11yo Daughter - Roaming Free

[Lazeric]

I just signed up my daughter for the Oceaneer Lab, and they asked if she would be able to leave and go as she wants. I first wrote down no, but if there are other 11yo's on the ship who can, am I limiting her independence.

I am a somewhat protective father, and I want to make sure that she is safe if she is out and about on the ship.

Any thoughts?

Eric

 

[momof2disprincesses]

I am wondering the same thing too for my dd who will be almost 10. We cruised before when my oldest was 10 and I allowed her this freedom, but she never made use of it as she liked to stick close to Mom & Dad.

 

[Mickee]

I would say No.

 

[MrsMork]

This Grandma would let them sign themselves out, BUT give them clear instructions on when and how they can use that priviledge. Break the rules, lose the priviledge.

 

[Barbmouse63]

My dd will be 12 (almost 13) when we sail. We have friends she will be hanging out with going too. She will have check out privleges only to return to the room and only with a friend. My 9 year old ds will not be able to check himself out. I don't think I'd be comfortable with an 11 year old leaving by herself.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

We allowed our 11 year-old independence for the most part. She'd made friends with other DISboarders, so we were fine with it. She knew to come back to the stateroom, and/or to let us know if she was going elsewhere. (Her choices were limited to Oceanquest, pool on Deck 9 or the arcade when she was on her own.) She actually preferred to stay in the stateroom and read or watch the Disney movies when she was on her own.

We'd previously done three Disney cruises, so she knew her way around.

 

[Mmketeer]

Hi,

My family of seven (including a 11 yr old girl) just got off a RCL cruise ship and my niece loved being able to check herself in and out on her own. It use to be like twisting her arm to get her to go to the kids clubs on any ship cause' she always felt like she was stuck there. But, not this time! When she found out she was old enough to come and go as she pleased...she loved it! We had motorala walkie talkies and she would just call us and say where are ya'll, so she could come meet us whenever she was ready.

 

[atakaratemom]

I wasn't going to allow our DS11 to check himself in and out, but once we got on board he and DH convinced me to let him try it and it worked out wonderfully. He had to contact us via pager or our handheld radios to let us know where he was going anytime he made a transition. He was very responsible and it really seemed like he sort of grew up before my eyes. If you ask him what was his favorite thing about the cruise, he will tell you it was the ability to make his own decisions about how he wanted to spend his free time.

 

[itdjbw]

My daughter 11 was on her 5th cruise in September I allowed her to leave as all the other girls were allowed with instructions that the club page us on the issued DCL pager and let us know where she was headed, we gave her more freedom this cruise and she never abused it, she had fun with the other girls her age and probably would not have had a good time if they were all leaving the club and she was stuck there being left out. She was good about reporting in at other times as well.

One time she couldn't find the stateroom and found a dad with a young child and asked him to help her, knowing she would be safe with a father with a child and he walked her to the stateroom and complimented her on being responsible and asking instead of just wondering around getting more lost.

 

[Jsme]

What we did was allow our DD to call us when she wanted to check out. She could to leave without asking us first. I never allowed her to roam free. I just do not know these kids on board and I did not feel comfortable with her being allowed to go out with kids I do not know. I did allow DS and DD to go to the movies together alone and to stay in the room alone to watch a movie and also to get food on deck 9. But I knew where they were the whole time.

 

[missminniemouse]

We're headed on a cruise shortly and will allow our DD age 10 to have check out privileges, but as MrsMork said, she has to let us know where she is at all times and can only go certain places by herself. Break the rules...lose the privilege. Our DD is a very responsible girl, so I think she'll be fine with this. She probably won't check herself out much without us there anyway, but she'll like knowing she has the privilege. After all, it's a privilege her younger brother (age 6) can't have!

 

[pittcrew]

We just got back from the 12/17/05 cruise on the Magic, and in our traveling party of 15, 5 of the 6 kids were old enough for check out privileges. All 3 families set up strict guidelines about where the kids were allowed to go, and each cabin had a magnetic whiteboard on which the kids were required to post their whereabouts. The kids knew that the first time they were not where they said they were going to be, the privilege would be revoked - there were no second chances. We didn't have a single problem.

We also allowed our kids to have charging privileges with similiar restrictions. BTW, kids cards automatically have charging privileges unless you deactivate them with Guest Services once you get onboard.

 

[EMMOM]

We were on the Magic 11/5 and there was about 15 of us. My DS11 and his friends that we traveled with were allowed to sign themselves out. My son loved the feeling of being able to go in and out as he pleased. My DH and I told him we needed to know anytime he left a club and where he would be going. It worked out great and the kids all had a ball, and I think my son really felt so responsible and grown up and was so happy that we let him do this that he never took advantage of the situation.

 

[Flagger]

Never would I allow an 11 year old. There was a report of a CM who exposed himself to an 18 year old girl on a DCL ship this past October. Your DD may be responsible, but not everyone else on the ship is.

 

[yachtsea]

I know how you feel wanting to make sure that your daughter doesn't feel that she is being "baby - ed". However, in real life she is still your baby. Kids grow up so fast - why not let them stay kids for a while longer? I have two grown, married daughters and I have got to say that if one of them were that age and were gonna be alone I would say absolutely "NO." If she had a lot of friends with her that would be one thing - but a child wandering around alone - I don't think so. It would be one thing to let her go to the store alone if you are somewhere in the vicinity, but there are too many wacky things going on with cruise ships lately. Walkie talkies are a great idea also.

I know that I seem to be rambling, but I think you get my point. A Disney ship is exactly one of those places that you feel comfortable and don't worry as much - but... you never know.

 

[cristit14]

We just got back and I didn't allow my newly turned 10 dd the sign out privleges. However, I did allow her to go back to the room early while we finished dessert a couple of times and we did let her and my son stay in the room one night watching movies while we went to 80's night (strict instructions, no opening door, jumping off of bunks etc... also we came and checked up after about 45 minutes). She loved having the responsibility. At 11 I would probably let her check herself out with strict instructions as to where she could go.

 

[geffric]

ok, bad MOM here... I let my 11 year old have sign in and out privileges on our last cruise.(this was his 3rd cruise and he and I were very comfortable with the ship and his knowing his way around.).. . He had a 2 way radio and had to tell me when he was leaving one place and where he was going and then he had to call me when he got there.. I did check a few times by walking by to make sure.. LOL..


He loved the freedom and so did I..He showed me what a responsible young man he was..

 

[ferastu]

We gave our 9 1/2 year old son check out priveleges when we cruised in November. He also had a strict list of places he could be:
Oceaneer's Lab
Arcade
Deck 9 (for food, not in the pool without us supervising)
Buena Vista Theater
Stateroom

We arranged it so that my wife or I would meet with him at least once every two hours. He is very responsible for his age and we had no problems.

 

[aprilgail2]

Never would I allow an 11 year old. There was a report of a CM who exposed himself to an 18 year old girl on a DCL ship this past October. Your DD may be responsible, but not everyone else on the ship is.

I agree!!! I feel it is just asking for trouble. If you would leave your child alone in the mall then by all means they should have sign out ability on the ship...but if you wouldn't do that then why in the world would you let them roam around a ship of 2,000+ strangers on their own????

 

[budwmn]

My DS will be 9.5 on our cruise next month. My DH and I already decided not to allow him to sign himself in or out. I trust him. I don't trust the other passengers on the ship. We decided we'd let him have the choice of going in the lab or staying in the cabin when we're at Palo, etc. (No opening door, going on balcony, etc). Even if I did trust the other passengers, the ship can be confusing (after 5 cruises, my DH still gets mixed up sometimes).