Sign and Sail Limit

[JenCruise710]

Is it better to put cash against our 6 year old's sign and sail every day or can I easily adjust her daily limits when linked to a credit card? I'm thinking she'll get a little more $$ to spend on sea days, but I don't want her blowing through her $100 for the week in the arcade in one day. She's 6. Self control is a challenge. lol

Edited June 14, 2023 by JenCruise710

[dmet0225]

Self control is a challenge for my wife in the casino and me at the bars while on a cruise.  (I don't have an answer to your question.)

[Aplmac]

It's only Money! lol

[x lindsay x]

Assuming you won't be sending a 6 year old into the arcade by herself. Just monitor her activity and honestly if she blows through the $100 in a day, she'll learn a valuable lesson about the value of a dollar. Wow I sound old and preachy but we're trying to instill that with my 6 year old.

On our last cruise she was mindful to keep some money for the must have item she spotted in the candy shop, while still spending some money in the arcade, and picking up some small things here and there. 

[john91498]

Your daughter has more self control than my daughter. She spends money like I'm the bank...actually, I am the bank...lol...😂

[JenCruise710]

1 hour ago, Aplmac said:

It's only Money! lol

Feel free to message me your credit card # to link to her account... lol

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Probably easier to use the credit card.  You can do it at a Kiosk whenever you happen to be passing by. This way you won't have to make a trip to the cabin to get the cash. 

 

However I wouldn't worry about it. At 6 years old, she won't be able to use her card to buy anything without you/ other parent/ etc. there anyway.  

[1025cruise]

Why would your 6 year old be purchasing anything without you being with her? I'd block spending on her card and if she wants something, you buy it and just keep track of it.

[vacruisin]

We have 2 teenage boys who are very different when it comes to spending on a cruise. The oldest one (just turned 18) has always been very good about using his money without blowing his daily budget; the youngest one (15) not so much.  

 

On their first cruise (a 5-day on the Sensation), we decided we'd give them $100 apiece for the entire cruise (so $20/day).  Well, our youngest goes off and spends like $75 in the arcade BEFORE SAILAWAY! lol 

 

We added more money for him and he ran through that quickly so we started going to guest services every morning to add a specific limit to their cards each day. 

 

On their next cruise we just did the daily limit at Guest Services from the jump.  The oldest never got close to his daily limit but the youngest would either max out his daily limit or come very close to it every day.  

 

That was my very long-winded way of saying that you can adjust how much they spend per day at Guest Services! lol

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by vacruisin

[Purvis1231]

Is the six-year going around the ship alone? If not why would she need any spending limit? 

[JenCruise710]

On 6/7/2023 at 3:50 PM, WeBeCruisinMon said:

Hello! Leaving on the Celebration next Saturday for my moms 60th birthday cruise. The whole family (14 of us) are going. Any clever or interactive ideas for how we could decorate her cabin door? We thought of decorating the door and then making it a Photo Booth for people walking by to take pics and then tag her in them - would people actually take pics? Any other ideas? Or interactive ideas with post it notes? She loves meeting and talking to new people! Thanks! 

 

2 hours ago, x lindsay x said:

Assuming you won't be sending a 6 year old into the arcade by herself. Just monitor her activity and honestly if she blows through the $100 in a day, she'll learn a valuable lesson about the value of a dollar. Wow I sound old and preachy but we're trying to instill that with my 6 year old.

On our last cruise she was mindful to keep some money for the must have item she spotted in the candy shop, while still spending some money in the arcade, and picking up some small things here and there. 

It's called picking my battles for maximum cruise enjoyment. I'd rather she have daily opportunities to learn how to pace her spending, whether arcade or treats, than deal with the dramatic disappointment daily after she blows it all. We are very intentional with teaching her about money and aren't the kind to give in to the drama either, but if I can avoid tough lessons while on vacation, that's definitely preferable!

[JenCruise710]

14 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

Is the six-year going around the ship alone? If not why would she need any spending limit? 

Because we believe in teaching her the value of a dollar and smart spending habits. I'd rather she make small mistakes she can learn from as a kid vs $20k in credit card debt by 25. And it's much more valuable for her to learn to budget than "mean mommy" cutting off the fun. 

[JenCruise710]

42 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Why would your 6 year old be purchasing anything without you being with her? I'd block spending on her card and if she wants something, you buy it and just keep track of it.

Because we want to teach her how to manage wants and spend within her means. I often have her use her own money and conduct the entire transaction, with my help, when she spends her birthday money or allowance st Target, etc.  

[dmet0225]

1 hour ago, JenCruise710 said:

Because we want to teach her how to manage wants and spend within her means. I often have her use her own money and conduct the entire transaction, with my help, when she spends her birthday money or allowance st Target, etc.  

Pretty sure you don't need to explain your parenting techniques to strangers in an online forum.  Speaks more to them feeling it necessary to comment to you about how you're raising YOUR child.

[JenCruise710]

1 hour ago, dmet0225 said:

Pretty sure you don't need to explain your parenting techniques to strangers in an online forum.  Speaks more to them feeling it necessary to comment to you about how you're raising YOUR child.

I like to think that maybe my response will inspire others to consider the importance of teaching financial literacy and responsibility at a young age. There's research that shows many money habits are pretty firmly ingrained by age 7. Crazy, right?!

[Purvis1231]

3 hours ago, JenCruise710 said:

Because we believe in teaching her the value of a dollar and smart spending habits. I'd rather she make small mistakes she can learn from as a kid vs $20k in credit card debt by 25. And it's much more valuable for her to learn to budget than "mean mommy" cutting off the fun. 

Ok, if you can decide how much money a day she can spend. You can do this for the entire cruise or per day. 

[momof3cruisers]

4 hours ago, JenCruise710 said:

Because we want to teach her how to manage wants and spend within her means. I often have her use her own money and conduct the entire transaction, with my help, when she spends her birthday money or allowance st Target, etc.  

we always did this as well. For the older two, it worked really well. For the younger one, it had mixed results. (As witnessed by his fairly dismal savings account at the age of 21.) It’s important for  kids to realize is that money is a finite commodity. It also inspires more consideration when spending your own money vs mom and dad’s money. 
 

If you want a fun idea, we challenged our kids even at the age of four to do extra jobs to earn money for their special trips or vacations. For every dollar they earned, we would put two into their vacation envelope. These were beyond their normal household contribution jobs. Cleaning out the car, finding all the lids and containers that matched in the cupboard, “making dinner” etc.  

[JenCruise710]

24 minutes ago, momof3cruisers said:

we always did this as well. For the older two, it worked really well. For the younger one, it had mixed results. (As witnessed by his fairly dismal savings account at the age of 21.) It’s important for  kids to realize is that money is a finite commodity. It also inspires more consideration when spending your own money vs mom and dad’s money. 
 

If you want a fun idea, we challenged our kids even at the age of four to do extra jobs to earn money for their special trips or vacations. For every dollar they earned, we would put two into their vacation envelope. These were beyond their normal household contribution jobs. Cleaning out the car, finding all the lids and containers that matched in the cupboard, “making dinner” etc.  

I love this idea! She already gets a small allowance, but there are definitely opportunities for her to earn extra! Thanks for the idea! 

[Mavrick_RN]

3 hours ago, dmet0225 said:

Pretty sure you don't need to explain your parenting techniques to strangers in an online forum.  Speaks more to them feeling it necessary to comment to you about how you're raising YOUR child.

 

I believe OP did ask for strangers' opinions.

[JenCruise710]

37 minutes ago, Mavrick_RN said:

 

I believe OP did ask for strangers' opinions.

With all due respect, I asked for stranger's opinions on the best way to set up her sign and sail account, not on my parenting style, but the internet is full of experts so I'm not surprised either. 

[Mavrick_RN]

1 hour ago, JenCruise710 said:

With all due respect, I asked for stranger's opinions on the best way to set up her sign and sail account, not on my parenting style, but the internet is full of experts so I'm not surprised either. 

You keep responding to opinions on your parenting style like it was the original question so I'm not surprised either that the internet experts chime in.  

It's tempting to chime in on the parent who keeps giving the overspending kid in the arcade more and more money to blow.  What does that teach?

 

And now, I'm moving on ..........

Edited June 15, 2023 by Mavrick_RN

[Elaine5715]

Since the arcade is run by the casino and you are limited to $5000  charging in the casino, I wonder if the arcade limit is the same?

[JenCruise710]

9 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Since the arcade is run by the casino and you are limited to $5000  charging in the casino, I wonder if the arcade limit is the same?

Oh, dear God. Could you imagine?!!? I'm envisioning conversations at 18 of how we could have paid for her college but she blew it all in the arcade on her first cruise. LOL!

[x lindsay x]

17 hours ago, JenCruise710 said:

 

It's called picking my battles for maximum cruise enjoyment. I'd rather she have daily opportunities to learn how to pace her spending, whether arcade or treats, than deal with the dramatic disappointment daily after she blows it all. We are very intentional with teaching her about money and aren't the kind to give in to the drama either, but if I can avoid tough lessons while on vacation, that's definitely preferable!

And you know your kid better than anyone else. I would suggest put the $100 limit on there and since she won't be freely roaming the ship herself or with an older sibling just monitor her activity, don't let her spend $100 in one shot. It will be easier than constantly changing the limit via the kiosk, or waiting in line at guest services (neither are ways I would choose to spend my time on vacation). 

[Drazil65]

When DS was that age we also were diligent in teaching him about money and handling it on a cruise was definitely an educational opportunity.  Understanding that the whole concept of what a dollar was worth for a child that age was challenging, we quickly figured out that using a visual approach worked pretty well for time management and much less drama as well. 

 

We let him know he would have $20 a day to spend in the arcade and cherry on top (keep in mind DS is a junior in college now so the worth of $20 back then was a little different lol).  We created (printed up) arcade and candy coupons and gave him 5 arcade game coupons and 1 candy coupon each day.  This represented about $20 a day for these venues (again many years ago).  Him physically holding those coupons and understanding exactly what he could "buy" with each literally took the drama out of it.  In his mind he understood that $20 would get him this many games and candy each day.  We also gave him times for the venues so that we all understood (managing expectations) when we would be in each area (we always went to the arcade right before dinner (DH and DS mostly went after dressing for dinner and I would use that time to shower and dress for dinner in peace in cabin 🤗), it also served as a motivator for him to get in the shower and dressed each day for dinner in a very timely manner.  Our stop for candy varied but we mostly went after dinner time.  

 

We truly never had a battle, pouting, crying or drama related to DS and spending on a cruise (or begging to go to the arcade) and it help him to understand the concept of money in general back then.  He also learned that if he had any coupons left over he would have more to "spend" the next day and he is a big saver today.  I would like to think that his lessons of the past with his own personal cruise coupons helped somewhat.