I love my in-laws but...

[Favorite Auntie]

woody64, I thought I was the only one on this thread that actually enjoys having my parents around! I have three sisters that are all married with children and they have all done vacations with my parents at different times. They have stayed in close quarters and there has never been a problem. I do have to say that I am lucky to have great parents that don't care what everyone else does or thinks, they leave us alone to have fun and they are very happy doing their own thing! Am I the only lucky one??

 

[MommyTo5]

Hmmm... Unless you have small children and think the in-laws will be babysitting often, my vote is to book their stateroom as far away from yours as possible!

~ Angie
MommyTo5

 

[LAMPSKIES]

From my last two cruising experiences if you do go with parents it seems like to will be in the majority. As a matter of fact my DW on our first cruise Feb. 2000 said "are we the only people who doesn't have an older couple with us on this ship". That was good for a chuckle..........but did seem true.

 

[Duckielucky]

One reason that you see a lot of old people with young couples is that Grandma and Grandpa are paying for the trip. I hated going to the in-laws. I will not bore you with my list of complaints. I did not want to have the same situation with my children and grandchildren so we bought 500 DVC points. I do not anticipate having a problem getting the family together. How does "Family Reunion Cruise" sound?

 

[AmyM]

It really depends on your relationship with them and what you are hoping to get out of having them with you on vacation. We have cruised with 2 different friends. The first ones we had staterooms next to each other and had a BLAST!!! Our kids were 3,3,5 and 5. We spent the majority of our time together. We have been friends since 3rd grade and know each other very well. Next cruise with different friends. We were on deck 7, they deck 2. We were WAY to close to each other. Newer friends, didn't lay out expectations ahead of time....BIG mistake!

January 2004 we will be cruising with my inlaws. We are on deck 8 and they deck 7 both very close to the stairs for kids now 9 and almost 11 to easily access grandma and grandpa. If my kids were much younger I would be very nervous about them going to their grandparents room unescorted unless it was just a couple doors down.

One thing we are doing is having a vacation planning meeting this Sunday to go over what we are planning on doing during the cruise. I know they will do some things with us and prefer not to do others. I also know that DS and DD will want to spend alone time with grandparents.


Go with what you feel is right. And remember to plan alone time. I love my mother dearly. I vacationed in Norway with her for 11 days. 24/7 for 11 days had me going nuts by the end of the trip! Also remember it is a VACATION!!! A time to relax and rejuvinate, it should not be a time to be stressed out!!!

Good luck with what you decide.

Amy

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by Lisa F
The walls between staterooms are not that thick, and have you seen that commercial "A little souvenier"? I think a little privacy might be appreciated by all (I'd rather knock the old headboard next to strangers whom I will never see again than next to my husband's parents, iew!)Lisa

..................

 

[stephmarty]

We are cruising with my parents and our 2 year-old daughter. We got rooms nextdoor so that she can go and visit her "Nana" and "Papa." We are looking forward to the helping hands (though we don't plan to take advantage of them) and they look forward to the extra time with their only grandchild.

Also, with regard to dinner, I would rather be with them than take the chance again on being placed with strangers. Before we had a child, this was never a problem and we met some very nice people. However, once you have a child Disney places you with others who have child of relatively the same age. Ahhhhh! I can handle it when my DD gets rowdy during the 2-hour dinner, but when the other people's kid loses control at the same time it can ruin dinner for everyone. Especially if the other parents have no discipline because they are compensating for the little time they spend with their child when not on vacation. At least if my parents say or do something obnoxious I feel comfortable letting them know (and vice versa for that matter).

 

[Mjasp]

Hi Stephmarty, Seems you are sailing with Hygiene99 (peter and Jenn again.

Are you going to try Flounders again? LOL

Joanna

 

[chmb1]

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their thoughtful responses.

Let me add that I am paying for everything (yes, even airfare) so their is no guilt or pressure to spend every minute with my wife's parents. In fact, I want them to feel like it's a vacation too and not to feel like we expect them to watch the kids (all three: 7, 3, and 1!) every minute --- just every other minute! (Yes, I'm kidding!).

I think the best compromise is to put them in a stateroom on an adjacent deck near the stairs/elevators.

Thanks again.

Chris B.

 

[jwann]

Hey chmb1,
If you put your inlaws on a different floor (even if they are close) you will find yourself walking your children to their room ALOT. I assume you can't let the 1 year old go to another floor even with the older siblings. If I were you, I'd have the rooms close enough so you could stick your head out the door and watch all three walk to the grandparent's room. Trust me, the kids WILL want to go to the grandparent's room. You just have to decide how often you want to escort them to another floor.

 

[rae519]

Here's a vote for BD also!

Rae

 

[WDWLVR]

Chris - much as I love my in-laws I don't think I'll ever sail with them again. They rely on us TOO much. Can't make up their own mind about anything. Learned my lesson the hard way last October at WDW but our May cruise was already booked. Went into this cruise with an understanding between DH and I that we would do what we wanted and enjoy their company at dinner. The rest of the day they were on their own. We had a great cruise that way - not sure if they did or not, but if they didn't they only have themselves to blame.

I think you are right in putting them on another floor.