ATTENTION: Anyone who travels without their young kids...

[CourtneyMcP2012]

Good Afternoon all! I am getting excited as we will be headed to San Juan in just 2 weeks for our cruise!:D But i am having one issue...

 

I will be leaving my 2 young kids (DD 3 1/2 and DS 1 1/2) for 8 nights!!! I have never left them for more then a night and am getting a little nervous, for me and them. So i am looking for suggestions to make it easier? Do you call and talk or skype with your young ones when you are away? or does that make it worse?

I have some little presents each night for them and they will be staying at our home to help with us being gone. Any suggestions on what you do or have done that made it easier would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

[Leo's Rule]

Good Afternoon all! I am getting excited as we will be headed to San Juan in just 2 weeks for our cruise!:D But i am having one issue...

 

I will be leaving my 2 young kids (DD 3 1/2 and DS 1 1/2) for 8 nights!!! I have never left them for more then a night and am getting a little nervous, for me and them. So i am looking for suggestions to make it easier? Do you call and talk or skype with your young ones when you are away? or does that make it worse?

I have some little presents each night for them and they will be staying at our home to help with us being gone. Any suggestions on what you do or have done that made it easier would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

 

I don't have any human kids, but I left my dog for 11 nights last year and I was heartbroken because I dropped her at the pet hotel the night before I left out in the morning. She clung to me like her life depended on it. It was so heart wrenching to me.

 

The whole time I was in San Juan I'd call the hotel and she got to hear my voice. And then when I truly cruised, when I was in US territories, I'd call the hotel and check on her. I know the staff thought I was crazy.

 

But, unless you want to rack up a large amount in cell phone data costs; I'd only suggest skyping in San Juan and St. Thomas. All other ports, you should look for places with free WiFi before making calls or skyping.

 

But enjoy yourself. Have fun.

[Cruisin' Cool CAT]

Good Afternoon all! I am getting excited as we will be headed to San Juan in just 2 weeks for our cruise!:D But i am having one issue...

 

I will be leaving my 2 young kids (DD 3 1/2 and DS 1 1/2) for 8 nights!!! I have never left them for more then a night and am getting a little nervous, for me and them. So i am looking for suggestions to make it easier? Do you call and talk or skype with your young ones when you are away? or does that make it worse?

I have some little presents each night for them and they will be staying at our home to help with us being gone. Any suggestions on what you do or have done that made it easier would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

 

In the same boat, well, sort of...lol...we've never left our 2 either and I want a way to stay in contact...I'm hoping for the unlimited Internet package so we can Skype with them or at least email with my Mom if needed....ours a bit older tho...13 and 5 but still! Haha

 

Oh the joys of this paranoid Mommy!!! :eek:

[CourtneyMcP2012]

I don't have any human kids' date=' but I left my dog for 11 nights last year and I was heartbroken because I dropped her at the pet hotel the night before I left out in the morning. She clung to me like her life depended on it. It was so heart wrenching to me.

 

The whole time I was in San Juan I'd call the hotel and she got to hear my voice. And then when I truly cruised, when I was in US territories, I'd call the hotel and check on her. I know the staff thought I was crazy.

 

But, unless you want to rack up a large amount in cell phone data costs; I'd only suggest skyping in San Juan and St. Thomas. All other ports, you should look for places with free WiFi before making calls or skyping.

 

But enjoy yourself. Have fun.[/quote']

 

I know leaving furbabies is just as hard. We will be putting them to bed friday night but i flight leaves EARLY in the morning so they wont see us in the morning and i am afraid te 2 year old will think we abandoned him:eek:

I am wondering if i shouldnt call and talk to them, it might make it worse if they hear my voice but cant see me.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

We just did this with our son who was 16 months at the time. Hearing my voice when I called really upset him so I stopped calling and just sent a few texts each day to check on him. I missed him like crazy and I kept thinking about it so I made myself miserable.

 

Try not to think about missing them while you're gone. You will drive yourself crazy. I had an amazing time when I wasn't dwelling on it and it always ruined my mood when I stopped and thought about it.

 

He had a blast spending the week with his grandma. I'm a stay at home mom so he's used to me bring around 24/7. The break really did wonders for him and for me. I just wish I would have stopped thinking about how much I missed him the whole time because he was clearly fine and happy the whole week.

 

I forgot to mention that I used the wifi on my iPhone when we could find a hot spot in port to text since my mom had one too. iMessage is a great tool for iPhone users when you're abroad. It also doesn't add anything to your bill as long as you keep it in airplane mode with wifi on.

[Ready 2 Go]

Hi CourtneyMcP2012, I know how you feel. Our first cruise we left our little ones home also. My niece stayed at our house and baby-sat and made sure everyone made it off to school each day. The only thing that really made me feel better was calling them in the evening and again in the morning. Mine were older than yours at the time. So you may be more at comfort if you call the sitter and check in and get some baby chatter :) One note, my cell bill was like $400+ when I got back (AT&T). So unless you can get like a plan specific for cruising, I would suggest purchasing a Net10 pay as you go phone to use for these calls. From what I understand, its a flat 10 cents/minute. But that may have changed by now. Hope this helps.

[Leo's Rule]

In the same boat' date=' well, sort of...lol...we've never left our 2 either and I want a way to stay in contact...I'm hoping for the unlimited Internet package so we can Skype with them or at least email with my Mom if needed....ours a bit older tho...13 and 5 but still! Haha

 

Oh the joys of this paranoid Mommy!!! :eek:[/quote']

 

Unless the speed has improved, you could have written a note and mailed it.

 

But I see you mentioned unlimited...because x amount of minutes would be easily burned at the rate it takes to connect to anything.

 

EDIT:

Ok, I just looked at the first 3 posts on an old thread about unlimited internet. Well, it would seem you would come out ahead. Unless something has changed, it seems the speed is blazing fast for the $100 option and the $40 option can be compared to dial-up internet.

 

Now, I didn't read the newer posts, so I don't know if the cost has gone up or if the speeds have decreased.

[CruisingMainer]

We left our son when he was three for five nights when we went to Vegas. I called, but found it upset him more to talk to us. Though I think every kid is different. So I would call my sister after his bed time to see how things were going. After two nights she told me that she'd let me know if anything was wrong and to just relax and enjoy my time away. So I called once we had landed and were on our way home.

 

We've cruised twice since without him, and didn't call at all once we set sail. He stayed with his grandparents in FL, while we sailed. He did NOT miss us at all . . . . . getting spoiled was much more fun. I did check my email on board, just in case.

[CourtneyMcP2012]

We just did this with our son who was 16 months at the time. Hearing my voice when I called really upset him so I stopped calling and just sent a few texts each day to check on him. I missed him like crazy and I kept thinking about it so I made myself miserable.

 

Try not to think about missing them while you're gone. You will drive yourself crazy. I had an amazing time when I wasn't dwelling on it and it always ruined my mood when I stopped and thought about it.

 

He had a blast spending the week with his grandma. I'm a stay at home mom so he's used to me bring around 24/7. The break really did wonders for him and for me. I just wish I would have stopped thinking about how much I missed him the whole time because he was clearly fine and happy the whole week.

 

~Thank you, this just made me feel awhole lot better about my thoughts on NOT skyping and calling. My biggest thing is me dwelling on it, my husband is like get over it have fun but i just keep thinking how much i will miss them. i will have to try my hardest take you advice and not dwell as this is most likely that last "mommy daddy" trip for A LONG time.

[ShelbyLK]

Last May I left my almost 2 year old for 8 days, 9 nights. It was heart breaking for me, and I cried when I dropped him off. I called only on days where it was free with my cell phone (San Juan, St. Thomas), but I did not talk to him, because I thought that that would upset him to hear me, but still not be able to see me. Honestly though, I don't think it was as hard on him as I had thought that it would be. He didn't cry once while we were gone, and he was just fine when we got home. It's hard to leave them, but that vacation is well worth it! Oh yeah, and they are young, they adjust easily, well at least mine did. :)

[CourtneyMcP2012]

Hi CourtneyMcP2012, I know how you feel. Our first cruise we left our little ones home also. My niece stayed at our house and baby-sat and made sure everyone made it off to school each day. The only thing that really made me feel better was calling them in the evening and again in the morning. Mine were older than yours at the time. So you may be more at comfort if you call the sitter and check in and get some baby chatter :) One note, my cell bill was like $400+ when I got back (AT&T). So unless you can get like a plan specific for cruising, I would suggest purchasing a Net10 pay as you go phone to use for these calls. From what I understand, its a flat 10 cents/minute. But that may have changed by now. Hope this helps.

 

YIKES! that is one big phone bill! Unfortunatly it will cost us A LOT to call form our cells unless we change out plans which i really dont want to do. I was thinking of call from san juan using our cell just to let my dad know we landed. Then i figured i would call every other night from the ship (1.99/Min) just to make sure all was well. i figure a 5-10min phone call at that price is better then all those roaming fees from my cell company. Then i will leave the ship # in case of an emergancy only so they can call.

[JP4GA]

I have been a mom for 16 years and EVERY year we leave our kids for 4 to 10 nights. It was hard the first time but after that it has been easy. My kids are now 16 and 4.

 

Think of it like this--- it is important to get away from kids and reconnect and have alone time with your partner. I also think that it is good for kids to have some expereinces without thier parents.

 

We always return from our trips rested and we feel like better parents having been away for a few days.

 

I would not call or skype with kids as young as yours, it may cause them to become upset and miss you more. Since they are staying in your home it will be helpful for the caregiver to keep them on scheudle as much as possible.

 

Have fun and don't give the kids a second thought while you are away.

 

Our cruise in May will be with kids, but we are looking at planning one for the grown-ups only in the fall.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

~Thank you, this just made me feel awhole lot better about my thoughts on NOT skyping and calling. My biggest thing is me dwelling on it, my husband is like get over it have fun but i just keep thinking how much i will miss them. i will have to try my hardest take you advice and not dwell as this is most likely that last "mommy daddy" trip for A LONG time.

 

I just edited my post while you were replying. I added how I kept in touch and kept it cheap and easy.

 

My hubby and your hubby sound alike. There were times when my dwelling made him miserable too because I couldn't stop talking about it. I learned my lesson about worrying too much and spent the hour and a half waiting on our flight home apologizing profusely about being a pain all week.

 

What helped when we left was telling him (not that he completely understood since he's so young) that he was going to spend the night with Mamaw and they were going to play and have fun. He was very excited to go and play at Mamaw's house.

[MrPete]

Good Afternoon all! I am getting excited as we will be headed to San Juan in just 2 weeks for our cruise!:D But i am having one issue...

 

I will be leaving my 2 young kids (DD 3 1/2 and DS 1 1/2) for 8 nights!!! I have never left them for more then a night and am getting a little nervous, for me and them. So i am looking for suggestions to make it easier? Do you call and talk or skype with your young ones when you are away? or does that make it worse?

I have some little presents each night for them and they will be staying at our home to help with us being gone. Any suggestions on what you do or have done that made it easier would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

 

For us, it didn't matter. Our hearts were SO heavy not having her with us, we couldn't wait to get home. SIL emailed us every day, and we had pix with us, but it didn't work.

 

When we got back to port, we raced home, and our hearts broke when she just started crying when she saw us.

 

She will be platinum next cruise.

[minerva78]

I felt just like you on our first cruise. I think my girls were about 1 and 2 1/2 at the time. The first thing you need to do is to contact your phone company and find out the international rates. I have Verizon and they had to change our plan to international roaming first, then they gave me per minute rates based on what port we would be in. But honestly, I never talked directly to my kids on any of my cruises, and I'm glad I didn't because I personally think it would have made things worse.

 

What I did instead was to contact grandparents to see how they were doing. At the time, Carnival had some sort of thing on their website where you could see "who's onboard". You could set up an account and a thread where you list what you're doing while you're on the ship, and if you gave that thread location to a family member, you could chat back and forth for free because it was on the Carnival website. *Does anyone know if this still exists??? I couldn't find it on their site, so they probably caught on and got rid of it, lol.

 

Your best option would be to send text messages while you are in port. When you contact your phone company, also ask about the international text message rates. I know it didn't cost more than $.50 to either send or receive texts at the time. Not sure if you have unlimited text whether or not this would be included while you are in another country, but definitely ask.

 

Don't worry. I was absolutely miserable the first day of our first cruise, missing my girls. By the middle of the second day I was okay. And by the 3rd cruise, I don't even think about it. :) It will get better.

[ViolaSwamp]

When my DD was about 1.5 or so, DH and I went to Las Vegas for a week and left her with my parents. If I had to do it over again, I would have delayed the trip. I felt awful, like a bad mother. Though she never had any separation anxiety prior to this trip, at that age they just can't comprehend that Mommy & Daddy WILL be back and I know she missed us terribly despite my parents' best efforts. Now, at almost 10 years, I have no issues with leaving her while we take a weekend away, etc. But at that very young age, both of her parents being gone for a whole week, I wish I had delayed that trip. Babies/toddlers are just too young to be without both parents for an entire week, IMO. Starting around age 4ish is when I became comfortable in leaving her without us.

 

I think that since you have an older child to comfort the younger one, it might not be so terrible in your case. Your older one may not understand completely but is likely to understand enough to help your younger one...

[CourtneyMcP2012]

For us, it didn't matter. Our hearts were SO heavy not having her with us, we couldn't wait to get home. SIL emailed us every day, and we had pix with us, but it didn't work.

 

When we got back to port, we raced home, and our hearts broke when she just started crying when she saw us.

 

She will be platinum next cruise.

 

This is my WORST fear.

[vuildog]

I must mention that if you have Verizon Wireless, and stop in St. Thomas, it is not a "free" call. For some reason, even though St. Thomas is a US territory, it is an international call.. However, it did work for "free" in San Juan.

 

Have a great cruise, and don't worry too much about the kids:D They will be just fine!

[CourtneyMcP2012]

:p

When my DD was about 1.5 or so, DH and I went to Las Vegas for a week and left her with my parents. If I had to do it over again, I would have delayed the trip. I felt awful, like a bad mother. Though she never had any separation anxiety prior to this trip, at that age they just can't comprehend that Mommy & Daddy WILL be back and I know she missed us terribly despite my parents' best efforts. Now, at almost 10 years, I have no issues with leaving her while we take a weekend away, etc. But at that very young age, both of her parents being gone for a whole week, I wish I had delayed that trip. Babies/toddlers are just too young to be without both parents for an entire week, IMO. Starting around age 4ish is when I became comfortable in leaving her without us.

 

I think that since you have an older child to comfort the younger one, it might not be so terrible in your case. Your older one may not understand completely but is likely to understand enough to help your younger one...

 

Our DD (3.5) actually is closer to 4, she will be 4 in June. The nice thing about having an older child is we have been talking to her for a couple of months about us leaving and she seems fine and actually was upset last week because she wanted Bada (her grandfather) to stay with her now not later.

I am hoping she will be a good support for our son as she keeps telling me she will be fine and will tell landon that we are coming home soon.

SO hopefully they do good, i am excited as this is our LONG over due honey moon ( i kept getting pregnant every other time we planned one:p) and we really dont have any alone time as we work to much.

[CourtneyMcP2012]

I must mention that if you have Verizon Wireless, and stop in St. Thomas, it is not a "free" call. For some reason, even though St. Thomas is a US territory, it is an international call.. However, it did work for "free" in San Juan.

 

Have a great cruise, and don't worry too much about the kids:D They will be just fine!

 

We actually have US Cellular which i dont think will offer us much of anything our of new england :mad: But we are traveling with some friends who have verizon so i could always snag their phone in san juan

[LaShea]

I left my kids for the first time when they were 4,3 and 4 months old. We went on a 4 day cruise and my mom stayed at our house. At first it was hard but, I knew I needed the time away with just my husband. Ever since then we have taken at least one cruise by our selves every year. Now we are up to 7 day cruises and usually leaving the day before the cruise so it would be 8 nights. I text my mom from all the ports which only cost $.50 when you text and nothing when she texts back (I am with AT&T). I have never had a large phone bill. I think the most I have paid is $5.00. They also don't hear or see me so I think that helps them. They are spoiled by Grandma and Papa and don't frankly care if we are gone for a week!!:p

 

You need the time away to relax!! Take the time and don't stress. They will be there when you get back all safe and sound. My kids have never shed a tear when we left or came back. The last time we came back they asked me when we were leaving again so their Grandma and Papa can come stay with them.

[T. Advisor King]

I my experience, kids are either one of two ages (1) young enough that they don't really get it, so when you're out of sight, you're out of mind, and (2) kids that are old enough to get it and will probably have more fun without you (staying with the grandparents, aunt/uncle, etc) that the only one who is upset about you going away is you.

 

My wife and I vacationed without our kids regularly from when they were old enough to be left alone (i.e., no longer breast feeding, sleeping through the night and not an enormous burden on the grandparents, etc.). I certainly missed them, but not in a weepy blubbery way, more in a matter of fact way.

 

I love my kids, but I don't want to spend my time with them 24/7, 365.25 days per year. I think as people get older and their kids get older they realize that it's not all about them, so going away isn't something they're "doing to" their kids and it is no big deal. Some figure that out sooner than others.

[TerReuv]

When my DD was about 1.5 or so, DH and I went to Las Vegas for a week and left her with my parents. If I had to do it over again, I would have delayed the trip. I felt awful, like a bad mother. Though she never had any separation anxiety prior to this trip, at that age they just can't comprehend that Mommy & Daddy WILL be back and I know she missed us terribly despite my parents' best efforts. Now, at almost 10 years, I have no issues with leaving her while we take a weekend away, etc. But at that very young age, both of her parents being gone for a whole week, I wish I had delayed that trip. Babies/toddlers are just too young to be without both parents for an entire week, IMO. Starting around age 4ish is when I became comfortable in leaving her without us.

 

I think that since you have an older child to comfort the younger one, it might not be so terrible in your case. Your older one may not understand completely but is likely to understand enough to help your younger one...

 

I disagree on this one. We used to leave ours with my parents for trips off and on and I would say that they don't even realize you are gone most of the time. When they are with grandparents, the granparents are so happy to have them they keep the kids very occupied at any age. It does not make you a bad mother. You may have felt that way but I am sure that the little ones were so distracted they didn't notice. Also, they really don't have a sense of time at that age.

 

Of course, now that mine are older (21 & 26) I am looking forward to being the grandmother that gets to spoil and enjoy when the time comes. BTW - both my kids were different when it came to leaving them. One couldn't have cared less and the other was more clingy. But, once I was gone they both had fun and did not miss me at all I don't believe.

[lbfluffy]

I don't have any human kids' date=' but I left my dog for 11 nights last year and I was heartbroken because I dropped her at the pet hotel the night before I left out in the morning. She clung to me like her life depended on it. It was so heart wrenching to me.

 

The whole time I was in San Juan I'd call the hotel and she got to hear my voice. And then when I truly cruised, when I was in US territories, I'd call the hotel and check on her. I know the staff thought I was crazy.

 

But, unless you want to rack up a large amount in cell phone data costs; I'd only suggest skyping in San Juan and St. Thomas. All other ports, you should look for places with free WiFi before making calls or skyping.

 

But enjoy yourself. Have fun.[/quote']

 

I am so glad I am not the only one that loves their dog like another child. My boston terrier is my third child. The first cruise I left her was the hardest. She was just a puppy and it was my first time leaving her. I didn't miss my kids near as much. So awful. Well they are 20 and 23 so it is a bit different now. They are basically on their own now, so my dog is my replacement child.

[chasinraynbowz]

I have raised my kids and am now enjoying my grandkids.

 

My advice - GO! Have fun! If your children are staying with their grandparents, you know they will be taken care of and watched over probably more so than when they are home with you :D. Honestly, you are going to miss them more than they miss you..... especially if they are at grandma's!

 

My son and DIL were great about letting me have my grandsons at an early age. They even have a room at my house... lol. They spend time with us when their parents take vacations and they go on vacation with us without their parents. Our oldest grandson is 6 1/2 yrs and will be going on his first cruise with us next month. We can't wait!!!