Do you give your kids cruise spending money?

[OnTheBrink]

My kids will be 4.5 and nearly 8 on this next cruise.

 

Do you give your kids a set amount of spending money?

Do you have them earn it before you leave? (We don't do allowances now.)

Do you just buy them stuff (within reason) when they want it?

 

How do you handle kids and money on the cruise?

[dolphinwyo]

We have a piggy bank (actually a giraffe) we keep in the kitchen. They equally earn money for it - extra tasks, playing extra nicely together, etc., I start a few months out, give them quarters, dollars, whatever amount is appropriate. Then, before the cruise we empty it out and divide it up, I keep it in envelopes for them. They also earn a weekly allowance that they can add to their envelopes if they want. I found it helps when traveling if they have a set amount, they make decisions on what they want and don't beg for every stuffed animal they see. (My kids are 4 and 7)

[Scrappytraveller]

We're also going to Disney for a few days after our cruise and we've just gone under the assumption that any money that they are given or that they save will be for Disney. We didn't plan on them spending much on the cruise. I can't see us shopping much, if at all, on the islands. Maybe just a trinket here and there.

So I'm curious what other parents have experienced in terms of spending that was directly related to the kids, whether their own money or not. My niece and nephew will be 6 and 9. They can both get very focused on something and get very upset with a "no". It's safer to keep the shopping to a minimum. :D

[dolphinwyo]

On Carnival they sell Funship Freddy stuffed animals ( $10ish), Funship Freddy books ($10ish), Build a Bear activity ($20ish) all promoted through the Camp (heavily). They also have the gift shop on board.

Then there are the items in ports like seashells, wooden animals, maracas, etc., kids will find something they want even if you aren't going "shopping" there are usually vendors along pathways. We also have a pre and post cruise nights in hotels too, as we fly into ports - so there is always shopping somewhere. It just helps that they know they have their own money - tends to be less asking for everything they see and they make up their own minds. For example, in Key West, my DD HAD to have a painted coconut - which cost her $8, she happily paid for out of her money. You never know what they will see....

[crusinmama06]

My kids get a stuffed animal on every cruise with the name of the ship on it. I also get them a Christmas tree ornament (these are more for me right now then them...lol)

 

They do earn money around here but that goes into their piggy banks and right into the bank.

 

They don't ask for much on a ship, if anything at all. So I don't worry about setting a limit on what I spend on them.

[serene56]

My kids started cruising as teens- I did not give them money to spend on the cruise or in the ports on any cruise.

 

If they wanted choc-- they headed to the buffet. pretzels, chips== room service.

 

Paying for their cruise and excursions was enough for me

[notentirelynormal]

My kids also always got a teddy bear with the ship's name on it too. I never gave them an allowance and they never asked for much. This is before "soda cards" but they were allowed to buy a maximum of two foofoo drinks a day, their favorite being the chocolate banana - (virgin of course) or a strawberry margarita. My favorite question ever asked of us was when my 7 YO DD was sipping on a margarita and the guy behind us taps me on the shoulder, points to my DD and says "is that a virgin". Once the words had left his lips and the embarassment set in he realized what he asked. I assured him both were. Anyway, besides their drink limit they were allowed to buy one item of their choice from the on board shop and being young it wasn't too expensive so they got to pick whatever and that was something they always looked for to. On shore if it was reasonable like $2 for shells, or something special for their teacher, they got that too. However, that being said, they rarely asked for anything for themselves.

[Scrappytraveller]

Too funny N.E.N.! :D:D

I hadn't considered virgin "foofoo" drinks, and I think a stuffed animal each is a good idea. I have no problem paying for a few things, but I like to set my rules in advance. If they want more, let them work on their father. ;)

Sounds like they should have a small allowance for the cruise too. Thanks for the answers.:)

[abitaturbodog]

My kids have wonderful grandparents who load them up with cash before a cruise. They are allowed to spend this windfall as they choose, but most of it goes into the arcade games. (A big waste IMO, but the grandparents don't care what they spend it on.)

 

We allow them to charge 1 smoothie per day and I pay for this. We don't do the soda cards. My kids don't drink soda on land, so it's silly for me to pay for them to drink it on the ship.

[MamaParrotHead]

We're taking our kids on their first *cruise* this November (they will be 6 and 10), but have vacationed with them before. Here's what we do...my kids earn money for CERTAIN things (there are normal household chores they're EXPECTED to do, as part of contributing to our family and our home...like making their beds, keeping their rooms picked up, doing their homework, etc.). OTHER things they earn money for are "above and beyond"/optional chores...helping fold the laundry, putting groceries away, unloading dishwasher (with help, when they were younger), dusting, picking up sticks in the yard before DH mows the lawn, etc.

 

When we go on vacation, I plan on buying them a REASONABLE amount of nice things...a few tshirts, a nice souvenir for their bookshelves at home. Anything above and beyond that, like crappy junk that my kids seem to be drawn to (plastic alligators, squeaking rubber frogs, every stuffed animal ever MADE, LOL, excessive amount of arcade games), THAT comes out of THEIR money.

 

We got some cash Christmas gifts this year, and we really didn't NEED or WANT anything at the time, so it went in our vacation account. Same with some of the kids' birthday monies...if there is something they REALLY want, we take them shopping for it to purchase with that money, or buy it for them as a gift, otherwise it gets put away for their spending money on the trip.

[Dr_DNA]

My son recieives a weekly allowance (not just for a cruises) and he is expected to use his allowance for things that he wants. My expectation is that if he wants to buy things on a cruise, then he will have to save up for it (just like his mom and dad). I think that it's a good lesson to learn; too bad many adults have not learned it yet.

[kimmimom]

bring a certain amt with them. I hold the younger kids money (5 and 9), but the oldest (14) has her own. I am trying to teach them about budgeting. If you have X dollars and you buy something here that costs X, you won't have any money left for the next port, so maybe finding something less expensive at first port is a better idea. They usually bring Christmas money they get since we travel in Jan (whether it be a cruise or Disney). They don't ask for anything above that, but I will usually buy them a little something else. I will not buy stuffed animals as they are dust magnets and we already have about 1000 animals-LOL, but most anything else is within reason.

[PHXscuba]

One way I have found to help kids shop without the "I wants" on vacation is to have them start and add to a collection. For example, my older son collects the smashed pennies (a great cheap souvenir, but maybe not the right one for a cruise). My younger daughter collects snow globes. As a child I collected charms for a bracelet and pencils. Other ideas: magnets, shells, hats, local necklaces, postcards, etc.

 

If you can think of an inexpensive collection to add to, it will help them focus on finding something for it, whether you buy it for them or they use their money. It will also mean more to them as part of a group of trip memories. Even if they also buy something else that's more expensive, I bet they'll keep the collection longer!

 

PHXscuba

"You can't have everything -- besides, where would you put it all?":D

[CanadianTwosome]

We've been giving our daughter allowance since she was 5 - $1 per year, and we direct deposit it, with 1/2 going into a special savings account and 1/2 going into her 'spending' account. She is amazing at saving money. She bought herself a DS this year and we didn't even know she wanted one until she asked me to check her account balance and found that she'd hit her goal. :) In any case, we generally travel mid-winter, so both my mom and I give her some US cash, and so far she's always brought some home. This year she got $25 US from each of us, and she's currently got another $50 in her account. She'll probably come back with $75. ha ha ha ha ha :p

[griffy116]

My Grandson has been on cruises since he was 3 years old. We practically forced items on him during the first cruise. On the next cruise, he wanted everything. By the following year, he was given a set amount in cash. He was told that he could by anything and everything he wanted..until he ran out. He was very careful. He wanted the model of the ship. Every day he wanted to go to the gift shop with his money. He asked "how much of my money will this waste." On the final night of the cruise, he had bought very little and finally when he wanted to once more go by to see the ship, and once again, put the money back in his wallet, we explained that this was his last opportunity and the ship would not be in any shops back home. He broke down and bought the ship and it's still on his bookshelf at home. He's now 15. We will be going on a cruise in June. He spent all of his Christmas money and will be earning money to spend on the cruise from here to June. He will probably be hitting me up for cash this time.

[CanadianTwosome]

My Grandson has been on cruises since he was 3 years old. We practically forced items on him during the first cruise. On the next cruise, he wanted everything. By the following year, he was given a set amount in cash. He was told that he could by anything and everything he wanted..until he ran out. He was very careful. He wanted the model of the ship. Every day he wanted to go to the gift shop with his money. He asked "how much of my money will this waste." On the final night of the cruise, he had bought very little and finally when he wanted to once more go by to see the ship, and once again, put the money back in his wallet, we explained that this was his last opportunity and the ship would not be in any shops back home. He broke down and bought the ship and it's still on his bookshelf at home. He's now 15. We will be going on a cruise in June. He spent all of his Christmas money and will be earning money to spend on the cruise from here to June. He will probably be hitting me up for cash this time.

 

What an awesome story!! That is exactly how we approached spending money with our daughter - her money, her choice, but gone was gone. My sister in law poo-poo'd our methods because she felt our daughter was 'wasting' her money on Webkinz (she's stopped now, but between gifts and her using her own money for them, she's got 55). She was 'helping' her daughter and son save their money for 'something special' - or at least something SHE thought was special. As far as I'm concerned, though, all that teaches someone is how to have someone ELSE manage their money for them.

 

As I said earlier, I expect my daughter to come home with most of her money - because she learned that once she spent it, it was GONE. She has exactly the same attitude as your grandson - if I buy this how much money am I 'wasting' - or at least 'is it wasting?' I remember the time I spent all my money on a trip... my sister had Hershey's Kisses (a HUGE bag) in the airport and would NOT give me even one. I told my mom and her answer was simply, 'Well, you spent your money.' I think there is no better learning experience than that feeling of 'Oh... I did.' :)

[bankerbabe]

We give our kids a weekly allowance, deposited via direct debit from our checking account to their savings accounts. If they do something above and beyond to earn extra money then we can go into online banking and transfer money into their accounts. So, they have their own money to spend on vacation to buy what they want to.

 

I also supplement their allowance while on vacation with a daily spending limit. It totally eliminates the "I WANTS" every time you go by a vendor or store. My kids are 8 and 12 (nearly 13) though, so they are old enough to understand budgeting.

[napls2]

My kids have cruised for the last 3 years and each time has been different. They were 3 and 9 and the oldest were given $100 from their grandparents. We told them they could do whatever they wanted to do with their money as long as they bought a little something for the grandparents from the cruise. My son wanted material things but my daughter wanted to pay for the after hours in the kids room. Now that they are 11, going on 12, they have certain things they look for. A snow globe, a hat, a t-shirt and keychains for all the friends at home. The grandparents usually give them money before we go, but the kids know we will get them a shirt or some souvenir for them. The little one wants a stuffed animal, wooden snakes if she can find them and a hat. We usually take care of her.

[mjmalino]

My kids are to use their own money for any souvenirs that they may want, and for some "non-essential" foods, etc. such as the ice cream bar, etc. They get money from 2 different places. First, whenever we go on vacation, my mom will send them some money for them to use. Second, my kids get a very generous allowance. A few months ago, my kids asked to start cleaning the house. At the time I was working full time and had someone come in to clean once a week. They asked if they could get paid instead of me paying someone else. So, my house is divided into days and my kids are to clean different sections every day (4 times a week and get paid on the daily basis) so that the entire house is cleaned every week. With their money, they can choose to spend it, or put it in their saving accounts. However, given the amount that they receive on the weekly basis (which is still cheaper than my housecleaner), we expect our kids to pay for things. For example, if at home the kids want to see a movie, they have to pay for their tickets. If we are in a restaurant and they want a drink and it does not come with their meal, it is on them. This has really made my kids realize whether it is important to them or not because they are spending their hard earned money.

[mactrio]

For the cruise Liam was given money by his grandparents. We took half of it and deposited into his savings acct; 1/4 went into his bank at home and he has the other 1/4 for 'fun' money. We've decided to give him $20 per day in port and $10 on sea days and he can chose to spend it as he sees fit, he can have 1 smoothie and 1 fancy drink per day that we will pay for, we'll buy a shirt or hat or 2; but junk toys and game rooms will be his money.

We're pretty lucky as he doesn't ask for much and he checks prices before he buys it, helps me to use coupons, checks for sales....

[castawaymam]

my kids recycle soda/beer cans and turn them in twice a yr. They split the money half and half. And they get to use that money any way that they want. DD(14) saves some and buys lip gloss, purse, gifts for friends. DS(12) will save til he has enough for video games. But if the know that they are going on a trip they will save and use it for the trip. However their Grandparents give them money to spend for the trip. They have been doing this for 6 yrs now.

[circuitrider]

Our son gets $5/wk for an allowance. Of that, $2 is to spend however he wants (can blow it all in one go if he likes), and $1.50 is to save (plus $1 invest and $0.50 charity). So far he's yet to pick a certain item to save for, so his saved money is used on vacation. And once the money is gone, it's gone; he does need a little help whittling down his choices, his funds lasted for a few days at Disney and few more days on the cruise.

[serene56]

I wonder what is up with the old posts being resurrected lately.

 

The original post is form 2009.

[OnTheBrink]

I wonder what is up with the old posts being resurrected lately.

 

The original post is form 2009.

 

True! I started it and I didn't even recognize it!

Now my kids will be 11 and 7.5 on this next cruise. They are earning their own money and can (pretty much) spend as they please.

 

 

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[JMHAM1]

It always amazes me how "tight" they can be with their own money and how "loose" they can be with yours.