HOw many of you leave your kids home?

[Roxy30]

Just curious how many people leave their kids at home with grandparents (or similar) while they cruise?

 

My kids (9, 10, 11) loved their first cruise this year, but my husband and I are thinking of a 7 day "just us" cruise for our anniversary.

 

I feel bad leaving them home since they were well behaved and had such a great time. But I like the idea of me and hubby time.

 

Thanks for any input.

[cb at sea]

We would leave our kids alot when they were small.....doesn't hurt them, and it helps the marriage! Kids don't need to do everything with the parents...and it's good for parents to put aside those duties once in awhile and be a "couple"... A happy husband and wife are more important to a family than giving the kids "things", like a vacation!

Go for it. You need time as man and woman, not as "mommy and daddy"!

[ava_girl_123]

Just curious how many people leave their kids at home with grandparents (or similar) while they cruise?

 

My kids (9, 10, 11) loved their first cruise this year, but my husband and I are thinking of a 7 day "just us" cruise for our anniversary.

 

I feel bad leaving them home since they were well behaved and had such a great time. But I like the idea of me and hubby time.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

 

We leave on Sunday for our first cruise and our children are staying with my Mother in law. I think couple time is healthy for my marriage. We do every other year alone without the kids for vacation. Like this year, we knew we were doing the cruise so we did Hershey, Ocean City and camping with the kids. Next year we will all do a bigger family vacation together. The following year will be several smaller with the kids and then a vacation alone together again..

[tef43]

We *always* left them with grandparents when we cruised.

 

Now that they are grown, moved out, married and have kids of their own, they are following in the tradition. Just don't ask if the little darlings can stay with *us*.

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

We are planning a cruise for early May without the kids (18 & 16). They loved their cruise on the Valor but they are cool with it. We have always taken family vacations and just Mom and Dad ones (we also occasionally take just Mom or Dad ones as well). My parents did this and we all came out fine! Enjoy your time alone!

[MamaParrotHead]

I've done both, especially when my kids were really little. Probably the biggest factor, is that our "big vacation" budget is limited to every year and a half to two years. I'd feel bad blowing our entire "big vacay budget" on a trip just the two of us and trying to pawn off some rinky-dink long weekend trips to my kids as a substitute. If it were me, and you wanted to get away for your anniversary, I'd do the "rinky dink local long weekend" for that and save the cruise/big vacay expense for the family trip. If your budget allows for cruising more often, then I might feel differently.

[Carolinagirl82]

We left the kids home for our first cruise last month. It was our 10 year anniversary so we definitely wanted to go alone. I think it is important as a couple to be alone for a few days to reconnect and just be together without interruptions! Of course we missed our kids but it was SO nice to be kid free!

[terigo]

Our family vacation cruises were just that.... for the family....

Our anniversary cruises were for hubby and me.... kids stayed with grandma... ;)

[frogman68]

Our kids will be (19 and 18) when we leave for our cruise. When our children were babies we would never leave them since I was in the military we didnt trust anyone but family. They will be left home to feed the critters we have. In the 20 years we have been married the longest we have been away from them (both of us at the same time) has been three days and that was 10 years ago.

[BaconIsGood]

We are try to do 2 a year, one with the kids, and one without.

[golfadj]

Until our kids were big enough to be on their own our vacations were family ones mostly driving trips.

 

Figured we loved spending time as a family so why not do that.

 

Now we love it when our grown kids can come with us.

[Luke gs Daddy]

DS will have been on all 5 past cruises. We would not even think of leaving him. That is just us.

[bankerbabe]

We've cruised without the kids, vacationed without the kids, etc. Lately we've been taking them with us - 2009 was a cruise, this year it was Cancun, next year it'll be a cruise. When they were younger we really couldn't afford to take them with us, but now we have a little more disposable income due to being more established in our careers so we choose to take them with us.

 

That said, we wouldn't be opposed to cruising without the kids again. In fact, I'm thinking we will do just that in 2013 for our 20th wedding anniversary. I think that it's very important for a relationship to spend some one-on-one time with your spouse. Otherwise you can get lost in the daily craziness that is life.

 

We try to get away on a smaller trip each year, just the two of us, but for now we're choosing to take our longer vacations with the kids. Our DS is 14, will be 15 on his next cruise. Before long he'll be grown and gone, and I want to make the most of all of the time that we have left before then. Maybe I'll feel differently when the teenage attitude kicks in, though. :)

[LHP]

Our 2 boys have always traveled with us everywhere....

 

Now they are 22 and 19....

[mcfam5]

We have always cruised with our kids.....matter of fact, this Thanksgiving will be there 6th cruise. With our upcoming vacation plans, or youngest will be Platinum before he turns 9 years old. LOL They truly LOVE cruising, prefer it to ANY land based vacation we have done or offered them.

 

With that being said, hubby and I are cruising with a couple we are close friends with next year to celebrate our anniversaries. (2011 will mark 15 years for both of our marriages.) I think it is very good for couples to be able to get away from time to time, we try to have a "date night" once or twice a month. I will admit, the idea of leaving the kids for sevens days gives me a bit of an upset stomach. But, it will be fine! We will have a blast and they will enjoy the change of pace at grandma and grandpas!

[PhxRain]

We did a family trip to Maui in late 2008 and have taken them to Disneyland and a few Arizona waterparks since then. They do not come with us on our weekend trips to Vegas and they will not be coming with us on our Oct. cruise (too short & too much partying) nor will they be with us on our Med cruise in May, 2011 (just not in the budget to get 4 people to Europe, cruise & home again)

 

So the kids 9 & 13 will stay with my Mom (who lives with us) and we make it a point to do other things with them as a family. If we love cruising, we may do a family cruise out of a US port in the future.

[MrPete]

Did it once. Broke my heart. She`s since been on 9 with us.

 

Who cares they don`t remember? All I know is, my heart was heavy, and sad without her.

[cullensmom]

Our first cruise was just the two of us...10th anniversary. This year I'm taking two cruises with my 16 yo son and one with his dad (son's staying home).

 

I get more cruises than either of them and I get quality time with both :)

[reeree313]

We are try to do 2 a year, one with the kids, and one without.

 

We do the same. At least two a year....one of them without kids, one with kids!

[mcfam5]

Did it once. Broke my heart. She`s since been on 9 with us.

 

Who cares they don`t remember? All I know is, my heart was heavy, and sad without her.

 

That is exactly how I feel! :)

[Georgia Peach 4]

We've always cruised with our kids (now 13 & 18), but this year our oldest will be just starting college (the week before) and we still don't even know his exact schedule. We'd love to include him, but don't feel like he should miss school days - especially so close to the beginning of the school year.

 

It will not be the same leaving him at home, but I guess it comes to a time in everyone's life that they will eventually plan their own lives and the kids grow up and out and have their own schedules...It doesn't mean I have to like it though.

 

We have taken "adult trips" like to a cabin in the mountains, etc. but we took them with us this past year and had an absolute blast taking them skiing.

[dolphinwyo]

We take our kids as we don't have anyone to leave them with. That is one of the main reasons we choose to cruise for our vacation. The kids have time at Camp that they love, we get family time, and ALONE time when we want it. If we took a land based vacation we would be sitting in a hotel room while they slept. On a cruise they can go to Camp while we have an adult evening. It is the perfect family vacation IMHO. Can't imagine not having them with us. That being said - if grandparents or family members were an option for childcare, we would consider an adult only cruise.

[newcruiser452]

We have gone on a cruise with the kids and are taking them with us this December for a family vacation. But then again we have taken the kids (8,10,11,12) to Disney with us and then went with ourselves only when it was for just DW and I.:)

[babyher]

My kids are 21,18, and 17 now. When they were little all our "Big Vacations" were "kid based" with little ones for just DW and I thrown in here and there.

 

As they are getting older, DW and I have done bigger and longer vacations without them.

 

Just came back the other day from what started out as a weekend trip to Maine.

 

We planned on coming home Sunday but wanted to stay an extra day. We called home, DD was like "Mom and Dad who?" So much for missing us *LOL*

 

We ended up coming home Tuesday :)

[llist]

we always cruise without our kids (15 and 6). Its not that they aren't good or well behaved or whatever... its that we believe that cruising is "our" time. We both work stressful and sometimes hectic jobs and are always running here or there with and for our kids... cruising is our opportunity to refresh our relationship and rediscover what we love about each other... we also do at least one big family vacation a year too obviously with the kids and we typically let the kids choose that vacation destination... they honestly love staying with grandma and grandpa and are usually a little ticked when its time to come home lol... for us its a win/win situation :)