Rules for two families travelling together?

[i12go2wdw]

Our family of 6 is going on the 7 day cruise spending 7 days together with close friends and thier daughter. Our dds7 are best friends and spend loads of time at eachothers houses, our other 3 children get along very well with their daughter also, we have been friends with their family for 6 years and have camped together successfully. What issues should be addressed before we go to ensure (as well as possible) smooth sailing? I know there are some Dissers out there who have done this, thanks for sharing.

Christine

 

[SC Minnie]

I would decide ahead of time what you want to do together as a group. Make sure all parties understand up front that you don't need to spend every second of the day together. There may be some things each family wants to do as just a family.

Have a planning party and decide what everyone wants to do. Not everyone may want to go to the Princess breakfast for example. You may end up splitting into groups(mixing families) and doing your own things. Take the radios so you can keep up with each other if needed.

 

[ahutton]

I love the idea of a planning party, especially if some have been to WDW more than others. You could watch the video and maybe look through park guides or other planning materials. Then everyone can see what different people are interested in doing.

 

[jds]

I'd also suggest the parents get together before the cruise and make sure their rules (bedtimes, amount of freedom kids will have onboard, charging privileges, etc.) are relatively consistent, at least for kids of similar ages. There's nothing worse than having to listen to a kid whining "Mary gets to stay up til midnight, why can't I?", especially while on vacation!

Also, you may want a family code word to use if your kid has had enough time with one from the other family but doesn't want to hurt his/her feelings! My DS gave my DD14 a secret word to use when she'd had enough of her 9year old cousin (who was sharing our cabin), and it worked like a charm--she just found my sister, said the magic word, and her cousin's mom suddenly found something important that she and her daughter had to do together! (But I can't remember what the word was!)

Good luck, and have a great cruise!

 

[goofy4tink]

We traveled with another family a year ago. We both have dd's that are now 9. In fact we met in our natural childbirth class. I did most of the planning, while emailing people's need/wants/wishes etc. back and forth. I made up an itinerary, based on ps's and things everyone wanted to do. It worked for about 3 days!!! We finally just spent part of the day together. Did some meals together. But, I told everyone up front, that nothing was etched in stone...we were all free to do whatever we wanted to do. I would suggest that you make plans to spend partial days together(meals, parades). THat seemed to work best for us. In fact, the mom's are planning on going to WDW again with the girls when the girls are 12, about to be 13. No dad's. THey seemed to be 'the weakest link' so to speak.