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Communication with Teen On Board Ship


BrooklynGirl2
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:eek: Wow, poor BrooklynGirl2 it's like being at school reading some of these nasty comments. Bullying comes to mind, and perhaps a few people on here act younger and less mature than a 15 year old.

 

I bet you wish you hadn't bothered asking now. I feel embarrassed reading the snide remarks! :confused:

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Well when my DD was that age we spent our days together and in the evening after we ate she had freedom. We had "check in" times and places. I was very blessed and lucky she knew the rules she was there for check in or she knew her father would find her and the night was done! Sure there were many times when she was in her very early teens we would allow her to go to the "teen" club but we would just happen to stroll by or just be in the area. She never fought us. And as she got older she would tell me I saw daddy go bye all those times you didn't think I was looking!!! I hate to say it but we would drill into her it isn't you we don't trust but the rest of the world!! You are our main concern. We traveled with family and cousins once in the same age group and the adults were like omg she really listens. My DD showed up for a check in and freaked cause we were not there she thought she was late. Actually we were!! She saw her uncle and he was so impressed she was on her game. Those were the days b 4 smart phones and such. If it was me now I would get an Internet package. Jmo

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Thanks to all for the advice. We will be cruising for the first time in July and will have our 14-year old twins in tow. I trust my girls, it's the rest of the world I'm worried about.

 

You are right to be wary of other people. A cruise ship is full of strangers, just as any other holiday resort is - some are good, some are bad, but they are strangers none the less, so the same parental caution and responsibility should apply as it would at home, or anywhere else.

 

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Funny story. My mom and I took my son on an Alaskan cruise when he was 15. I had rules set for him. Like he had to check in often and had to have dinner with us unless there was an activity in the teen club at dinner. He also had a midnight curfew. No problems until the second to last night.

Every night he and his friends would go to the hot tub around 11:00. The second to the last night he came and got his swimsuit on and said he would be back at midnight. I guess I was extra tired and fell asleep. I woke up at 4:00 AM and my son was not in the cabin. I quickly got my clothes on and went searching.

The feeling and thoughts I had were horrible. I was sick to my stomach. I go down to where the hot tub was and no one was there. I went from floor to floor. Finally a young man that worked on the ship asked if he could help me. I told him my situation. He said there was a young man in a lounger with his girlfriend at the pool. I go up there and sure enough, there he is in a lounger on TOP of a girl with a blanket over them. I marched my butt up there and slapped him on the head. He looked up at me and to my dismay......it wasn't my son. The looks on the boys and girls face was priceless. I asked if they knew my son, which they did but didn't know where he was.

I went back to the elevators and heard a bunch of laughter from the deck below. I went down the stairs and there is my son with a bunch of kids just sitting around talking. My son’s eyes were as big as saucers when he saw how mad I was. His excuse was he forgot his key and didn't want to wake us.

Needless to say, he was grounded from the teen club the last night. The ship gave all the kids white shirts for everyone to sign. The kid I slapped on the head wrote on my sons shirt "I will never forget your mother" The shirt is a keeper!

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Easiest way we have found to keep in touch, is to grab the internet package and use an app called KiK Messenger http://www.kik.com/

 

We used to use KIK, but we've both had a real problem with spam and messages from scammers. The only people we talk to using KIK is each other, so we're not sure how they got our usernames, but they did.

 

Every other day I'll get a message from some random "female" trying to "sext" me, and she'll be happy to send me a picture of herself if only I go to some website and install an app on my phone. It's perfectly innocent and safe. She swears it is. I'm sure that the fact that the app is probably loaded to the gills with spyware and other nastiness is just a misunderstanding... :eek:

 

As such, we've switched to Telegram ( https://telegram.org/ ) which seems much more robust, and they seem to protect your privacy better as well.

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I did not appreciate your rude and totally unhelpful comment. My teen did do as he was told on our last cruise. He was never late at curfew or in meeting us for lunch/meals. I wanted a way to communicate with him if plans changed (I was not going to be where we were scheduled to meet) or if I wanted him to join us for something we hadn't previously scheduled to do. Or to just check in. I am not the type of parent that sets her teen free and does not want to be bothered with them (like many parents do) for the length of the cruise.

 

To those who offered constructive and informative responses, I thank you. I will look into the WiFi option and the use of an App for messages.

 

 

At Breakfast each day we each had a copy of the ships activity along with the teen activity papers. Highlighters in different colors.. we all marked it up where I will be at each increment. If Plans change there is always the next place-- activities are not all that long-- maybe 30 minutes at a time.

Walkie Talkies ARE very annoying-- not only with me-- but the people around us-- we used them one hour the first day and ditched them after that.

 

Dinner as a family was mandatory-- so for us there is no misunderstandings

Edited by serene56
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Thanks to all for the advice. We will be cruising for the first time in July and will have our 14-year old twins in tow. I trust my girls, it's the rest of the world I'm worried about.

 

#1 rule-- NO GOING TO ANY ONE cabin for any reason what so ever. No reason to be on any deck that have cabin areas. Stay on Public decks only

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Hi all--- we are sailing on Liberty of the Seas for the first time in July to the Caribbean. My son who is 15 will be sailing with us. I was wondering the best way to keep in touch with him on the ship as he will want to be with the other teens. We tried the leaving notes/leaving message on cabin phone thing and it was cumbersome and didn't work all that well.

 

I was wondering if I should invest in some Walkie Talkies to communicate with him while on board or is there some better high tech option... like a way to text back and forth without it costing me a lot of money.

 

I spent a lot of time looking for him on our last cruise and would like to avoid that if possible.

 

Thanks for any comments or information!

 

I know people talk negatively about walkie talkies, but they always work well for us. I cruise with my husband, and he and I are NOT together every minute of the day -- so it is good for more than just keeping connected with your kids (although I do like to be considered a kid at heart). The walkie talkie gives us the ability to let each other know without a problem where we are and what we are heading off to do, in between the times we agree to meet up with each other.

 

The steel structure of the ship, nor the size - since we have used them on Allure, was never a problem.

 

For us it was a one time purchase, many cruises ago and it has worked well.

 

BTW, sorry for the mean, nasty and rude comments made -- I do hope you find what will work best for your group.

Edited by Paulette3028
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If you have Verizon and an iPhone, you can set up texting before you leave for the cruise...50 cents per outgoing text and 5 cents per incoming. No pictures or data.

If you go that route, make sure that your teenager understands that it's NOT like texting on land, where the texts are included in the plan, and they can have whole back-and-forth text conversations with their friends. Their friends will text them, they feel "obligated" to respond back...before you know it, you could have paid for a full internet package with what they end up costing in text messages.

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I know people talk negatively about walkie talkies, but they always work well for us. I cruise with my husband, and he and I are NOT together every minute of the day -- so it is good for more than just keeping connected with your kids (although I do like to be considered a kid at heart). The walkie talkie gives us the ability to let each other know without a problem where we are and what we are heading off to do, in between the times we agree to meet up with each other.

 

The steel structure of the ship, nor the size - since we have used them on Allure, was never a problem.

 

For us it was a one time purchase, many cruises ago and it has worked well.

 

BTW, sorry for the mean, nasty and rude comments made -- I do hope you find what will work best for your group.

 

I'm curious since others have said they did experience interference from the ship superstructure, what brand and model did you use?

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My Grandson is now 21, but on earlier cruises when he was a teen we certainly didn't want him getting into trouble with a 14 year old girl on a cruise ship either. Our teens had their own cabin, but we didn't allow them to bring other kids to their cabin and they were told not to be going to other cabins.

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I sailed with my then 10 & 14 girls last summer on Oasis. Royal Caribbean had a limited amount of iPhones that you could rent during the cruise. They would only work with each other and on the ship? I believe the rental was reasonable but we opted out of this idea, as my girls already had their own iPhones in tow for pictures.

What we did was this:

Day 1 - All stayed together, made sure the girls could direct us to the room, muster station and guest services. Also a few designated meeting areas, which we would use for the rest of the trip. Discussed emergency procedures.

Day 2 - Some freedom. We spent breakfast together and discussed the meeting places, muster station, etc. We quizzed them on the deck plans and navigating the ship. Left them at the flow rider, etc and met at designated times and places throughout the day. By day's end they had several friends and knew the ship in and out.

Day 3 - Port day, we stuck together talked about safety. By the time we're back on board they could navigate the ship with ease, safely.

Day 4 - They were enjoying lunches together and had plans with their new friends.

We would have fewer meeting places and times.

Day 5-7 - We were all very comfortable on board, had met plenty of families and crew. The girls were involved in many activities and were almost always with a large group of other children. We would meet for shows and some meals.

 

Overall this worked very well for us, one snafu occurred when ship time was off from our iPhone time by an hour this on the last sea day. The girls had planned for lunch at Izumi at 12:00. When the 10yr old didn't show up, her older sister waited 10 minutes, the notified the waitress to watch for her and went to guest services. They in turn activated their security force. In the meantime the 10yr old had come to the designated meeting area and reconnected with us. Security scoured the ship while we walked her to her lunch date. Were we found out security was looking for her. We went down to guest services to let them know we were with her and a very serious security officer with her picture in hand had us take him directly to her to verify she was okay. Only then did they call off the search. We felt our girls did a great job and I feel it was because we spent so much time discussing what to do if something were to happen.

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I know people talk negatively about walkie talkies, but they always work well for us. .

 

A good set of walkie talkies work well on the ship. We have been using them for years. Just remember only use them when necessary and be considerate of those around you.

 

What an awful experience, having to use walkie talkies on a vacation.

Think about it, it is totally naff and an awful sight and uncomfortable for others.

 

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Are you ready to become a grandma ?

 

 

.

 

Seriously?! by allowing my children, whom I know and trust, to have some freedom on holiday equates to you insinuating that they sleep around....this is the 'lady' who has knickers in her profile name......I think it's quite obvious who's looking for attention.

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What an awful experience, having to use walkie talkies on a vacation.

Think about it, it is totally naff and an awful sight and uncomfortable for others.

 

.

 

You do not know why people need them - My dd is diabetic - we have used them for this reason on many holidays Disney, camping etc. Others may have their reasons - no one is forcing you to use them . And most people probably use them without others even noticing. However, when my dd used them to get us if she needed us urgently then I couldn't care if that was distrusting anyone else for a few seconds as if I am needed- I am needed.

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I sailed with my then 10 & 14 girls last summer on Oasis. Royal Caribbean had a limited amount of iPhones that you could rent during the cruise. They would only work with each other and on the ship? I believe the rental was reasonable

 

I think these are the Royal Connect phones, I read conflicting reports about availability on Oasis. Did you happen to read what the penalty was for damaging one?

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I think these are the Royal Connect phones, I read conflicting reports about availability on Oasis. Did you happen to read what the penalty was for damaging one?

At one time it was something like $1000!:eek:

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