What to do with 11 and 9 year old after kids club close at 10PM?

[macruisefan]

I am shocked by this thread.

 

Since when did children become a source of irritation rather than a joy to have around?

 

I love my boys, love being with them and love their company. We only have them with us for such a short time before they fly the nest. We should savour every moment and that includes after 10pm if that is good for you. I can't imagine going on holiday without my kids, until the point when they don't want to go on holiday with me, which will be all too quick in coming.

 

Yeah, kids are fine when they are YOUR kids. But when they're somebody ELSE's kids, it's a whole different story. And after ten at night, I don't want to be dealing with any overtired, overstimulated 9 or 11 year olds.

[MOSusan]

I'm the mom of a 12 and 14 year old and honestly I think some of the parents on here are a little thin skinned.

 

Someone says "you're kids should be in bed" - you say "thank you for your opinion", next. There is no need trying to make that person believe that your little kids should be out until 1 am.

 

"Thank you for your opinion" - helping keep blood pressure down since dirt was young.

 

Susan

[earn]

Susan, of course you are correct, but you can liven up a pretty dull afternoon by playing Devil's Advocate!

[MOSusan]

Susan, of course you are correct, but you can liven up a pretty dull afternoon by playing Devil's Advocate!

 

Thank you for your opinion. ;)

[luv2cruise523]

Yeah, kids are fine when they are YOUR kids. But when they're somebody ELSE's kids, it's a whole different story. And after ten at night, I don't want to be dealing with any overtired, overstimulated 9 or 11 year olds.

 

Then stay home!

[Paulxyz2004]

I am shocked by this thread.

 

Since when did children become a source of irritation rather than a joy to have around?

 

 

Ever since I grew up and decided wholeheartly to never have kids.

 

I have to say though I´ve never had a problem with kids on cruises and especially RCI does a great job with locking them away in AO and thus giving the rest of us some adult time.:D

[nascarcruiser]

At that age it would be BEDTIME!

[kayhold]

They're only 9 and 11 now and on previous cruises they were up after 2:00AM?!?!?!:eek:

 

Not all children and families keep the schedule YOU deem appropriate. Some families keep schedules that work for THEM.

[susanrobert]

I am shocked by this thread.

 

Since when did children become a source of irritation rather than a joy to have around?

 

I love my boys, love being with them and love their company. We only have them with us for such a short time before they fly the nest. We should savour every moment and that includes after 10pm if that is good for you. I can't imagine going on holiday without my kids, until the point when they don't want to go on holiday with me, which will be all too quick in coming.

 

Thank you. Well said.

[kayhold]

Yeah, kids are fine when they are YOUR kids. But when they're somebody ELSE's kids, it's a whole different story. And after ten at night, I don't want to be dealing with any overtired, overstimulated 9 or 11 year olds.

 

Book a child-free vacation. It's that easy.

 

For the record, not all children are tired or over-stimulated that late.

[ragtiki2004]

Take them to the late night comedy show and sit in the front row. Wait to the comedian gets a hold of them for laughs! Bob

[yes!yes!yes!]

why pay so much for a cruise with swimming pools, flowrider, icerink etc and then stick your kids in the daycare centre, sorry kids club. if you love holidaying with your well behaved children so much, why get someone else to look after them all the time.

before you accuse me of being a kid hater, my son has been on over 40 overseas holidays with me, but when he was 9 years old he went to bed well before 10pm. he is only 16 now. parents raise their children, so you tell them when to go to bed, if they wont go to sleep, too bad.

i dont think encouraging them to eat pizza and icecream late at night is very responsible either, no wonder obesity is so high.

[CariBear]

My 9 year old always wanted to stay later at AO...so we let her stay until 11pm. At home she is in bed and alseep by 9:30pm on school nights. There is something about a cruise that just keeps her going......On the other hand, my 4 year old passed out at dinner each night at 8pm, but he is the one we have a hard time getting to bed for school (pre-k)!

[ddgleason]

why pay so much for a cruise with swimming pools, flowrider, icerink etc and then stick your kids in the daycare centre, sorry kids club. if you love holidaying with your well behaved children so much, why get someone else to look after them all the time.

before you accuse me of being a kid hater, my son has been on over 40 overseas holidays with me, but when he was 9 years old he went to bed well before 10pm. he is only 16 now. parents raise their children, so you tell them when to go to bed, if they wont go to sleep, too bad.

i dont think encouraging them to eat pizza and icecream late at night is very responsible either, no wonder obesity is so high.

 

What works for you and what you believe is best for your family, may not apply to other families. As said before, on a cruise, there may be many valid reasons that child is still awake at 10. On my time, that is only 7. Should I make them go to bed then, which is a couple of hours before their normal bed time and then fight with them once back at home to get back onto our regular time? Or should I allow them to stay up later than what some deem an appropriate time and keep them on our time zone? As far as encouraging them to have a snack late at night, please remember this is a VACATION we are talking about; therefore some parents allow priviledges that would normally not fly at home. Letting your kid have a snack as you reflect on your day together and plan the next day is not a big deal. (IMO) But, this works for my family. Obviously, this would not work for your family. Again, what works for some, may not work for all. Don't judge other families until you have walked in their shoes.

[bplazo]

I see nothing wrong with parents allowing their children to stay up a little later than normal on vacation and having a midnight snack. However, unless they are in the children's club I do think they should be with the parents having fun somewhere.

[CruisingMomma88]

why pay so much for a cruise with swimming pools, flowrider, icerink etc and then stick your kids in the daycare centre, sorry kids club. if you love holidaying with your well behaved children so much, why get someone else to look after them all the time.

before you accuse me of being a kid hater, my son has been on over 40 overseas holidays with me, but when he was 9 years old he went to bed well before 10pm. he is only 16 now. parents raise their children, so you tell them when to go to bed, if they wont go to sleep, too bad.

i dont think encouraging them to eat pizza and icecream late at night is very responsible either, no wonder obesity is so high.

 

Good thing I wasn't drinking because I would've done a spit - take! So you don't eat things like pizza and treats on your vacations? You are suggesting that parents that allow their children to have late night snacks on their VACATION aren't responsible!?! So I wonder how that contributes to childhood obesity? You really should research such things before making those comments. I would like some adults to HONESTLY say they don't overeat or stray from their regular ways of eating!? C'mon now.....

[FirstCruise2331]

Wow, people getting very excited about this thread!

 

As long as kids behave and don't disturb others give the OP a break. We don't have kids but I remember being on holidays (not on a cruise) as a child and staying up late, having chips (French fries) after 10pm and I'm a healthy weight now at 31..having pizza late at night for one week a year does not lead to obesity in adult life!

 

As long as the kids are not screaming and running around and are not in the bars they are entitled to enjoy their vacation as much as the rest of us.

[gelo7]

Go to bed....

[yes!yes!yes!]

of course my child eats whatever he wants on holiday, but at a reasonable hour, where he has time to burn it off before going to bed.

using the time difference between countries as an excuse is a bit silly. you acclimatise to where you are within a day or so by going to bed at the new time (hell i live in australia and most places are an 8 or 12 hour time difference)

[jcl410]

Parents with kids 24/7?

 

All this talk of HAVING to be with your children makes me thnk back to my first time on a ship:

 

It was the late 60s, and I was about 8.... My family (mom,dad,sis, and me) took the S.S. France from New York to Paris....

 

Every day I'd go to the kids club and I loved every minute of it. Our family would also do things together. At dinner time, my sister and I ate in the children's dining room. ( I don't remember where we ate breakfast and lunch.)

 

That was also the trip where my parents left us in the room one night alone. (gasp!) We were told NOT to push the steward call button unless it was an emergency.

 

I guess where I'm going with this is that every family is different. What's right for one may not be for another.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[NJcruisenewbie]

I've been reading this thread with great interest. We'll be taking our 1st cruise in June with extended family, some who we haven't seen in many years. My 12 yo goes to bed at 10pm on school nites but is up later on weekends and holidays. I'm sure on the cruise she'll be up late with her cousins and other family. She's also a kid that burns food up fast so having a late snack is not uncommon. She eats when she's hungry and if that's 11pm so be it. My mom will be 82 on our cruise and may not have many more years to travel with us so we're going to make the most of this trip. We have no intention of disturbing others so I don't know why anyone would care what we do.

[yes!yes!yes!]

with regards to jcl410, yes, in those days children were not allowed in the main dining room and your parents left you in the room because you were not allowed to the shows. bet you still had a great cruise with fabulous memories. by the way, they usually had a steward that would keep an eye on each corridor, just in case you pushed that button.

to the other poster, your 82 year old mother is not allowed in the kids club, so your 12 year old will have to do all the fun thingswith her away from the daycare. who will stay up the latest do you think?

[deniuh]

This is an interesting thread. OP my advice to you is do what is best for you and your family as long as it is not negatively impacting the passengers around you. We've been cruising with our daughter since she was 9 months old and like her parents she is a night owl. She is the toddler that you will see walking around the ship at midnight. We refuse to shut ourselves in our room after a certain time just because we have a toddler. We are on vacation and if she has the energy, then we cruise the decks and check out the happening activities except the bars of course. Heck when we cruised Allure in January 2011 we were dog tired one night but our toddler was so hyped about the ship, we checked out every nook and cranny until after midnight. Do we allow her to run rampant? NO! Is she disrespectful on board? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Do we allow her to stay up and roam the ship after 10pm? ABSOLUTELY YES! It's a family vacation, we spend enough time away from her when we go to work, so when we are on vacation, we stick together like glue.

 

Bon Voyage OP!! Stay up as late as you want and enjoy this time with your family! Life is too short!

[kassimer1]

I am not sure but if they do we will absolutely follow the rules but the teen club goes until 2 or 2:30 so I don't think there is. :confused:

 

There is a 1am curfew unless they are in the teen activities. as soon as the activities are done they have to go to thier room.

[ddgleason]

of course my child eats whatever he wants on holiday, but at a reasonable hour, where he has time to burn it off before going to bed.

 

You have no idea what that other child will be doing next. You really don't know if he will be awake long enough to "burn off" what he has eaten.

 

using the time difference between countries as an excuse is a bit silly.

 

In YOUR opinion. In my opinion, it is a bit silly to get my kids on a new time zone for a week and then expect them to revert right back to our time and function at school as they are trying to figure out their sleep schedule all over again.

 

you acclimatise to where you are within a day or so by going to bed at the new time (hell i live in australia and most places are an 8 or 12 hour time difference)

 

I have never had the good fortune to vacation in a time zone so far off from my own. I imagine when I am facing a 12 hour difference, my kids and I will have to adjust or else miss out on all the fun stuff during the day. Of course, that will all be part of the planning process and figuring out the time of year that type of vacation will be doable.

 

Please accept that some people have differing opinions on what they should do for their children. Doesn't make them silly or irresponsible. Just different from you. That's not a bad thing. We all have our own opinions and it is doubtful we are going to agree on something this personal! We all love our children and want what is best for them, which is why we want to cruise with them! Best vacation, right? :p