Supervising children

[rmmm]

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I just finished my first solo cruise on the Zuiderdam and noticed that Holland America does a terrific job of supervising the kids in Club HAL. When the counselors brought the kids down to the Lido for ice cream or cookies they were very well behaved and well supervised. I did find however, that many children had parents who offered little to no supervision while the children were in their care. One afternoon I went to use the hot tub and pool after lunch. I was stunned that three little ones (under the age of 5) were jumping in and out of the pool and the hot tub and their parents sat with their backs to the pool area talking and eating lunch. One of these children was wearing a vest, the other two were very young, not wearing flotation devices and were jumping in and out of the pool and the hot tub.I also had a boy (about ten) who was in an otherwise empty hot tub jump out of his and jump on top of me in the hot tub I was in. Why do people bring their children on vacation and then ignore them?

[michmike]

Buddy and I throw offending kids overboard. It will be 2 or 3 hours before the airhead parents miss them and by then you can be 3 decks away having a drink and savoring not only your peace and quiet, but also your plausible deniability.

[sunviking90]

My concern is always the children I see wandering around the ship alone. On our last cruise in particular, I regularly saw children as young as 5 or 6 walking the corridors alone. One little boy actually looked lost and I watched to see if a parent appeared. None did, and a crew member approached him, so I continued on to my cabin. I assume these same parents don't allow their children to wander the streets alone at home, so I wonder what is the difference. The ship is full of 2000 strangers. My son was not allowed to go around a ship alone until he was 12+, not only for his own safety but out of consideration for other passengers. He wasn't always happy about this lack of freedom, but he knew it was a condition of the privilege of cruising.

[hammybee]

Some parents have ignored their children, since the begining of time. ( Remember how the Cain and Able story turned out?)

 

What you experienced happens at public pools, beaches, resort pools and on cruise ships, too.

 

There are not enough people in the world to keep other people's children out of harms way.

[kakalina]

Buddy and I throw offending kids overboard. It will be 2 or 3 hours before the airhead parents miss them and by then you can be 3 decks away having a drink and savoring not only your peace and quiet, but also your plausible deniability.

 

 

Yes, but those pesky darn cameras can't be bribed. :D

[JimVrhovac]

We see this all the time.

 

Just say something to one of their parents and they will accuse you of being a meddling old Bit.. that has nothing better to do than harassess normal well behaved children.

 

I like to carry black (permanent) majic markers in my pocket so I can teach the kids how to do body art while their parents arn't looking. Ruth threatened to throw me overboard if I ever did that a second time.

 

Just prey to god the kids do not kill themselves and then go about the business of having a good time....

 

Ruth & Jim

[mamaofami]

 

There are not enough people in the world to keep other people's children out of harms way.

 

 

Isin't that the truth. Some parents come on a ship and think it's a protected environment. There have been stories here of drinking teens leaving the bars and wandering the halls at all hour of the night.

[bcd2010]

I suspect pedophiles take cruises, too...

 

And they're probably not going to go after the kids who are being supervised by their parents...

[kryos]

Isin't that the truth. Some parents come on a ship and think it's a protected environment. There have been stories here of drinking teens leaving the bars and wandering the halls at all hour of the night.

That is so true ... and so wrong. A ship is a microcosim of society. You get good and bad people in each. Sending young children wandering around a ship by themselves is pure stupidity on the part of parents and I dread the day a child goes missing on a cruise ship. Tragically, it's bound to happen.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[usha]

I like to carry black (permanent) majic markers in my pocket so I can teach the kids how to do body art while their parents arn't looking. Ruth & Jim

Oh, my gosh! That'a TERRIBLE! (but I love it:o) LOL

[lovebug33]

Being teachers, this is the hardest thing for DH and I. It is really hard not to make comments to kids who are behaving badly. We often give them the teacher look and that stops them in their tracks. It is a very useful tool!

[cruzeluver]

I like to carry black (permanent) majic markers in my pocket so I can teach the kids how to do body art while their parents arn't looking. Ruth threatened to throw me overboard if I ever did that a second time.

 

Brilliant idea!!! I'd buy 'em a beer too! :p

[Debbie&Chaz]

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I just finished my first solo cruise on the Zuiderdam and noticed that Holland America does a terrific job of supervising the kids in Club HAL. When the counselors brought the kids down to the Lido for ice cream or cookies they were very well behaved and well supervised. I did find however, that many children had parents who offered little to no supervision while the children were in their care. One afternoon I went to use the hot tub and pool after lunch. I was stunned that three little ones (under the age of 5) were jumping in and out of the pool and the hot tub and their parents sat with their backs to the pool area talking and eating lunch. One of these children was wearing a vest, the other two were very young, not wearing flotation devices and were jumping in and out of the pool and the hot tub.I also had a boy (about ten) who was in an otherwise empty hot tub jump out of his and jump on top of me in the hot tub I was in. Why do people bring their children on vacation and then ignore them?

 

 

Sorry, but I must disagree. Our 10 yo DS loves Club Hal, and begs to go as soon as it is open. But - on our trip to Alaska in June, his age group had frequent "scanvenger hunts," and the kids were sent running all over the ship without supervision. Other passengers knew our son was in CH, and told us some of the antics they had seen. DS confirmed that all of this was going on, but denied taking part in the inappropriate behavior. Any program is only as good as the person running it. In this case the teacher preferred to sit in CH, and let the kids run wild. Sad.

[kryos]

Oh, my gosh! That'a TERRIBLE! (but I love it:o) LOL

I do too. :)

 

Only question I have, though ... is why just black? Jim needs to introduce some bright colors into those children's lives. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[usha]

I do too. :)

 

Only question I have, though ... is why just black? Jim needs to introduce some bright colors into those children's lives. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Ohhhhhhhhhh, yes!:D

I'm thinkin magic marker tattoos :p:eek:

[Joanne G.]

Being teachers, this is the hardest thing for DH and I. It is really hard not to make comments to kids who are behaving badly. We often give them the teacher look and that stops them in their tracks. It is a very useful tool!

 

That is so funny - and so true. My father was a junior high (now called middle school) principal, and when growing up my sister and I would occassionally hear his "principal voice." My kids heard it when needed, also. :D

 

To keep it on topic, my sister and I were on an Easter week cruise on NCL some years ago when we could have used Dad's principal voice on mini-gangs of roaming middle-schoolers. They were much more annoying than the babies and toddlers.

[Umbarger]

This can happen on any cruiseline but I thought this didnt happen as often on HAL. I am sorry to hear this.

 

Went on Princess last Christmas and the unsupervised kids were horrible. Mostly teenagers traveling the decks in packs. Couldnt go near the buffet after 10pm as it was taken over by the unbehaved teenaged packs also the language they used was awful. I wrote Princess a letter after the cruise and I got the response of so sorry but we cant do anything about it. Princess used to have Youth Security but did away with them to save money.

 

I recomend not trying to speak to unbehaved kids yourself. Someone tried this on Princess at Christmas and it almost resulted in a fist fight when the parent found out.

 

My husband is a school teacher and can only travel during school breaks so we cant avoid school breaks to avoid kids. He needs some off time from kids but it still drives him nuts to see it.

[silleecruiser]

My mother - a former fifth grade teacher - often uses her "teacher voice" most recently at my niece's college granduation when RUDE ADULTS continually stood in front of us - amusing to see 40-50 run for cover

[onthegogirl]

We see this all the time.

 

Just say something to one of their parents and they will accuse you of being a meddling old Bit.. that has nothing better to do than harassess normal well behaved children.

 

Ruth & Jim

 

Overheard at the Lincoln Memorial. Mom, Dad and son about 10. Mom "I told him that he had just ruined my son's entire vacation. I told him that we had come a great distance to see the memorials and he had just ruined it. So what if you were running. You were excited. And after he yelled at you to stop, that should have been the end of it. He didn't need to tell you to stop jumping" Scary what these kids will grow up to be.:eek:

[kryos]

This can happen on any cruiseline but I thought this didnt happen as often on HAL. I am sorry to hear this.

HAL is not immune. It happens there too. True, you probably don't get quite as many kids on HAL as you would on one of the lines with more amenities for kids than HAL has, but then again, you can actually have it worse on HAL if those kids get bored, which they invariably will if there's not enough to amuse them onboard.

 

From what I've heard ... and this is just second-hand ... younger children seem to do well on HAL and in HAL's children's club. But the older ones often get antsy because there isn't enough for them to do. On lines like RCI, they have plenty of diversions outside of the children's club, but on HAL they don't. If their parents are not proactive in keeping them engaged with interesting things to do, then of course, the kids will get together with others their own age and look for entertainment. That entertainment may very well involve major annoyances to other passengers ... i.e., elevator races, sitting on stairways, running through the Lido, etc.

 

HAL is unfortunately no different as to the behavior of the kids onboard. Yes, they have children's programs, but older kids are free to sign themselves in and out at will. How their behavior will affect other passengers depends on their parents, and as I am sure you realize, on all cruise lines you get all kinds of parents ... and thus kids.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[mrsltg]

Sorry, but I must disagree. Our 10 yo DS loves Club Hal, and begs to go as soon as it is open. But - on our trip to Alaska in June, his age group had frequent "scanvenger hunts," and the kids were sent running all over the ship without supervision. Other passengers knew our son was in CH, and told us some of the antics they had seen. DS confirmed that all of this was going on, but denied taking part in the inappropriate behavior. Any program is only as good as the person running it. In this case the teacher preferred to sit in CH, and let the kids run wild. Sad.

 

Well, frankly, a well behaved kid should be well behaved regardless. It shouldn't depend on who is watching or not watching. My kids are far from perfect but good public behavior is simply non-negotiable and they know it.

[JerseyJaguar]

The worst behaved kids I've seen on vacation are at Disney World and it's mainly because their parents are out of control too. When the parents are running into people with strollers and giving attitude to people who ask that their kids stop kicking them or hitting them, then of course the kids are going to be bad.

 

I've lucked out with my cruises so far, the kids have been very well behaved. The only time I asked a kid to quiet down was when he and his father were on the serenity deck (for adults only on Carnival Fantasy), I didn't ask them to leave just explained it was an adult quiet place and they respected that.

 

Some things, like the hot tubs, if the Cruise line doesn't enforce it, there's nothing I can do to change it, so I just go early in the morning if I want to use them.

[lovebug33]

Well, frankly, a well behaved kid should be well behaved regardless. It shouldn't depend on who is watching or not watching. My kids are far from perfect but good public behavior is simply non-negotiable and they know it.

I agree to that to some extent, but being a teacher, I see how kids can act when their parents are away. It is kind of like they have been given license to do whatever, especially when they are following other bad kids. However, you know which kids are raised right because they feel guilty for being bad. They are the ones who are going to take their punishment and not argue. The kids who haven't been raised right aren't going to give a darn because they argue and know that their parents will blame the teacher, not the kids.