Night curfew time for teens?

[kiwihotchocolate]

As a 16-year-old, it's been very interesting for me to read through all the posts. Cruisinmama, I know exactly which message boards you were talking about, and I agree -- there's some crazy stuff that happens during cruises. Mitzi, I was surprised to see you on this board! What's weird for me to think about is that in four weeks, you could be on the ship talking to my parents about this same curfew issue! So far, they haven't said anything to me about curfew. I'm not one for staying out too late, but I do want to meet people and have fun. My dad will be up by 7 each morning, and he'll want to get the rest of the family up and ready for whatever we have planned that day. On a cruise, though, I'm so excited to be on the ship or in port that I wouldn't want to sleep the day away.

[pengu1n]

To the OP, Travelgurl:

You have an advantage that families traveling with 1 child don't have: your kids can travel in a group. I have a son & daughter who are about 2 years apart in age. I allowed them to stay out later than I normally would at home once they were about the same ages as your kids, if they stuck together. They had their own room, and we put dry erase sticky note boards on the doors of our cabins. They had to sign the board to let me know that they were in, be up on time agreed upon at dinner for excursions, and on sea days, be up & out by at least noon so the stewards can clean the room.

 

The 17 years olds will likely not be allowed in the bars and lounges at night, so they may not have much to do in the evening. I would guess most would consider themselves too old for the 'kids club' activities although it goes up to age 17. I don't think I cruised with my kids at exactly this age. I know at 18-20 they are allowed in the bars but not allowed alcohol. As their age is right on the room cards, there's not much to do to get around this, I guess unless someone older buys for them. (As expensive as the drinks are, I don't think that would happen too much.)

 

I don't think you have to worry about them in the elevators, it's the little teens (10-14) that seem to do that. As someone mentioned earlier, the worst cruise we went on for out of control kids, running up & down the halls, and foul language was one that left out of NY, majority of the cruisers were from guess where? Take what you want from that.

[huskerdude]

Truthfully for the OP she was asking about 18-19 year old adults. If you feel the need to give them a curfew I guess you can try and do that. If they are not adult enough by then to know what & not what to do by that age.....:rolleyes:

 

But it's not a bad idea to inform them that at the ports of call, 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning comes around real early :D

[tribbs1]

Penguin-you are right about 17 yo not having much to do on the ship. On our Valor trip 2 weeks ago my DD 17 (18 on 7/5/07) didn't really want to hang out w/the 15-17 crowd as she had graduated high school. She wasn't old enough to go to the disco - even w/me!!!- so that was out. She wasn't old enough to gamble which isn't a bad thing either. She just hung out w/my DH and myself so consequently we didn't have much alone time which is okay too as she leaves for college in 6 weeks or so. We just went to Karaoke, the shows, bingo, and ate (which we didn't need to do so much of:) ).

[Calicruiser101]

When I was in college w/ my parent's footing the bill as long as I was at home I still had rules to abide by. I curfew however was extended and my dad did not wait up for me, but I was to let them know where I was going and what time I thought I would be home. This worked out fine for me, I think was you are out of the house and then come home staying out so late has sort of lost its appeal. However, on a cruise that is a different story, that environment is different then a typical night out in your hometown. IMO once the night activties for teens has ended it should be off to the cabin for them. As far as those that are over 18, they should still be supervised and have boundaries, if they are out after 1:00 chances are they may be up to no good or are around people that are up to no good.

I am in agreement also that I couldn't sleep until I knew they were safely in their room. Even though I had a much later curfew when I was in college I still went into my parent's room and tapped my dad on his foot to let him know I was home. He usually grunted a good night and off to bed I went. A lot of this comes down to respect by both sides, allowing children to have some freedoms whilst at the same time providing boundaries.:)

[janetz]

When I was in college w/ my parent's footing the bill as long as I was at home I still had rules to abide by. I curfew however was extended and my dad did not wait up for me, but I was to let them know where I was going and what time I thought I would be home. This worked out fine for me, I think was you are out of the house and then come home staying out so late has sort of lost its appeal. However, on a cruise that is a different story, that environment is different then a typical night out in your hometown. IMO once the night activties for teens has ended it should be off to the cabin for them. As far as those that are over 18, they should still be supervised and have boundaries, if they are out after 1:00 chances are they may be up to no good or are around people that are up to no good.

I am in agreement also that I couldn't sleep until I knew they were safely in their room. Even though I had a much later curfew when I was in college I still went into my parent's room and tapped my dad on his foot to let him know I was home. He usually grunted a good night and off to bed I went. A lot of this comes down to respect by both sides, allowing children to have some freedoms whilst at the same time providing boundaries.:)

 

 

 

lol You do know that was a "grunt" of contentment. :)

[fllady61]

my DH and i are early to bed people. But on cruises, we are up till 1 or 2. there was one night when it was nearly 3 am when we went to bed, and the next day I had to be at customs at 6. so i didn't have much sleep. On a ship, it is like there is enough excitement to keep you awake reguardless of your age. However, I guess we did set a 2 am time for DD to be in room, and she was 14 then. But like i said before, we always knew where to find her.

 

DH and i were usually back in cabin by 1 am, so by the time we changed, and got ready for bed, she was there. As for getting up early the next day, we were all usually up by 8 am. especially with an oceanview/bacony room. with the interior room, we never knew if the sun was shining or not. so we opted never to have an interior room again.

 

There are few and far between people who are in bed by 10 pm when on a cruise. so why should we make our kids do it. Just set a dceient time for them to be in. Even if they are 18, they should be told no later than 2 am.