? about kids signing themselves out of the Lab

[brerrabbit70]

Okay, I want to hear from all the other over protective parents out there

My husband keeps telling me not to worry, but........ We will be going on our first cruise in March. DS will be 12 and DD will be 91/2. I know that they will be in different age groups and DS will be able to sign himself out because he is over 10. Now, DD assumes that because he can do it so can she.

How do you know when they sign out? What if they can't find you or the stateroom? I know they can't get lost, but what if they don't know that.

This is the only part of the cruise that has me worried.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[mnmomof1]

Hi, you will receive a pager when your kids sign up for the kids program. On my cruise last year it worked great. My dd, then 11, paged us to say she was leaving the club and was coming to the room. They can tell you wherever they are going when they page you. It is great for peace of mind, so even though they are checking themselves out you still know what they are doing. Have fun, Kim

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

I know they can't get lost

How do you know that???...

I want to hear from all the other over protective parents out there

In my opinion, a 12-year-old boy does NOT have street savvy and let's not even get into a 9-and-a-half-year-old girl. There are over 3,000 people on the ship. You trust them all? I certainly don't.

My husband keeps telling me not to worry

About what? The stock market? World peace? The environment? Or something smaller - like the safety of your children aboard a floating city? For practice, why not drive to a not-very-local mall you "trust," leave the children off and see if they make it safely to a rendezvous point about three hours later.

Sorry about the apparent rant, but being on a "family" cruise doesn't waive parental responsibilities and common sense. Would you also agree to sign a legal document alleviating DCL of any liability should your children become victims of any passenger or crew member's deviancy? If not, which I hope is the case, then you and DH might want to seriously revisit this issue...

 

[cruisnfamily]

I bumped this thread up for you. This topic was discussed pretty recently and I thought you might want to read it.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=427699

 

[S. C.]

Hi brerrabbit

You have a choice if you want them to sign themselves out or not. Our GS was 10yrs in july and we would not let him sign himself out. Just like BD said there are 3000 strangers on board. GS was not happy with us and complained that EVERYONE else in the lab could sign themselves out. We told him we were not everyone elses grand parents.

I would not of been able to enjoy the cruise if i had to worry about GS wandering around the ship by himself.

 

[aprilgail2]

I agree with BD! I would not EVER let my 12 year old wander around a ship alone never mind a 9 year old child! There are child molesters and weirdos everywhere, just because it is a Disney Cruise does not mean "no perverts allowed".

 

[tksbaskets]

On our cruise at New Year's the boys were 11 and were able to sign in and out. We made a deal with the boys that they HAD to have the counselors page us (usually with a generic 'your 10-12 yo has signed out and will meet you ---') when they left the lab. They never abused the privilege.

We would then meet up in our cabin and then the boys would either go with us or let us know where they were going. The only activities they really went and did on their own were to go to the movies and the lab activities.

The boys were very good about having us paged. DH and I did enjoy the adult pool and hot tub while the boys were at the goofy pool and even there they would check in with us to tell us what they were doing (peering over the railing at the adult pool )

So to make a long story short....the boys did not have 'the run of the ship' and DH and I always knew where they were. It was VERY nice not to have to sign them in and out of places. This way they could go to the lab if they wanted while the hubby and I lingered over dessert and coffee. The cabin was a convenient place to meet up. We purchased the DCL lanyard that held the KTTW card and they wore it around their necks. I never worried about them loosing their card then.

Getting lost wasn't an issue for us at all.

Hope this helps.
T

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I am definitelt not an over-protective parent, but I have to go with BD on this one....Although I trust my DS, it's all the other wackos in this world that I do not trust.

I am now trying to figure out how we will be able to have some control of my 16 year old stepson when he cruises with us (for the first time) next year. Even at age 16, I think the kids are easily persuaded into doing things they shouldn't

 

[brerrabbit70]

Thank you for the wonderful advise and link (Sonya ).

One of my reasons behind letting them sign out was they do not serve snacks or sodas in the clubs. My kids are kinda soda junkies and I don't want to come down/up there everytime their hungry or want a coke.

There will be definite rules (page us with location and return time, buddy system, etc.) and limitations.

You guys are the greatest!!