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

[cmph]

It's awesome having a kid athlete in the 100th percentile, until you have to feed him. I'm about to start a GoFundMe just to keep milk, tofu and eggs in the house.

But seriously, I think his size has kept people from otherwise messing with him. Everyone who knows him calls him a 'gentle giant' but most people wouldn't know it by looking at him. They usually think he's 15+.

DH and I used joke that we would have to do our weekly shopping at Costco when he was younger...it's not so funny now!! DS is more "cerebral" and hasn't really found a sport he "loves", kinda plays whatever intramural the school has at the moment (currently ultimate fresbie, whatever the heck that is). I swear, if we lived in Texas still, they would be all over him for football. His school has begged him to be on the basketball team...nope! Didn't feel like it. He's too into computers like his dad. He has the perfect build for a swimmer but swimming is just not that big up here in Seattle *sigh* You know you're in trouble when your son was giving you DH hand-me-downs at age 11 and passed him up in shoes at age 10 (he wears a size 12 in mens) When he was a baby (born 4-weeks early, mind you) his pediatrician predicted he would be 6'7!!! Talk about the BFG What sport does your son play?

Costco Business, hahaha!! That's what I plan to do when my 5ft+ 95lb current 2nd grader gets to your boys' age - move from regular Costco stores to Costco Business! Side note - my almost 12yo DD who is taller than everyone else in her grade, boys and girls (as I was at 5'10" in 6th), likely believes your boys are something out of a fairy tale right now.

My kids were only allowed to be sans-adults if together at 8 and 11, and only when they were going somewhere with purpose or we were nearby. They had to text when they arrived wherever they were going. We'll likely stick with that next time, when DD will have just turned 13, DS will be 9, and they'll have their 8yo cousin with them. For me, it comes down to the sibling presence. If DD were an only, I'd have a much harder time convincing myself she'd be safe. Early on in my time on the boards, I mentioned that at my first cruise as a young teen, the crew prepping for the midnight champagne waterfall event invited me and my sister (2 years younger) to come join them in the dining room for some champagne as we walked by. No other guests were around; SO inappropriate. We got the heck out of there. Who knows what would have happened if she or I had been alone, luckily we were together. But at some point you have to let go and hope you've prepared your children for life beyond your realm. A few years later I was off at college on my own, 850mi from home, not knowing a soul, and my parents never gave me any impression that I was unprepared to take care of myself. No kids are ready for the same baby steps at the same time, though, so some times you just have to go with your gut. OP - there just isn't ever going to be one answer that applies to all kids!

 

[elvispursley]

my almost 12yo DD who is taller than everyone else in her grade, boys and girls (as I was at 5'10" in 6th), likely believes your boys are something out of a fairy tale right now

Welcome to the BFG club! LOL--I totally remember those days when I was the tallest girl in my class (and it was horrible because at 5'10, and having an inseam of 34", they did not make girls jeans/pants in long/tall sizes, and of course when you're super skinny on top of it...let's just say daddy long legs was one of the nicer names they called me)! Tell your DD to be proud of her height and not slough (I did something horrible)--the boys will catch up. But do you think I married one? Ha, no--DH is 5'10, just like me

 

[cmph]

Welcome to the BFG club! LOL--I totally remember those days when I was the tallest girl in my class (and it was horrible because at 5'10, and having an inseam of 34", they did not make girls jeans/pants in long/tall sizes, and of course when you're super skinny on top of it...let's just say daddy long legs was one of the nicer names they called me)! Tell your DD to be proud of her height and not slough (I did something horrible)--the boys will catch up. But do you think I married one? Ha, no--DH is 5'10, just like me

DH's license says 6'1". Uh, no, that's "man-measurement" right there. He's barely 6ft, ha! My fave nickname (not!) was Jolly Green Giant. middle schoolers are so very clever. Somehow, I think tall-girl-shame is going away with our kids' generation! She's not at all embarrassed. More surprised that her 8yo brother is taller than so many of her male classmates than anything! "What do you feed that boy?" "Everything. Often." I guess that does make our perspective on kids roaming without adults a bit different. If DD were a teensy girl, maybe it makes you worry more. Everyone assumes our kids are older than they are.

 

[FigmentSpark]

My thoughts were that if I let my kids walk home from school and go around the neighbourhood at home, then, as long as they let us know where they are (just like at home), they could be on their own. My guys are 12 and 14. I'm not sure if I would have let them on their own much younger, though. Maybe 11. That said, my younger DS missed meeting us to see R2D2. I wasn't worried about him. I assumed (correctly) that he was late because he was having fun. He got talked to about it. But when my 14 year old didn't come back from the Vibe by 1:30 and his curfew was midnight, I went to guest services to get security on it. It turns out the first places they check are NOT the Vibe and that the Vibe has spots where the Navigator app doesn't work. And yes, he was grounded for making a bad choice to ignore his curfew.

 

[MrsSmalls]

Before we went on the cruise, I would say 16.

One week after getting off the Magic, my answer is 10. LOL. We were deck 8 midship and we let my son go up to the pool and watch Funnel Vision without us. My 11 year old was free range also. They both have iPhones and needed to tell us when they were moving from one spot to another. I did a few check ups on them and they were where they said they were. They were mostly at Edge, deck 10 sports deck, pool and Daisy's Delights. The 7 year old was not allowed to wander.

I don't know if I would feel the same on the bigger ships, but being right below the pool and tween club and having them on the Navigator app made a big difference for me.

 

[HeatherLassell]

It's awesome having a kid athlete in the 100th percentile, until you have to feed him. I'm about to start a GoFundMe just to keep milk, tofu and eggs in the house.

haha I hear that!! I lucked out and a coworkers mother has chickens! She brings me 2 cartons of eggs every Friday at work. My son eats 4-5 at a time! lol He's 13 and 6'1" and probably around 160lbs.

 

[mom+3girls]

My youngest daughter was 10 on our first cruise and she roamed around, she was quite the little joiner and she even won a golf chipping contest in the mail lobby that I didn't even know was happening. She read the Navigator's and figured out what she wanted to do and went and did it.

 

[Msmit002]

DH and I used joke that we would have to do our weekly shopping at Costco when he was younger...it's not so funny now!! DS is more "cerebral" and hasn't really found a sport he "loves", kinda plays whatever intramural the school has at the moment (currently ultimate fresbie, whatever the heck that is). I swear, if we lived in Texas still, they would be all over him for football. His school has begged him to be on the basketball team...nope! Didn't feel like it. He's too into computers like his dad. He has the perfect build for a swimmer but swimming is just not that big up here in Seattle *sigh* You know you're in trouble when your son was giving you DH hand-me-downs at age 11 and passed him up in shoes at age 10 (he wears a size 12 in mens) When he was a baby (born 4-weeks early, mind you) his pediatrician predicted he would be 6'7!!! Talk about the BFG What sport does your son play?

Costco FTW. I would need a second job without Costco. He plays lacrosse, soccer and basketball - but his favorite is lacrosse (he's a goalie). Takes a particular brand of crazy to play that. Football coaches drool when they see him, but he's not having any of that. Yea, the shoes are getting a bit much. We just hit size 14 and I know that if his foot gets any bigger, then we are just about stuck with mail order.

Welcome to the BFG club! LOL--I totally remember those days when I was the tallest girl in my class (and it was horrible because at 5'10, and having an inseam of 34", they did not make girls jeans/pants in long/tall sizes, and of course when you're super skinny on top of it...let's just say daddy long legs was one of the nicer names they called me)! Tell your DD to be proud of her height and not slough (I did something horrible)--the boys will catch up. But do you think I married one? Ha, no--DH is 5'10, just like me

Funny you should mention the inseam... My son goes to a school where a uniform is required and apparently they don't have pants long enough for him. We're working on a solution but fpr Pete's sake, my kid can't be the only one with a 34" inseam! Thanks for the validation.

DH's license says 6'1". Uh, no, that's "man-measurement" right there. He's barely 6ft, ha! My fave nickname (not!) was Jolly Green Giant. middle schoolers are so very clever. Somehow, I think tall-girl-shame is going away with our kids' generation! She's not at all embarrassed. More surprised that her 8yo brother is taller than so many of her male classmates than anything! "What do you feed that boy?" "Everything. Often." I guess that does make our perspective on kids roaming without adults a bit different. If DD were a teensy girl, maybe it makes you worry more. Everyone assumes our kids are older than they are.

Yeah, we figured that the whole 'looks older than appears' thing is actually working to his advantage with regard to roaming the ship. When people ask me what we feed him I tell them the same thing: anything that isn't nailed down. And he eats all of his vegetables.

haha I hear that!! I lucked out and a coworkers mother has chickens! She brings me 2 cartons of eggs every Friday at work. My son eats 4-5 at a time! lol He's 13 and 6'1" and probably around 160lbs.

I need a friend like that! My kid figured out that eggs are not only good protein but also cheap and that I don't get on his case when he polishes them off (unlike other foods in the house).

Bottom line, there are certainly worse problems to have in life. We'll just keeping rolling along with our Boy Wonder...

 

[ali_in_al]

Before we went on the cruise, I would say 16.

One week after getting off the Magic, my answer is 10. LOL. We were deck 8 midship and we let my son go up to the pool and watch Funnel Vision without us. My 11 year old was free range also. They both have iPhones and needed to tell us when they were moving from one spot to another. I did a few check ups on them and they were where they said they were. They were mostly at Edge, deck 10 sports deck, pool and Daisy's Delights. The 7 year old was not allowed to wander.

I don't know if I would feel the same on the bigger ships, but being right below the pool and tween club and having them on the Navigator app made a big difference for me.

Thank you! Mine are 13 and 10, and this will be our first cruise, so this is good info for me!

 

[MrsSmalls]

Thank you! Mine are 13 and 10, and this will be our first cruise, so this is good info for me!

I was much more comfortable than I thought I would be. What ship are you on?

 

[ali_in_al]

I was much more comfortable than I thought I would be. What ship are you on?

The Dream. Very excited!

 

[MrsSmalls]

The Dream. Very excited!

Have fun! Is good is I thought it would be, it ended up being so much better.