Children's on board spending

[joejo]

What kind of items do children spend $ on? Can I limit the changeability of my 11 yr old's card and eliminate the 4 yr old's ability to charge? I don't think the 4 yr old would charge anything, lol, but I just want to protect myself in the event someone tried something sneaky.

 

I'm thinking the 11 yr old might want a few sodas or an arcade game or two. What else might tickle her fancy on board?

 

Both kids may or may not spend time with the kids club and so there may be an opportunity for them to use their cards out of my presence.

[cb at sea]

Aside from the arcade and possibly Ben and Jerry's (if your ship has one), there's not alot that will interest kids....possibly candy or trinkets in the general store...

 

You can put a set amount on each childs card..and the 4 year old's card YOU will keep...that's too young to carry their own card or even go anywhere without an adult!

 

But, the 11 year old will most likely be allowed to go a few places alone...and you can give them a bit to spend without permission.

 

If your kids, at least the older one, wants sodas, they cost $2.24 per can, or you can buy a soda card so they can have unlimited fountain soda....your choice. There are things like iced tea, water and lemonade avail in the WJ at no charge.

[jmezmom]

My 9 year old has never used her sea pass card herself to charge anything.

 

We buy her the soda package and we go the first day to the arcade and put a specific dollar amount on the card and when it's gone that's it.

 

The only other thing she has wanted to spend money on is the ice cream so we make sure she gets a couple servings each trip as there is free soft serve out by the pool.

[MrsPete]

We don't give our kids charging privledges. There's nothing that kids NEED to buy and not much that they WANT to buy.

 

You'll probably be around for the occasional milkshake. The onboard store held no magic for my kids.

 

I'd beware of the arcade. I've heard of too many kids running up huge bills there. My kids are not huge game-fiends, so that's never been a problem.

[suamom]

We spend a lot of time on the ship with our 2 daughters.(11 and 17) We enjoy their company but we do give them charging privledge's w strict instructions. Sometimes, the two like to go get an ice cream or go to the arcade together. I love to encourage the sisterly bonding.:)

 

They always have to tell us what that charge afterwards so there is no surprises at the end of the cruise and they can only charge $10.00 daily at the arcade. My youngest could spend a huge amount there if rules aren't given. LOL

 

They are both responsible, mature girls so we do trust them. I think it depends on each individual child and how much the parent can tust them.

 

On our last 2 cruises with them, (Mariner and Grandeur) I believe their charges without my DH and I only totaled about 25.00 for each child.

[tmtip]

We let our girls (ages 14 & 16) charge $10 per day. The can spend it any way that they would like (arcade, ice cream, store), they can spend it all at once or save it up for a later day. We have never had a problem with them over spending.

[cantw8togo]

The AO also has a 'Build A Bear' type stuffie machine. I think they only do it on certain days but this is something that you may want to discuss ahead of time so that you don't have any surprises after the fact. I think the prices started around $20 plus extra for accessories.

[mechcc]

Have never taken kids on a cruise. But - years ago we lived in Europe thanks to Uncle Sam and we took family vacations. Before we left we put X amount of dollars into an envelope for each child. That was their spending money for the trip and it worked really well - even at 4 years of age. Cruising makes it easy as you can put that much money on the child's sea pass card and when it's gone, it's gone.

 

Funny thing is if you are parents of 2 or more - you will see one child's limit spent the first day while another child will still have money last day. Same gene pool, raised with the same values - but different results. Interesting insight into your children and allows for some life's lessons.