alisha0916 Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 I have been on several cruises and this will by my kids 3rd cruise. I have three boys ages 9, 11 and 12. The two older boys are very mature for their age (I know a lot of parents say that and maybe really think it, but I am constantly getting praise about how well behaved and mature they are I promise lol). My husband and I are also NOT helicopter parents at all, but we still love our children more than anything and of course worry so here is my question. Would you allow your 11 and 12 year old to roam around the ship? We plan on taking walki-talkies with us and given each boy one. Any other information about the ship would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 We have a 9, and 11 year old. Girls. This past December was the first time we let them go around on their own on a ship. And it was baby steps...like allowing them to head to the buffet and we meet them there, going back to the stateroom while we finish dinner etc. I was hesitant but they wanted to try. I have a good friend who has a 10 and 13 year old and they have been cruising for years and she has let her girls go around for at least 3 years now. Her theory was how far can they go on a ship? I am a big believer that you have to supervise your kids but also read their comfort level. And then if you do let them go, go over safety rules with them first as you would in any public setting. Hope that helps. And welcome to the boards. KasinoCrazy and alisha0916 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisha0916 Posted January 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 49 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: We have a 9, and 11 year old. Girls. This past December was the first time we let them go around on their own on a ship. And it was baby steps...like allowing them to head to the buffet and we meet them there, going back to the stateroom while we finish dinner etc. I was hesitant but they wanted to try. I have a good friend who has a 10 and 13 year old and they have been cruising for years and she has let her girls go around for at least 3 years now. Her theory was how far can they go on a ship? I am a big believer that you have to supervise your kids but also read their comfort level. And then if you do let them go, go over safety rules with them first as you would in any public setting. Hope that helps. And welcome to the boards. This does help thank you!! I feel the same way. We kinda let them go on our last cruise but it was very very limited and for very short amounts of time but this year the older two are really wanting to go more which I understand I was cruising at their age too. I am just a Mom and still worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 3 minutes ago, alisha0916 said: This does help thank you!! I feel the same way. We kinda let them go on our last cruise but it was very very limited and for very short amounts of time but this year the older two are really wanting to go more which I understand I was cruising at their age too. I am just a Mom and still worry. 12 is an age where they are longing independence...? But yes, I always worry too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisha0916 Posted January 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 3 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: 12 is an age where they are longing independence...? But yes, I always worry too. I always always worry about the railings I don't know why because I know they would NEVER try to climb or anything but lawrdy it always scares me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 38 minutes ago, alisha0916 said: I always always worry about the railings I don't know why because I know they would NEVER try to climb or anything but lawrdy it always scares me. They are covered by glass and you would have to actually swing your leg over quite a bit to climb over it. I'm 5'3 and it's above my waist. Also the doors to the balcony have a safe lock on it that my 11 year old can't reach unless she dragged over a chair. alisha0916 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 Not sure what ship you are on but here is a pic of the balcony from Harmony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisha0916 Posted January 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 27 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: Not sure what ship you are on but here is a pic of the balcony from Harmony. We are going on Harmony!! Thank you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 1 hour ago, alisha0916 said: We are going on Harmony!! Thank you :) Have fun! We loved Harmony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 I've heard various reports whether the walkie talkies work due to size of ship and others being on same frequency so have a back up plan just in case. My kids are 17,14,11,6 and have been cruising for almost 4 years. My older 2 have always been able to roam the ship. At 12, your oldest could be in the teen club and the 11 year old could have check in and out privileges on his own at AO but it sounds like your boys will hang out together...my kids go to the teen club and then hang out at night with their new friends. We have some strict rules about curfew, never going into anyone's stateroom, never climbing any balcony, etc. We've only cruised Freedom class ships and on those we decided to get the internet package. Too many times of trying to catch up with them and they moved on. It's expensive but works for us especially for Harmony with it being so much bigger. alisha0916 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abm234 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Walkie Talkies haven't worked for us on ships in the past. We have young teens and ended up getting the wifi package so we could text each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 11 hours ago, abm234 said: Walkie Talkies haven't worked for us on ships in the past. We have young teens and ended up getting the wifi package so we could text each other. I think that's a far better solution as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGeastbay Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 On 1/7/2018 at 6:37 AM, melski94 said: We have some strict rules about curfew, never going into anyone's stateroom, never climbing any balcony, etc. I am going on our first cruise on the Oasis in August with my two daughters, 12 and 9. I would welcome any other suggestions regarding "rules of the sea" that I should lay down for them. Because this is my first cruise, I have no idea where to start! Also, I know that my 12 yr old is old enough for the teen club, but I confess to worrying about (a) will there be a lot of kids her age and (b) will it be age appropriate for a 12 yr old. Having heard the stories she brings home re the bus during her first year at middle school, I'm a little wary re co-mingling with much older kids. I'm not a helicopter parent, but I am a strict one. Any thoughts/experience on that front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd W Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, LGeastbay said: I am going on our first cruise on the Oasis in August with my two daughters, 12 and 9. I would welcome any other suggestions regarding "rules of the sea" that I should lay down for them. Because this is my first cruise, I have no idea where to start! Also, I know that my 12 yr old is old enough for the teen club, but I confess to worrying about (a) will there be a lot of kids her age and (b) will it be age appropriate for a 12 yr old. Having heard the stories she brings home re the bus during her first year at middle school, I'm a little wary re co-mingling with much older kids. I'm not a helicopter parent, but I am a strict one. Any thoughts/experience on that front? my boys first cruise they were 12 and 14. we gave them firm but relaxed rules to follow such as checking in every X amount of hours. if they couldn't find us, they needed to leave a sticky note on the mirror in the room to let us know where they were at. told them the first time they missed a check-in time, they would be glued to our hip the next day. much to our surprise, they would actually find us more frequently than we had expected so our check-in windows for them got longer and longer to which they still would hunt us down sooner rather than later. The boys had a blast and have made tons of friends they still keep in contact with 2 years later. We found by easing up on them a bit, it gave them the opportunity to "adult" and they never had any issues at all during the cruise which made it MUCH more enjoyable for us also. LGeastbay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyC Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Mine were allowed to roam about at whatever age that they were allowed to sign themselves in and out of Adventure Ocean/kids program of whatever ship we were on. I gave them the rules, trusted their judgement, and they knew what was expected of them. Failure to make a good choice meant loss of freedom, end of story. I admit I run a tight ship around here; no statements ever end with a question mark and you do what you are told. I'm a former teacher, can't help it. LOL Been cruising with them since they were 2 & 4; they are now 18 & 20 and we've never had an issue. They are excellent judges of character and even as pre-teens figured out quickly which kids they did NOT want to hang out with. LGeastbay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 3 hours ago, LGeastbay said: I am going on our first cruise on the Oasis in August with my two daughters, 12 and 9. I would welcome any other suggestions regarding "rules of the sea" that I should lay down for them. Because this is my first cruise, I have no idea where to start! Also, I know that my 12 yr old is old enough for the teen club, but I confess to worrying about (a) will there be a lot of kids her age and (b) will it be age appropriate for a 12 yr old. Having heard the stories she brings home re the bus during her first year at middle school, I'm a little wary re co-mingling with much older kids. I'm not a helicopter parent, but I am a strict one. Any thoughts/experience on that front? Your 9 yo will be in the Voyager AO club. You can allow them to be a self signer, which means they can sign themselves in and out of AO except on port days. On Harmony, I had an 11 yo and he could sign himself in and out but then he had to tell us where he'd be. He could go to the stateroom or if during the day to our pool chairs. We allowed some freedom but not complete freedom as he is a bit immature. The 12 yo will be in the teen club. Since you are sailing in August and many schools are still out, I'd assume there will be a bunch of teens on the ship. In that case, the teens are split in two groups 12-14 and 15-17. Its very important for your teen to go the first night as they will form their own small groups and I found they were typically formed by age. After all, not many 8th graders want to hang out with a 6th grader My kids have always found kids they liked there and stayed away from the ones they should not hang out with. As I said before, we set rules regarding curfew. You may hear that their new friends have a later curfew or could do xyz. I always purchased the voom plan and used what's app or another texting app to keep in touch and they had to text me where they were going. We always ate dinner together. As @KathyC aka KathLuvsGH said the penalty for breaking the rules was pretty severe so they didn't. LGeastbay and KathyC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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