have never been sick. Have a wonderful trip!

[Green Eyed Mom99]

This is our first cruise and we are sooo excited!! All of this information has been great, but I have a few questions.... Can my teenage son wear jeans to dinner in the dining room? Is it safe for 14year olds to have the run of the ship? Will my six year old be allowed to attend the formal night?

I am a little nervous about the seas and being sea sick. We are departing on April 9 (AOS) out of San Juan. Is this generally a good time of the year for quiet seas or does it totally depend on the weather pattern of the week? I am so glad that I found this forum because I would be very overwhelmed with out it!!

Thanks!!

Susan

 

Susan,

We're booked on the 6/11/06 sailing of the Freedom for our first ever cruise, we're so excited!!! I'm like you a little nervous about the seasickness, but I'm going prepared, taking the Bonine, ginger tablets and Relief Bands, kind of pricey, but hey when you're paying thousand of dollars for a cruise what's another $98.00 that might save your whole trip. I found them at www.drugstore.com My husband and I are booked in a balcony cabin with our 18 year old son and his friend in an inside cabin across the hall, we're celebrating their high school graduation!! I'm making sure they take slacks to wear to dinner and suits for formal nights, they can always change after dinner. Hope you all have a great time. Happy Sailing. Janet

[Crystalcat]

On AOS, children 17 and under were allowed out and about on the ship without a parent or guardian until 1 AM. At least one pool was open all the time; same for the hot tubs. There is a sports court for basketball or soccer, mini-putt, at least 4 ping pong tables in different spots, and a teen disco. Set up clear times and locations to check in with you. Others on this board recommend bringing post-it notes so you can leave messages for each other in your cabin if there's a change of plans.

 

Enjoy your cruise and rest up before you go!;)

Cathy

[Crystalcat]

I forgot, this was our first cruise too, and none of us got sea sick. We had great sailing weather. My husband and I agreed that any motion we felt "seemed" greater on the higher decks, than it did in our 3rd deck cabin. The only thing close to motion sickness we had was when we were having lunch in the Island Grill during an "at sea" day. The Island Grill has large windows across the entire rear of the ship which is wonderful, however my 10 year old son started getting mesmerized by staring at the waves during lunch.

 

In the dining room in the evening, my boys wore polo shirts and cotton pants, and on formal nights they wore dress pants, shirt and tie. On the first night, almost anything goes - we wore shorts to dinner because our bags didn't get to our room until 7 pm even though we boarded at 12:30. Also, on a different night, I saw someone walk into the dining room with shorts. It looks out of place as everyone walks in, but I don't know who would notice once everyone is seated.

[Green Eyed Mom99]

I forgot, this was our first cruise too, and none of us got sea sick. We had great sailing weather. My husband and I agreed that any motion we felt "seemed" greater on the higher decks, than it did in our 3rd deck cabin. The only thing close to motion sickness we had was when we were having lunch in the Island Grill during an "at sea" day. The Island Grill has large windows across the entire rear of the ship which is wonderful, however my 10 year old son started getting mesmerized by staring at the waves during lunch.

 

In the dining room in the evening, my boys wore polo shirts and cotton pants, and on formal nights they wore dress pants, shirt and tie. On the first night, almost anything goes - we wore shorts to dinner because our bags didn't get to our room until 7 pm even though we boarded at 12:30. Also, on a different night, I saw someone walk into the dining room with shorts. It looks out of place as everyone walks in, but I don't know who would notice once everyone is seated.

 

Do you know what nights they usually have the formal nights??

[bobbie0253]

This is our first cruise and we are sooo excited!! All of this information has been great, but I have a few questions.... Can my teenage son wear jeans to dinner in the dining room? Is it safe for 14year olds to have the run of the ship? Will my six year old be allowed to attend the formal night?

I am a little nervous about the seas and being sea sick. We are departing on April 9 (AOS) out of San Juan. Is this generally a good time of the year for quiet seas or does it totally depend on the weather pattern of the week? I am so glad that I found this forum because I would be very overwhelmed with out it!!

Thanks!!

Susan

 

Welcome to CC!

 

Yes your son CAN wear jeans.

 

No it is NOT safe for him to have "run of the ship". Grown men have disappeared!

 

Yes your other son can go to formal night.

 

Seas are at the mercy of the seas. You are on the ocean, even big ships feel the motion of the ocean. No matter how flat the seas are, you ARE in the ocean.

 

Hopefully you will post again after your cruise to give your thoughts on cruising with teens :) Remember not to allow them to use a lap top. Seapasses for internet use have been known to reach $1700. YIKES!

 

Bobbie

[RevSmith]

Like any good mother I am sure that you want your children to be safe...there are children programs (even for the 14 year old). I am a teacher and in this day and age I think we can all expect anything. You are on a ship, this is a foreign place to you and your children, you do not know anyone...please act acordingly. I would error on the side of being strict.

[sr11]

Thank you everyone for all of the great information!! I am really excited, we just got all of our passes. Our cabins are on the 7th deck at the front end of the ship. I really wanted to be more in the middle. We have connecting rooms with balconies, I hope that it is ok. I will definitely be posting again!!

Susan

[OceanCruise]

I disagree with the jeans in the dining room. The dress code applies to everyone and it is a good life lesson to teach appropriate dress and behavior. Would you let him wear jeans to a nice restaurant at home? I have a teen myself and while his preference would be to take the easy way out and wear shorts or jeans, he knows this is not the place. He dresses nicely for dinner and then afterwards changes back into shorts for the teen club.