Circle C How much freedom for 12 yo girl

[CARALOU20]

I just took my 2 boys ages 12 and 14 on the Magic Mar 25, different ship but same concerns. They do come and go as they please and I was not comfortable with that at all before we boarded. The first day I found a (home base) chair and the boys had to come and check in with me every hour (they had timers set on their watches). They didn't mind at first but as the they started making friends in Circle C they wanted longer times between check ins. I actually found that they "hung" out in mostly the same places. The back pool, the 2 side hot tubs, the game room and the sports deck. They also spent alot of time around the Pizza and Ice Cream. If I took a walk I would usually spot them with their friends. They would also check the Circle C daytimer and tell me the activities they were going to attend that day and I could check on them there as well. I found after a day or 2 and after meeting some of the friends they made that I wasn't nearly as concerned as I originally felt I would be. We still did have some set rules like meeting for dinner, night time curfew and not going into cabin areas. The penalty for breaking any of those rules was spending the next day with me. :eek: So hopefully after a little while on board and after your daughter meets some other kids you'll be able to give her a little rope and not be too worried. It was kind of nice not having to worry and feel comfortable enough to just have some me time.

Enjoy your Cruise!!

[bobsfamily]

When our children were that age we have specific rules but did allow them to come and go from the Circle C. If leaving they had to either call cabin, go to cabin, meet us at a pre-determined place/time. They were never out of touch for more than a hour. If we missed them somewhere all (us and them) went to the cabin. We did use walkie-talkies one cruise - hit and miss.

Another thing to consider is texting... at $.50 per it's still a good way to know where they are.

[stephuney]

Another thing to consider is texting... at $.50 per it's still a good way to know where they are.

 

 

Does texting require international roaming charges?

[bobsfamily]

Does texting require international roaming charges?

It was just 50 cent per with AT&T

[stephuney]

It was just 50 cent per with AT&T

 

thanks ... we have ATT, so I will have to check that out ...

[Gemynii]

We used the phone system when we traveled with our 13 yo DGS last summer. If he left Circle C, he has to call the cabin and leave a message where he was. If he left that area, he had to call again and leave a new location. Everytime he changed location, he was required to call and leave a message. When I got back to the cabin, I could check the messages and I KNEW he was where ever the last message came from. There was never more than 2-3 messages on the phone at a time.

 

This worked out perfectly and saved him the time of running back and forth to the cabin to leave a note. If he had to do that, his friends would have taken off and he may or may not have caught up with them.

 

If you go to the orientation on the first night with your child, you will be able to get a complete schedule of the activities for the week. I grabbed 3 while I was there, one for my cabin, one for my purse and one for my DGS.

 

Good luck and have fun.

 

exactly

 

and if she is sailing by herself with family then she will probably be walking to the cabin by herself to leave a note-- as going to cabin areas for any reason is forbidden.

 

Thank you both :)