Teenagers causing damage to ship this week

[Max and Ruby]

My teen daughters won’t even go to the teen club. They spotted behaviors that they did not want to be around. They told us and we were like “ yeah, uh no. “ So we always made it a family cruise. 
 

Going week before Easter with my 15 yo DD and we plan on having our own fun together.  

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Exactly.
 

The children of the 90s who had little discipline are now raising their own children.  That said, there are great kids out there. I unfortunately don’t like how the good kids are being lumped in with the bad ones. 

I agree,  Teenagers are not the problem.  There are many exceptional teenagers who are model citizens. The issue is parenting.  You can't say a minority is to be representative of the majority.  I think a zero tolerance policy for willful damage must be adhered to.  A few parents having to foot a plane ticket from a port of call and the problem goes away.  

[Billy Baltic]

3 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

I wish they would do away with the promos and increase prices well above Carnival

Deep pockets does not equate to good parenting skills. In fact my experience would lean toward the opposite. 

[SE fla]

It’s all about the person and choices. Adults can act very bad. Try getting in an elevator with one who is having a bad day. 

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Two words:

 

Viking, Virgin.  

P@O also have two adult only ships, Acadia and Aurora . Never booked so can't comment on them

[island lady]

Really a shame it has to come to that.  I have booked 3 Viking cruises in the last several months, and this being a long time "Loyal to Royal" cruiser.  Just tired of the out of control "feral" children that run wild during the whole cruise.  I also avoid spring break season like the plague when cruising Royal. 

 

Unfortunately the "parents" of those precious snowflakes are not parents...they are breeders.  Not the kids fault...but their idiot parents that are too lazy to prepare them for adulthood.  

[Harrisonkid]

I too hope this issue gets solved. Cruising is just coming back and as they upset older customers with changing menus and cost offerings... this lack of respect for their customers may just be the finally straw ...

[actuarian]

11 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Vandalism and Assault are Crimes.

The Captain and RCCL should ban them for life.

A ban for life is not adequate for vandalism or assault. Royal was quite right to force some of them to disembark in Aruba. That will at least cause them to regret their actions, particularly if any of them were traveling with birth certificates instead of passports.

[actuarian]

8 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

When did kids start asking strangers for cash?  Just wrong in so many ways!

Actually kids ask strangers for cash all of the time. If you did not know that, you probably have not been to Mexico recently, or you stay very close to the port when you are in Mexico. The only thing that is unusual was that these were kids who's parents could afford to cruise.

[island lady]

13 minutes ago, Harrisonkid said:

I too hope this issue gets solved. Cruising is just coming back and as they upset older customers with changing menus and cost offerings... this lack of respect for their customers may just be the finally straw ...

 

It is for me....sadly.   😞 

[garywatson]

4 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Well, it seems obvious that if your cabin is damaged, you're the one to blame.  Either you did it, or you allowed someone in who did it.  If your kid did it, you're still responsible.  

 

Agree that anyone responsible -- regardless of age -- should be kicked off at the next island and banned for life. 

 

 

Well if it's serious vandalism or violence, they can get kicked off and prosecuted by the police at the next port, which might be for example in Nassau. They would get a serious lesson about hardships if they have to spend the next few years in custody hoping for a trial date.

[BND]

The subject of kids has come up about spring break on FB roll calls and when I mention our experience last year on EN with 695 kids, I have been attacked because you know "adults act worse, kids have every right to sail, etc".  That's not what I mentioned.  It's behavior and lack of parenting.   Bobby the CD last year said kids club can only handle about 150 kids and that some (actually more than just some) parents don't parent their kids and when the cruise line does, the parents defend the kids, regardless of what they have done.  We're back on EN Apr 8-20 and there seem to be a lot of kids going on our sailing on a ship that is not equipped for that many kids.  As I said last year (and other spring break years) people need to research a ship before bringing their kids onboard.  There are ships better equipped for lots of kids than the smaller ships out of Baltimore.  Last April was the worst behavior I'd ever seen and at least one family got kicked off and other kids got caught doing things they shouldn't have been doing.

Edited March 18, 2023 by BND

[BND]

51 minutes ago, island lady said:

Really a shame it has to come to that.  I have booked 3 Viking cruises in the last several months, and this being a long time "Loyal to Royal" cruiser.  Just tired of the out of control "feral" children that run wild during the whole cruise.  I also avoid spring break season like the plague when cruising Royal. 

 

Unfortunately the "parents" of those precious snowflakes are not parents...they are breeders.  Not the kids fault...but their idiot parents that are too lazy to prepare them for adulthood.  

And, the some of the behavior is enough to get the family banned for life from the line, yet some of those parents will continue to defend their little snowflakes.  It's one thing to defend your child against something being done to them and quite another to defend them doing something to others, but these parents just don't get that.  They misunderstand the whole self-esteem idea.  A child's self esteem is built by what THEY accomplish, not always telling them how wonderful and perfect they are and how no one else can tell them what to do.

[time4u2go]

14 minutes ago, garywatson said:

 

Well if it's serious vandalism or violence, they can get kicked off and prosecuted by the police at the next port, which might be for example in Nassau. They would get a serious lesson about hardships if they have to spend the next few years in custody hoping for a trial date.

I agree that they can be kicked off at the next port, but can they really be prosecuted by the local police for something that was done (most likely) in international waters, or in the waters of another country?

[rimmit]

As a parent of an 8 and 12 yo that cruise and travel extensively, there is nothing that pisses me off more than parents who are lackadaisical.   Kids are gonna have their moments.  There is no way around that.  Parents need to give some effort though. 

 

My kids are nowhere near perfect.  They are far from it.  They’ve had meltdowns at inopportune times or done something they shouldn’t have.  If a parent tells you their kid is perfect, they are flat lying.   But I can assure you they get removed and disciplined on the spot.   We have left Disney World smack dab in the middle of the day.  We’ve taken our food to go from restaurants if they’re not cooperating.  I’ve left mid meal with my kids from the MDR to let my wife finish eating or vice versa.  We specifically booked private tours when they were younger so if there were meltdowns or issues we wouldnt interfere with a tour bus of 50x
 

I am no perfect parent, but I do my best.  I make mistakes like any parent and I could always be a better parent, but I’m trying.  Parenting is hard, but to just let your kids run rampant is just not acceptable.  The fact RCI has to put up signs on the pool deck and notices in the cruise compass to parent your kids is quite telling how things have changed over the years. 

[billslowsky]

25 minutes ago, BND said:

Last April was the worst behavior I'd ever seen and at least one family got kicked off and other kids got caught doing things they shouldn't have been doing.

Why did you sign up for another cruise in April if that was your experience?  I don't think I would if it bothered me so much.

[ONECRUISER]

6 hours ago, molly361 said:

It's not just cruise ships.  New Smyrna Beach just last week voted to start a curfew of 11pm for those under 18 to be out without a parent or guardian  Sad

Even growing up in 70-80's we always had Curfew in City and in my small town of less then 4K. I was almost always out past it since worked midnite and later though was 15,16. That was allowed. Curfews can work but most time not really enforced

[Ret MP]

9 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

When did kids start asking strangers for cash?  

Good question!  I'd suggest you ask their non-parenting parents.  

[billslowsky]

10 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:

If you think destroying property and harassing people is ok than you’re  part of the problem 

Absolutely no one even suggested that.

[ONECRUISER]

9 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were also asked for money from a random young teenage girl.  She would have paid us back later 😂. When did kids start asking strangers for cash? 

 Grifters gotta start somewhere. Maybe the Parents sending them out? 😁 

[ZoeyVictoria]

4 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Good question!  I'd suggest you ask their non-parenting parents.  

Those kids moved quickly from “stranger danger” to trying to take advantage of adults they will never lay eyes on again. 

[poocher]

4 hours ago, RRTcruiser said:

We live in a world where 15th place trophies and no accountability are now the norm. We all see the effects of “free range children” in our everyday life.

One of my greatest cruise moments ever was on the Serenade of the Seas this past January. In the windjammer cafe a young male (probably about 11) ran through the crowd bumping into everyone. A crew member yelled no running and the boys mother turned around angrily and said he is just trying to catch up….

The crew member then said “I wasn’t talking to him”

everyone who witnessed this burst out in applause, with a head shake and an eye roll…. mom walked away

I think we would have been called free range when I was a kid 60 years ago.  We went out  in the morning and didn’t come back until we got called for dinner and we ignored that as long as possible!  Had a several block radius to roam in.  Nobody watched us but somehow if you did something wrong, somebody’s mother called your mother and look out when dad got home!!

[d9704011]

4 minutes ago, poocher said:

I think we would have been called free range when I was a kid 60 years ago.  We went out  in the morning and didn’t come back until we got called for dinner and we ignored that as long as possible!  Had a several block radius to roam in.  Nobody watched us but somehow if you did something wrong, somebody’s mother called your mother and look out when dad got home!!

Me too... but I never ended up on a cruise ship so hard to say what I might have done then.

[crzndeb]

13 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Another reason enjoy only Cruises 10+ nites last 20+ yrs. Very few Family/Kids, older/quieter and smaller crowds. At most 10-50 Kids, this even over Thanksgiving and instead of 108% capacity have about 75-80% at most

Amen. The one nice thing about getting older and retired. Long cruises only for me. The only thing now is the grumpy, complaining adults, but being solo, very easy to avoid. LOL

[BND]

5 minutes ago, poocher said:

I think we would have been called free range when I was a kid 60 years ago.  We went out  in the morning and didn’t come back until we got called for dinner and we ignored that as long as possible!  Had a several block radius to roam in.  Nobody watched us but somehow if you did something wrong, somebody’s mother called your mother and look out when dad got home!!

Yeah, it really doesn't work that way anymore for a lot of people.  As I said earlier, parents will defend their kids even for doing things that are way beyond the norm of "kid" behavior.