Keeping in Touch with Adult Children Onboard?

[SheriB]

With so many different activities, it's apparent that with two adult children(18 & 22),we will not be together all day throughout the day and night. How do you keep communication with your kids when everyone may be in and out at different times? While I want them to enjoy themselsves and explore on their own, I always get that pit in my stomach when I don't know where my kids are, especially in an unfamiliar environment. Also, my DD22 is scuba certified and wants to do a few dives while we are in port (we're doing the western). Should I let her go off on her own (she's the only one of us who is certified)?
I think I'm more nervous bringing my adult kids than someone with little ones, because at least with the little ones, when you leave them you get a pager, and they can't leave one place and go to another. I know I sound like I'm overreacting, but how on earth do you find someone if you need to on such a large ship? TIA for any info or suggestions.

Sheri

 

[lillygator]

magnetic dry erase board for the door, then you can leave messages for each other.

 

[mommasita]

magnetic dry erase board for the door, then you can leave messages for each other.

I agree. We used this for my son and it worked out well. I saw some people had them on the outside, and that I would NOT recommend.

 

[Deb T.]

Since our kids are grown now (DD is 25 and DS is 24), we pretty much let them go on their own while onboard... after all, they are adults. The standing rule is that we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, plus go to the shows together. Even when they've stayed in a separate cabin, it's still easy to coordinate. Basically, we board the ship on the first day, eat lunch together, then plan to meet in our cabin for the muster drill. After the drill, we all look over the Navigator and talk about what each person plans to do. We also note the time we'll meet for the show and dinner. After dinner, we go back to our cabin to look over the next day's Navigator and set a breakfast time. At breakfast, we set a lunch time. At lunch, we set the show and dinner time, and then the routine starts all over again.

You'll be surprised how often you randomly run into your kids while onboard! DD usually lays out near the family pool, but up on Deck 10 where there are less kids running around. DS wanders around a lot, moving from activity to activity, sometimes joined by DH for the sports-related events. We all have a basic idea of where everyone is going to be from our Navigator discussions. Plus, we know we will catch up with each other at meal times, if not before.

Have a great time on your cruise!

 

[ScouterJT]

Also, my DD22 is scuba certified and wants to do a few dives while we are in port (we're doing the western). Should I let her go off on her own (she's the only one of us who is certified)?

I've done scuba excursions in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel. As long as your DD is comfortable diving, either (or both) should be fine -- the dives are "group dives", being led by a Divemaster, and are designed for novice divers.

 

[SheriB]

I like the dry erase board idea, only on the inside of the door, not the outside. And coordinating with the navigators is definitely something we'll do. As far as the scuba, my dd22 is a marine biology major and dives as often as she can, so she's comfortable enough, it's just me with letting her go off in a strange country, even though they are group dives. I'm just a nervous nelly. We were hoping some of our friends could go on the cruise with us(then our kids would have others they know to hang out with), but it looks like the timing doesn't work for any of them (Jan. 9, 2010). So I guess we'll take this cruise ourselves and have our own family fun. Thanks for the help!

Sheri

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

As a college student, I cannot imagine my parents stopping me from roaming on my own. While I do eat breakfast, dinner, and sometimes lunch with them, I would feel very weird having that kind of constraint. We spend most of our time away from home having to fend for ourselves. Also, I am currently working on my scuba certification and i have learned that if you can handle diving, you can handle just about anything.

 

[mousetravel]

I'm also worried about letting my DD go about on her own, but she's 13.
We have planned that we'll take sticky notes and place notes for each other somewhere (probably the mirror).

I was very protective, when we went 2 years ago and would not let her go anywhere by herself, so I'm giving her a little freedom this time.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I was 21 when I went on my first cruise....for my honeymoon. We were able to navigate a plane ride and an unfamilar city, find the ship, and explore the ports of call on our own. Your kids will be fine. Relax and have a great time.

 

[SheriB]

I know I sound overprotective. My daughter actally lives away from home at school. I think part of my concern is that my DS18 (he'll be a month shy of 19 when we cruise) is too young to drink, but old enough to go into the clubs. I also want to be sure we do spend some family time together, so I think making sure we at least meet for meals is something we do. I want them to have fun on their own, but I also don't want them to forget about the old folks.

Sheri

 

[kcashner]

Since you must present your KTTW card any time you order anything, your 18 year old will not be served alcohol on the ship. If your kids are together, they will insist on seeing BOTH KTTW cards. A CM can be fired for serving alcohol to an underage guest (yes, I've seen the reports of it happening, but DCL is very strict!) What they cannot prevent is a 21+ buying a bottle of an alcoholic beverage and serving it to a sibling in a stateroom.

My DD will turn 18 on our next cruise. She considers the Magic a "second home," and I do give her the run of the place. We've expanded her limits in steps as she's gotten older. You know your 13 year old better than anyone, and know whether she can be trusted. I'm super conservative mom, and really felt safe on the ship. Frankly, the biggest danger on the ship is from other guests--you need some strict rules. You don't go into anyone's cabin and no one comes into our cabin, etc. And the biggie--scream for a CM if you need to. There are CMs all over the place...don't hesitate to embarrass yourself if needed!

With DD's permission (since they are adults!), they will issue mom a blank KTTW so she can get into their cabin to leave messages, etc.

 

[wwwosie]

I know I sound overprotective. My daughter actally lives away from home at school. I think part of my concern is that my DS18 (he'll be a month shy of 19 when we cruise) is too young to drink, but old enough to go into the clubs.

Just so you know, the legal drinking age in Mexico and Grand Cayman is 18. Actually except for the countries where it is illegal to drink, period, most countries (I think with the exception of Japan) legal drinking age is 18, in some it's as young as 16 for beer.
If you are really not comfortable with that, you might want to have a talk with them about what is expected. Although they are adults and while off the ship, they won't be breaking any laws if they step into a bar to have a beer with some friends.

Or just hope they don't find out
Just a thought...

 

[Happy99]

We used both the magnetic board and also the room phone. If the kids were going to the movies, per say and they didn't want to walk all the way back to the room they could just call the room from any phone on the ship and leave a message letting us know where they were going to be but I have one teen and one tween. Adult children I would just set up a time to meet up and go from there

 

[WebmasterKathy]

I'm also worried about letting my DD go about on her own, but she's 13.
We have planned that we'll take sticky notes and place notes for each other somewhere (probably the mirror).

This is what we do- just take a pad of Post-It Notes and leave messages on the mirror.

DS, DH and I can all go our separate ways, but this makes it easy to find each other or know what time to meet up.

 

[lovinlife]

I like the walkie talkies. You can get a 3 pack at target for $50. Just throw it your bag and it's great to just stay in touch and be able to reach someone in your family, even if it is just to invite them to join you in an activity. That way you don't have to wonder what they're up to.

 

[bevtoy]

With so many different activities, it's apparent that with two adult children(18 & 22),we will not be together all day throughout the day and night. How do you keep communication with your kids when everyone may be in and out at different times? While I want them to enjoy themselsves and explore on their own, I always get that pit in my stomach when I don't know where my kids are, especially in an unfamiliar environment. Also, my DD22 is scuba certified and wants to do a few dives while we are in port (we're doing the western). Should I let her go off on her own (she's the only one of us who is certified)?
I think I'm more nervous bringing my adult kids than someone with little ones, because at least with the little ones, when you leave them you get a pager, and they can't leave one place and go to another. I know I sound like I'm overreacting, but how on earth do you find someone if you need to on such a large ship? TIA for any info or suggestions.

Sheri

We eat supper as a family each night.

 

[bevtoy]

I like the walkie talkies. You can get a 3 pack at target for $50. Just throw it your bag and it's great to just stay in touch and be able to reach someone in your family, even if it is just to invite them to join you in an activity. That way you don't have to wonder what they're up to.

We use walkie talkies too.

 

[Jennifer_W]

We use walkie talkies too.

Can I ask those of you with walkie talkies--do you have to get a really expensive set to have them work on the ship?

And are there tons of other families using them too--like at WDW where you can't even hear your family because of all the other people?

Not sure I want to spend any more money getting ready for this trip, but might buy some if they were a "for sure" mode of communication.

 

[bevtoy]

We spent around 30 dollars for a rechargeable ones with a two mile radius.
Set them in the base every night and they charged right back up for the next day.

Can I ask those of you with walkie talkies--do you have to get a really expensive set to have them work on the ship?

And are there tons of other families using them too--like at WDW where you can't even hear your family because of all the other people?

Not sure I want to spend any more money getting ready for this trip, but might buy some if they were a "for sure" mode of communication.

 

[PPFQP]

One thing that I really liked on our RCCL cruise is that we could rent phones from the guest services desk. I think they were $25 for the week. We got two of them, one for my husband and me and one for our girls. They were like cell phones that could call each other, but also could call extensions on the ship -- so we could call my parents in their room, call for information, call to make reservations, etc. They were very handy, and such a great way to keep in touch with the kids.
I wish, wish, wish that Disney would offer something like this!