We dont have kids - but our friends are bringing theirs.....

We were able to register the kids in the terminal after we checked in in NYC. Not sure if that happens all the time, though

Does that apply to someone calling another poster "RUDE!" :rolleyes:

Well considering this is the definition of "rude"

rude

ro͞od/

adjective

adjective: rude; comparative adjective: ruder; superlative adjective: rudest

1.

offensively impolite or ill-mannered.

I think it was fine for the poster to use that term.

I think it was fine for the poster to use that term.

Calling someone rude doesn't fall into the "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." category. Whether the term is fine or appropriate doesn't make it "nice", does it?:rolleyes:

Our friends are first time cruisers and bringing their 13 year daughter and 10 year old son along. We have no issues traveling with the kids, but I have also made it very clear that I will be marching them down to the kids club to make friends the first day! ;p

 

 

 

Are there any other suggestions that I should make for our friends and their kids?

 

Here's what I have already passed along (from reading recent reviews)

 

• 
   
  
• watch their spending in the arcades (or they may end up with hundreds of rubber duckies in their room)
   
  
• register their son's food allergies prior to boarding
   
  
• closed toe shoes for the ropes course
   
  

Are lanyards a good idea for the kids? Or is it better for them to just carry their passes?

 

 

 

 

 

THANKS - 25 days and counting

We just got off NCL and we're shocked at the prices in the arcade. Each game was $1.50!!! That's outrageous.

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Calling someone rude doesn't fall into the "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." category. Whether the term is fine or appropriate doesn't make it "nice", does it?:rolleyes:

Well the poster was NOT referring to ONE person in particular, so they weren't calling SOMEONE rude, just saying that people can be rude and I agreed that yes on these boards people can be rude. She or he was just stating a FACT and has nothing to do with being nice or not. :rolleyes:

Well the poster was NOT referring to ONE person in particular, so they weren't calling SOMEONE rude, just saying that people can be rude and I agreed that yes on these boards people can be rude. She or he was just stating a FACT and has nothing to do with being nice or not. :rolleyes:

1. Calling multiple people "rude" is worse than calling one person "rude".

2. The words used were "Wow some of you people are RUDE!" which is both an opinion as well as an insult. It is certainly not "nice".

3. If you are going to support someone calling others "rude" how can you also put forth the idea of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." ?

4. Stating an opinion isn't "just stating a fact".

Oh for God's sake, enough!!

 

PS - Guess I need to go cause some needless commotion elsewhere....does anyone know if we can just leave the kids in the room while we go off on our excursions? (;p, yep, more humour!)

Of course not. You send them either to the pool to hold loungers for you all, or if it's evening, to the theater to hold seats! :evilsmile:;p

Wow some of you people are RUDE! I'm sure she knows her friends love their kids and will like to spend time with them! She is also aware she would like to have some adult time too, which is WHY THE KIDS CLUB EXISTS. Lord leave this person alone! I have never seen people attack someone over such an innocent question!!!

 

 

 

RUDE!

Gotta love amatuer moderators!!! LOL.

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One thing I can say about the posters on this board.....y'all sure do keep the moderators busy.

To the OP, apparently there are still quite a few who have not learned to interpret the art of emoji. :rolleyes:

We have friends just like you and have a tremendous amount of fun with them. Our kids have basically grown up together and I would fully expect them to say something to them if I had missed something along the way. It takes a village and I was willing to take all the help I could get. ;)

One thing I can say about the posters on this board.....y'all sure do keep the moderators busy.

 

 

 

To the OP, apparently there are still quite a few who have not learned to interpret the art of emoji. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

We have friends just like you and have a tremendous amount of fun with them. Our kids have basically grown up together and I would fully expect them to say something to them if I had missed something along the way. It takes a village and I was willing to take all the help I could get. ;)

Based on what I see around me and the nonsense being played out on tv these days by our so-called entertainers I really don't want the village going near my kids

It's not that these entertainers/ball players/failed politicians/sit com screenwriters etc are ever going to help me with my kids...it's just that there are too many in my local well educated well employed "village" that just follow the crowd and feel they must always be politically correct in everything. I'd prefer they not "help" me raise my kids.

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Our friends are first time cruisers and bringing their 13 year daughter and 10 year old son along. We have no issues traveling with the kids, but I have also made it very clear that I will be marching them down to the kids club to make friends the first day! ;p

 

Are there any other suggestions that I should make for our friends and their kids?

Here's what I have already passed along (from reading recent reviews)

• watch their spending in the arcades (or they may end up with hundreds of rubber duckies in their room)
  
• register their son's food allergies prior to boarding
  
• closed toe shoes for the ropes course
  

Are lanyards a good idea for the kids? Or is it better for them to just carry their passes?

 

 

THANKS - 25 days and counting

sounds like you have covered it all pretty well. Yes, lanyards are the best way to carry thier keys or whatever. If they are like most kids, you probably won't have to worry about them much. They will make friends right away and spend much of their time with the kids their age. They are a perfect age for cruising in my opinion.

Ha ha ha! Love it.

Thank you to those who gave some great suggestions and ideas - I am sure it will go a long way to ensure we all have a great vacation. Good to know that I will need to start the marching in the afternoon and not the evening. ;p (this emoji depicts the humour and tongue in cheek personality that I currently have)

 

To everyone who is so very worried about the welfare of the children, the parents, their family, my family, our friendship and my so called 'trying to parent' - I want to assure that that at no time will anyone be hurt or harmed in the making of this vacation! Nobody will be forced to spend time together or apart (well, except for my husband and I (;p more humour). Nobody will be forced to participate (well, except for that ropes course, someone with a fear of heights will be doing that for my shear enjoyment. Nobody will be forced to consume copious amounts of food (well, except for all of us, this is a cruise for goodness sake!)

 

I am extremely grateful for our friends, their kids, our relationship and the travels we have all taken together. It is just the dynamic of our friendship - I am the planner, the researcher, the one on the quest for information - they are the ones that just come along for the ride. It works for us, not sure why it should matter to anyone else!

 

Hope everyone has a great cruise and vacation - I know we will!

 

PS - Guess I need to go cause some needless commotion elsewhere....does anyone know if we can just leave the kids in the room while we go off on our excursions? (;p, yep, more humour!)

If the kids have never sailed before have the parents go to the store and get some Bonine - They even make a chewable version. This way they have something on hand if one of them becomes sea sick and do not have to go hunting for it or pay some high price at the gift shop

As someone else mention, you can go to the buffet and get some fruit or even a few cookies and bring them back to the cabin. Then they can have a snack in the room before bedtime and watch tv or tell family stories about their day

The Glow party is for all ages until I believe 10 or 11pm. Stop at the dollar store before you leave and get them some of those glow necklaces and bracelets and bring a white shirt of some kind for them. They will have a blast

Hey OP, I got your tongue-in-cheek tone, and also plan to march my OWN kids down to the kid clubs on the first night, whether they like it or not. ;) It's less about my own desire for freedom (as this is a family vaycay) and more to ensure that they give the kid clubs a hearty try, and hopefully find some fun/friends in them. If they hate them, that's fine. If they love them, that's fine. We'll roll with the punches, and figure it all out as we go. This is also our first cruise (and first vacation with the kids, ever!) so here's a few things I had planned on doing:

1. Posting some ground-rules for the kids (nothing over the top, as we are supposed to be having fun. But more the stuff that they may not automatically think of: No going on balcony without us, ensuring they wash their hands frequently, being quiet and polite and respectful when in the halls/open areas/in rooms/everywhere basically, taking the stairs and staying out of the elevators as they are more than capable of walking, whereas others aren't, etc.)

2. Ordering the complimentary continental breakfast room service every morning as a "pre-breakfast", as some of my crew are early risers and inexplicably have an insatiable hunger as their eyes open for the day. This will buy me maybe an extra hour or two to "sleep in", and then we can hit the buffet or a restaurant at a normal hour.

3. Deactivating the room cards (though I didn't realize you could set a daily limit, so I'll look into that). And hooking them to lanyards.

4. Having the mini fridge cleaned out. I don't want to risk having the kids get into it, plus we need the space for some medicine, and would like to add a bit of our own stuff (water/etc) to have available for the kids.

5. Packing clothing in ziplocks. This is probably not necessary for most, but we have three kids in the room, and I anticipate chaos of just...stuff. So I'm doing individual outfits ziplocked, with their name on the front, so I can just toss the ziplocks into a cupboard and not worry about clothing being all messed up and mixed up and strewn about. I'm keeping an open suitcase under the bed where we can toss our dirty laundry.

6. Bringing highlighters and assigning each person a colour, so that the kids can identify activities they are interested in doing, in the Dailys.

7. Encouraging naps and lounging around time! It's all about relaxation, for us. :)

I'm sure there's more, but that's just a few things off the top of my head. We are gone for 12 days, so staying organized is key for us!

Hey OP, I got your tongue-in-cheek tone, and also plan to march my OWN kids down to the kid clubs on the first night, whether they like it or not. ;) It's less about my own desire for freedom (as this is a family vaycay) and more to ensure that they give the kid clubs a hearty try, and hopefully find some fun/friends in them. If they hate them, that's fine. If they love them, that's fine. We'll roll with the punches, and figure it all out as we go. This is also our first cruise (and first vacation with the kids, ever!) so here's a few things I had planned on doing:

 

1. Posting some ground-rules for the kids (nothing over the top, as we are supposed to be having fun. But more the stuff that they may not automatically think of: No going on balcony without us, ensuring they wash their hands frequently, being quiet and polite and respectful when in the halls/open areas/in rooms/everywhere basically, taking the stairs and staying out of the elevators as they are more than capable of walking, whereas others aren't, etc.)

 

2. Ordering the complimentary continental breakfast room service every morning as a "pre-breakfast", as some of my crew are early risers and inexplicably have an insatiable hunger as their eyes open for the day. This will buy me maybe an extra hour or two to "sleep in", and then we can hit the buffet or a restaurant at a normal hour.

 

3. Deactivating the room cards (though I didn't realize you could set a daily limit, so I'll look into that). And hooking them to lanyards.

 

4. Having the mini fridge cleaned out. I don't want to risk having the kids get into it, plus we need the space for some medicine, and would like to add a bit of our own stuff (water/etc) to have available for the kids.

 

5. Packing clothing in ziplocks. This is probably not necessary for most, but we have three kids in the room, and I anticipate chaos of just...stuff. So I'm doing individual outfits ziplocked, with their name on the front, so I can just toss the ziplocks into a cupboard and not worry about clothing being all messed up and mixed up and strewn about. I'm keeping an open suitcase under the bed where we can toss our dirty laundry.

 

6. Bringing highlighters and assigning each person a colour, so that the kids can identify activities they are interested in doing, in the Dailys.

 

7. Encouraging naps and lounging around time! It's all about relaxation, for us. :)

 

I'm sure there's more, but that's just a few things off the top of my head. We are gone for 12 days, so staying organized is key for us!

Something to remember they usually run a special to get a bag of laundry done for a set price mid-cruise.

With that being said everyone on their first cruise "overpacks". Don't be that person😂😂😂,

The kids will live in bathing suits/shorts/t-shirts.

Make outfits interchangeable with shorts/pants/tops.

No one will notice what you are wearing or have worn.

Can't remember but don't know if suitcase fits under beds!

Not sure of the ages of your children - but i have added some comments:

 

1. Posting some ground-rules for the kids (nothing over the top, as we are supposed to be having fun. But more the stuff that they may not automatically think of: No going on balcony without us, ensuring they wash their hands frequently, being quiet and polite and respectful when in the halls/open areas/in rooms/everywhere basically, taking the stairs and staying out of the elevators as they are more than capable of walking, whereas others aren't, etc.) Setting ground rules are good. Although fairly safe, incidents do happen - a cruise ship is a mini city. See the link in my last post above for our rules, which have been modified over the years due to experiences and changing age of our kids.

 

2. Ordering the complimentary continental breakfast room service every morning as a "pre-breakfast", as some of my crew are early risers and inexplicably have an insatiable hunger as their eyes open for the day. This will buy me maybe an extra hour or two to "sleep in", and then we can hit the buffet or a restaurant at a normal hour. Although breakfast is complimentary, there is a $7.95 service charge (unless in Haven).

 

3. Deactivating the room cards (though I didn't realize you could set a daily limit, so I'll look into that). And hooking them to lanyards. We have done both, and this time both were old enough not to provide limits - but only you know your kids best.

 

4. Having the mini fridge cleaned out. I don't want to risk having the kids get into it, plus we need the space for some medicine, and would like to add a bit of our own stuff (water/etc) to have available for the kids. Although you probably know this already - Do not clean it out yourself.

 

5. Packing clothing in ziplocks. This is probably not necessary for most, but we have three kids in the room, and I anticipate chaos of just...stuff. So I'm doing individual outfits ziplocked, with their name on the front, so I can just toss the ziplocks into a cupboard and not worry about clothing being all messed up and mixed up and strewn about. I'm keeping an open suitcase under the bed where we can toss our dirty laundry. There is a $19.95 bag mid-cruise to wash some of the items. Also, as someone mentioned above, if you are headed to warm weather, bathing suits and t-shirts will be the norm.

 

6. Bringing highlighters and assigning each person a colour, so that the kids can identify activities they are interested in doing, in the Dailys. You may also either want to ask your steward for additional copies or get a few extras near the service desks (usually on and to the sides of the desks).

 

7. Encouraging naps and lounging around time! It's all about relaxation, for us. :) Naps for the parents is also a nice thing.

 

I'm sure there's more, but that's just a few things off the top of my head. We are gone for 12 days, so staying organized is key for us! Enjoy

Not sure of the ages of your children - but i have added some comments:

The continental breakfast has no service charge.