Cruising with Teens and Tween Boys

[MaiseyM]

After a week on Oasis with my teen and tweens, I thought I could give some feedback to those traveling with boys. This probably applies to some girls as well. This is all based on my recent weeklong vacation in the Caribbean and our shenanigans and trying to be efficient. We had a wonderful vacation but I figured I cannot be alone in traveling with boys and some of the Stereotypes they can live up to while traveling.

 

If your children are doing the soda package, bring something to identify each child's cup and distinguish them from one another. Maybe a piece of tape with her name on it, some nail polish markers, some stickers, or something to separate them. We spent too much time discussing who's cup was who’s. And then of course you have your discussion about who lost theirs and they'll point fingers at each other if one is lost, stating that they did not lose theirs and blaming the other one.

 

 

Underwear: although you may do all the packing for your kids, you may not want to trust that they know how to count and pack enough underwear for each day. This was one of the small tasks assigned to my boys and it was not followed through successfully for some of them. . As a result, your husband may end up short on his underwear since your teenage son may steal his underwear before vacation, leaving dad high and dry with limited underwear. As a mom, you may only learn that's the day that you're traveling and not ahead of time. There isn't much you can do at this point.

 

 

If you decide to do laundry on the ship since you are short boys underwear, do the $30 laundry deal well before or Wednesday. If you wait until Wednesday afternoon, you may not get it back until late on Friday evening. This does not help you with the underwear problem.

 

 

Checklists for leaving the room: our boys were in their own room. Despite us having the same routine every day, which consisted of leaving the room and going outside in the sun, and always took us about 25 minutes from meeting them at the door to actually leaving. My checklist would have said : sunglasses, soda cup, sea pass, cell phone. They did not have to carry much, however every day it was a comedy of errors trying to pull ourselves together and be ready to go to the pool or to go out to a beach. These constant to go items were not always remembered, despite us using this list every day. A checklist on the door may have been helpful.

 

 

Wash your hands!! Although I gave my children fair warning and expect them to have those handwashing still down pat, I probably could have warned them a little bit more and remind them more frequently. As a result, I had one child in isolation for two days due to having some virus he caught on the ship. Clearly they are of the age that they should know better, but having a little over parenting going on with regards to handwashing would not have hurt.

 

Other than that, the rest of the vacation was a hit. All of the tips I picked up on Cruise critic forum helped us prepare better. My husband was surprised with how much information I knew had of time. The kids had so much fun and are sad to be leaving to our snowy state today.

[PRIDE]

Thank you so much for your review and tips. I have one son and your review has helped me greatly. You mentioned a $30 laundry deal - can you tell me some more about that and what day it started on your cruise? Did your son's take advantage of the Teen Program? Thanks in advance and I am so glad you and your family had a wonderful time!!!

[xxHadleyxx]

One thing on handwashing---I found my teen was used to washing before eating and after the bathroom but never thought about washing after doing activities which involve touching items touched by many others--like mini golf, the rock wall, sports court, etc.

He is happy to wash up after all of those now that it has been pointed out to him, but he simply had not thought of it---so perhaps that kind of simple reminder will help some kids avoid getting sick and being confined to cabins as well.

[Keith1010]

A terrific report.

 

Keith

[MaiseyM]

One thing on handwashing---I found my teen was used to washing before eating and after the bathroom but never thought about washing after doing activities which involve touching items touched by many others--like mini golf, the rock wall, sports court, etc. .

 

 

 

Exactly. I tried to get them to remember to wash hands after every transition. From point A to point B to point C. I also try to remind them that they don't need to touch everything they're standing in front. No need to touch the wall and Every elevator up-and-down button, just because it's there. It's a work in progress but hopefully his isolation would be a good reminder for next cruise.

 

As for the $30 laundry, we had a bag delivered to our room after about two or three days in. Essentially if you fill the bag with laundry, it's $30 to wash. I figured it would be cheaper to do it this way versus paying two dollars for every pair of underwear to be dry cleaned. Although this was expensive, it was more efficient route, given the underwear problem my boys created. [emoji849]

 

He checked out the teen club, but since he was 13. And was going in without his brothers, it was not as successful as I was hoping it would be. He's usually a super outgoing child but I think he felt a little awkward there. It seemed to me that the kids that thrived in this program are a little bit older and high school age. There were a lot of high school students in there, and since he is still in eighth grade, I think he may have felt awkward. I expect it to be better next year, but I think it was a little difficult for him this year. He still had a ton of fun regardless though.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[tlatrice]

As soon as I read the title, I knew underwear would be involved! What IS it about boys and underwear? LOL!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[WeBCruisin]

Thanks for the review! How old are your boys. We are cruising the Allure with a 16 and 12,year old. I know my 16 y.o. Will be fine - as he will simply park himself on the sports court and play pick up basketball all day. It's my 12 year old that I worry about. I know that he will feel awkward in the teen program as well.

 

Excellent tip on having a way of identifying the soda cup!!

 

How was it keeping track of them in the Oasis. I really don't want to fork out for the wifi - but I know that texting will be the best way to keep up with them as the ship is so much larger than what we're used to cruising. And this is the first cruise they are likely going to be exploring the ship a bit on their own.

 

 

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[Mom.to.2]

Love your feedback! Helpful AND amusing:)

 

 

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[3happyferrets]

One tip I can add, I have a tween boy and a teen girl, is I bought a cheap marker board that had a magnet on it. I put one in their door and told them whenever they went somewhere other than where we went, I would tell them a time to check back at the room and write a note saying when and where they were going next. For us it just helped keep tabs on who was where when but still gave them freedom

 

 

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[brillohead]

The over-the-door shoe organizer (hung on the OUTSIDE of the bathroom door so always accessible) works very well for the "where did I put...." dilemma.

 

Assign each child a certain number of pockets for certain items. You can even stick a piece of paper in the pocket for identification: Child A's sunglasses live here. Child A's cell phone lives here. Child A's SeaPass lives here. Child A's cell phone charger lives here. Child A's ball cap lives here. Etc.

 

(Try not to assign the pocket that is right under the door handle... you want that one to lie flat so it doesn't get ripped when opening the door.)

 

The OTD shoe organizer is also great for communal items like cotton swabs, Purell, sunscreen, etc.

 

For the drink cups, I always switch them out before unwrapping so that everyone has a unique design -- most of the time there are three or four different colors/shapes available. If purchased online in advance, your cups are in your room, but you can change it out for another at one of the areas selling the drink package. If purchasing the package on the ship, you can just have each person choose a different design at the time of purchase.

 

For the teen program, the best thing to do is make sure they attend the "icebreaker" event the very first evening. They typically do activities so kids meet each other that first time, and once the friendships are formed, it's easier to go back when faces are familiar.

[ColoradoGurl]

😂😂 I got a kick out of this.

[kernow]

Thanks for posting, this made me smile:)

 

My son is 21 now and lives away from home while he is at uni, last summer while on a family holiday we still had the underwear issue!

 

Julie

[brady.bunch]

This is awesome. Thank you. We are cruising next summer with 16 girl 15 boy and 12 girl. These tips will really help us out.

[Travelling2Some]

Truer words never written, OP. Our kids are grown now but I remember it well. The week before a vacation I used to post a large sign on the fridge saying, "If YOU do not have what YOU need it is because YOU did not pack it!!!" It had mixed results. The girls would take the warning to heart and pack every darn thing they owned. The boys? Three pair of underwear and a couple of tee shirts ought to do it, right? Right before we'd leave I'd ask the boys if they'd packed bathing suits and get a blank look. And, yes, dad's underwear should be kept in the safe, lol!

[NJcruisenewbie]

Thanks for the report. I have brothers and remember issues with underwear and socks growing up:D. As for washing hands all day long, my teen doesn't do that in school, the mall or around town so I don't see a ship being different. Kids get sick on land and at sea. It happens.

[MaiseyM]

The girls would take the warning to heart and pack every darn thing they owned. The boys? Three pair of underwear and a couple of tee shirts ought to do it, right?

 

Ha!! Totally. This is it, in a nutshell, for 2 out of 3 of my boys.

 

I agree about the icebreaker on the first night at the teen club. My teen didn't get there until 10ish, but he still felt out of place. It's odd b/c this is the boy that can glad handle any crowd but he wasn't feeling it there. I really think it's his age at the time. I am certain this isn't the case for all 13 year olds though. I trust that next cruise he will be fine up there.

 

My boys are 13, 11, 10. My 11 year old was bummed out b/c he turns 12 in a few days and was obligated to go to the younger kids' room. That's life though. The 11 and 10 year old were OK in the kids club but didn't love it. My 10 year old liked it better, but like I said, my 11 year old probably thought he deserved to be in the teen club since he was about 7 days away from making that age group. I am happy they have the clubs, but we didn't use them a ton this time. We will probably use them more next time. Additionally, it was super nice to spend time with our kids anyway. We work way too much when not cruising, so time with the family was well needed.

 

I considered the shoe organizer (for me) but didn't think I would need it. Not a bad idea for the boys though since finding the most simple things were a 25 minute task. I may do that next time.

 

I forgot to mention that I brought a can of lysol wipes; glad I did. Used them for toilet seats, door handles when my son got his virus, remote controls, phones....

 

One thing I forgot to add to my 'pack list' is hangers. I tend to overpack and wanted my boys to have an outfit (casual and dressy) for every day. I know they won't keep clothes clean enough to re-wear often (at least the shirts) so I had a lot of shirts. Given that they take not priority in folding things, they ended up jammed into their little cubbies. I am doing laundry today and see so many shirts with tags still on b/c they were the unfortunate shirts that were jammed back so far that they never got seen or noticed. If I had a bunch of hangers, they would be able to view their new clean shirts better. This is only b/c I pack a lot of clothes and have 3 boys in one interior room. Not a ton of space for all of that to begin with, yet alone, add disorganization and plenty of clothes sprinkled on the floor.... hangers would have helped us in our case.

 

Glad others can relate to my state of boy mess:)

[brillohead]

One thing I forgot to add to my 'pack list' is hangers. I tend to overpack and wanted my boys to have an outfit (casual and dressy) for every day. I know they won't keep clothes clean enough to re-wear often (at least the shirts) so I had a lot of shirts. Given that they take not priority in folding things, they ended up jammed into their little cubbies. I am doing laundry today and see so many shirts with tags still on b/c they were the unfortunate shirts that were jammed back so far that they never got seen or noticed. If I had a bunch of hangers, they would be able to view their new clean shirts better. This is only b/c I pack a lot of clothes and have 3 boys in one interior room. Not a ton of space for all of that to begin with, yet alone, add disorganization and plenty of clothes sprinkled on the floor.... hangers would have helped us in our case.

 

You can ask for more hangers. Or you can hang more than one shirt on a hanger... that helps with space issues in the closet, too -- three shirts on one hanger take up less room than three shirts on three hangers.

 

I tend to pack clothes already on hangers -- makes unpacking VERY quick once you get your bags in the room!