does DCL make parents give kids too much free reign before they are ready?

[jeanie]

When we went on our cruise I didn't want to give my daughter (10) sign in/out privs. When we signed her up, the CM made it seem like I was asking for something unusual and acted as if they didn't know what to do, so I gave her sign out privs BUT she was never to use them... Since my son was 8 I had a beeper and any time either of them wanted to leave I was to be paged. So since she really didn't have sign out privs I don't know what the deal was with the lab ...
We were only paged once or twice, (They never wanted to leave!) but at least I knew that they were in the lab or in one of the programs....

On our next cruise they will be 12 and 10 and I still won't let them roam free.... What do I need to say to the CM's so that I am clear that I do not want them to have sign in/out privs?
I really thought sign in /out was optional not an exception at this age.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[mcnuss]

It is not the counselor's decision to make. If you are pressured, ask to see a supervisor immediately. I would imagine that would end it.

I will not allow my child to sign in & out either. This cannot possibly be an unusual situation.

 

[4nana]

OK...over protective Nana here...LOL

I would like to hear more about the teen grp. The brochure reads
the teens grp is age 13-17. That is a big age difference to me!
My gson is in between as he just turned 15. I would think a 17 yo has alot more freedom at home and different interests than a 13yo. Are they in the same area doing activities together? Can someone enlighten me pls?

 

[snowmouse]

I have 11 year old twins, so it made it easier to initially give privileges because they'd be together and safe, right?? That would have worked if they were equally mature. Later in the week they made friends, separated, and the day I found the 'younger' one in a wet swimsuit on Deck 3, just staring out a porthole was the day he lost his priveleges. I found this very easy to change with the Lab's CM's. Had they not been pleased, it would have been their problem. They're my children, not Disney's!

 

[trishy]

I'm so relieved the hear that the lab will allow for NO sign in/out privileges now to the 10-12 group. On my July cruise and on our 2001 cruise this was not an option according to the cm's. This must have changed - although what a shame you have to push so hard for it. We told our oldest (dd12) to have them "courtesy page" us (as the cm called it) and we met up at the activity. This is good news. A definite step in the right direction. I'll have to send DCL a letter commending them on this improvement so we may have more improvements in this area in the future.

 

[westjones]

We were given the impression that at the 10-12 age range it was no longer an option too! But luckily my twins are only 9 now.....but I have to say, this policy made me very nervous and my husband and I had been having some second thoughts about the cruise for that age range thinking that our kids may be running around the ship on their own!

Now that I know we can still have them page us before they sign out is a BIG relief! We can go on our next cruise and relax!

This is a wonderful change!
Debra

 

[zbuddy]

Yes, I agree that 13 to 17 is a big stretch. A 15 yo would be fine in there...a 17yo might find it a bit lame. My 15yo had a wonderful time in there and loved the folks in charge of their programming. It again depends on the maturity of the individual kids. I know some 13 year olds that are more mature than some 16 year olds. Even with the ages divided this way, most of the younger ones tend to group together, just like the older ones. I would not worry about this...enjoy!

zbuddy

 

[4nana]

Thanx zbuddy~
I am sure he will have a wonderful time meeting everyone and all will have blast

 

[Wishing on a star]

Wonderful!! It sounds like DCL may be tightening up their policy on the sign-out policy! That is indeed a step in the right direction when it comes to a ship with sooooo many kids onboard!!! I too will have to commend DCL on this when I write!

 

[jlawall]

Well, we've sailed twice with my 3 daughters on the Disney cruise. Once, when they were 15,12 & 9 and this summer when they were 18,15 & 12. Both times we had a problem with our oldest staying out too late at the club. She actually stayed out PAST the curfew we gave her when we allowed her to go to Common Grounds activities. So both times we made her come in at 11pm the next night she went out. Needless to say, she kept her curfew from that night on. The second cruise, our second daughter also broke her curfew one night.

Now the younger daughter was a different story. When she was 9 we escorted her to the clubs each time. When she was 12, she immediately made friends on the ship. We gave her signing out privileges and she had a blast with her new friends.

One thing missing from the discussion is that if your child attends the clubs, sometimes they make friends on the ship, who they then hang out with. It is slightly more comforting to know that they are not roaming the halls alone, they are in a small group of friends. We had our kids check in with us periodically.

My only complaint with Common Grounds is that we went there to check on our teens and the CMs indicated that PARENTS WEREN'T ALLOWED! I thought that was ridiculous. We just wanted to be reassured that everything was ok.

 

[Jhondy(210)]

ok first a few things with the actual topic. my sister was 10 at the time we sailed last august. she had sign in/out privilages. my parents also had a pager to call them or whatever. she used that and my parents always met her to come get her because that was what she wanted. there was one time i saw her roaming the ship because she paged my parents and htey hadn't come.(turns out they were on there way when she left) she was smart she went to the room to see if they were there and then came and found me. a few times i saw her at the shops buying something. that kid loves to shop. my parents always knew where she was and what she was doing so giving her freedom was no problem. and usually she was with my parents even with the privalege.

ok onto the reason i actually posted. teens. i see a lot of complaints about activities going till 2am. i loved that it went that long and actually wished it went longer. common grounds doesn't open till 11 so having activities go to early in the morning the allows the teen to basically sleep till 11 then head up again if they wish. also the activities stopped at 1 and common grounds was just open till 2. the last thing was always dancing. i know many of the friends i met had curfews and alot of times they begged there parents to allow them to stay out longer. the think many parents don't seem to realise is we are supervised at all times when we are with the teen activities. also on the last night the activities end at midnight which isn't all that late. most teens stay up till then at home anyways. plus they have the whole way home to sleep so i wouldn't worry too much about it aslong as they are packed and ready to go the night before.

with the age difference 13-17 it wasn't a big deal. i was 16 at the time and i met 13 yr. olds and i met some 17 year olds i was friends with probably atleast one kid from each age and the group of friends i made was probably split pretty even in respect to ages. but the splitting on my cruise was more like at school groups. i wouldn't worry at all about the difference in ages.