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Shoppie124
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I'm another one who would not let my daughter be out and about on her own at the same age as my sons. Females are several times more likely to be sexually assaulted than males. It has nothing to do with whether or not the child is responsible. It's the danger from fellow passengers that makes me more protective of my daughter.
And young males are still a very attractive target to the perverts out there. They mature physically and emotionally much later than females. So they are in no way "safe".

 

As a global society we need change culture and attitude toward women -- show your sons and daughters that everyone is valued, all the time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
ok, so far we have 10, 11, 16, a possible 17 & 20......anybody else beg to differ, feel free to chime in with a different age.

.......ask a simple question........lmao...rofl....lol

 

Mine are going to be 16 and 14 during our next cruise. I want them to use the buddy system and not roam the ship by themselves. Like at home, if they want to roam around with friends we haven't met, we need to be introduced. We have a check-in schedule and we also communicate in our room through Post-It notes.

 

 

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We were just on NCL breakaway with our 13.5 yr old and 10 yo. It’s a very large ship. My 13 year old had free reign as he has an excellent sense of direction and could find things more easily than I could. He went to meals on his own at the buffet when he wanted to and went to the teen club

 

My 10 year old could get lost in a paper bag so I didn’t let her go around on her own.

 

I did let them go around the ship together. I saw multiple groups of kids both their ages having around together and had we had friends or family with us I’d have allowed that for both.

 

I let my son go around alone or with friends in our town, I let my daughter go short distances she’s familiar with alone or with a friend, I felt about the same on the cruise.

 

It wasn’t something I felt too worried about beyond worries of my daughter getting lost (in fact she did get lost at the buffet one time)

 

 

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We were just on NCL breakaway with our 13.5 yr old and 10 yo. It’s a very large ship. My 13 year old had free reign as he has an excellent sense of direction and could find things more easily than I could. He went to meals on his own at the buffet when he wanted to and went to the teen club

 

My 10 year old could get lost in a paper bag so I didn’t let her go around on her own.

 

I did let them go around the ship together. I saw multiple groups of kids both their ages having around together and had we had friends or family with us I’d have allowed that for both.

 

I let my son go around alone or with friends in our town, I let my daughter go short distances she’s familiar with alone or with a friend, I felt about the same on the cruise.

 

It wasn’t something I felt too worried about beyond worries of my daughter getting lost (in fact she did get lost at the buffet one time)

 

 

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If it makes you feel better, when we moved I had to write directions for my husband on how to get home.[emoji23]. He still has a hard time with direction...I may lose him on the Breakaway [emoji23]

 

 

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I'm another one who would not let my daughter be out and about on her own at the same age as my sons. Females are several times more likely to be sexually assaulted than males. It has nothing to do with whether or not the child is responsible. It's the danger from fellow passengers that makes me more protective of my daughter.

 

Yeah but a 12 year girl is a lot less likely to be assaulted than a 16 or 17 year old girl so by that logic...

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My son was 12 on our first cruise and I let me go off on his own. He is very mature for his age and mostly went to the arcade. He would always check back in with me. Once we returned home I caught a story on Dateline, where a 12 year old girl was pulled into an elevator and sexually assaulted on a Disney ship buy one of the employees. The ENTIRE incident was caught on surveillance cameras. Better safe than sorry.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would say when you are comfortable dropping them off for the day at the local shopping mall. These ships are small cities. Thousands of strangers that you know absolutely nothing about. Yes, the names are run through the government databases to search out criminals, but that only finds the ones who have been caught!

 

As for letting her head off alone with her 'new friends', please use caution here. I have found that kids - especially tween/teen girls make new friends incredibly quickly on cruises. They meet today and tomorrow they are 'best friends forever'! These are not the kids she hangs with at home who you've known since kindergarten, or kids who you know their parents and their values. While a child may look and sound great when you first meet them, peer pressure can get very real once they are off on their own.

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My son was 12 when we 1st sailed. Wewere on a 4 day on the Norwegian Sky. At the time I allowed him to check himself inand out of the Kids Club but he has to come straight to the room or straight toour agreed upon meeting place. Shortly after we arrived home the news featureda story of a 12 year old girl who was waiting alone for an elevator. The elevatoropened and a male crew member was I inside he pulled the girl into the elevatorand sexually assaulted her it was all caught on tape. The new story showedclips of the incident, blurring out the girls identity. This happened on aDisney cruise ship. The crewmember was arrested, yet the damage was already done.The man received a light sentence since the incident occurred in internationalwaters if I recall. After that story myperception of allowing kids to roam has changed. Even now at 15 years old and 6”1I allow his to go on his own but I am very uneasy about it. I know we cannotlive in fear but this really struck a nerve with me.

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My son was 12 when we 1st sailed. Wewere on a 4 day on the Norwegian Sky. At the time I allowed him to check himself inand out of the Kids Club but he has to come straight to the room or straight toour agreed upon meeting place. Shortly after we arrived home the news featureda story of a 12 year old girl who was waiting alone for an elevator. The elevatoropened and a male crew member was I inside he pulled the girl into the elevatorand sexually assaulted her it was all caught on tape. The new story showedclips of the incident, blurring out the girls identity. This happened on aDisney cruise ship. The crewmember was arrested, yet the damage was already done.The man received a light sentence since the incident occurred in internationalwaters if I recall. After that story myperception of allowing kids to roam has changed. Even now at 15 years old and 6”1I allow his to go on his own but I am very uneasy about it. I know we cannotlive in fear but this really struck a nerve with me.

 

Something like 20 million people a year cruise so this one incident as shocking as it is is very very rare. Leaving your kid with your best trusted uncle is almost certainly more dangerous. That said a cruise ship is a floating hotel and I would be more cautious than a kid walking to school alone or other independant activities in your community.

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My son had just turned 12 when we let him start going off on his own. Now at 15 he leaves the cabin as soon as he wakes up of a morning around 9 and we don't see him until he comes in around midnight. That's on sea days of course. On port days, he goes off of the ship with us and on our tours or whatever we have planned for the day.

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When cruising with friends, we let 8 year olds go mini-golfing on another deck while we had lunch, that kind of thing. Too young to wander, but not too young to go to a designated place and come back as long as they're mature enough. (two other 8 year olds in our party were not allowed to do anything like that - one wasn't trustworthy enough and the other not able to navigate locations or problems should one arise). As others have said, it depends on the child. I like Onessa's rules about groups of 3 and only public areas - no cabin areas, etc. My daughter at 13 is allowed to be out on her own during the day when we travel - just as she is at home - but not wander, I need to know where she is going and for how long. She will need to be a bit older to stay out in the evening - not sure when that will be.

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