At what age could your kids roam the ships by themselves?

[chaseg03]

Im just curious. I still can't remember some things on the Dream class ships and I'm 13! I'm just curious to know.

 

[Floridatinaherb]

Really depends on the parents and how comfortable they are with their kids roaming by themselves. I have seen 6 or 7 year olds running around before (which for my taste is way to young), my kids were left on their own when they were 13 and 9. They had rules as to where they could go and if they wanted to change where they went they needed to let us know (we were at Palo). My 13 yo is very responsible so if it were just her she could pretty much come and go as she pleased, but she was tasked with looking after her brother who needed a couple more rules since he is more impulsive (and more likely to get into something he is not supposed to be into) than her

 

[MunFam]

There are bad people out there and some have ill intentions towards minors. Just because you are on a Disney Ship, does not mean that those people who prey on children will not be on the ship...there is no background check...

with that...our daughter will not "roam" any ship alone until she is old enough to understand that concept and be able to avoid/get out of any situations that she could be put in...so probably 15 or 16.

It is a lot easier to deal with a kid that is mad at me than it is to accept the fact that my negligence caused my daughter irreversible damage. And honestly, if my kid fought me on it...that would be the last cruise we went on until she was older. My money, my rules.

 

[ashley0139]

I remember in the late 90s being around 11 and having the freedom to do what I wanted. I was a very responsible kid, and was able to leave the kids club to hang out with friends, go get lunch, etc. I remember feeling very grown up that I got that freedom.

15-16 seems very late, presumably they're almost driving by then. I mean, that's a junior in high school. Won't she babysit, hang out with friends at the mall, etc? But you have to do what's right for your family.

 

[richkaryn]

Our son was 9...we were on the Wonder, so smaller ship....and we had a set of guidelines in place he had to follow (No using the elevators, don't go in anyone's stateroom or let anyone in ours, no going to the pool without us, must carry his old ipod with him at all times so he could txt us using app to let us know if changing locations, find us if needed, etc.) We also didn't tell him until after we'd been on ship a few hours and had made him lead us to our room/other locations so we knew he had his bearings about where to go.

 

[micknme]

There are bad people out there and some have ill intentions towards minors. Just because you are on a Disney Ship, does not mean that those people who prey on children will not be on the ship...there is no background check...

with that...our daughter will not "roam" any ship alone until she is old enough to understand that concept and be able to avoid/get out of any situations that she could be put in...so probably 15 or 16.

It is a lot easier to deal with a kid that is mad at me than it is to accept the fact that my negligence caused my daughter irreversible damage. And honestly, if my kid fought me on it...that would be the last cruise we went on until she was older. My money, my rules.

I totally agree with everything you said. Some people seem to think bad things won't happen to children on a Disney ship. They have and unfortunately will happen again. Having been involved with criminal law for over 30 years, I guess I am more protective than most but I found it interesting that our grown son was very watchful of his children while on our cruise. I guess being a helicopter parent didn't harm him as he is now a fantastic dad. Lol

 

[Naterfan]

We let our son go to-and-from the kid's club from our cabin on his own at 8yrs old. He had very specific rules and we knew when he left and we knew when he arrived. Of note, our son is NOT the type to break the rules...it just isn't in him.

 

[KristiMc]

We allowed our boys to check themselves out of the Lab when they were 10. They had to notify us and then meet up with us. Once they were in the Edge, they had a little more freedom. The kids in the Edge go about the ship doing scavenger hunts and such. They still had to let us know where they were.

 

[WildEyed]

On our last cruise my oldest daughter was 10 and she had a certain amount of freedom on the ship. We were on Deck 2 not far from Edge and she had Edge privileges so she could go to and from there whenever she wanted. She was also allowed to go back to the room to get something from wherever we were on the ship. So - she was loosely supervised but we had a general idea of where she was, for the most part. At that age she was walking to school by herself and now that she is 12 she rides her bike to the library on her own which is about 20 blocks away. To be honest I don't love it, but she is ready to spread her wings.

On our next cruise she will be 12 almost 13. She will have a bit more freedom than last time as she has grown in responsibility. We do consider the cruise to be a family-focused vacation so the expectation is that we are together most of the time though.

I know there is a system for finding out where your kid is in Oceaneer's club/lab - I wish that were active all over the ship, and parents could track their whereabouts on the app or something. That would be cool.

 

[MUN]

Im just curious. I still can't remember some things on the Dream class ships and I'm 13! I'm just curious to know.

13 is old enough.

 

[MUN]

our daughter will not "roam" any ship alone until she is old enough to understand that concept and be able to avoid/get out of any situations that she could be put in...so probably 15 or 16.

Good luck with that!

 

[AquaDame]

Every kid and parent is different... that said at the parks you can't enter alone until you are 14 and once inside you can't ride unaccompanied if you are under 7. Might be a good rule of thumb? When I was growing up we were left alone at home when my brother was 11 and I was 9. Once he hit high school we started riding the city bus and going places without an adult too.

 

[chaseg03]

There are bad people out there and some have ill intentions towards minors. Just because you are on a Disney Ship, does not mean that those people who prey on children will not be on the ship...there is no background check...

with that...our daughter will not "roam" any ship alone until she is old enough to understand that concept and be able to avoid/get out of any situations that she could be put in...so probably 15 or 16.

It is a lot easier to deal with a kid that is mad at me than it is to accept the fact that my negligence caused my daughter irreversible damage. And honestly, if my kid fought me on it...that would be the last cruise we went on until she was older. My money, my rules.

I've never really thought of that. After a I think of it it

13 is old enough.

i could do it when I was 7. I think my parents made a mistake their. I was still ok but after reading these I think 10 is a good age.

 

[chaseg03]

Good luck with that!

There are bad people out there and some have ill intentions towards minors. Just because you are on a Disney Ship, does not mean that those people who prey on children will not be on the ship...there is no background check...

with that...our daughter will not "roam" any ship alone until she is old enough to understand that concept and be able to avoid/get out of any situations that she could be put in...so probably 15 or 16.

It is a lot easier to deal with a kid that is mad at me than it is to accept the fact that my negligence caused my daughter irreversible damage. And honestly, if my kid fought me on it...that would be the last cruise we went on until she was older. My money, my rules.

Just a lil late? The boat has around 3500 people on the ship I really think she would be fine. Now what you said you are the parent so it's your choice although think about it, your daughter will be in college in 2 years once she's 16. I get the ship can't be weirdo free but it definitely has less than other cruise lines. I think you could set some ground rules for her. Although final your are the parent and it proves you care. I just disagree but it's your money.

 

[rcchello]

For the kids listen to your parents and show you can be trusted following their rules. The sooner you do that and the sooner your parents will give you more freedom.

Parents - each parent will make the decision based on their own upbringing and their own feeling of safety. I gave my kids freedom to roam in the parks and ships when I felt they could follow certain rules and were able to respond correctly to signs of danger. Initially I only let them loose as a pair, mainly because the younger one would keep her older brother safe.

That is not to say I don't still worry about them and they are now living on their own.

 

[minniemouse1]

On our last cruise I let my children walk to and from places in pairs. I have 4 kids and it was our 6th Disney cruise. The oldest was 13. We also had a 12, 8 and 4 year old. The 13 year old was allowed to sign the two youngest kids in and out of the kids club. Our 12 year old DD needed and always needs the most rules.

The 8 and 4 year old LOVED the detective agency interactive game on the Fantasy and would play that for literally hours. I was NOT doing that for hours so after they had played it a half dozen times by our second day on the ship my husband (without my knowledge) had let them go and do it together (he had spent the most time with them playing the game). My husband said they would be fine and the kids thought that was the biggest deal ever that they got to go alone. I was unsure it was wise to let them roam the ship from place to place independently but they were already told by dad it was okay. We try not to do the mom said dad said thing with our kids so I checked on them often which was not fun cause they were hard to find and nothing "bad" happened. They always went to the pool deck with us first so they knew where someone in our party would be and that worked for us.

Our next cruise will be much easier with the kids able to use the app with their ipods to text us. We certainly have seen DCL's technology evolve on the ships over our history of cruises. Very interesting if you think about it.

 

[apathetic]

Definitely know that the ship is not 100% safe. However, with some education you can turn your kids free to explore. Unfortunately, the education isn't always complete. We have 2 boys and when they were in 10+ range we would give them some freedom to do things like mid-ship detective or go up to the sports deck (not pool, though). We would say, go do this and then meet us here. At first they get maybe 10-15 minutes to do their things. Then it slowly expands to where they can go to the sports deck for an hour. But they always go point A to B with no detours. They stay together and they know exactly where to find us and meet.

Before this, we have a long talk about dangers. Things like people trying to get you to come to their room. So they aren't allowed in corridors with rooms. Only common areas and stairwells. Always stay together and never, ever let anyone touch you (even casual touch) or get near you (close enough to grab/touch). If any doubt run away. Any adult would understand a kid's actions if they meant no harm.

The problem with turning kids loose is they eventually get bored. When kids get bored on a ship they tend to play (or just go to sleep) on the stairs. Or they like to screw with the soda/ice cream machines. I've seen them mess with elevators and have a good time with the auto-opening doors. Stuff like that. Nothing dangerous but very annoying to everyone else. If you turn your kids loose, it is important they understand etiquette along with safety.

But, it is a cruise. Kids will not be happy only hanging with their parents. When they start to outgrow the kids clubs, you have to give them some freedom to create their own itinerary.

 

[MunFam]

Many people have said they let their kids go from Point A to Point B on their own at a younger age. I will do the same. We let DD (at 4) have free run of the pool deck when we were there. We were on chairs and kept an eye on her.

However, I answered the question "at what age could your kid ROAM the ship alone?" and to that, my answer was 15 or 16. That means, not knowing where my kid is for hours on end, not checking in, not having a set destination. That means full adult privileges to do whatever her heart desires. So yeah...that stands at 15 or 16.

If your kids are going from point A to Point B and the do not show up...15 minutes later, you are looking for them...but when your kids are just our roaming, you do not know where they are, nor would you be alerted to something being "off".

 

[Joel0917]

our daughter was 11. she was not allowed to ride elevators at all. and had to check in at certain times and respond to our texts within a certain amount of time or she was grounded.
we have had talks with her about dangers.
She's almost 13 and makes lots of friends on the ship. she doesn't want to be with us anymore. But i like to sit by the pool and not stand in line for princesses any more. So Win win!

 

[KristiMc]

Just a lil late? The boat has around 3500 people on the ship I really think she would be fine. Now what you said you are the parent so it's your choice although think about it, your daughter will be in college in 2 years once she's 16. I get the ship can't be weirdo free but it definitely has less than other cruise lines. I think you could set some ground rules for her. Although final your are the parent and it proves you care. I just disagree but it's your money.

Being you are only 13 you really can't give advice to parents.