Roaming children... Arrh!

[Heirloom]

Regarding unsupervised kids......having experienced many myself onboard, I think Carnival should seriously consider on all ships within fleet to have occasional ADULTS ONLY, 21 + cruises.

 

Say 1 out of every 6 or 8 departures.

 

Believe that these would be packed......our population keeps getting older on average........cruising to simply relax without kids all over could be quite attractive.

 

This might be politically incorrect.......not sure.......but don't think there would need to be deep Carnival discounts. Many of us would be inclined to go for this style of cruising !

[nrdsb4]

What an interesting thread. My DD will be 13 on our Jan.2 2011 cruise. She is a great kid with great marks in school and is usually very responsible. However, she really has problems noticing what goes on around her. We believe she is "street wise" to some extend but I would not let her roam all over the ship on her own. It will be her 6th cruise, we plan on letting her get ice cream or snacks by herself or run back to the cabin quickly (with a walkie talkie). When on an Alaska cruise 4 years ago she made friends with a boy her age. The 3rd night of the cruise the parents asked DH and I if their son could spend the night with us in our cabin as they wanted some "grown up time alone":eek:. We were meeting them for the 1st time!:eek:. I trust my DD to know right from wrong but we are talking about 3000+ strangers with access to a lot of booze. I'd rather be safe and stern than sorry later. Sign me mother hen:)

 

What in the world did you say to that bizarre request?!:confused:

[SociallyAwkward]

I noticed that too. Not having a child, I shan't comment on the proper age to roam. I will say this, as a young woman with a habit of finding herself in odd situations, every parent should drill into their kid's head that if you go out in a group, you come home in a group. End of story. You do not leave your friends behind. I think this is a valid comment for the cruise ships as well, as kids tend to hand around. You never leave your friends behind, no matter how cute/nice/rich the guy/girl is.

 

Good point! I need to remember to reiterate it. I know when my son roams with his cruise buddy we usually ask where that buddy went when he meets us just to make sure he isn't roaming alone.

[Medtech2]

USA TODAY sister paper the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle today reports Lucas Wickes, 25, of Rochester, pleaded guilty in federal court to abusive sexual contact on the high seas, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The guilty plea, before U.S. District Judge David Larimer, comes nearly four years after the incident, which occurred on the 1,750-passenger Disney Wonder on Jan. 1, 2007 soon after it left Port Canaveral, Fla.

The Democrat & Chronicle says a criminal complaint alleged that Wickes encountered the girl as she left the Wonder's teen club and ordered her to accompany him. The girl, who said she believed he was a security officer, followed him to the rear of the ship, where she was assaulted, the news outlet says.

[smallworldtraveller]

I wont say how old I am, but I will say that my Mom is 76 and last year when we took a cruise on the Carnival Liberty, she told me in no uncertain terms that she expected me to back to our room by midnight! Of course I balked at that!.

 

Well wouldnt you know that was the very night that I was on a "hot" machine in the casino. ( Not that hot, just kept giving me back what little I lost regularly ). Anyway, I reluctantly left my hot machine about 10 minutes to midnight, and headed down to our room, and found her getting up and getting dressed. Yes she was getting up and dressed to come looking for me! I asked her what perils she though I might come to, and she reamed them off.

 

I reminded her of my age, and that ladies of my age who dont look for adventure dont usually find any, but it mattered not to her. Long and short of it. Once a parent, always a parent! Doesnt matter the age of the child.

 

 

I can understand you there... the first two times I went to land resort with my mother she said "NO LEAVING THIS RESORT" :eek: Me being the adventurer of course said "sure mom" and then turned around and left. I think at 52 i can make wise choices. but you are correct once a parent always a parent ....

[amc80]

I'm 30 and my mom still tries to impose a curfew on me. Even when she is visiting me in the condo I own.

[nrdsb4]

I'm 30 and my mom still tries to impose a curfew on me. Even when she is visiting me in the condo I own.

 

My parents know better. Guess I trained them well.:D

 

Even when my DH was in high school, he never really had a curfew, (his Mom trusted him to stay out of trouble*), so she wouldn't dream of doing that now.

 

*I wish I could say he was deserving, but I've heard a few stories.:o

[SociallyAwkward]

I just read something in Scientific American Mind yesterday that made me think of this since this is one of those balancing autonomy vs safety issues.

 

Here is the link although until the issue is a back issue it only displays an excerpt. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-makes-a-good-parent

 

It was a list of the 10 most important things parents can do. One big part was this relatively new desire to ferociously make our children safe. One could of course talk about why that happened and I have my opinions and science has a lot to do with it. But that over-doing it has some interesting negative correlations for kids as they grow up.

 

I am not in any way suggesting that the posters on here are overdoing it but I did think the part about autonomy vs safety was interesting because isn't that really what the "how old is old enough for X?" really about.

[saluki1]

I would say from 10-12 is ok but after that they get to "old" to leave alone.

[80sramfan]

What age do you thik its acceptable to allow the children be by themselves onboard for short periods of time? I'm not talking about signing out of the kids club and hanging out with derelicts. I'm talking about something like runningto the cabin to get a towel,l or going to the Lido to get their own ice cream. Rumor has it that I'm over protective. :eek:

 

Depends on the kid. Quick trips started at 9 for my daughter but she's been on 20 cruises so has it down. At ten she can check in and out of kids clud but only to go directly to cabin or other pre arranged place.

[fleckle]

Depends on the kid.

You nailed it!

 

There is no one age that would be right for every child.

It depends not only on the maturity and reliability of the child but also the child's previous life experiences and general "street smart" knowledge and awareness.