Advice on cruising with teens

[hopingforthebest]

I will be leaving on and RCI cruise of the Med in about a month. I have two teens; a girl, 14, and a boy, 17. We are also traveling with another family with a 14 year old girl as well. I have never been on a cruise before and could really use some tips on keeping tabs on, and setting limits for my teens, while still allowing them a safe amount of freedom. I'd like to have a game plan and set some rules in advance to avoid being a nagging mom on the trip itself. Any help would be appreciated.

[cb at sea]

As long as the 2 girls stay together, the kids show up to meet you when and where you tell them, and are generally "responsible", I'd give them plenty of "freedom"...

 

Adults should leave notes in the cabin if plans change. The child should FIND the parent whenever their plans change, and they will be somewhere other than where you've been told.

Meet for meals.

Things like that!

[mamajules]

My son was 14 on our last cruise. He liked hanging out with the kids from the kids club on sea days and at night. We'd have breakfast together, port days he was with me, on sea days he'd find me where I usually laid out on the deck during the day to check in, let me know what he was doing (usually during the day he was at the pool with some of the other kids). He met me for dinner every night, and curfew was midnight unless the kids club activities had something later. I had a copy of their activity sheet showing what activities were going on, so I had an idea of where he was.

[Onessa]

With two girls, it makes that part easier. On the ship, make certain that they stay together when they want to go off together. No going into anyone else's cabin or having anyone in their cabins. "Adults only" areas are definately off-limits. Do not eat or drink anything that is given to them by anyone other than ship's food staff people and do not eat or drink anything that has been out of their sight for any period of time. They should be telling you where/what they are going to be up to and should know where you/other adults are. Off the ship, they should always be with at least one adult.

 

My DD is 13.5YO so I can't really help much with a 17YO.

 

Have a great time.

[Leejnd4]

I think one important tip is to remember that a cruise ship is NOT necessarily any safer than any public place on land...it's really a small city, and that means you can have creeps and criminals onboard, just like you might find at any land-based vacation destination. Do not allow the fact that you are on a ship give you a false sense of security. Stories of young people, especially young women, being victimized on cruise ships are all over the place -- and not just from passengers, but sometimes from crew.

 

I'm not saying this to instill unnecessary alarm - just suggesting that you not let your guard down with respect to your kids' safety simply because you are on a cruise ship. In fact, you may want to have your guard up even more than normal because your teens are in an unfamiliar, exciting place with more than the usual amount of enticements, and lots of strangers around them who are looking for fun and revelry.

 

Think about what rules you would establish if you were in a hotel for vacation? Similar rules should apply on a cruise ship. Also, think about the temperament and past behavior of your teens. Have they been prone to pushing the envelope in the past? If so, you may want to increase the frequency of regular check-ins. If they tend to be very well-behaved teens who don't have a habit of pushing the envelope, then you can be a little more lax.

 

I made my teens sign a contract that reads something like this:

 

I will always consider safety first in all of my decisions.

I will never enter the cabin of ANYONE, no matter how trustworthy they seem, without my parents with me - not a kid, not an adult, not a crewmember, not even the Captain of the ship!

I will not let ANYONE into my cabin without my parents' permission.

I will not hang out with anyone over 21 unless my parents are with me.

I will not talk to crew members beyond what is normal for their services to me.

I will not enter adult-only areas.

I will always keep track of time, and be at our appointed check-in locations ON TIME. If I miss a check-in by more than ten minutes, I agree that I will be grounded to my cabin for a period of time decided by my parents.

I will tell my parents about ANY ADULT (passenger, crew, whatever) who attempts to talk to me, or pays attention to me, more than seems normal.

I will never go anywhere on the ship alone - I will always have someone from my family with me.

 

This pretty much got the message across, and I never had a single problem with them.

[Keith1010]

I would talk with your children about the rules and how you expect them to behave.

 

When our children were their ages we ate most meals with them. Definitely Breakfast and Dinner and some lunches.

 

We had rules as to where to meet up with them and what time to be back to the room.

 

We also talked about what they could charge to the room and what they should not.

 

Keith

[janabm81]

Our oldest son is 16 & we let him have quite a bit of freedom on the ship but he still has rules. Here is what we tell him:

1. He must eat dinner with us every night

2. There are only certain areas of the ship he is allowed to go to with out us:

a. His Room b. the food areas c.the pool area d.the teen lounge e.the sports deck

3. If he wants to go somewhere else he must get permission

4. He MUST be in his room by curfew (1am)

5. He must go on at least half of the excursions with us

6. All adult areas are off limits at all times (ie...bars, adult pool, casino)

 

Those are our major rules, and he knows that if he breaks any of them he will be attached at the hip to us for the rest of the cruise.:mad:

 

Our younger 2 boys are 14 & 12 and they have the same rules as the older one but they must stay together at all times, go on every excursion with us, and their curfew is 6pm...after that they must stay with us or stay in their room.

 

Of course our kids are all boys...I think if we had girls we'd probably be a little stricter.

 

Hope this helps!:)

[hopingforthebest]

Thanks so much for all of your advice, specific rules, and encouragement. I know they will help to make our trip fun and safe for the whole family!