Teenager questions

[quincytoo]

Hello all

 

This part of CC has been so good for me thank you all :)

 

We are going on the CB next Oct out of New York to San Juan. I am so excited!! My Dh and I had planned to have out first holiday without kids but our youngest (16 year old son ) convinced us he had to come with us!! Actually he gave us $900 to cover his cruise and flights. I was shocked because how many teens want to go with their parents on a holiday let only pay for it??

 

We have always been very strict (maybe that is not the right word but we were so much more parenting (again wrong words) with him the the other two, that said, we were so much hands on parents with all three of the children. I joke and say he is 16 going in 13 (he has ADHD very badly) sadly catching the bus and going to the movies with friends has never been an option, we pick him up and drop him off.

 

On the Diamond cruise he was almost 15 and his curfew was 11 or midnight depending on what was happening with the Teen Center. One night they had a teen screening on POTC 2 at midnight so he was out until 2 Am :eek:

 

He met kids that were allowed to stay out all night and wanted too to...we squashed that idea instantly.

 

He was great the whole cruise and we checked in a lot with the Teen Center staff and they knew he was ADHD and also had our room number and knew we were hands on parents.

 

He turns 17 a few weeks after we get back from this cruise and I am wondering what a good curfew would be??

 

Also wondering how rough the waters might be during that time Oct 26- Nov 2 New York to San Juan stopping at Antigua, St.Kitts, St. Thomas......He is a good boy without a lot of sense and I could see him taking a night time stroll on deck during a hurricane!!

 

I am thinking midnight to one depending what the teen center has to offer ??

 

He has dinner with us 3-4 nights ( at least) out of the cruise...Oh he wants to rent a tux for formal night!! Hopefully CB will have smaller tux sizes.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly received :)

[reallyitsmema]

We gave our 16 yr old a midnight or 1am curfew depending on what was going on in the teen center and whether we had a port day the next day. We are cruising again in June on the Mariner of the Seas with our now 17 yr old and he will likely have the same curfew. We do not agree with the stay out all night policy some families allow. We checked up on our son often and he rarely saw us when we did.:D

 

We also used post-it notes, left on the tv screen, to let each other know where we were. He was very good about it. We would put a time on the note so we knew when it was left. Only once was he not where he said he was going to be, he was in the infirmary instead:eek: One of his friends had hit his head and needed stitches.

 

All and all, my son met some nice kids and had no issues, well, other than the stitches.;)

[quincytoo]

We gave our 16 yr old a midnight or 1am curfew depending on what was going on in the teen center and whether we had a port day the next day. We are cruising again in June on the Mariner of the Seas with our now 17 yr old and he will likely have the same curfew. We do not agree with the stay out all night policy some families allow. We checked up on our son often and he rarely saw us when we did.:D

 

We also used post-it notes, left on the tv screen, to let each other know where we were. He was very good about it. We would put a time on the note so we knew when it was left. Only once was he not where he said he was going to be, he was in the infirmary instead:eek: One of his friends had hit his head and needed stitches.

 

All and all, my son met some nice kids and had no issues, well, other than the stitches.;)

 

I like the idea of post it notes on the TV!! I will bring some with me :) I am thinking we will up his curfew this time and see how it goes. Thank you :)

 

 

 

Also we are thinking of bringing walkie-talkies.

[crusinmama06]

Awwww how awesome that he actually wants to pay his own way!

 

I have no teens, so I can't say what time is the norm. But I can say that (when they are teens) I won't be able to go to bed until my girls are in the cabin with us for the night. So if you are planning to go to bed at midnight (or 1am) then that's what his curfew should be. ;)

 

On our cruises I won't have this problem because RCCL imposes their own curfew on them...lol.

 

Have a great cruise!

[quincytoo]

Awwww how awesome that he actually wants to pay his own way!

 

I have no teens, so I can't say what time is the norm. But I can say that (when they are teens) I won't be able to go to bed until my girls are in the cabin with us for the night. So if you are planning to go to bed at midnight (or 1am) then that's what his curfew should be. ;)

 

On our cruises I won't have this problem because RCCL imposes their own curfew on them...lol.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

LOL I am tired today as our 20 year old son got home at 1 last night....I can't sleep until all my chicks are back in the nest :rolleyes:

 

I like the idea of RCL setting a curfew, do you know the time set for older teenagers??

 

Actaully I would like to try RCL after the CB cruise is over, our DS told us one of the ships has a rock wall, he loves rock walls and boy would he be tired :p

[crusinmama06]

LOL I am tired today as our 20 year old son got home at 1 last night....I can't sleep until all my chicks are back in the nest :rolleyes:

 

I like the idea of RCL setting a curfew, do you know the time set for older teenagers??

 

Actaully I would like to try RCL after the CB cruise is over, our DS told us one of the ships has a rock wall, he loves rock walls and boy would he be tired :p

 

It's 1am for under 18, unless they are with you or in a cruise sponsored teen activity.

 

All of the RCCL ships have a rock climbing wall (I think...lol). One has a bungee trampoline. Three have a surfing area called the flowrider. Voyager and Freedom class all have ice skating rinks. Freedom class also have boxing rings. And some have golf simulators.

 

Heck they may be so tired that they crash at 8pm...lol.

[askfrog]

Yea, I was reading the cruise compasses for the 12-14 year old group on FOS, we will have 2 in that age group when we go. They have activities scheduled for them till after midnight.:eek: That seems okay for the older teens but they seem to young for staying out that late . I don't let them stay out that late at home, and I am freaking out about having them walk anywhere on the ship by themselves. I am much more comfortable with the activities for the youger two, they can't leave without me and are done at 10. Maybe I will be an over protective mother and tell them not to leave the kids club without me or their Dad , just too many things that can happen. Are their other parents of that age group that do this?

[reallyitsmema]

We actually met our son the first couple of nights just outside of Johnny Rockets on the Mariner which is really close to where the entrance of Fuel and the Living Room are. We were not the only parents waiting there for their kids. I would set up a pick up place for them and a curfew. We chose Johnny Rockets because it was a little further away from Fuel and he could casually get away from his friends and not be embarrassed with us waiting there. With a younger child, I would probably have waited nearer to the door.:p

 

Once we were comfortable with his "friends" and the area he was coming from, we let him come to the cabin by himself.

[solesman]

Yea, I was reading the cruise compasses for the 12-14 year old group on FOS, we will have 2 in that age group when we go. They have activities scheduled for them till after midnight.:eek: That seems okay for the older teens but they seem to young for staying out that late . I don't let them stay out that late at home, and I am freaking out about having them walk anywhere on the ship by themselves. I am much more comfortable with the activities for the youger two, they can't leave without me and are done at 10. Maybe I will be an over protective mother and tell them not to leave the kids club without me or their Dad , just too many things that can happen. Are their other parents of that age group that do this?

 

 

Very understandable, askfrog.

 

We took our 13 DS on his first cruise (Carnival Valor) last month. DW and I set some ground rules. Explained that if these privileges are abused, they will be taken away. We allowed him to sign himself in and out of Circle C. We would set up check in times at the cabin and other meeting places. He never missed a check in. We generally had him in by 10pm the night before ports but let him stay out later the night before sea days.

 

His only "screw up" was me catching him and his buddy "playing" around the elevators. They were not being very courteous to others. I told him it wouldn't be much fun if he had to take the stairs everywhere he went for the next 3 days.

[Ratatouille]

His only "screw up" was me catching him and his buddy "playing" around the elevators. They were not being very courteous to others. I told him it wouldn't be much fun if he had to take the stairs everywhere he went for the next 3 days.

 

:D That's just about what we did too. We knew something was going on because everytime we, or any adult group, got into an elevator the other kids would look at us with big innocent eyes and say something like "Hi, how are you? Are you enjoying your cruise?" Not being polite but being smarmy. So we told our son that if this continued I would start answering "Hi, I am X's mother. What's your name?" Needless to say he begged me not to do that, prmoised he would behave and would try to get the other kids to stop. LOLOLOL

[BLUEROSEKY]

We are taking our DS's (13 &14) on their first cruise in October. This is only my second and DH first as well. We are only going on a 4 day as a trial run to see if they will like cruising. How could they not! LOL. I am concerned about how much free time to allow them on the cruise. How late to allow them to be out and all of that. I don't want to make them stay with us constantly, neither one of them seem interested in the Carnival activities for their age groups. They are excited about the pools and the port activities we planned, even the shows. As long as they are together I won't worry, but you know how kids are. I am just worried they will get in an arguement and split.:eek:

 

How do you handle the sail and signs for the kids? I want to limit the amount they can charge, and had thought about just putting cash on their accounts, mainly so I don't get a surprise on the last night.

 

I was thinking of a 11 pm curfew, unless they had a ship sponsered event they were going to.

 

Advice please!!!

 

Karen

[solesman]

:D That's just about what we did too. We knew something was going on because everytime we, or any adult group, got into an elevator the other kids would look at us with big innocent eyes and say something like "Hi, how are you? Are you enjoying your cruise?" Not being polite but being smarmy. So we told our son that if this continued I would start answering "Hi, I am X's mother. What's your name?" Needless to say he begged me not to do that, prmoised he would behave and would try to get the other kids to stop. LOLOLOL

 

 

LOL

 

I'm stealing that one. We'll definitely use it next year.

[solesman]

We are taking our DS's (13 &14) on their first cruise in October. This is only my second and DH first as well. We are only going on a 4 day as a trial run to see if they will like cruising. How could they not! LOL. I am concerned about how much free time to allow them on the cruise. How late to allow them to be out and all of that. I don't want to make them stay with us constantly, neither one of them seem interested in the Carnival activities for their age groups. They are excited about the pools and the port activities we planned, even the shows. As long as they are together I won't worry, but you know how kids are. I am just worried they will get in an arguement and split.:eek:

 

How do you handle the sail and signs for the kids? I want to limit the amount they can charge, and had thought about just putting cash on their accounts, mainly so I don't get a surprise on the last night.

 

I was thinking of a 11 pm curfew, unless they had a ship sponsered event they were going to.

 

Advice please!!!

 

Karen

 

 

Just have them both go on the first night. They can meet some of the other kids. In that age group, the activities are a little less structured. But, it is a good place for them to meet up.

 

As far as their sail and signs, only you can really answer that. Our 13 DS did great without having to put any limits on the card itself. We told him he could spend so much a day and anything over that, he'd have to ask us.

 

Curfew is the same. Our approach was to give a little leeway and see how he handled it.

[Onessa]

On our cruise last November our DD moved from RCCI's Adventure Ocean program (controlled) to their Teen program (pretty much wide open). Had you asked me a year ago if I would have been comfortable with her in the teen program, I would have said NO. But quite honestly by the time we took the cruise she really had matured to the point that the AO 9-11 program would have bored her to tears!

 

We set up rules and let her know what they were and that we expected her to follow everyone (and not just to the letter of the rule, but to the intent of the rule). She met four other girls her age with parents who had either already set down similar rules or were thrilled to enforce them with their kids as well.

 

We've done one more cruise since then -- she made some friends and followed the rules.

 

DD is a seasoned cruiser and know what costs money and she is a natural miser. We've never give her any limit because she actually limits herself more than we would. She's very good at telling us when she has spent anything (generally one or two non-alcholic drinks per cruise) We do get her the soda package.

 

It does depend upon your kid, but they do need some opportunities to learn independence and responsibility. The ship affords me as a parent an opportunity to release the reigns a bit because it is a bit more controlled of an atmosphere. (we have limited ourselves to some of the smaller ships)

[ncmomof2]

We set up rules and let her know what they were and that we expected her to follow everyone (and not just to the letter of the rule, but to the intent of the rule).

 

What were your rules? Did you lay out consequences ahead of time? If so, what were they? My DD is likely to have more freedom on our next cruise, and I need help all the help I can get thinking of all the bases that need to be covered...:rolleyes:

 

TIA!!