At what age do child roam around loose on cruises?

[Anthomaniac]

I don't care how well behaved YOU think your child is...what matters is how well behaved the other 3000 people onboard think your child is.

 

If you want to let them roam, so be it, but you are still a parent and you should keep an eye on them to see how they behave when they think you are not around. I have seen children that were perfect angels when their parents were around turn into Damian-clones as soon as the parent was out of sight.

[yoursurfer]

We just returned from a 7 day carnival cruise with a 12 year old girl. The 12 and up crowd sign themselves in and out. There is no other option!. I will say that most of the activities are from 8 pm till about midnight or later. "party at sea till 3" on one sea night. I made sure my daughter was always with a group. Absolutely do not go in anyone else's cabin for any reason. We brought sticky notes and she would check in hourly and if we weren't in the cabin she would leave us a note. I know my daughter and if anything she is a early cautious. The one thing I will share is when the ship was docked, I made her stay with me. My imagination started going wild and I imagined someone leaving the ship with her, but at sea I let her roam. I did notice lots of parents with Wilkie talkies and this is a great idea.

[aohkay]

I did notice lots of parents with Wilkie talkies and this is a great idea.

 

Uh oh, you had to go and say the "W T" words didn't ya. :eek:

[Clydesmom7865]

We just returned from a 7 day carnival cruise with a 12 year old girl. The 12 and up crowd sign themselves in and out. There is no other option!. I will say that most of the activities are from 8 pm till about midnight or later. "party at sea till 3" on one sea night. I made sure my daughter was always with a group. Absolutely do not go in anyone else's cabin for any reason. We brought sticky notes and she would check in hourly and if we weren't in the cabin she would leave us a note. I know my daughter and if anything she is a early cautious. The one thing I will share is when the ship was docked, I made her stay with me. My imagination started going wild and I imagined someone leaving the ship with her, but at sea I let her roam. I did notice lots of parents with Wilkie talkies and this is a great idea.

 

The first bolded part is why I don't cruise Carnival as this attitude seems to prevail among all the parents on board.

 

THIS is an incredibly BAD idea. What makes you think those of us trying to relax want to listen to the squealing and squawking of those infernal things while you try and find a signal, yell at your kid(s) to answer, ignore your kid(s) trying to get you to answer, and stop the feedback noise from interference? More often than not the steel decks keep them from transmitting any meaningful signal not to mention the interference from the other passengers and crew on the same frequency. Waste of time and just a rapid way to annoy all the other passengers.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

CNN did a story on crime and sexual predators on cruise ships.

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html#/video/us/2012/07/10/ac-griffin-sexual-predators-at-sea.cnn

 

This always makes me laugh. They also did reports on priests, teachers, boy scouts, camp counselors, etc.!

 

Sexual predators are everywhere in our society, you just have to teach your children well. As much as I would love to keep my Son (12) in a bubble and protect him, I want to bring up a strong, independant person. We give him rules and the consequences if he breaks them. Like someone posted above, he is not allowed on any decks with cabins, except when he goes back to our cabin. If anyone even puts a hand on him, he has been instructed to SCREAM fire! Why fire? Because most people in this society tend to lock their doors or look away when someone asks for help! Fire brings everyone out! He will be sailing on his 18th cruise in a couple of weeks! Had he broken any of the rules or gotten in trouble, he would not have that many! P.S. The first time we let him sign himself out was when he was 8. We gave him time and place to meet us throught the day, and if he was even 1 minute late, all bets were off!

[luddite]

The first bolded part is why I don't cruise Carnival as this attitude seems to prevail among all the parents on board.

 

THIS is an incredibly BAD idea. What makes you think those of us trying to relax want to listen to the squealing and squawking of those infernal things while you try and find a signal, yell at your kid(s) to answer, ignore your kid(s) trying to get you to answer, and stop the feedback noise from interference? More often than not the steel decks keep them from transmitting any meaningful signal not to mention the interference from the other passengers and crew on the same frequency. Waste of time and just a rapid way to annoy all the other passengers.

 

You betcha it's a bad idea. Yikes! I'm surprised that more people don't have a situation where they must walk try to walk with a walky-talky that they don't need to hold in their hand.....because it's been put somewhere else......

Edited July 14, 2012 by luddite

[brookelovescruises]

It really depends on the child but I know that when I was 11, my friends and I would roam around the entire day. We just made sure to call the cabin and leave a message that everything is alright or where we're going to be. We also stayed with the teen club where we were supervised.

[Clydesmom7865]

You betcha it's a bad idea. Yikes! I'm surprised that more people don't have a situation where they must walk try to walk with a walky-talky that they don't need to hold in their hand.....because it's been put somewhere else......

 

Amen!

[Clydesmom7865]

Predators not withstanding here is yet another reason you don't let kids wander on their own:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1670992

[pdmlynek]

We just came back from our first cruise. HAL Statendam, Alaska. We had 6 kids between us, all between the ages 9 to 14. During the time that we were on the ship, the adults spent time with the kids as warranted, went to shows/demostrations/movies together, and did things together. We did expect the kids to show up for dinner at certain time, and to go to sleep at a certain time. But it never dawned on any of the adults that any of kids should not roam around the ship as they please. We had a great time!

[penguinscott]

Your question gives me the chills! Kids on a cruise. :eek:

[dsrdsrdsr]

Predators not withstanding here is yet another reason you don't let kids wander on their own:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1670992

 

I'd call that a reason why you don't let them wander on their own at night. And also why they aren't allowed to invite visitors into their cabin. It's not an argument against the sort of wandering suggested by the OP.

[Clydesmom7865]

I'd call that a reason why you don't let them wander on their own at night. And also why they aren't allowed to invite visitors into their cabin. It's not an argument against the sort of wandering suggested by the OP.

 

RIIIGHT. Because kids like vampires, never think of causing trouble during daylight hours. I have yet to see a kid that stops before doing something stupid and says "oh wait, I can't do that it is still light out. I better wait until its dark."

When was the last time you heard a passenger who encountered all the elevator buttons pushed because of unsupervised kids or was knocked down by them running in the passage ways say "its fine, its during the day?" Unruly behavior is unacceptable regardless of what time of day it happens.

 

The time of day is irrelevant if the kids are running around unsupervised. It just seems worse when it is at night when the majority of people prefer to be sleeping and are disturbed.

[dsrdsrdsr]

RIIIGHT. Because kids like vampires, never think of causing trouble during daylight hours. I have yet to see a kid that stops before doing something stupid and says "oh wait, I can't do that it is still light out. I better wait until its dark."

When was the last time you heard a passenger who encountered all the elevator buttons pushed because of unsupervised kids or was knocked down by them running in the passage ways say "its fine, its during the day?" Unruly behavior is unacceptable regardless of what time of day it happens.

 

The time of day is irrelevant if the kids are running around unsupervised. It just seems worse when it is at night when the majority of people prefer to be sleeping and are disturbed.

You're reading too much into it. I never meant to imply that no child would ever behave badly during the day. I meant to imply that drinking and smoking are more likely to happen when parents are asleep and you've got friends in your cabin, than when it's broad daylight and you're out and about on a busy ship.

[shorbr]

Honestly, I wouldn't let them roam at any age. I just read that article about victims of cruise ships, and it is very frightening. Even made me afraid. These incidents happened mostly with adults. To let down your guard on a cruise ship is not safe. Predators cruise too...

 

Giving further thought to this...I would let them have freedom to go about...but I would be within eyesight of the children.

Edited July 18, 2012 by shorbr

[geekybiker]

They're old enough to wander when they're old enough not to annoy the other passengers. Seeing how unsupervised teenagers tend to act, I think that age out be pretty high. Dealing with other people's kids is the last thing I want to do on vacation.

[luddite]

They're old enough to wander when they're old enough not to annoy the other passengers. Seeing how unsupervised teenagers tend to act, I think that age out be pretty high. Dealing with other people's kids is the last thing I want to do on vacation.

 

That sums it up!

[ducklite]

:eek: I actually think the Mall is safer, you have many narrow hallways with tons of cabins of and people coming and going pretty much out of sight.

 

A mall there are very few places where that aren't visable to many employees, ship there are many places one can see no one.

 

Sorry, this is incorrect. There is a virtual maze of hallways and small rooms behind the scenes at most malls that provide access to the rear entrances of stores and storage rooms.

[ducklite]

I'd suggest reading the post on the Carnival boards from the woman who has "good kids" who ended up making friends with other kids who weren't so good. Long story short, they started a fire in a cabin due to alcohol and smoking.

 

There's no reason for them to be anywhere but with you if they aren't in the club.

[Smokeyham]

One request.... If they do something inappropriate or rude (run into someone, push all of the elevator buttons, etc.) and are chastised by an adult, then please support the adult who chastises them!

 

I've seen two instances where kids were chastised by an adult for clearly inappropriate behavior, and a parent came running over to "rescue" their kid and reassure them that it was "OK."

[nancydru]

We just returned from a 7 day carnival cruise with a 12 year old girl. The 12 and up crowd sign themselves in and out. There is no other option!. I will say that most of the activities are from 8 pm till about midnight or later. "party at sea till 3" on one sea night. I made sure my daughter was always with a group. Absolutely do not go in anyone else's cabin for any reason. We brought sticky notes and she would check in hourly and if we weren't in the cabin she would leave us a note. I know my daughter and if anything she is a early cautious. The one thing I will share is when the ship was docked, I made her stay with me. My imagination started going wild and I imagined someone leaving the ship with her, but at sea I let her roam. I did notice lots of parents with Wilkie talkies and this is a great idea.

 

This is my problem too. My daughter will be 12 when we sail on the Allure in November. There will be 6000+ people on board this ship including crew. I am a bit freaked out about her walking anywhere on this ship by herself. My sister, who has cruised much more than me, says it will be fine. I do have a 16 year old son who will be on board too but they can't be in the same "club" area due to the age difference. I work in child welfare seeing child sexual abuse victims daily. I unfortunatley am jaded on the subject and very aware of people around my 12 year old. I do want her to have her freedom, as my son will, but not at the cost of putting her in harms way. I guess I will just have to see when I get there.

[2Okies]

Tough one to answer. My daughter & I cruised together when she was 15, then 16 the next year. We stayed together for everything - especially since it was just the two of us, and she preferred to be with me, than to go to any of the teen clubs. I trusted HER, but I sure don't trust others!

Whenever we had to go back to the room for something we always went together. Except once. I knew she could find her way back to our room fine from the Lido deck where we were lounging. She wanted something from our room. We were on the Ecstacy. The one way back to our room required passing the casino. On her way back to the Lido, some creep-o coming out of the casino made a pass at her and followed her, saying things to her for a while. She was OBVIOUSLY a young girl. She is a pretty girl, but anyone would have known at that time that she was not an adult. He was a creep - enough said! She made it back to me safely, but it really shook her up. I told her she should have went into a store or even the casino and told a crew member he was bothering her. We told them at the information desk about it, but there really wasn't anything they could do at that point since we didn't know who he was. My daughter never saw him again. She was going to point him out to me if she did.

I trusted her, but from then on, we ALWAYS stayed together.

Now, if we were traveling with others that had kids her age, it might be different, because its usually safer in numbers.

But, like someone else said - its NOT like the mall. This is a traveling hotel - too many rooms for them to disappear into!

[Smokeyham]

It would seem reasonable and responsible to take the same precautions with children as you would in any other public place (hotel, mall, amusement park, etc). The cruise lines don't run criminal history checks on the passengers, and so you don't know what offenses your fellow passengers have committed.

 

Yes, it is a somewhat closed environment, since a predator can't drive away when you are at sea. That might make it easier for the person to be caught, but if you are in a situation where someone needs to be caught, then the assault, molestation, etc. has been committed, and the victim must still deal with that.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Smokeyham

[Travelcat2]

I do not feel that a cruise ship environment is similar to a mall or amusement park -- not from the aspect of adults but in terms of other children on board. Some parents (too many) book two cabins -- one for themselves and one for their children. There was a post (could be earlier on this thread) where the parents were across the hall from their kids. While cruise lines do not allow this, who is going to know or stop a parent from doing this?

 

So, the stories you are reading about children drinking, smoking, etc. with other children when this is not something they would normally do (peer pressure?), IMO it is because some kids have unlimited access to their cabins. This is not something you see in a mall or amusement park.

[Diggerof4]

My daughter will be 16 when we go on our first cruise. I have already started to talk to her about going off on her own, and to be aware of her sroundings. Never accept a drink or leave your drink alone. Other than some nightmeres already, I know I should let her go to explore. What really comforts me is that she is currently a Blue Belt and by the time we sail she should be a Brown Belt. Like any parent, I still worry. I want to thank everyone for all the great tips, and sharing of the worry bug.