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My boys will be turning 14 and 16 at the time of our late June cruise, and I've been wondering about a few things:
(1) If DH and I go to Palo or Remy (fingers crossed!) can the boys still go to our regular rotational dining restaurant that night by themselves if they want? Or should they just do room service or casual dining?
(2) Any thoughts about what a reasonable curfew might be? At home, I've generally asked my DS15 to be home by 11:00, but have given him extensions to midnight for special circumstances. (DS13 hasn't really needed a curfew yet.) I like the advice of setting a curfew with teens in advance of sailing, but I'm not sure what the teen dynamic will be like on the ship, and if our regular curfew setup would be too limiting.
(3) On Castaway Cay, if the boys want to hang out at the teen beach and DH and I go to Serenity Bay, is there any way we can touch base with each other? Or would the only way to connect be to set up (in advance) a meeting time and place somewhere in "family" territory?
Thanks so much for your help! I love thinking about this cruise, and I'm trying to imagine what various things will be like for us. (When I imagine, most of it seems amazing! )
We took our first cruise this summer. My boys are 15, 13 and 10. We let the older 2 stay at the teen club until 11 or 11:30 each night, but the last night we let them stay until 12 (party went till 2 I think). They wanted to stay later every night (!!) - mainly my oldest - but I could not really sleep until they were back in the room.
When we went to Palo (DH, DMum and I), we got the kids dinner earlier at one of the quick serve places, then sent them off to the kids' clubs while we ate. I think you could definitely send them to the normal dining rotation if you wanted, but my 13 and 10 year olds are not adventurous eaters, and so they were better off with pizza or burgers ahead of time. One night my 13 year old was in a mood , so he stayed in the room and had room service on his own. This is a good option, too, if your boys would prefer it.
We went to the family beach on Castaway Cay, so I can't help there. You'd probably need to set up a meeting time and place if you did split up.
1) How about letting them dine where they want? They can certainly dine in the regular rotational dining room if they choose - they'll be quite welcome (you could mention your plans to your sever the evening before, just for the heads-up). If they'd rather do casual dining (which wouldn't be surprising), that'll work just fine, too - they can participate in teen activities, hang out, eat when they're hungry, do a movie... teens night out.
2) This is an issue for any evening, not just Palo/Remy night. Set a curfew in advance that you'd be comfy with at home, with the understanding that you'll adjust things later if they and the teen program prove to be worthy of the trust.
3) Unless you bring walkie talkies, the best bet is the pre-arranged meeting. And even with walkie talkies, if they're in the water when you call, you won't be connecting. Chances are, if they've made some friends in the club, they won't feel the need to touch base with you, and just as when they're visiting the home of trusted friends back home, you probably won't feel the need to check up on them (they will be well chaperoned). If you feel the need to touch base in person, I suggest you do it before lunch time (like, a couple of hours after you hit the island). By then you'll all have a good enough idea of how things are going that you can figure out the rest of the day (eat together or separately, etc.). Plan to meet at the game pavilion - it's relatively convenient for all of you, and won't be an awkward invasion of "turf."
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Thank you for asking this question. We will have my (then)16 year old DD with us when we sail next November. I really hadn't thought about any of the things you brought up, but now I have an idea.
Since she isn't allowed to go out right now (she is still only 14), then this next year will give us an idea of how mature she is and if she can handle staying at the teen club a little later.
Beth and Dave, thank you so much for your answers! You are both so helpful! I now have a better sense of what things will be like for us, and how to maximize the boys' independence while still being able to relax and enjoy myself!
With regard to question number 1: on the 2 nights we ate at Palo on the Baltic Cruise our DD10 ate by herself on our regular dining rotation. The first night she was entertained by our servers with various "table games" involving crayons and some magic tricks. The second night she was joined at our table by one of her ship girl friends and they had a wonderful, ladylike dinner party with specialty drinks (smoothies) , appetizers, dinner and dessert. So, yes your kids will enjoy eating by themselves at the regular dinner rotation.
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Last edited by MickeyWatch; 10-18-2010 at 09:21 AM..
Reason: typo
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With regard to question number 1: on the 2 nights we ate at Palo on the Baltic Cruise our DD10 ate by herself on our regular dining rotation. The first night she was entertained by our servers with various "table games" involving crayons and some magic tricks. The second night she was joined at our table by one of her ship girl friends and they had a wonderful, ladylike dinner party with specialty drinks (smoothies) , appetizers, dinner and dessert. So, yes your kids will enjoy eating by themselves at the regular dinner rotation.
Thanks for sharing about your daughter's experience! I have started imaging my boys going to a sit-down dinner on their own, and it's kind of cracking me up! (in a good way) I will definitely let them choose what they want to do for dinner that night...it's just good to know what their options are!
All I can say is that we hardly ever saw our kids when we were on the cruise. They had a blast at the teen club. They had no curfew when on the ship. I figured this is their vacation too. They can't get in to too much trouble on the ship and the teen club is supervised. They had their own room which was beside ours so they didn't wake us up when they came in late at night. Did I say they had a blast. They made so many friends. We would meet up for the occasional dinner but that was about it. We also met up for the theatre each night and ofcourse excursions that we had planned. On Castaway Cay, they went on the teen excursion and we didn't see them until we were back on the ship. My husband and I went to the adult beach. It was great. We never had to worry about them and they had the best vacation of their life.
Your kids will have a great time. They will bug you to go again and again.
Our kids did eat at our normal rotation the night we were at Palo. They were almost 14, and 10 at the time. We had another family of 4 at our table, and I hadn't planned on sending the kids to the dining room that night, as I didn't want the other family to feel like they were babysitting for us. But they insisted it was fine, and our servers encouraged the kids to come. They had a great time without us!
For a curfew, most nights my son was expected to be back to the room at midnight. We were in the Baltic, and seemed to have a time change nearly every night. So one night, they'd already turned the clocks back on the deck, and DS came home at 1 am, thinking it was midnight! As someone said - they can't really get in to too much trouble on board, so we weren't too worried. He came home about the time DH was getting ready to look for him. We'd assumed he got caught up in a soccer game on the sports deck (he spent most of his time there).
Good luck!
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, so he stayed in the room and had room service on his own. This is a good option, too, if your boys would prefer it.
NYC-Canada Cruise Sept 2012
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I will definitely let them choose what they want to do for dinner that night...it's just good to know what their options are! 
Angie
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