Do you cruise without your kids?

[enveno1]

Out of 7 cruises I have taken my kids on 3. We are booked for the Breeze next summer and are bringing the kids along for that one as well. I have fond memories of family vacations as a child and we try to create fond memories for our children. They count down the days and talk about it for months afterward. I LOVE our family time and exposing the kids to different things makes my heart happy.

 

There are those occasions when my husband and I have taken a cruise by ourselves or with other adults. I miss my kids but understand one reason our marriage is so strong is because of the quality alone time my husband and I have. If we don't cruise with our children we still vacation for a week somewhere.

[SadieN]

We've cruised with and without the DDs. Best plan was when we dropped the girls off at summer camp in Griffith Park and continued on to Long Beach. :p

[Silent Penguin]

We cruise every other year with the kids and on the opposite year we cruise alone... It works out good for all of us...

 

Pretty much the same pattern for us. This upcoming cruise is a "Parents-only" cruise.

[jetsfan]

Absolutely!! One week with them and one without.

 

The best advice I ever got was to make time for each other and the rest will come. In the early years when they were young we would do weekends away, now that the youngest is 15 they are very independent and it easier on my parents.

[pmf1234]

My DH and I have been on 3 cruises so far and have not taking the kids. I have two DS ages 7 and 4. We will be going on Dream in June and still not taking the boys. Cruising is for my husband and I. At first I felt guilty but now I am ok with it. I am a stay at home mom, so we do a lot of fun things together during the summer. When we do go on a cruise my in-laws come into town and stay with the boys for the week, they do not get to spend as much time with them so it is a win win for us. Enjoy your time with your spouse.

[2013CruiseBride]

My first cruise was before my son was born. However, he isn't coming on this cruise. My son has autism and although I think he would have fun, I really didn't want my ex-husband on my wedding/honeymoon cruise to watch DS, and I didn't think I would have fun on my own wedding/honeymoon cruise watching my DS 24/7 (he is very hands on). So, he is staying with his Dad/my Ex and maybe my new DH and I will take DS on a cruise at some point.

 

I have read on these boards where many parents who have children with autism take their children on cruises. I'm looking forward to doing that and seeing a new world through my son's eyes. :D

[Celandine]

I am an adult now, but growing up my parents never went on vacation without me.

 

In fact, I am pretty sure the first vacation just the 2 of them went on was a cruise while I was in my first year of University.

 

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just what they did. And eventually I ended up going somewhere just with my mum or just with my dad.... my mum got tired of the theme parks, but my dad and I still loved going so we kept going... my mum and I would cruise together...

 

Finally I went on a cruise with just my dad (actually 2) and we had a great time...

 

 

My mum has also gone on a cruise completely alone, and I did that too last year (no one could fly to China to meet me)

 

now we are looking forward to taking a family vacation together in 2 summers I think.

 

 

I think it's a good idea for couples to spend time to reconnect with eachother....be it a regular date night, or a vaction or something...

[hpilews1]

We are going on our first cruise in July without our kids. DD is 3 and DS is turning one next week. We opted not to take them as my husband and I don't get date nights so we need some time alone. Our families live very far away and we don't have a babysitter so my mom offered to come down to florida and watch the kids for a week while we take off on a 5 day cruise. The port is only 15 minutes from our house. I am still nursing our soon and have to wean him before our cruise and I'll be honest I am very anixious about leaving my babies but I know we will have a great time. I've only been away from them overnight when I was in the hospital so this will be tough....but worth it!

 

This is our first real vacation(roadtrips to family don't count) and we are thrilled to be going alone. I forsee a trip just the two of us once a year from now on and once the kids are older we will take them on their own trip once a year as well. Maintaining our marriage is very important to us so as awful as I feel about leaving my kids...I know it needs to be done. Love them but need some time alone with my husband.

[RuthlessBoss]

Our first 4 cruises we took our son and daughter...they absolutely love cruising as much as we do. In 2010 we went on a cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary..this was our first vacation of any kind without our children...I admit I did feel a little guilty about it. Last year our daughter got married and our son didn't want to cruise in a cabin with us (him & his sister had always shared one) so he decided he didn't want to go with us. I offered again this year for him to go with us (our cruise was last week) and he said that if he had to stay in the cabin with us he would rather stay home. I told him that as much as he loves cruising he may not to go again until he is either married or finds a friend that can share a room with him or he decides he wants to to share a cabin with us (he is 19).

I would have never cruised without the kids when they were younger...or went on any other kind of vacation with out them...but now that they are both grown..I feel like life has come "full circle" and we can enjoy doing things as a couple again. (Just my opinion and I know not everyone agrees)

I keep coming back to this post, and debating about posting a comment. I think holding your ground about not supplying the son his own cabin (at YOUR expense) was a good decision.

[askimdog]

We cruised in 2003, had a child in 2004 and waited till 2011 to cruise again. We waited till our child was old enough to enjoy and learn from the cruise. I make worksheets for her about each port, we work on them prior and on the cruise. In Port we eat local, wander far from the ship, avoid shopping and always try to visit a school or orphanage to get her with other local kids. We often try to walk some nature trail and show her the island/country avoiding zip lines/atv excursions etc.

 

We try to make each cruise educational for us and her.

[crusinfamof4]

We have taken our DS's on both of our cruises, will take them on the third this November and 4th in August 2013. Our kids are older though-15 & 12, and this time they will have their own cabin directly across the hall from us.

 

We had the kids young, I was 21 when our first son was born, so money was tight. As such, we didn't vacation much, unless it was my parents time share somewhere. We really didn't travel until 2006 and went to Disney/Universal. Now we go to FL all the time, our kids are always with us. We don't mind it, since my DH and I work full time, this is our family time.

 

The oldest isn't really into trips anymore, he would rather stay home and stay with his friends, but he still comes and ends up having a great time.

 

:D

[PR0318]

We do every other one with the kids. So much cheaper to sail with just 2 than 4. I think its a good balance, one vacation is an adult vacation, off peak time mostly adults and the family cruise is always at the peak family vacation times, which is a different kind of fun. Boys don't like when we go without them but oh well.

[jsjjkelly]

Cruised on the Sensation back in 96 with DH, no kids then. Last month we took DD (13) on her first cruise ( Pride ) and I can't imagine leaving her behind in the future, that is, until she has a boyfriend, or just decides that Mom and Dad aren't COOL anymore:rolleyes: Looking to book the Breeze in April 2013, and she WILL be with us. Right now, we ARE cool. lol

 

This is exactly how we feel. My daughter is 12 and we're still cool. We figure we only have a few more years until we cross over to that "uncool" status. We can leave her home then.

 

My son is 8, so we have quite a few more years with him until we're not cool anymore.

 

So until then, we take them cruising with us. I do, however, feel guilty when we're leaving my dogs behind.... :-)

Shawn

[Texarribean Chick]

I did not take my DD on a cruise until she was 14. DH and I always cruised alone because the cruise was our "grown up" vacation. However, we always took DD on another type of vacation, i.e. Disneyworld, local long weekend at another amusement park, to the lake for a long weekend, etc. She went on the cruise at 14 and WAS NOT crazy about it. Of course, at that time, we were NOT cool. She is now graduating high school tomorrow and we are trying to get her to cruise with us next month and she won't go. Just not her bag. She would rather be with her friends here at home.

 

When she was younger, sometimes I did feel guilty for not taking her; but now I'm okay with it. We didn't leave her out of a "vacation" we just chose to have two vacations :D

[PhinsAndGills]

As far as I know, we are not allowed take our 8 year olds. We can't find a cruise line that's okay with the shedding and the litterbox. And there's the issue of sand fleas. It's just easier if we leave them with grandma for the week.

[Disneycruisers]

as far as i know, we are not allowed take our 8 year olds. We can't find a cruise line that's okay with the shedding and the litterbox. And there's the issue of sand fleas. It's just easier if we leave them with grandma for the week.

 

ROFL!

 

I swear, if there was I way, I'd take our cats. They love to sleep with us, and I DO miss them when we're gone.

[WAHMto5]

In 3 days will be our first cruise without the kids!!! It was a suprise from my DH for our Anniversary and I am very excited though a bit nervous leaving the kids;)

[Suzieanna]

We havent cruised withut our daughter, but it is a fact that the minute we are onboard she runs off to make friends in the club (and we hardly ever see her) we might as well be on our own! She will be 18 in a year and a half and has been pre-warned that once she is out of school and working she will need to put her hand in her pocket and start paying for herself, so she may not want to come with us anyway on those grounds!

 

We live in the UK so when we went to L Vegas for a week that was quite a big deal for us, so she didnt come then - plus it was my birthday treat, not a family holiday. I missed her loads but just bought back loads of lovely presents for her and besides she had a great time with her grandparents and I am sure missed us less than we missed her. Of course the best gift you can give your children is being part of a happy family. And to that you have to be a happy couple first!

[jtdlmc]

No, the kids come too. I feel so bad leaving the pets behind, couldn't imagine leaving my kids! Soon they will be grown and not want to come with us so we enjoy every family vacation we can get in before that happens.

[Julienatul]

We usually always cruise with our kids but for the first time this summer we are taking a cruise just the 2 of us to celebrate our 10 year anniversary!! We had a great family cruise for spring break in March with the kids and are sailing again with them for Thanksgiving so they get planty of "family cruises". Its nice to be able to relax and rejuvenate without the kids as well. DH and I cannot wait for our summer cruise all alone!!

[hn7609]

We bring the kids half of the time.......it is their favorite vacation. That said we usually send the kids 11 & 13 off to summer camp for 2 weeks and take a cruise during that time. Occasionally we can fit in a second cruise during the summer & take the kids. Our favorite is to cruise without the children but it's good when we are all out to sea together.

[Angelamu7]

My husband and I have been on a few crusies/trips without the kids and there is nothing wrong with that IMO. My kids love going to family trips as do we and we cruise with them as well.

[spunkyhungry]

As far as I know, we are not allowed take our 8 year olds. We can't find a cruise line that's okay with the shedding and the litterbox. And there's the issue of sand fleas. It's just easier if we leave them with grandma for the week.

 

Hahaha! My 6 and 1 year old stay with grandma, too! I always miss my cats most of all when I go on vacation.

[adriennerm]

When the children were young, we always took them with us. Now that they are teens, let me tell ya, I'll say Adios to them every chance I can. Don't get me wrong. I love my children with all my heart and soul. However my daughter is 17 and my husband's children are twins 16 (boy and girl) I have so many gray hairs and we always have vodka stored somewhere in the house now. :eek:

It's like they waited until this year to unleash their inner beast. :mad:

 

Did I have guilt when they were 8 or 10 yes. Do I have guilt now...nope I've earn these kids free days at sea. :o

 

We split the vacations now. One family and one adult only.

[pafam4]

Due to many factors, we only vacation 1 week per year. So no matter what kind of vacation we take, our kids are an integral part of our vacation. I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess because dh and I had plenty of time to travel as a couple before the kids were born, we don't feel the need to leave the kids (now teenagers) behind when we take our yearly vacation. It helps that we all get along very well and enjoy each other's company. In the coming years, with their work and college schedules, the "family" cruises/vacations will be harder to come by, so we are enjoying our time together as a family now.

 

That being said, everyone is different and if cruising as a couple helps your relationship or is just something that works for your family...go for it and happy cruising!