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

[undertheradar]

I wonder how many kids worry about having parents roaming the ship. There are some crazy behaviors on vacation.

 

[Sytrace]

I wonder how many kids worry about having parents roaming the ship. There are some crazy behaviors on vacation.

haha...yes, I have seen some adults act pretty crazy indeed.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Every kid and every parent is different. I see people on here that say 15 - 16. I was in boarding school at 14 and never went home again except the occasional trip. Pretty much lived on my own. At boarding school, we could come and go as we pleased - walk into town, whatever. At 10, I used to walk from my house to downtown (a 2+ mile walk) with money to buy things from the store. Granted - it was a different time and age then. Still - you had to be able to do that when I was a kid and you had to know what was safe and what wasn't. There were neighborhoods I would never have gone into.

At the same time, I see 7 or 8. I wouldn't let my son do that at 7 . He was a little naive. Now he is 13, and I let him go to the park himself on the monorail (they didn't ask and he didn't tell). Unlike me at that age, he has a cell phone. He checks in every hour and he keeps the geolocation turned on. I tested him first - gave him a little freedom and he followed my rules exactly, so he earned more. I would let him wonder the ship with no question.

Again though, every kid is unique so I don't think there is a simple answer to that question.

 

[Cheerio]

My kids walk in pairs about age 10, our last cruise DD was 9 and could leave the club with someone to go to point A or B, my 14 and 16yo were able to roam the ship but no younger.

 

[tylerzmommy]

My son is 11 and had quite a bit of freedom on our cruise in January. He had a lot more freedom on the ship than I ever would have given him on land or in a crowded area such as a park. Our thought process behind this had a number of contributing factors: 1. almost every square inch of that ship is monitored minus staterooms. We felt relatively assured that wherever he went, there were eyes on him. 2. It's a ship, he can only go but so far. 3. (and likely most importantly) he's an extremely mature and responsible kid and he knew his boundaries. 4. He took the wave phone with him and understood that if he didn't call in every hour (unless he was in the kids club -- he had to call us when he checked in and then checked out so we knew he was "roaming" at that point), then we would take away his freedom.

Like many of the parents on here have noted, we've had so many of the discussions around strangers, how to seek help, what kinds of situations are presenting potential danger, and just being aware of your surroundings at all times.

 

[soniam]

I am more concerned about my child doing stupid things on their own than "bad" people doing things to him. There are "bad" people everywhere, and none of us know, or may ever know it. I worked with a man, a father and a respected boss, for over 10 years, and then he was became a convicted child pornographer. It was very shocking for many of us. Plus, the majority of sexual, physical, and mental abuse to children occurs from people they know, ie friends, families, teachers, and clergy, not strangers. I think kids are more likely to choose to do stupid and harmful things on their own, than be convinced by an adult to do things.

It's really up to individuals to decide that for themselves. I think we feel comfortable letting our son have more freedom on our cruise this summer than previous cruises. He will be 11 and can check himself out of the kids clubs. I think we will allow this with some stipulations. We feel he needs to be allowed to practice with some freedoms now in a controlled environment. I remember those kids in college that were coddled and overly restricted at home. Many went wild, got poor grades, and eventually dropped out. I wasn't given free reign at home, but just enough to have opportunities to make good choices.

 

[sunryzez]

This type of question will always spark a debate because people nowadays tend to think their opinion is fact. However, at the end of the day you need to do what is right for your family. I am EXTREMELY overprotective and my kids are 15,10,8 and will not have freedom to just roam the ship. Not only are there bad people everywhere but accidents can happen as well. I don't like the thought of my children being in a situation that is not positive and me not being there. I am their mom and no one has a right to judge my decisions for my children. With that being said I will not judge others. Whatever age you feel comfortable letting your child/ren roam around the ship can only be answered by you. There is no right or wrong answer. Think about it, discuss it with your partner, discuss it with your kids and then decide what you feel is right.
The only exception to this rule is people who allow their children to roam the ship but do not teach their kids manners. I have seen on countless occasions unsupervised children making poor/rude decisions. In that instance you are disrupting others vacations and that is just not nice! But that is a whole other discussion.

 

[diznymom]

Even though DS will be 19 when we take our next cruise, there will still be Mom Rules. He will be allowed in the public areas by himself. He will not be allowed to go into anyone else's stateroom; no one will be allowed in our stateroom without our presence.

I do not consider myself to be a "helicopter mom", but bad things can happen in a split second. And I don't want my child to become a statistic.

 

[Msmit002]

DH and I were just taking about this. Our son just turned 12, but he's 6 feet tall and weighs 170 lbs. and gets home from school on his own.

I think we can trust him to go to and from the club and back at this point...

 

[WallyBear]

On our last cruise my children and nieces were 13, 10, 9 and 7. We allowed them to roam as long as they stayed in pairs and each pair had one iPhone.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I respect everyone else's opinion, and certainly, I try to take precautions as mentioned to try to keep my kids safe. (Talking to them about conduct, and strangers, and even people they know, etc.) No one wants anything bad to happen to their kids at any age. Neither do I.

But at every age (they are 14 and 16 now), I have also tried to keep in mind another set of dangers. The danger that they will grow up scared of the world or not self-confident, or that they will depend too much on their parents to protect them or handle problems for them.

So at every age, I have tried to reign in some of my own fears and let them do as much as they can for themselves (within reason). When they were younger, that meant just keeping my mouth shut and letting them interact with people (even strangers) in my presence. As they got a bit older, it meant watching them from across the room or through a window. And for a while now, it means letting them roam some and make their own choices some, when a reasonable opportunity presents itself.

I know a ship isn't perfectly safe, but I do think it is more safe than many environments. And to me, it was a good opportunity for them to test out their confidence and their experience. IMO, this is a process that takes years, which is why I began years ago. Someone else said that their freshman and sophomore in High School were far from college. I don't see it that way at ALL. Heck, my oldest is a Sophomore and will be driving in a few months. How will I keep an eye on him then? (I'll still set him some limits, of course) To me, my freshman and sophomore in High School are very close to college only a few short years to finish making sure they have the self-control, self-motivation, and self-confidence to go off "on their own." After all, even college is like a "safer" (not completely safe) world for them to try things out. So to me, it is all about giving them responsibility in stages, and I was glad for the opportunity to give them this "stage" to continue their transition to independence, which I truly want them to be ready and prepared for.

That is why I have been trying to protect them from the "danger" of too little freedom, as well as protecting them from too much freedom, since they were little kids.

Have a great cruise, everyone!

 

[Beth06015]

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.

My daughter is going to be 10 when we go next month....what do you mean by Edge privileges? I guess I assumed there was an older age limit for that club? I have been thinking about this question since self-checkout was given as an option for her. We chose no (she is trustworthy but I don't want her getting lost and want to know where she is).

 

[KristiMc]

My daughter is going to be 10 when we go next month....what do you mean by Edge privileges? I guess I assumed there was an older age limit for that club? I have been thinking about this question since self-checkout was given as an option for her. We chose no (she is trustworthy but I don't want her getting lost and want to know where she is).

Sometimes they will allow 10 year olds to age up to the Edge (11-14). When they are in the Edge there is no sign-in/out so you need to be comfortable with them coming and going once they are there.

 

[WildEyed]

My daughter is going to be 10 when we go next month....what do you mean by Edge privileges? I guess I assumed there was an older age limit for that club? I have been thinking about this question since self-checkout was given as an option for her. We chose no (she is trustworthy but I don't want her getting lost and want to know where she is).

Edge is for 11-14 year olds. My daughter was 10 so we had to ask if she would be allowed into Edge despite being only 10. As it was a Panama Canal cruise that had very few kids, they approved her (and I guess any 10-year-old on that cruise who asked) to use Edge as well as Club/Lab.

So if you prefer your daughter not to have sign-in/sign-out privileges then you would skip requesting access to Edge for a 10-year-old.

My daughter had read up on Edge on the DCL website and was really pushing us to ask. We warned her there was no guarantee and it's up to the staff when you arrive for your cruise.

 

[Lauralaylin]

I let my son do it on our last cruise when he was 9. He had a phone, so he would text us when he left with his intentions, when he arrived where he was going, etc. He also had many rules that he had to follow. He is not one to break our rules, and he did great. On our next cruise he will be 11 and my daughter will be 8. I will allow him to walk around alone or with her, but she will not be able to do so as she is the type to not follow rules as closely and forget to text. It's all about knowing your children and teaching them what to do in many different types of situations. My kids know that bad things can happen and they need to be smart and safe. I know they can't be 100% protected all the time, but that is always true.

The last time I wrote about how I was letting my son walk around alone, before our cruise, someone was so rude with many awful criticisms that I had to block her. I hope everyone else is more understanding this time around!

 

[RedSox68]

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.

Yeah.....I think Disney ships would actually be MORE dangerous than other cruise lines since it is known as a kid friendly cruise and pedophiles could easily sail on one. I always told my daughter, if someone pulled you into their cabin we would have no idea where you were for several minutes to a hour or so and by then it may be too late. Sorry, that may sound overprecautious but them's the stakes nowadays.

 

[elvispursley]

DH and I were just taking about this. Our son just turned 12, but he's 6 feet tall and weighs 170 lbs. and gets home from school on his own.

I think we can trust him to go to and from the club and back at this point...

Wow! For minute I thought I was reading my own post! We, too, have a DS who just turned 12, is 6'0 and is 170. While he doesn't go to/from school by himself, we let him and our DS who is 10, go around the ship when they wanted (which was much, to our dismay...I really wanted just an hour with DH at Satellite Falls)! They mainly went up to get ice cream.

 

[JWG]

We tested this last cruise (daughter was 10), she'll be 12 on our next cruise and in 7th grade (young for her age group) so we'll (assuming nothing changes) let her roam freely if she wants to. She dabbled with Edge this trip so am sure she'll be excited to go back next time.

 

[Msmit002]

Wow! For minute I thought I was reading my own post! We, too, have a DS who just turned 12, is 6'0 and is 170. While he doesn't go to/from school by himself, we let him and our DS who is 10, go around the ship when they wanted (which was much, to our dismay...I really wanted just an hour with DH at Satellite Falls)! They mainly went up to get ice cream.

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+.

 

[elvispursley]

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?