Cruising alone with children

[im2mcsmom]

I would like to hear from any single parents who have cruised out of the country with their children. I am considering a cruise next year to the Med and need to hear from others who have done this. My children will be 8 and 10 at the time.

[Kerry's Girls]

There are a number of us on the family board who cruise alone with our kids (some single, some not). Let me know what questions you have. I did the Med in January with my twin 5 year olds and had an amazing time. A cruise is a great way to go for a parent alone with kids. Tips off the top of my head include to bring whatever backup you need to show that you're allowed to leave the country with your children (court papers, notarized authorization from the other parent, death certificate) and join your roll call to find other families to share tours, etc with. I think the key to our success was having private tours where we could plan a kid friendly itinerary and go at our own pace - and usually they were less expensive than the ship tours.

 

Best,

Mia

[im2mcsmom]

Mia,

Thanks for your reply. How did your kids like the Mediterranean? Did they also use the kid's club or just stay with you? I guess I just wanted to see if other parents took "large" trips alone with their kids. I think it would be wonderful, but I can't help but worry about what would happen to them in another country if something happened to me.

[Kerry's Girls]

Mia,

Thanks for your reply. How did your kids like the Mediterranean? Did they also use the kid's club or just stay with you? I guess I just wanted to see if other parents took "large" trips alone with their kids. I think it would be wonderful, but I can't help but worry about what would happen to them in another country if something happened to me.

 

Loved, loved, loved the Med. I did a ton of research on the ports ahead of time and we did not do any museums and instead focused on exploring parts of each city that we'd all enjoy and we really had a great time. We can't wait to get back.

 

I share your fear about what happens to my children if something happens to me in a foriegn country (as does my mom :rolleyes:), but I don't want it to stop me from exploring the world with my girls. We've also done land trips in Europe and I feel much more comfortable taking cruises and having the ship to return to.

 

My girls did use the kids club, though not near as much as on other cruises since on port days we mostly got back to the ship, had dinner and crashed. They had a ball though when they did go and it's nice for all of us to have a little break from each other here and there.

 

Best,

Mia

[crusinmama06]

I share your fear about what happens to my children if something happens to me in a foriegn country (as does my mom :rolleyes:)' date=' but I don't want it to stop me from exploring the world with my girls. [/quote']

 

HAHAHAHA we have the same mom! :D

 

im2mcsmom - Mia is exactly right. When I cruise without my husband -- I get on the cruise critic roll call early and I make friends. ;) I know its hard to make contacts with people you have never met but it could be a lifesaver if anything happens to you when, as you say, something happens to you if you are out of the country. I have met many wonderful people who I would have no problem trusting my children with. Many people I am still friends with even after the cruise and I continue to talk with and visit with. The letters/documents are also VERY important. Make sure you have all of that. And yes, the kids club will be your biggest resource so make sure you choose a cruise line that has a great kid club and has hours that meet your needs.

[SingleFatherofDD]

As you can tell from my Screen name I am a single father. I have only had DD since February. We have taken a trip to Atlanta for a few days for a conference and then in August we took a cruise to Bermuda. In a few weeks we are taking a cruise to the Caribbean. I really can't give you an idea about taking your children outside the country to the Med. However, I can give some tips about traveling as a single parent.

 

First, make sure you have the required paper work that gives you permission to take your children out of the counrty. As other posters say this could be a birth certifacte, court orders, or anyother paper work that names you as a parent.

 

Second, have things that can keep your children busy on the plane or bus rides. This can be important during shore excursions when you go from on place to another. I take DD to the beach when on a cruise. She looks forward to swimming when ever she can. Usually one port we spend part of the day doing some shopping. DD gets bored pretty easily.

 

Third, about the kids club. Some children will love them and some children won't. My DD loves the kids club unless she is swimming. This also give me so me time to have some time alone. I love being with my DD, however I like playing some cards. After dinner DD goes to the kids club and I play some cards. Then when I pick her up around 10:00 I see if she is tired. If she is tired I take her to our cabin and put her to sleep. If I am still awake I might get room service for a late night snack or just watch a movie on my Ipad and DD snores away. She doesn't snore. Just trying to be funny.

 

I guess that is my tips. Hope it helps.

[5waldos]

The fear of parent getting sick is a real one though- I had my 3 kids at Disneyland and developed cellulitus. They wanted to hospitalize me immediately which was going to be an issue, obviously. All worked out, and I have traveled with them alone on many other occasions, but I have learned to think out in advance what options I might have if something this serious was to happen again. So it is worth thinking through. I am NOT trying to alarm anyone, or put anyone off of taking off with the kids. Just suggesting that it is important to have some plans in place should anything untoward happen. A cruise ship would be great because there is an entire staff to call on and I would feel quite confident that they would be able to provide whatever support was needed in an emergency.

[efghi9]

Posted by Kerry's Kids: I did the Med in January with my twin 5 year olds and had an amazing time. I think the key to our success was having private tours where we could plan a kid friendly itinerary and go at our own pace. Best, Mia

 

Mia, I admire your attitude and sense of adventure! I am 48 yrs old, with a 9 year old son. I have booked Mediterranean cruise in June 2011 and my son is not to keen on museums and galleries. I think your approach to shore excursions is the way to go and thank you for offering to answer questions. I would like to pre-book private tours/taxi's/guides etc for our ports. I would even retrace your steps for any ports where we overlap. Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo disembarking in Barcelona. It will be warm in June, but not sweltering. I think the posting rules allow you to provide the companies names, or provide me with some way of obtaining contacts in the various ports, if a participant in a thread such as me specifically requests this. I may be wrong as I am relatively new to Cruise Critic. Direct email also works for me. I have cruised to Caribbean 3 times and Alaska once. To date have only used cruise organized excursions. We are ready to go on our own with tailored itineraries. Thank you Mia and to all others with information. Together we can see the world by sharing information. Sandra

[queenL]

I'm married but I travel a lot without DH. (Can I help that he doesn't have much vacation time). I refuse to just hang around the house and waste leave time, so my daughter and I head out sans Daddy. I just recently returned from the Mediterranean w/o DH. We did fine. I had some of the concerns you did. I also got an earful from my parents as well. So they decided to come along. That way I wasn't totally alone. (If your mom can't come with you, what about another single mom or friend?)

 

I wouldn't let the fear stop me. I would just try to minimize some of the dangers. Since your kids are older than mine, you can easily teach them emergency protocol. Give them an emergency cell phone. Tell them what they should do in the event something happened to you while your were in port (I think that is the real danger on the ship they would probably be in good hands). In their purses/wallets make them carry a relatives number, calling instructions, teach them to place an international phone call etc. Give them the number to the embassies in the ports that you will be travelling, emergency cab fare, and say if something happens to me call the embassy tell them who you are etc. Teach them what to do if you get seperated in port. I'd plan for all I could, put in God's hands, then I would leave and have an awesome cruise.

[Honbun]

I'm a single Mom and have traveled with my now 13 yo DD since she was 6 weeks old. She turned 3 yo on her first cruise. On that one, we traveled with my brother so that was great. Since then, we've traveled on our own.

 

Took her on her first European trip- to Spain - last year for 1 1/2 weeks. We had a fantastic time! I made sure I left our itinerary with my brother as well as a close friend. I also registered with the US Embassy so they would have our information. Then, we just rolled with it.

 

I do agree with QueenL if you are nervous; travel with someone. We are planning a trip to London and Ireland for summer of 2012 (hope to catch some Olympic action!). Since we are planning a driving trip in Ireland, I invited a friend and her DD to join us. That way, there are 2 grown-ups (and 2 drivers!).

 

You 2 will have a blast no matter what you do. My DD just asked me about our future traveling plans. Then she said she hopes we can travel together always (rare teen moment of love!). I told her I'll travel up until the moment I no longer mobile - and maybe even after that!:)

[tkportersat]

My first husband passed away in 2003 and from 2003 to 2008 we cruised several times with just myself and my son and daughter. On the one year mark of his death I planned a cruise to keep everyone occupied; I planned this with another single mom. A month before the cruise my TA mentioned the other mom had never paid her deposit. In a panic I called my mom and my parents decided to book the cruise with us; at that point I really just wasn't ready to go alone.

 

After that first time I learned a lot and from then on planned vacations on my own. The best advice I can offer is research where you are going. The first time going to Jamaica I really looked on Cruisecritic a lot and got tons of valuable information of safe places to go for the day, certain taxis you take and areas to avoid.

 

The other as some mentioned is to make sure you have any paperwork they might ask for; in my case I never travel without my husband's death certificate. I was never asked for it, but will always bring it...especially now that I am remarried and our last names are different.

 

In my opinion Cruises are wonderful for Single parents; you get valuable time with your kids as well as some much needed rest and relaxation. Real life can sometimes be exhausting and tough with a partner but is much more so when you are doing it all alone. If you make a decision on a date/cruiseline/ship definitely go to the Roll Call boards. That enabled me to have other adults to possibly spend time with. I have met some great people, some of which I still stay in touch with. Sometimes we did excursions together, etc.

 

Good luck to you and happy traveling :)

[efghi9]

I am 48 yrs old, with an almost 10 year old son. I have booked Mediterranean cruise in June 2011 and my son is not to keen on museums and galleries. I would like to pre-book private tours/taxi's/guides etc for our ports. I am looking for others families & kids to share info with and will provide more cruise details as needed. Ports on my cruise are: Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo disembarking in Barcelona. I think the posting rules allow you to provide the companies names, or provide me with some way of obtaining contacts in the various ports, if a participant in a thread such as me specifically requests this. I may be wrong as I am relatively new to Cruise Critic. Direct email also works for me and will provide this if needed. I have cruised to Caribbean 3 times, Alaska and Panama Canal. Sandra

[cinanina]

I would like to hear from any single parents who have cruised out of the country with their children. I am considering a cruise next year to the Med and need to hear from others who have done this. My children will be 8 and 10 at the time.

I went with my mother and my sister when I was around that age, on a long cruise (Atlantic, all Azores islands and Madeira). I had the greatest time and still remember everything, we thought it was fabulous!!! :) I think we weren't too much trouble to my mother because we were already "grown up", so could dress by ourselves, played with other kids on the ship and didn't bother her that much, even during meal times, I don't remember one single issue. The only trouble she had was choosing our clothes in the morning :p we had really lovely clothes that summer, I still remember dressing up :) Unfortunetly my father could not come along because he had work (it happened often, thought, so we were kind of used to it) and we went to meet some family members who were living in Azores at that time. I remember my mother made lots of friends on the ship, and we were "integrated" with other couples her age. I also remember she got invited to the captains table for dinner and that she thought it wasn't very nice to invite her just because she was traveling without her husband. Can't remember if she accepted though, she probably did, but I can't remember. I was about 7 or 8 and loved every minute of that trip!

[Kerry's Girls]

Mia, I admire your attitude and sense of adventure! I am 48 yrs old, with a 9 year old son. I have booked Mediterranean cruise in June 2011 and my son is not to keen on museums and galleries. I think your approach to shore excursions is the way to go and thank you for offering to answer questions. I would like to pre-book private tours/taxi's/guides etc for our ports. I would even retrace your steps for any ports where we overlap. Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo disembarking in Barcelona.

 

Hi Sandra -

 

We had an amazing time in each port because I found so much help on the ports of call boards here and participated in our Roll Call. I posted on each appropriate board asking for kid friendly places to go in each port. In both Athens and Rome I'd planned to use public transportation to get from the port into the city since both seemed to be very easy. There are very specific directions for taking the train to/from Rome on the Italy board, and then you can take the Hop On/Hop Off bus. That's what we had planned, but it was POURING in Rome while we were there, so we joined a group from our Roll Call and all hired a van/driver at the port to take us for the day. This was so successful, we did the same thing in Athens - just hired a taxi for the day to take us to the various sites (head to the Acropolis first to beat the busses). We were in Turkey (Ephsesus, not Istanbul) and had a wonderful time using Ekol Tours, which I would highly recommend. Barcelona is extremely easy to navigate on your own using the metro - make sure to give yourself at least a couple days to see it.

 

I ended up doing most of our tours with just my family, but lots of the families on our Roll Call got together to arrange private tours. Joining the roll call really added to our cruise experience.

 

As for safety - I never felt unsafe in any port. I would absolutely have a cell phone that you know will work in each port. I always leave a note in our cabin as to what our plans are for the day so in the off chance that something happens they'll know where to start looking. Also, if you are hiring a cab, it's been suggested that you let the driver see you take a picture of the license plate and driver and send it to someone so the driver knows there's a record of who you were with - especially if you'll be leaving the busy city area. But, again, I didn't have a moment of worry about safety the entire time we were gone - and our itinerary included Turkey and Egypt.

 

Best,

Mia

[efghi9]

Thank you Mia for the prompt reply. I have joined our Roll Call and hopefully will hear back from people with kids. To date the roll call has been populated by childfree couples, so I have gotten the ball rolling on the kid front. I had forgotten about the Port of Call threads. I will go there now. I will follow up on each of the specific suggestions you have made. thank you again, Sandra