kids' spending money

[Morgsmom]

Count me in on the "stunned." I give DD a $25 onboard allowance for the whole cruise and she has never gone over it. Just knowing that she can buy one or two little things is enough for her and the priviledge of signing her own slip is plenty. Now that she is in her teens it may go up, but frankly she doesn't want to spend "her" money on a $5 mock frozen drink and recognizes that the junk in the gift shops is just that.

[shalibibi]

I also give my 10 year old an allowance of $25 for the entire 7 day cruise. This way she really thinks about what she wants to purchase. It is usually a small trinket gift for her best friend then a small trinket for herself. This I love because she is thinking of others before herself. When I see her sighing over something that she would really love for herself I go back and purchase it as a Christmas gift. In the past "Santa" used to leave these as his elves were watching her on vacation but I guess those days are rapidly coming to an end now that she is 10...

[KKB]

We have 3 kids...15, 12 & 10

They do NOT have charging privileges.

We told them they had $100 each for their Disney cruise 5 years ago..they came NOWHERE near spending that. (maybe spent $30 each)...same at Disneyworld. So we will probably say they have $50 each...any more they can use their own money.

I don't buy anything much on vacations--neither do they. It's about the experience for us.

[Immisspriss]

We gave both of our children unlimited s&s access last cruise. We told DS he could have 10 per day in the arcade.. Neither child abused the privilege..

[dulcimergirl]

OK heads up folks, the Kids games are on the card. Do not show the kids how to put more funds on it. My sister did this on our first cruise, and before we knew it my niece had charged over 400$ unknowingly of course. My niece, not my sister. Then my sister hit for 1000 in the casino. Thank goodness.. so all was well, and it was a big laugh, and is still a running joke in the family. Goodness knows what would have happened with that unexpected charge.

 

My Niece still talks about her first Charge Card aboard, and was so tickled she got to keep it. No idea if she's tried using it anywhere else LOL

[Nebr.cruiser]

I'm in the stunned category too. We're planning on taking 5 grandkids on a cruise and they will get $20 each to spend--on the whole cruise! We will pay for excursions, but the $20 will be for souvenirs in port, mainly. To us, their treat is the cruise, and that's a big one!

 

We'll take water bottles to refill on board, but pop isn't something we normally buy anyway. It will be water, lemonade or juices for the kids, and for us. Since they range in age from 7-11, they aren't going to have free run of the ship, by us, so places to spend will be limited.

 

I know from experience that giving kids a set amount to spend, and sticking to it, leads to very good decision-making on their part.

 

Every summer we travel with them to Montana (about 1000 miles) by car. They each get $5 to spend along the way on snacks and treats. Before we did this it was a constant hassle with the five kids begging and whining for candy, etc., at stops. Now, they get quite miserly with their spending and almost always have money left when we arrive. In fact, they usually have enough money left on the return trip (they get $5 each way) to buy their parents souvenirs!

 

We do have sandwiches, water, fruit and some snacks along, so they don't have to buy actual food. That's the way I think of a cruise. Almost everything they really need, and a lot more, is included.

 

I don't think I'll even mention that they can bring some of their own savings along. I'm sure, at least with the boys, that this would only lead to wasting money on video games. There's plenty else for them to do. Guess I'm old school!

[adriennerm]

LOL after reading this I feel horrible. I told my daughter she is limited to the free drinks while on board. I figured she'll get a frozen coffee drink, but that's about it. There are plenty of free drinks on board. There's iced tea, lemonade, OJ and punch. I planned on giving her $40 for the 3 day cruise for on board usage. That should cover a shake, games and souvenir IMO. When we are in the Bahamas, we'll discuss what she purchases together.

[CPAMom]

Interesting point about the soda cards. We have soda at home -- but it's more the exception than the rule.

 

Does anyone know how much they are typically on a HAL 7 day cruise (Alaska)? I don't mind giving DD some spending money -- but having her pay for something like soda (if she chooses to) is not a bad idea.

[RVP cruiser]

However much they earn and save up before the cruise. The ages of your 4 girls are old enough to be earning allowance and extra cash for chores or rewards for good grades. So its up to them on how much $$$ they have to spend. When you work for it and earn it you have a greater appreciation- its one of the best lessons you can teach your kids.

 

RVP Cruiser

[squeeksladoe]

About 1.5-2 months ago when I booked the cruise I made up a daily responsibility chart for my son (11).

 

Every day he has a list of responsibilities along with behaviors I want him to work on.

 

Every day he strives to accomplish all his chores and behaviors. Some days he is better than others.

 

I didn't assign a specific dollar amount to these chores on purpose so I could gauge based on his behavior and how he did his chores what I would actually give him for the cruise. He knows he is earning money for the arcade.

 

I'll probably give him $100 for just the arcade. I bought him the soda package as this will be a treat since he only drinks sports drinks and seltzer at home.

 

Then as far as souvenirs, we will buy him a tee-shirt in each port and one small souvenir. Or we might give him $200 and that is to be divided up between the arcade and souvenirs. The tee-shirts we will still buy him.

 

I would never think of giving him no money because realistically he will want some things much the same as I do. Souvenirs are part of the trip as far as I'm concerned but then again I only have one child, if I had more I might have to adjust my thinking because I could simply not afford to give each one $200. I guess that is a benefit of having an only child :D

[gerif]

That could really add up if you have 4 people buying water 3 x a day or more. I am saying this as an alternative, since your kids and your family don't particularly drink a lot of soda. One of your kids could get the soda package on their card. You get a cool insulated mug when you buy this. You don't need to lug that mug around. You have the tag on your room key for the child that you purchased it for. That child can get a soda at any bar, dining room, or buffet. That child can hand it over to you or a sibling. Child price is cheaper than adult price.

 

My son and I don't drink alot, however, we both like @ soda each per day (one at lunch for him, and one at dinner for me). That was $1.50 x 2 people x 7 nights = $21 for soda. Soda package makes sense so you don't have to worry about it all adding up.

 

Oh, good - teach them young all about theft - great parenting advice.

 

In any event, if your child doesn't drink much soda, a can (which amounts to two glasses) only costs about $2.50. We always bring empty sports bottles that can be filled with water, lemonade, iced tea or juice from the buffet.

[jb6075]

If you are bringing adult grand children (ages 19 / 20) can they use their own debit card to tie into their own account... so that whatever they buy, goes on their debit/credit card?

[kassimer1]

If you are bringing adult grand children (ages 19 / 20) can they use their own debit card to tie into their own account... so that whatever they buy, goes on their debit/credit card?

not if its just a debit card, it needs to be a credit/debit card from what i read in other posts. or you can just have them bring cash and have that put on thier sign and sail card

[kassimer1]

I would never think of giving him no money because realistically he will want some things much the same as I do. Souvenirs are part of the trip as far as I'm concerned but then again I only have one child, if I had more I might have to adjust my thinking because I could simply not afford to give each one $200. I guess that is a benefit of having an only child :D

I agree with you on that. since my son is an only child we can afford to give him more than if we had a few kids.

[Gizzy02]

I just love this subject.

We are planning our third cruise with our kids (ages 9 & 10) and they constantly save alittle for our next vacation. They made a "vacation fund" container about four years ago and everytime I give them their allowance they put alittle in the vacation fund and they know that that money is for our next, big family vacation. It's not much because they usually only get like $6.00 a Saturday and that's only if they do their chores. We usually only are able to go everyother year so they always have lot of time to save the money up.

So when it's time for our trip, they pull out what they want and they have their own spending money. I know it makes them appreciate things that they are buying and think about it more, weather or not they really want to buy it or not..with their own money. I buy their pop cards & a t-shirt but any other items & arcade money, they use their money. It's worked out really well for our last two trips and I think it's a good system. It shows them that you can save alittle at a time and see how that grows.

I too, am shocked by the amount of money that some people give their kids for spending on a cruise but if they can that's great. We definitly can not, so this works for us.

Happy saving to all! :D

[Colorado Kat]

Just a tip - If you do allow your children to charge things on their sign and sail account, you can monitor that account on the tv set in your room. I check nightly, for both my daughters, and myself.

[jilllofalltrades]

We don't just give our children money for the cruise. Then again we don't just give allowance money either. They do odd chores around the house and save up for their trip just as we are. We plan to let our 18 yo use a $100 visa gift card on his ss card and $50 for our 12 yo. Port souvenirs can be purchased together.

[Cat657]

My 16 year old is going on his 3rd cruise in a few weeks. His spending money and charge privileges have changed as he has gotten older. We have always given him full charging privileges, however, he was given strict guidelines regarding the use of the sail & sign card. He could charge up to $10 per day when he was 11 and at 13, it went up to $20 per day. He knew how to keep track of his expenditures and he never abused it. Now that he is 16 and has had more opportunities to earn his own money he will be responsible for paying for anything he wants to buy. He spent the summer in Africa without us when he was 14 so we set him up with a credit card for emergencies. He handled that well so it will be that credit card that is tied to his onboard account and he will settle his own bill with cash at the end of the cruise. Now we all know that the credit card bill still comes to mom and dad, but having the card and being responsible for it has been helpful in teaching him about credit. The good, the bad and the ugly. He also saved up and bought a CD when he was 13 and each time it has matured, we discuss how he wants to renew it.

I was pretty happy when at the conclusion of our last cruise, he pulled out some of his money and asked for a envelope. He wanted to give the steward some of his own money for a tip, because he thought it must be a "hard job cleaning up after teenagers". I love that kid.

[LoveMyCoastie]

I was pretty happy when at the conclusion of our last cruise, he pulled out some of his money and asked for a envelope. He wanted to give the steward some of his own money for a tip, because he thought it must be a "hard job cleaning up after teenagers". I love that kid.

 

Wow, you have a pretty awesome kid. This seems rare these days!

 

 

To everyone else, my dad took me and my best friend (along with my sis and stepmom) on a cruise for spring break my senior year of highschool. The cruise was my birthday present since I live with my momma and wouldn't be around my dad for my 18th birthday. I worked once a week coaching gymnastics since I was a 3 sport athlete in high school and rarely had time to work a "real job". We all got soda cards on the cruise, but other than that spending money was up to us, or we had to ask about specific things. I didn't even notice not getting things. I think I bought one thing in Cozumel to bring back to my BF of the time. IMHO, a lot of kids just like the experience. When I was a kid I spent more time in the pool and slides and everything else than wanting trinkets.

 

I couldn't imagine my parents giving me over $50 of spending money for a cruise, and I won't even be giving myself that much for our upcoming cruise... (DH will get some, he likes to drink, and I don't at all...) I think besides a soda card if the kids drink soda and juice, they should have to use their own money or ask about things, I mean what can you ask for besides being fed, having something to drink and somewhere to sleep, and being on a ship to somewhere warm and "exotic".

 

Just my 2 cents.

[jmkel]

This is our 2nd cruise and our DD is coming this time. She's 18. (She is paying her own way on the cruise... and her own expenses on board.) Can she be set up on her own S&S account? I thought all people in same cabin had to be on same credit card? It would make it easier if she had her own so we didnt' have to split things up afterwads. Anyone have info... we're on Carnival Glory in April. :confused:

[SadieN]

This is our 2nd cruise and our DD is coming this time. She's 18. (She is paying her own way on the cruise... and her own expenses on board.) Can she be set up on her own S&S account? I thought all people in same cabin had to be on same credit card? It would make it easier if she had her own so we didnt' have to split things up afterwads. Anyone have info... we're on Carnival Glory in April. :confused:

 

When you fill out the boarding info online it can be done. It can also be done at embarkation and onboard at Guest Services.

[near the beach]

When we were on the Sensation the video games were $1.00 and up each. $20.00 would not last a very long time. Of course $20.00 won’t last very long in the casino for me. You can use your sail & sign card to purchase tokens for video games or you could put in cash to get tokens. Everything cost more while on vacation. But it is a vacation so we will spend money. I just hope we budgeted enough for everything. If not. We have credit cards. ;)

[tiyana4]

Taking DD and BFF on a cruise for their Sweet 16 celebration. I'm paying for the cruise, the airfare, excursions, and hotel...AND the girls will get half of my OBC.

 

The caveat - they are on their own for soda cards, gratuities, and souvenirs. How they choose to spend it will be on them and when it's gone....it's gone.

[nyc1967]

OK just want to understand this correctly..

 

we are travelling on Royal Carribean this summer - does the sea-pass link everyone in the room to ur credit card OR can me and my husband be linked to the credit card and my kids sea pass put a certain amount of cash? AND if u put a certain amount of cash on it do u get back what u don't spend and/or can u just keep adding more cash?

 

this will be our 1st cruise 9 nights plan on paying for 1/2 the soda card if they want one OR perhaps 1 soda a day...

 

They will probably get $100 each total for spending including on ship and in ports!

[gelo7]

We are taking our 11, 14, & 16 year old with us. I am giving them $200 spending allowance for the whole cruise that includes ports/and ship spending. We will put a block on them using their room card to charge so they will have to go through us for that so we can monitor and on land they will be w/us.

I will give them their money up front in envelopes that we will hold except for the 16 yo she is responsible to not misplace hers. When they want something on board they have to go into their envelopes take the $$ out and give it to us and the same in the ports. Once it is gone it is gone!!! No charming in our family. They need to learn responsibility.

 

Is that $200 per kid? I better not let my 3 kids see this!!!