Seapass cards for kids?

[lisas414]

Just another quick question, I am going to drive you guys nuts. You'll be glad when I am gone. When the kids get their seapass cards, its the same as your room key right? I was just sitting and thinking that I wanted to know what kid charges what back to the room. Do the seapass cards have different id #'s on each of them, so we will know who did what and with which card? I have never seen this topic brought up before, but maybe because everyone knows the answer to it already. Sorry to be such a pain.

[Sheffie]

You are not a pain. Yes, the Seapass is the room key.

 

Everyone gets their own Seapass. At the Purser's desk you can put limits on the kids' cards so that they can spend only so much, or nothing at all. You know your kids and how much you want, or DON'T want them spending $$ on the ship.

 

I am looking at my bill, and it does show my DH and my different card numbers with our purchases - his # ended in 77 and mine in 76. Looking at it I see that I was the frugal one - I only had 4 purchases and the rest were his! Hmmph!

 

They do need them for disembarkation and re-entry at ports.

 

Hope this helps.

[greatdanemom]

Your Sea Pass bill is just one long summary of everything charged by anyone on that account. We keep track of who charged what by saving the receipts we sign when we charge. They all go into a pile on the desk each evening and we sort them as needed.

 

Cheryl

 

P.S. I agree with Michelle, YOU ARE NOT A PAIN!

[cruisersnorkler]

The SeaPass card serves as a room key.We have bought our kids the key(card) holder that goes around their neck. It can be found in the gift shop and saved for next time.You can charge on a kids SeaPass card unless you specifically ask to take off charging rights. We bought all our kids a soda package. They put a sticker on their card so they can get unlimited soda. Then we took off all charging abilities. One reason this was done is because ultimitely someone would lose their card and we wanted to know what was being charged since we are on a budget. We only let them play video games one time and put a limit on their card for that one time experience. Video games can really rack up the account. We told them, you have video games at home, we want you to experience new things or things you cannot do at home. There was no argument at all. I watched one father, as I happened to be nearby, pull his son out of the video room, saying, I did not take you on a cruise for you to play video games the whole time. Now, my son doesn't even ask to play them. For an additional note, in the Adventure kids--he is now a teen--on the Brillance--they offered a free video game session time for Adventure kids. This satisfied any desire.

[Happy ks]

lisas414, I absolutely love first timer questions! It takes me back to our first cruise, I was obsessed then and I've never really gotten over it, although we have our 11th planned for the end of the year :) !

 

Not knowing the ages of your children, the answer can be different. Young kids will always be with you, so you can monitor what they are spending. Older kids and teens are sometimes on their own and may use their card without your knowing about it. You will be able to check the charges on a daily basis, sometimes on your cabin TV, sometime you need to go to the desk.

 

I have worked this out 2 different ways with my kids. They have to save their own spending money for extras onboard and pay me back at the end of the cruise when we get home. If that is not feasible, I will give them a limitation, discussed prior to the cruise. The agreement is if they aren't adhering to the budget, I take their card away and they stay with me at all times. So far, neither has gone over budget and has respected the rules. They also both stay with us the majority of the time anyway :) .

 

I have read posts in the past where parents discovered on the last night that the kids were overspending. Some kids were not aware of internet charges, some buying sodas for friends. Most kids are responsible enough to obey their parents if they know in advance what is expected of them. The key is to have the discussion in advance of the vacation and to let them know what the extras are.

[Nliedel]

When you sign the kids up for AO they will give the kids a lanyard and punch the card for them. It was easy.

 

We cut the boys off for being allowed to spend and had no problems. We still checked the TV every single day to make sure there were no issues. Only took a couple minutes.

[shrimp0]

Also, most important... you can check the charges anytime ... all day and every day on your tv in the cabin. It will show each individuals charges.... this will prevent the end of the week gasp..."you spent HOW much??!!" This also helps to ensure that all of your charges are correct and any problems can be handled immediatly.