Interesting topic on the CCL board - how young is too young?

[crusinmama06]

I can see that this thread on the Carnival board is going to spiral pretty quickly out of control. But wanted to let some of you weigh in. So, how young of a child would you allow to "roam the ship"?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

Of course, there is no wrong answer. There is just the age that you are comfortable with for your child. :D

[nothriver]

I'm sorry, which thread? The one about the lost child?

[crusinmama06]

I'm sorry, which thread? The one about the lost child?

 

Yep, that would be it. ;)

 

It goes from a lost child thread to one about allowing or not allowing kids to sign themselves out.

 

And then allowing kids to walk around the ship unattended.

 

I thought I posted the link....sorry

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=999485

[nothriver]

Ok, I finally got to the end of the thread.

 

I'm letting my 15 yr old son have free reign of the ship, and I'll be worried about him the whole time! He'll have to check in every couple hours and follow my curfew. I'm new to cruising, so I can't say at what age I would have left him free to roam, since we were never in that position.

 

Either way, I think kids need to be prepared for the unexpected. They need to know their way around and know what to do in an emergency. I tell my kids to find staff or "a mom" when they need help, but they are both shy, so I don't know. Wherever we travel, I do make certain my kids know their way around.

 

The story seems plausible to me. If I told my kids I'd pick them up at kids club at 10pm and a counselor told them to leave at 9pm, I could see a child getting upset not knowing what to do or where to go, especially if they were tired at the end of a long vacation.

[ceilidh1]

Hey, I don't even let my hubby roam free around the ship, so I sure as heck wouldn't let my daughter! LOL!:D

 

Seriously, I think it depends on the child and the parents and, as you say, there is no right or wrong answer. Being a completely overprotective mom, I would be loathe to ever let my child out of my sight...

[msmayor]

We took our kids on their very first cruise last November...they were 14 and 17 at the time. We allowed them to go out on their own right from the start, setting ground rules before we set foot on the ship:

 

1. Know where the 'maps' are to help you find out what direction you need to go

2. Leave a Post-It on the mirror in the stateroom letting us know where you've gone, what you're doing (this applied to ALL of us)

3. NEVER go inside any other stateroom....ever

4. NEVER allow anyone in our staterooms...ever

5. Follow ship's curfew.

 

They did REALLY well, and for the most part ended up going off to do things together in the Teen Club. Most nights we were the ones out late, but when we'd return to the staterooms after teen curfew our kids were already inside, in their PJ's and just watching TV.

[MamaParrotHead]

I'd say 12-13 would be my lowest even REMOTE POSSIBILITY of letting my kids roam around the ship. And even then, it wouldn't be a free for all where they roam the ship at all hours of the day and night.

 

It's not that I don't trust my daughter, it's the other freaks onboard. Chances may vary as to what the odds are that something may or may not happen. But I personally don't want to play those games when it comes to my child.

[crusinmama06]

Yep, I would have to say it would be closer to the 12-14 year old group and only in a group.

 

My oldest is very mature. Very responsible. And very independent. But it's the freaks I worry about. ;)

[MamaParrotHead]

Michele...can you email me at kwelsh1176 (at) msn.com? I have a question. Thanks! :)

[crzgrl66]

I wouldn't consider it before age 12. We did let our 10 ds roam around when we were on CCL but he was with his 3 cousins that were 11 - 14. They had strict rules that the 4 or them had to stay together and one of them had to carry a walkie-talkie at all times. It worked out great, but if it was just him at that age, no way!

[A&Jfamily]

Michele...can you email me at kwelsh1176 (at) msn.com? I have a question. Thanks! :)

 

MamParrotHead -

 

You are not originally from the DC area by chance - you look an awful lot like someone I went to school with....

 

To the OP -

 

I know you know my position on this issue as well fell on different sides on the other thread. But, for this thread I will say that I let my DS (now 11) have sign in/out privileges - with very strict guidelines (camp, me or room - no roaming the ship) - and I have done so since he was just shy of 10.

[MamaParrotHead]

MamParrotHead -

 

You are not originally from the DC area by chance - you look an awful lot like someone I went to school with....

 

To the OP -

 

I know you know my position on this issue as well fell on different sides on the other thread. But, for this thread I will say that I let my DS (now 11) have sign in/out privileges - with very strict guidelines (camp, me or room - no roaming the ship) - and I have done so since he was just shy of 10.

 

Nope. I was born in CO and have lived in the midwest for most of my life. :)

[crusinmama06]

To the OP -I know you know my position on this issue as well fell on different sides on the other thread.

 

That's ok, if we all agreed all the time it would be really boring around here. :D:D:D

 

And I am going to have to give my child sign out privledges anyway since she wants to do the scavenger hunt activities.

 

**Special note to the others reading this, something I learned on the other thread, if you have a child in the 9-11 year old group they will not allow them to do the "outside activities" like people bingo and scavenger hunt if they do not have sign in/out privledges.**

[RENMama]

My oldest is immature and shy and has high anxiety when in unfamilar situations. On next cruise he will be 1 month shy of turning 9. For sure he will still NOT be allowed alone on the ship at any time. I have no idea when he may be ready for it. Maybe closer to 12, I dont know.

[vavasmom]

My 13 year old had a contract of rules she had to agree to for our RCCL Freedom cruise in April. I did a few spot checks to ensure compliance but she was allowed to come and go for the most part on our April cruise.

 

She will have similar rules and privileges on out July cruise.

 

When she was 11 she could go from AO to our room and no where else (And not at night).

[A&Jfamily]

Nope. I was born in CO and have lived in the midwest for most of my life. :)

 

You have a twin in DC! Her first name is Karen, so when I saw the email, I was wondering!:D

[Tmrlovesjr]

Please don't flame me, but the way I see it, a ship is a small city, and all variations of people will possably be there in a concentrated amount, including perverts. Being that so, I don't think I would allow my son to roam the ship allow under 15 to roam free.

[quincytoo]

Our son was almost 16 on our DP cruise and we let him out of our sight when he was in the Teens Zone. They had a great staff, good group of teens and DS had a blast. We felt that he was very safe there.

 

Last year he was almost 17 and we allowed him a little more freedom BUT made sure we knew where he was at all times. To be honest through, he just wanted to hang out with us.

[msmayor]

Please don't flame me, but the way I see it, a ship is a small city, and all variations of people will possably be there in a concentrated amount, including perverts. Being that so, I don't think I would allow my son to roam the ship allow under 15 to roam free.

 

Its a tough call, one that each parent has to make based on how they know their own child will react/behave on their own.

 

I know when we were on Freedom last year, my son was 14. If I had told him he had to remain with us and he was not allowed to be on his own he would have been bored to tears. Every night my husband and I would go to the lounges for drinks after dinner, or to see the show (which didn't always interest the kids) or to just walk around the promenade deck. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to just spend his evenings in the cabin.

 

Fortunately, we had our 17-year old daughter who didn't mind her brother being around her in the Teen Club (although they weren't always together). Both our kids enjoyed the freedom we gave them and respected the rules, so much so that they cannot wait to go again.

[CanadianTwosome]

This is a decision we're faced with on every cruise now, because our daughter has passed that 'golden age' where we can sign. We didn't do it on the Pearl and I can't see us doing it on the Sky. For me it's not about HER maturity or whether we trust HER, it's about all the other passengers and the statistical probability that one of them is dangerous. I'm not comfortable with those odds, it's as simple as that. What we have always tried to do, though, is have some way to communicate so that she can just 'call' us if she wants to leave. Fortunately for us, we tend not to travel at peak times, so on our last cruise they were able to give us one of the 'diaper' phones since our walkie talkies were hit and miss. I'm hoping we'll be able to do the same thing on the Sky.

 

I MAY sign when we're on the Epic in 2010, but not because our daughter will be 12; if we choose to sign it will be because our cabin is directly across the corridor from Recess, the tween/kids' area. It might even depend on whether a counsellor might consider walking her to the cabin... and I would then still expect her to stay there until she contacted one of us.

 

Something we do, as I mentioned on another thread recently, is go and check on her regularly. We sit down with the activity list the first night and highlight the ones she doesn't want to miss, and for times outside of those, we just drop by the Kid's Crew whenever we change venues ourselves and see what she's up to. It also gives us a chance to let them know where to find us if they need to. :)

[boulders]

I have 3 children - different genders and widespread ages. I definitely treat the boys differently from the girls. Let's face it, a preteen/teen girl is more likely to come to harm from the actions of others than a boy of the same age. Although my oldest ds was allowed to walk to the cabin by himself at age 12, my dd will be much older - maybe 30? by the time she is allowed to walk anywhere alone on a ship.

[mom2girls]

I let my oldest child sign herself in and out. She's 10. But, I always tell her where I'm going to be. I also tell her where to meet me and what time. (Usually I meet her right outside of whatever activity she's doing.) She is a pretty responsible child. I also always make sure that when she goes to get an ice cream, etc she needs to be in a group.But, I think the key thing is you need to plan for things that could possibly go wrong. Letting your child know where you'll be is the best thing. If you have walkie talkies or some other form of communication that would be great too.

[quincytoo]

I have 3 children - different genders and widespread ages. I definitely treat the boys differently from the girls. Let's face it, a preteen/teen girl is more likely to come to harm from the actions of others than a boy of the same age. Although my oldest ds was allowed to walk to the cabin by himself at age 12, my dd will be much older - maybe 30? by the time she is allowed to walk anywhere alone on a ship.

 

We have one dd (24) and two ds's (21, 17) and I have to disagree with this statement. Our DS is a 5,10, size double 00 spitfire......from the day she was born if anyone dared attacked her, I would lay wages on that dd would be the victorous one.

 

We have never ever worried about her at all (beyond the normal parental worries) and that can not be said for the other two. Plus in this day and ages it seems that boys are targeted just as much as girls are.

 

As for the size 00 she eats like a trucker but can't keep weight on. I used to be like that....:mad:

[mjmalino]

This is one of those things that has plagued us as well. Our 2 DS (who are 11 and 10) would like to have sign in/out privlidges. They have only been cruising since 8 and 9, and at that point we signed them both in and out. Last year, however, we gave them a little more room. We gave them sign in privileges only. This seemed to work, especially at night when we may have still been enjoying dinner and they were raring to go to camp, they could sign themselves in. They still had to go right to camp, and had to stay together. It was a good compromise, and one I think we will do again next month.

[calikak]

My parents never let me alone on vacations, it was all family all the time. And when I was a teenager, there were definitely times I wanted to get away from them! So you guys who let your teens go to the teen center at all are way cool in my book. :D

 

My son is only 2 right now, so at this point I just know we have a long way to go before we have to worry about him signing himself in or out of activities!