Single Mom/Daughter

[Lollipop's Mom]

Would we have any fun cruising? It would be just me and my 8 yr old daughter. I am afraid she would be off having fun at all the kids stuff and I would be wandering around lonely. Are the kids off doing activities for the majority of the cruise or ????
Any single moms take one child? Please share your experience.

 

[kcashner]

Single mom been cruising with DD since she was 4, on DCL since age 7. She just turned 13, and wanted a trip on the Magic for 13th birthday.

I actually like my "alone" time. ON some of the trips, she's been very happy in the kid programs, other times, she wants to hang with me. They key is whether or not she makes a buddy in the club/lab in the first day or 2. Go to the "cruise meets" section and see if you can find another family with a same age/sex child. Then do some e-mail correspondence between the kids prior to sailing. WHen they get on board, it is like meeting an old friend.

I like the adult programming on the Eastern especially...I love the rainforest, and for the first time, I tried some of the adults only things (like Serenity Bay while she did the teen excursion). No, I'm not lonely...not ever!

There are activities for "singles, single parents, or travelling alone" which I have done on occasion. Sometimes we sit alone together at dinner, other times we have met wonderful table mates. I don't specify before boarding, but let DCL assign us where they will in that regard. We do request our favorite server.

We read the kid's navigator each morning and decide which activities she wants to do. We generally go to the shows together. My experience is that an 8 year old will do the lab for a couple of 1 1/2 to 2 hour stretches per day...so that's a total of about 4 hours....the rest of the time, mine wants to be with mom. This recent trip was different because she was now officially a "teen" so could hang in the Stack. She spent more time there than she ever did in the Lab.

On day one, go to see the rainforest. If you like it, you can do the fitness room and rainforest every day and enjoy your time alone. Ditto the hot tub and adult pool.

 

[Scratch42]

Being a single mom this is when I got me time! I just made myself available if she wanted to "hang" with Dear Old Mom! But usually, she would end up ditching me because "Something came up!" LOL

There is so much to do or not do, depending on your tastes!

You meet some wonderful people, make new friends, I can't say enough!

I can hardly wait until our next cruise! There is still so much that I have to do!

Plus sign up for the Dismeet when you are cruising, it's a great way to meet people on your cruise! I've gained a "Sis" and a life long friend!

Hi Minybear

You won't regret it! We don't!

Scratch

 

[LogansMommy_MD]

...this will be DS5 & my first Disney cruise and we both can't wait!!
We've done other "single parent family" vacations, but this is the longest!!

As the previous posters said also, I'm looking forward to some ME time and meeting new friends! DS and I already talked about our "plan of action" - if he goes to the Club, fine; if not, fine too. We're both on vacation and my idea of vacation differs from his I'm sure.. but, I'll be just as happy spending every minute with him or reading a book in a lounge chair..... In fact, I'll be happy not having to work for a week +!!!!

HTH - I say go for it!!

 

[bairdbeth]

My DD (also 8 years old) and I will be taking or first cruise together on DCL on July 4. We can't wait. I am sure she will want to go to the kids club alot. I plan to go to presentations or read a book by the pool when she is there. We have agreed to do dinner and the show together every night and to go swimming at least once a day. If she doesn't like the club, we will hang out together all day. Personally I hope she likes the club so I can chill out and do nothing! We are spending the week after the cruise at WDW and I need to rest up to keep up with DD!

 

[clh2]

If I can't convince DH to go on another DCL cruise, it may boil down to just DD and me!

(just as a note - the cruise we took last fall was my idea of a dream vacation - not my DH's. He doesn't like the heat. So while he didn't have a bad time - he would prefer to go driving somewhere in the midwest. In my opinion, if I'm not starting a vacation in a plane or in a train - it's not a vacation!)

My DH was only out on Castaway Cay for about an hour - he couldn't stand the heat (this was in late October) so he went back on the ship. DD and I were about the last ones on the ship at the end of the day!

My advice would be - be specific with your child. There may be times when you want to do an adult-only activity, and state what your expectations are for your child in that time-frame. Do they need to stay in the clubs - or can they be in a particular part of the ship. (BTW - I highly recommend the wine tasting. I did this "solo" since DH had not interest in this.) By all means do Palo, they won't bat an eyelash if you do this solo. Be respective of what your child wants in terms of the Palo evening. Our DD, who had a friend that had just gone on a cruise - did not want to miss "TIP NIGHT" So, we made sure to schedule Palo on the first night, instead of our last night.

Enjoy your vacation, find the right balance between "family time" and "Me-time." Have a great time!