Keeping in touch with a tween

[jlatels]

I have an 11 yo who will be cruising with us, and I plan on letting the kiddo choose own activities on the ship. What's the best way to keep in touch?

[cb at sea]

Talk to them before they take off for the activity.  Tell them where YOU will be...and when they're finished, they will come find you to ask permission for the next activity....again...tell them where YOU will be so they can meet up with you again.

 

I see no issues with letting an 11 year old do things on their own...but I would not advocate for simply letting them have "run of ship" for no specific reason...frequent physical "check ins" are a good idea!

 

You will know where they're going...they will know where you will be...shouldn't be hard to "keep in touch".

[INeedAMaiTai]

I don't know which cruise line you are planning to go on, but Princess has a way of tracking "friends" you add to a list on the ship, which you can go to any screen and find them, and there are apps that you can get to monitor them also.

My previous experience when I took my then 11 year old last year to Alaska, we looked at the day and figured out places and times we would meet up (I made sure she had a watch on).  We would say something like "check in at the pool at 10", or "meet us at trivia at 11:00", so there was constant checking in time.  I also didn't want her eating throughout the whole day so we would have meals together.  She also enjoyed the youth area on the ship so that was nice to know when she was there.  She made friends and the "pack" would travel around the ship together.  Like in regular life, communication is key!  One of the dorky things I would do is get the activities list and highlight the places and times where I would be so she would always know where I was if she needed anything.

[jbethel11]

6 hours ago, jlatels said:

I have an 11 yo who will be cruising with us, and I plan on letting the kiddo choose own activities on the ship. What's the best way to keep in touch?

Depending on which cruise line you sail on, there may be a chatting feature in the app, which your teen can use, albeit they have a mobile device that can connect to WiFi.

[suzannecruisecritic]

We recently cruised on HAL and they had an intranet app that was free to use so guests could message each other easily. That did not include internet access (which was an extra charge) but made it easy to communicate with family and friends and also allowed you to see the list of events happening on board anytime. If your kid doesn’t have a phone, you could always go with the old post it note/bulletin board in the room method to keep each other updated on your whereabouts. My only concern with allowing an 11 year old to walk around the ship alone would be with them walking through cabin hallway areas where they might be more vulnerable compared to walking through busy areas of the ship like from the Lido to the pool. Maybe on day 1 of your cruise you can tour the ship together and decide on parameters you’re comfortable with.