Kids wandering the ship...what age?

[Ofinn]

Statistically your child is very safe on a cruise ship, safer then riding a bike, drving in a car and safer then at school. One incident no matter how rare freaks people out. Its like the people that are afraid to go to Europe because of the terrosist attacks even though your chance of dieing in a terrorist attack is extremely low. I personally cant live like that. Wether you let your child roam or not is entirely up to the parent, There is no right or wrong answer, but I would not base your descision on a few isolated incidents.

 

[closetmickey]

My girls were about 10 when they started to "wander" alone, or with another child. Truthfully, though, they rarely "wandered". We almost always knew where they were going - they had a destination.

 

[4mousefans]

This is an interesting question and similar to the "how old does my child have to be to stay at home alone" question that I field on a regular basis as a social worker. Like others have suggested, there are many things to factor, not the least of which is a child's maturity level. That being said, when our girls were younger we made the decision to allow them to be independent at the age of twelve. We had spent a good deal of time discussing everything from safety plans to the buddy system....and this was the age that we determined we would allow them to go with a group to the movies or mall for a few hours at home without adult supervision. Like so many others have said, the cruise ship is really a floating city....we could have easily been more relaxed because we were on vacation and well, this IS Disney, but we chose not to. You will see many that do though. As others have suggested that is a parenting choice. Others have given some really great suggestions for guidelines or expectations...I would add that using the kids club staff for pick ups in the main dining room is a great perk!...but ultimately we all have to do what we believe is right for our family. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[arlopop]

On our last cruise (10/15) our son was 10 and we let him go to Edge. He took a wave phone and was expected to call us if he left and always let us know where he was going. He was great about it and we grew more comfortable with it.
On the last night there was some thing late at edge that he wanted to participate in. I tried to get him to join me for a showing of Inside/out but he politely said he'd rather be with his pals. So I dropped him on my way and told him he had a midnight curfew, and reminded him to call. When I headed to the theater I went up one floor too many and turned to get back on the elevator. The doors opened and he was on it with his buds. He explained they were headed to a different deck where the edge thing was planned and he had intended to call when he got there. But I told him rules are rules so he was done. He was furious and thought it was unfair.
I finally talked him into going to the arcade with me and we played some games like we did when he was younger. He got back into a happy groove.
It's hard a that age to know how much leash to give and how good their choices are. I think in our case we work best giving some room to explore but making the rules firm and not negotiable after the fact.

 

[tlprice]

This is a tough question. I teach 10-12 year olds and I see every day what they are capable of. Most are well-behaved most of the time, but they can truly amaze you with their bad choices. Change their environment, group of people they are with, person in charge, etc. and they can be completely different people. On my last cruise there were many kids wandering and being truly obnoxious. They were running through the halls, cutting in front of people to get on the elevators, pushing, shoving, "controlling" the pool, etc. I'm sure all of their parents thought they were old enough to wander and that they were well behaved children, but even the usually best behaved child in normal situations can let that new situation and freedom corrupt them. I always love as a teacher calling a parent about a child's behavior and they say, "My child would NEVER do that!" Oh, yes they would and they did! I have a 9 year old and I don't plan on letting her wander the ship. I also go on vacation to spend time WITH my child, so if she is not in the kids clubs we are doing activities together. She only goes to the kids club if she WANTS to.