Is it safe to give on-board expense access to my 14-yr-old daughter?

[minnieandmickey55555]

I'll be cruising with my two daughters (7 and 14) in June for 3 nights. Is it safe to give access to on-board account to my 14-yr-old daughter? Also, can I put a limit to it?

 

Thanks.

[threeofus]

We just sailed with our 15 year old DD and we gave her charging ability. We also gave her a budget - verbally and she stayed below the number.

Only you know your DD and how responsible she is with money. You can pull up your room charges on your TV daily so you can monitor the charging.

[Annieeee]

You are the only one that can answer that question. You know your daughter better than anyone else. Is she dependable, can she be trusted too charge wisely? Once onboard, go to the guest relations desk and ask them if you can put a limit on your daughters onboard account.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Annieeee

[maggieworkman]

Last year I let my then 13 y.o. and my then 10 y.o. had charging priviledges. I didn't even need to give them a lecture about not charging up expenses because I know them. My older DD charged, I believe, one ben and jerry's cone. My younger DD got Ben and Jerry's every day, but that was all. They didn't even try Johnny Rockets. My younger DD spent all of her time in the kids club, so I think that's why. She was very occupied. My older DD was in the teen club, but she was able to come and go in the club. And she still didn't spend anything. They both had soda cards.

 

I would say go with your gut feeling. You know your children.

 

Maggie

[wraithe]

Would you hand your daughter a charge card and turn her loose in Disney World? If the answer to that is no, then you definitely want to set boundaries, and if you decide to let her have privileges, then check up on her every couple of hours to see what's getting charged, at least until you feel more comfortable. Like several others have said, only you can tell if you trust her to be frugal and stick to a budget.

[shirleygr]

As everyone else has said, it depends on your child. I asked about setting a limit at guest relations and was told that's not possible. I have one child who is very responsible and I have given him priviledges since his first cruise at 11. The other is 14 and will not be allowed to charge when I take him in July because I know he will not handle it responsibly. If you think your daughter will follow the ground rules, go for it. If not, tell her sorry, no. Have fun!

[Lissete]

Like others have mentioned, only you know your kids. My girls have been cruising since they were tots. Now they are 16 & 17. They have yet to get charging priviledges. Not because I feel that they will go overboard (no pun intended) but because they really don't need it. They do not drink soda and if they did, they would get the fountain card plus they are happy with the soft serve ice cream/ yogurt. As far as the gift shop, if they really want anything they just ask, but they never really do.

 

The only thing that I would worry about is them losing the card, and that's like losing a credit card.

[paylady]

My children are young adults now, but when they were younger we always gave them charging priveleges. We did this on RCL cruises and Disney World vacations (we always stay in the resort).

 

It was easy to check the charges by requesting an itemized bill occasionally during our vacations. However, we never experienced a problem with them over-charging. If anything, they were more responsible since they were given the privilege.

[cb at sea]

Aside from the gift shops, there's not a whole lot of need for spending on the ship! They're too young to drink or gamble--aside from ice-cream, what else is there?

Do what feels right to you.

[Ula]

I agree it really depends on the child and fortunately you can check their charges. I come from the generation where parents just gave so much cash a day. Credit cards were suspect back then.

Have a funny on this, I got a MC to establish credit when I was 18 so I could buy a house. My parents were humiliated. You should pay cash. Did a family thing in Arizona with them and the grands. They wanted to rent a car. They had to use my credit card to do it. On return they all went out and got one.

Times change. Just when you give the privilege also probably give a budget.

[bplazo]

I think that it is a great learning experience to teach them about credit. I have never had a problem with my daughter and charging exrtra on her account because it was mentioned to her that anything over a certain amount was her responsibility to pay.

[just4kixx]

Besides Johnny Rockets, Ben & Jerry's and the gift shop, they can spend (alot) money in the arcade & also get "virgin" drinks at any bar or through Room Service (be careful here... they didn't card my daughter last summer when she ordered via room service... turned out she didn't ask for a virgin drink, and they didn't bring her one :eek: ... luckily she tasted it and said it was aweful... must be something wrong with it! I questioned her on the procedure, and she said she thought they would know she was only 15!!! :rolleyes: Gotta love her!

 

A~

[LLindaC]

LOL! Good story. My daughters loved the smoothies, but I put them on a budget. Get one of those neck wallets for the card.

[ginrom]

Keep in mind that they will be able to purchase pictures. My friends daughter bought over $100.00 in pictures of her and her friends without permission first. Needless to say that didn't go over too big with the mother!

[MissKise]

Sure, and you will pay for every penny charged since you are the parent that gave her the charging option. It will not be the ship that is responsible.....

 

I can't wait to see the bill. Let us know....

[minnieandmickey55555]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences....

I guess my real worry is about her loosing the card (not spending). My daughter is very responsible but..... clumsy. Is there really anything on board that she would/need to buy?

[PhoenixCruiser]

Aside from the gift shops, there's not a whole lot of need for spending on the ship! They're too young to drink or gamble--aside from ice-cream, what else is there?

Do what feels right to you.

 

Obviously you missed all the threads from parents complaining about high sea pass bills from their kids charging stuff :eek: One was over $600 and was pretty funny, well not to the parents I guess. There is Ben & Jerry's, JR's, the stores (some even sell candy and soda), the arcade, the internet, etc. They can get themselves in trouble, especially when their parents let them roam the ship alone all week.

 

###

[threeofus]

Besides Johnny Rockets, Ben & Jerry's and the gift shop, they can spend (alot) money in the arcade & also get "virgin" drinks at any bar or through Room Service (be careful here... they didn't card my daughter last summer when she ordered via room service... turned out she didn't ask for a virgin drink, and they didn't bring her one :eek: ... luckily she tasted it and said it was aweful... must be something wrong with it! I questioned her on the procedure, and she said she thought they would know she was only 15!!! :rolleyes: Gotta love her!

 

A~

 

Yup gotta love that girl and that story. I could picture mine doing the same thing. Thus we know they haven't tasted it before.

[zantedeschia]

My daughter lectures me about spending too much. :)

 

If you're worried about it being lost, put it on a lanyard.

[Ella2]

I guess my real worry is about her loosing the card (not spending). My daughter is very responsible but..... clumsy. Is there really anything on board that she would/need to buy?

 

Definitely get her a lanyard to carry it around her neck; I prefer the kind with the plastic sleeve over the ones that require you to punch a hole in the card, but either work. My daughter typically wears it INSIDE her shirt, so there is no worry about losing it if they are doing something active.

 

As for what she could buy, with charging privileges she could buy anything in any gift shop, soft drinks, specialty coffee drinks, arcade time, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and could pay the charge for Johnny Rocket's. Does she NEED to charge any of that on her own? Probably not. :)

 

That said, on my upcoming Mariner cruise in June I did not exclude my 12-year-old from charging privileges...BUT she has cruised a bunch before, and she has never had the privilege. I'm just not going to TELL her that her card has the "power" and I'm quite certain she will not use it. She knows if she did I'd make her pay me back out of her saved money. ;)

[iluvcruzin]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences....

 

I guess my real worry is about her loosing the card (not spending). My daughter is very responsible but..... clumsy. Is there really anything on board that she would/need to buy?

 

I've seen many kids loose their cards and end up at the purser's desk so it can happen. As far as purchases.. kids tend log in time at the internet/arcade games. If you want to give your kids money to spend and are afraid of them racking up the charge-card, you have the option to set them up with cash cards. This is where you put money against it for them to spend onboard. If they go over the alotment, there is a freeze put on the card until payment is made at the purser's desk. When you recieve your S&S cards, you can request this at check-in.

[minnieandmickey55555]

Thanks again everyone :)

This is our first cruise and its only 3 nights so I think I'll just skip this time. I'll let her have more access to $$$ on the post-cruise shopping in Miami.

[steve20832]

To answer your original question, you can set a limit. Once it reaches that limit, the employees will tell her she reached it if she tries to buy something.

[mjyanne]

As everyone else has said, it depends on your child. I asked about setting a limit at guest relations and was told that's not possible.

 

This is not true (at least not on any of my last 3 trips). I have set a limit for my DS of $350 for the entire week. He is allowed to charge up to that amount. The catch is that he will be allowed to charge an amount that exceeds this to complete a purchase. So, technically, he could make a large purchase and it would go through. However, because he knows his limit and even monitors it himself, he doesn't exceed that amount. He also is allowed to keep any money remaining when we get home as an incentive for not over spending.

 

As others have said, it really depends on how well you know your child and how responsible they are with money and following rules. Of course if you don't give them charging privilages you will have to make all the purchases for them (and for older teens this gets to be a drag).

[Lightsluvr]

In addition to the arcade, I'd be concerned about interent fees and phone calls to friends at home...

 

Those could break the bank in an hour or two...

 

LL