How do your kids' bedtimes effect the cruise?

[MamaParrotHead]

My kids (who are now 4 and 8, who will be 6 and 10 when we cruise) HAVE to be in bed by 9:00 at the latest in order to function NORMALLY, let alone when we'll be doing excursions and spending days in the sun.

 

I just wondered if/how anyone here had kids who needed a decent amount of sleep, how well they functioned on cruises. I see all the fun "slumber parties" and such until all hours of the night/MORNING, and can't even imagine dealing with my kid/s if we were just going to be lounging around the house, let alone the hustle and bustle of vacation.

 

Any words of wisdom?

[Warmer Climes]

My DD was 9 on our most recent cruise and she normally goes to bed at 8:30 when we're home. We let her stay up until 10:00 at the kids' club but say no to the later activities. If she seems tired I go check on her during the evening and take her back to the cabin before 10:00. The days are busy for us and she needs her rest.

 

Barb

[Kerry's Girls]

We fit in a nap mid-day as well so we can enjoy some night-time fun. And a mid-day nap is a glorious thing for mommy too.

 

Best,

Mia

[MamaParrotHead]

But we'll only have 2 sea days on this trip. No time for naps when we're swimming with dolphins, splashing in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean or snorkeling! :D

[stsomewhere]

On our last cruise DD-7 and DS-9. They usually go to bed around 8:30. They liked to go to the kids program until midnight. We let them sleep in until 10am if we were at sea. We made them take a rest in the cabin before dinner. They had a great time. They were not crabby at all. They did go to sleep at 7pm the day we got off the ship.

[crusinmama06]

My 3 and 8 year old go to bed between 7 and 7:30pm at home. So when we are on a cruise, I can't let them go past 10pm. They have begged and begged to go to the "Late Night Party Zone" so I let them for ONE night to go till 10:30...lol. And when I go to pick them up, they are like walking zombies. They are asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

 

And a few times, they cried walking back to the cabin cause they were so tired :rolleyes: and it was 10pm.

 

So no late night partying for my kids. ;)

[I&MsMom]

I'm with the others who said 10 is the outside limit, and I, too, will take them "home" sooner if they're tired after a busy day, most especially if we have another one the next day. They are completely different children when they are tired - which is no fun for them OR us!

[stsomewhere]

My kids are night owls. They prefer to party all night and sleep all day- just like dad.

[Lewski709]

As long as they are awake and not disturbing others, we will let them stay up. I am sure someone in our group will vanish into the night before us and they can check on them. I think 10 or 11 is going to be about it though. Ages 9, 5 and 2...FYI.

[stsomewhere]

The 9 yr old will have an all night party. It will go until 3:30am. The staff will bring them back to the cabin. Cost is $25. My son loved it. They made pizzas, went to arcade. He wished it would of been eery night because it was the most fun he had at kids club.

[karatemom2]

I have never been able to devise a hard, fast bedtime strategy for my kids on a cruise. We sort of take it day by day. If we need to be up early in the morning for an excursion, I am more strict about getting to bed at a decent time. If there is a lazy sea day coming up the next day, I'm more willing to let them stay up later. We always seem to find a balance that works for us, so I would say don't stress over it. I'm sure when the time comes you will come up with a workable plan for your family.

[Ellanora]

I have never been able to devise a hard, fast bedtime strategy for my kids on a cruise. We sort of take it day by day. If we need to be up early in the morning for an excursion, I am more strict about getting to bed at a decent time. If there is a lazy sea day coming up the next day, I'm more willing to let them stay up later. We always seem to find a balance that works for us, so I would say don't stress over it. I'm sure when the time comes you will come up with a workable plan for your family.

 

This is what we do as well, although we tend to still stay up a good bit later every night; there is always so much to do!! My son was 10 on our cruise this past Sept, and I did let him go to the late night party. Since it was the same night as the Gala Buffet, I stayed up to take pictures of the sculptures and food, and then went to check on him and see if he was having fun or too tired. He was having a great time and decided he wanted to stay, so I headed back to the cabin and set my alarm clock for about 3:15, and was up to greet him and put him to bed. He was able to sleep in since we didn't arrive in Grand Turk until 11 AM the next morning, so the timing just worked out for us - I think they probably had it that night on purpose for that reason, it was the best fit with the itinerary.

 

Sorry to ramble - anyway, the point is, take it day by day, try to plan ahead a little (you will get the Camp Carnival schedule for the whole cruise at the beginning), take naps when you can, and toss the kids in bed at the first sign of trouble. :D

[CeleBrat]

Our kids (age 5/7) usually close-out the free portion of the Club (10pm) and go to bed shortly thereafter. No problems getting up the next day at about 8:30am. The rock of the boat makes everyone sleep well.

 

Our biggest challenge is that hour right before dinner. After both kids have showered and sitting on their bunk beds reading/drawing/watching TV while we shower, they usually fall asleep. And boy, it is HARD to wake them up to go to dinner. If we wold let them, I bet they would sleep for the rest of the night. However--it's a cruise, so NO REST FOR THE WEARY!! Once they get to the dinner table they've usually perked up again.

 

CeleBrat

[GORDONCHICK]

My DS is almost 7. He is in bed by 7:30 each school night, and up at 6am on school mornings. On a cruise, the only time we get him up early is if we have an early excursion planned. Other than that, we let him wake up on his own. If one of us (parents) is a little stir-crazy in the morning, the other one stays in the cabin until DS wakes up and the other one roams. Until DS was out of kindergarten, he took naps in the afternoon on the ship with one of us with him in the cabin. We scheduled excursions around that. Our goal was to set him up for success, and him not getting enough sleep would not do that. We have never let him go to the slumber parties onboard so we can have him in bed by a little after 10pm.

[tricialee]

When it comes to well rested kids I am a witch with a capital B. :D My older son, now 10.5, is a bear when he does not get enough sleep. On a vacation they are typically in bed by 9:00 most nights. On a vacation of 7 days or longer we usually stay out late 2 nights and maybe 3 if it is over 10 days. Any by late I mean no later than 11:00pm. So on a cruise that means staying late in the kids club, and on a Disney vacation seeing fireworks or Fantasmic.

 

If one of us wants to go out to something late at night, the other stays in the room with the sleeping children. That someone is usually me, as I am an early bird too.

[Dr_DNA]

Our son (4) HATES to sleep but really needs it. He got even less sleep on our cruise because there was so much to do! So, we had to take it easy a couple of days so it wasn't a complete nightmare. He was really tired and slept overtime when we got back home. I say, you're on vacation so you have to loosen up a bit, be adaptable, and have fun.

[Robin & Dan]

We have found that our kids act differently on vacation with less sleep than they do at home. The first night on our cruise, after all the excitement of getting on the ship and exploring, both kiddos were SOUND asleep in the slumber party. Once or twice we took them in their jammies expecting they would sleep, and at 1am they were both still up happily playing. If we knew we had to get going early, we planned the evening accordingly as far as bed times. And naps played an important roll. Neither nap regularly anymore, but after a morning in the sun on deck or in port, a nap came easily, for mom and dad too :) .

 

I agree with some of the others that said you'll know what's best at the time.

[rtsmqa]

Where are you from? We are from Washington State which is 3 hours behind east coast time. We are going to try and keep our 10 yo son on pacific coast time and let him sleep in so he can participate in some of the late night activities. We'll also try and get him to take a quick nap in the afternoon also.

[crusinmama06]

and on a Disney vacation seeing fireworks or Fantasmic.

 

Now in Disney, my 8 year old closes down the park at midnight. :eek: While my 3 year old is out by 9pm...lol

 

This was Walt Disney World precruise Carnival in August. Princess Belle was OUT.

 

[MamaParrotHead]

The lack of sea days to 'catch up' and the busy (and fun!) things we have planned through out the day. We're on Central time, so technically everything's an hour later anyway, LOL.

[Warmer Climes]

Michele,

That picture says it all!

 

Barb

[kat89447]

My DD (10) usually goes to bed around 8:30pm. We always have a quiet hour before dinner time and I let her stay up till about 11:00pm on a cruise. BUT she sleeps in till 9:00 am unless we have an early day. My biggest problem is that we usually take a cruise out of the ports in NY or FL and we live in NV. The three hour time difference is a killer. I start here by backing up her bed time a couple of weeks before we travel so she is not hungry for dinner at 9pm. I don't try to fix the whole 3 hour time diff. but I try to knock an hour or more. Usually we are just getting in tune when its time to fly back home:(