charging priveledges?

[tennesseemom1123]

Hello All!

 

Taking the kids with us on our first cruise in May, ages 17 and 12. Is there any reason they would need signing priveledges on the ship?

 

Thanks for all of your great posts and reviews! I'm learning so much from you guys! You are all great!!:)

[canner2u]

Hello All!

 

Taking the kids with us on our first cruise in May, ages 17 and 12. Is there any reason they would need signing priveledges on the ship?

 

Thanks for all of your great posts and reviews! I'm learning so much from you guys! You are all great!!:)

Alot of it depends on what you want them to be able to do and such. Are you going to let them explore the ship with out you? If so, then you have to decide if they can purchase things such as soda, specialty items like coffees or pastries, playing in the arcade? You can set up their cards so that they have a limit on how much they can spend as well.

[klfrodo]

12 YO? No/Maybe. Virgin drinks, sodas, arcade

17 YO? Yes. Virgin drinks, sodas, small gifts for friends, store items. Time for the 17 YO to learn some responsibility. Even better, 17 YO has charging privliges up to the amount they give you ahead of time. Therefore it's their own money.

[tennesseemom1123]

Thanks so much! I didn't realize that they would have their own card.. separate from ours. But setting a limit is exactly what I will do!

[mom2boys97]

When we were on the Pride my kids had a 100 dollar spending limit to use while i was not with them but once that was gone they didnt have anymore money so it taught them to use there money wise... When they were with us we used our sign and sail card but it showed them some responsibility.... Also u can set a per day limit or an entire cruise limit...

[KJPG]

I always block the charging ability for my kids. We get them soda cards and give the oldest cash for the arcade. If there's something they need, we'll buy it for them.

[dkb363]

Our son has been cruising with us since he was 9 - he's now 18. We have always given him charging priveledges and he has never abused it. You can track purchases through your TV, so you can keep track of things. Part of it is knowing your child - mine is a Skittle freak - so he buys those, but little else. If it had been me when I was that age, I would have spent money in the jewelry/purse shops and then apologized to my parents later - fortunately he's not like that. There's just not much for him to purchase. We buy him a soda card at the beginning, he may spend a little on arcade tokens, but not much because he doesn't spend much time there - so I would imagine he's never even spent $100 a week on board. But he always felt important because he could purchase something on his own. Again, each child is different, it is all about what you think your own child will do.

[DTC]

We gave our 14 yr old $100 on the S&S card, or at least that's what we told him he could spend. We bought him a soda sticker so he was set with that.

He spend under $10 total. He was going to buy a sweatshirt but Grandma insisted on buying it for him. He is very responsible, we are very lucky!!

I plan to do the same next February.

[poobears]

I think it depends on the child. I have one I know would be totally fine. Others that would let new "friends" talk them into buying stuff for them. So go with your gut. I have 4 kids so it's not a risk I would take.

 

If they want something we'll buy it just like we do on land vacations.

[KJPG]

I think it depends on the child. I have one I know would be totally fine. Others that would let new "friends" talk them into buying stuff for them. So go with your gut. I have 4 kids so it's not a risk I would take.

 

If they want something we'll buy it just like we do on land vacations.

 

Wow, I hadn't even thought about that recently. That was one of my reasons for blocking when we first cruised. Glad you reminded me as I was considering lifting the ban on the oldest. I know he'd get sucked into a purchase for a cute but manipulative girl...

[klfrodo]

Glad you reminded me as I was considering lifting the ban on the oldest. I know he'd get sucked into a purchase for a cute but manipulative girl...

 

:D THAT will continue to happen no matter how old he gets.

[mwebb]

Agree with other posters Allowing kids charging privileges helps teach responsibility and money management but setting a cap is beneficial especially if card is lost and used by someone else to make purchases. $100 seems reasonable. May want to remind them that Arcade costs and virgin frozen drinks in fancy glasses can add up

[palmtre2]

DD has always had charging priveledges and only once abused them - to the tune of $20. She is very responsible. This year aunts, g-parents and mom & dad gave Funship dollars she can apply to her own account and when it's gone it's gone.

[jamers22]

We don't give our son charging privileges. We're not concerned about him charging, it's more about him loosing his card. On our last cruise he lost his card twice. If we had charging privileges on his card, someone could have found the card and used it. Just something else to think about.:)

[KJPG]

:D THAT will continue to happen no matter how old he gets.

 

Yeah, but as long as it isn't my money... ;)

 

No, really, there just isn't anything they need to buy. They have soda cards and cash for the arcade. They have no need for anything else.

[jules815]

We've always given our girls charging privileges, but they know we monitor. This was on RC (we're doing our first Carnival cruise as a family in June), and they would buy an occasional ice cream at Ben and Jerry's, and some virgin foo foo drinks. They know better than to buy anything on board in any of the gift shops.

[Houston Texas Mom]

DD is 14 and has had charging privileges since she was 10. She uses the same standards that we do at home--if a friend needs lunch money, you buy the lunch, but not on a regular basis--that type of thing. One time she did buy some flip flops in the gift shop for a friend whose flew over the side of the ship when they were playing a kicking game. Not a huge expense, but expensive flip flops. When I asked about the charge, she said the kid was afraid and that the parents would go ballistic. We know the family and agree that the parents would have been unreasonable about what was clearly an accident. We're happy that our daughter had the charging privilege to help her friend, and that she was mature enough to understand the situation, and generous enough to use her allotted money in this way.