At WDW, I don't let my DD wander without being in eyesight. The last time we were there she was 9. When we do go on a cruise, she will be 11 going on 20.
How much do you let a child wander and explore on their own?
If they are in a kids club, do you let them go check themselves in or out on their own? Is it permitted?
I have a 9 year old like that too
. Dh & I discussed letting her and the tween ds have checkout privileges. We decided that we would wait until we got a feel of the ship first. Surprisingly, neither of them were comfortable or wanted to roam at first when we asked them. For Oceanner's Club and Lab, I think checkout privileges begin at age 8. For the Edge, there is no check in or out or armband. They place a sticker on the KTTW card.
We're lucky in that our son will, no kidding, follow the rules to the letter. Other kids may be a little more free-spirited...
This very much describes my kids too. The tween didn't even bring his phone because he didn't want to accidentally roam or incur charges. Although, we later would have preferred that he had when he had a preference for the Edge.
Our son was 9 when we let him check himself out. He had to call us and go back to the room where we met him. If your daughter will be going to the Edge there is no check in/out. They are allowed to come and go as they please and they have activities out and about the ship. You will want to setup rules that work for your family.
Yes, discuss beforehand. I didn't think ds would be as interested in the Edge so we didn't even think about rules with activities until after he was registered.
Many parents with "young" Edge kids will set specific parameters or family rules: must contact mom/dad when leaving Edge, must meet mom/dad or return directly to the stateroom when leaving Edge, no going into other people's staterooms, no bringing friends to your stateroom, no going to the pool deck without mom/dad, etc. Whatever you feel is appropriate check-in for your child.
This is what we did. There were defined destinations that you were going to (Edge, Deck 11 for drink/pizza/ice cream, movie theater, character, etc). Ds did ask for permission if they did a scavenger hunt in Edge. We told him yes, but he had to either go back to Edge or to the room when done. No strangers in our room and no going in another room (except Grandma). We also had a strict no pool unless Mom, Dad or Grandma were in the pool area.
For him, he was never around long enough to meet anyone that he wanted to hang out with. He was fine meeting back up with us, dd or the teen to do an activity with or explore the ship
Thank you for the information. Our daughter is very independent which is good and bad at times. I think I give a little more trust when in a Disney envelop than else where. I don't have to worry about her too much because she is afraid to get into trouble. She would have a cellphone with her to be able to keep in contact with us.
This is more of me forward thinking as I try to debate on a
Disney cruise or not.
The app was very helpful for quick communication. Just know that notifications may not show up immediately so check if you are expecting a text. The app helped dd get more comfortable finding her way around.
Before we sailed we talked about being aware of their surroundings and to not hesitate to attract attention if someone ever made her/him feel uncomfortable. For example, having someone ask them to go to their cabin alone. We just made sure that they knew that even on vacation they needed to be aware and watchful of their surroundings.
Reinforcing general safety rules doesn't hurt even if your kids look at you like you have two heads, lol.
I cruised many times in my teens and 20s, but this will be our first
DCL cruise, and the kids' first cruise ever... do there tend to be many kids on their own? (serious question!)
My guess is that a majority of the 10-13 year crowd can explore on their own. I regularly saw this age getting on the elevator, walking around & exploring.
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