A bit un-easy about bringing dd17 on a cruise

[chris2597]

Dh and I are greatly looking forward to having our dd17 with us in the fall on a W. Caribb. cruise....However, I am concerned about letting her out of our sight on the ship. She is very responsible and I trust her judgement....but I have seen groups of kids about the ship...in my experience never causing problems...It seems that most of these teens met on the ship and are hanging out....all that is fine..However, am worried about safety....I would love for her to just hang out with us all week but I dont think that is realistic...Any others with experience with this?? I would greatly appreciate advice....

[eab]

Yes, I understand your concern. I have a 17 year old daughter too, but we have gone on several cruises with her as a teen and she has done nothing to lose our trust. She is always with us all day and at all meals. Usually goes to all the shows with us also and then meets her friends in the teen area. I don't think they always stay there all the evening, but never go to anyone's room. Sometimes they go to the pool area or to the midnite buffet. Her buddies on the ships have always been other girls or groups that include some boys, but not a "boyfriend". I'd probably be more concerned then. We always tell her a time to be back to the room and she has always been on time. But this is our case...everyone's is different. You know your daughter, so just make rules and make sure they are followed. I've preached to her that cruise ships are just like cities..lots of good people, but probably some criminals in there somewhere. You have to always be careful. :)

[eab]

By the way, when do you go on the Grand? We are going in June in the Med.

[Druke I]

Yes - I can remember worrying about my 17 yr old daughters, way back when - but you do have to let them stretch their wings - and hope they don't disappoint you.

[Tahoestarr]

I went with my 16 year old son...now granted boys are different...but we pretty much gave him enough rope to potentially hang himself. He pretty much got to do what he wanted, but the first screw up and he was cut off. We would track him down several times a day, just to make sure he was were he said he was. And low and behold, he was a great kid...never any problems! We had a wonderful time, and so did he. He met some great friends that he still keeps in touch with, and can't wait to do it again. I think if we had tighten the rope too much, and made him hang out with his boring parents, he would never want to take another cruise.

[Belle2002]

On our last cruise, I noticed for the first time that they have 24 hour TEEN SECURITY roaming around, they are everywhere and really keep any situation under control. They were wearing yellow T-Shirts and were very visible. I would imagine that this security is on the cruises where they expect alot of teenagers, mainly during times when school is not in session. This security is new to the Princess fleet, speaking to one of the security officers they informed me that Princess is not waiting for a probelm to happen on their ships, they want to avoid a problem.

 

I can understand your concern about yoru daughter, but like everything else good common sesnse should dictate. Belle

[Mrs. Gump]

Ever consider allowing your DD to bring a friend along? Safety in numbers! We did this on the Grand in feb. and it worked out great. They had their own room (next to ours), spent the port days with us then were pretty much on their own at night. They tried the teen club the first night and never went back - thought it was baby-ish. But they had each other and had the freedom to do their own thing. Never alone and never bored.

[Paulras]

I don't have kids, but personally, I'd be more concerned about leaving her at home. Nothing is 100% safe, but isn't it better having her with you in a confined space like a ship, than having her thousands of miles away where you have no control?

 

Here's an idea - Maybe a girlfriend of hers can travel with you and they can stay in their own cabin together. Safety in numbers and she'll probably have a great time having someone her own age to hang out with.

[Mike A]

When we sailed on the Zenith over New Year's 01-02 our DD was 17. The one problem that we had was a 23 year old man kept asking her to spend the evening with him. He even went so far as to send gifts to her in our cabin. We eventually had to call security to put this to an end. Originally, our DD was flattered to be pursued. However, it became quite evident real quick how naive she was and she thanked us in the end. She has been on 2 cruises since. Both times she has traveled with her best friend as the poster above suggested and I wholeheartedly second.

[lgt]

I absolutely agree with the above posters. Our daughter has cruised with us many times. Sometimes she had friends with (in the next room) sometimes just with us & sometimes with our (older)son. She had the best time with a friend, but enjoyed herself the other times as well. She (& friends) spent some port days with us (they did a ship excursion in Cayman). They had dinner with us every night (their rule, not ours) and then spent evenings dancing or hanging out. We gave them a 1:30 curfew and never had a problem. They do have some kind of teen security; luckily, never had to use them. Have a wonderful time.

[TinaLee]

We've been cruising with our now 20 y/o daughter since she was about 5, and this does become concerning once they outgrown the 'teen programs' - which usually happens about age 16. We've been very lucky that she has always made friends with other teen cruisers whom we really like - and one family in particular has become very special friends we have sailed with multiple times since then (and plan to again as soon as we can work it out).The ground rules are always the same... 1) Tell me where you're going and be there if I check (leave a post-it note in the cabin if your plans change and you can't find me) 2) In the cabin at the pre-agreed time every night.3) Don't stay out so late that you can't enjoy spending time in the ports with the parents. 4) NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES may you enter another cabin. Stand outside while your friends run in to do whatever they need to. She could be found at various times up in the Lido area playing cards, down in the lobby playing board games or cards, in the hot tub with her friends, in the disco during teen hours, listening to the band out on deck, singing karaoke with her friends, and generally having a wonderful time. She actually hasn't cruised with us in over a year now, due to her college and work schedule, and we actually miss her! So enjoy your daughter now, while she's still around to spend time with. Too soon their busy schedules will rule out family vacation time. And BTW - since she's missed about 3 cruises now she's already looking to book a trip to Europe for her college graduation, since she's been to every single island in the Caribbean at this point. So be careful, you may be creating a cruising addict! :)</p>

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Have only ever seen one problem with teens, one girl thought it would be a good idea to let the boys put sun tan oil on her, well things did get out of hand and it took an older person to say enough is enough.

 

The "teen Police" do a good job, I have seen them ask people to stop shouting, turn music levels down, stop jumping in pools and stop throwing others into pools.

 

What I have not seen them do is stop underage teens from getting drunk.

 

An older own buys the beer buckets and they sit in the pool to midnight getting drunk and doing things in the pool well lets say is good that the water is changed often.

 

Apart from all that I would not have any problem bringing my young girls on a cruise.

 

yours Shogun

[katisdale]

TinaLee gave you some good advice. I would do all of those things and considering how close she is to college age, this would be a good time to see if the teaching you have been doing all these years will "hold up" when she is on her own. If she follows the rules about eating with you, meeting the curfew, letting you know where she is going then you know she will be successful when she is making her own decisions. I taught nursing for over 20 years and I was sometimes amazed by how poorly my younger students did when they had to plan their own schedules, get up on time, etc. A cruise might be the perfect time to both have a great time and to see if those lessons have been learned.

[fnewman]

My kids are older than that now, but back in the days when they were about that age I just had to tell myself that they would ultimately act as I had taught them by word as well as example. I always like to say that you basically lose control of your children the first day they get into a car and drive away without you. From that point forward you never really know what they are doing. A cruise ship is really no different except that most of the time you can be sure there will be others around.

 

Chances are she won't do anything she wouldn't do back in your hometown, so just try to relax - she can't go very far !!

[chris2597]

Thank you for all of the great advise...As I said DD is very responsible....but is also very social and will want to spend time with others her own age....We are not going during a school holiday....so I am not expecting a large number of teens on board. She will actually be 18 when we cruise...I am not sure if a friend coming along will work as we are taking her out of school to cruise with us....I did see the Teen patrol on Princess in Feb....The teens were great on the ship and were usually in the Horizon Court having a midnight snack, gathered around a table talking....

One poster mentioned that his dd was bothered by a 23yr old on the ship...How scary....

[Mike A]

While the 23yo chasing my daughter was scary at the time it certainly taught her not to be so trusting. Anyway it did not turn her off cruising (she's been on 7) as she has me looking into a possible Honeymoon Cruise (OMG) to Hawaii when her boyfriend is discharged from the service in June 07.

[chris2597]

As I type dh is on the phone finalizing the cruise for the 3 of us...DH and I love cruising and are very happy to be bringing our teen with us...I hope it is one of many.

I am sure she will hang with us most of the time. We will give her the warnings and insist on a couple of "rules" ( I will have to think of a better term for it when talking to her)if she finds a nice group of peers to hang with on the ship....We have a cabin that will hold 4....so that might open it up to adding a friend to the trip if their parent is open to them missing school.