How do you feel about turning your child loose on a cruise ship ?

[Tyrone Biggums]

I've never been on a cruise and have no desire to go. Seems like a filthy, germ infested way to piss away a good chunk of change and precious time off equivalent to spending several days in a Flying J truck stop restroom.

[brandon01rt]

It all depends upon their age

[Cobraman]

If you need me to chaperone, my bags are packed.




Cruises are da bomb

[lowthreeohz]

^^ pedobear

[CJ-95GT]

There's a reason certain cruises are geared for kiddo's.

And Pedophiles (sp?). Late teens maybe, but not any younger. Times are different and predators are more savey.

[lowthreeohz]

I'd be savey too after spending thousands on a kids cruise.

[Chili]

Depending on their age I would not recommend letting them run free.. Not because of them but because who knows what kind of pervs may be on there. The kids programs are great and have a ton of activities and free time. I would recommend that if they are going to be on their own, that you put them in the kids club.

If they're older and you are comfortable with them being able to be on their own, get some of those inexpensive 2 way radios (the FRS type walkie talkies) and you should be able to stay in contact with them anywhere on the ship. I would recommend those if you are going with other families / couples anyways. They come in really handy for getting in touch with friends / family on board..

[BradM]

I dont think you should let them have too much freedom. If some kid was bugging me and their parents weren't around, I'd just throw them overboard. I know I can't be the only one.

[Chas_svo]

They won't let me on a cruise.

Fixed that typo for you.

[CRASH]

My daughter is 11, the youngest daughter of our friends just turned 12, and their older daughter is 14.

She is a great kid, very respectful, and has never met a stranger that she couldn't make friends with in under two minutes. Oh, and she's beautiful.

[coley]

I would let my son (he is 16) and even though my daughter is about to turn 5, I wouldn't care if she was 14, 15, or even 16 I still wouldn't let her. I am a little over protective with her.

[Big A]

A cruise ship is nothing more than a small city, if you wouldn't let her run loose in the mall, then she isn't old enough to be unsupervised on the ship. Granted, the cost of admission will keep petty criminals away, but there's nothing keeping molestors or other deviants from cruising. The staff is also made up of all kinds of people, no telling what their backgrounds are.

[Treasure Chest]

Getting out on the road to get to the ship is more dangerous than being on the ship. Rooms were much cleaner than a lot of the hotels you find. Staff is much nicer than you will find anywhere. Sites you can't see by bus or car.

But with all that said....I would not say a cruise is the "best vacation" you can have. The Alaskan cruise was 1000 times better than the Caribbean cruise. Yet the sites around the pool were much better on the Caribbean cruise....lol

I hate being confined to a small space and being told what to do, when to do it, and with whom. I like the lessened odds of contracting the Norwalk Virus at a resort, and I'll put my money on the service and staff at my favorite family-owned resort over any staff member on a cruise ship!

[46Tbird]

I've never been on a cruise and have no desire to go. Seems like a filthy, germ infested way to piss away a good chunk of change and precious time off equivalent to spending several days in a Flying J truck stop restroom.

LOL. Could not have stated it any better myself. Some people love going on cruises but I don't imagine I'd like to spend a week in a hotel with a shopping mall for entertainment.

Have fun Aaron!!

[mystic96]

My kids are 5 and 7 so the only time they were out of our site was when the grandparents were watching them or when they were in the Camp Carnival kids daycare/activity area. The daycare had activities planned pretty much all day long, provided meals, and had options for late night care up til 2am...so if you wanted you could pretty much never have to see your kids for the entire trip LOL

We didn't leave ours in there that much. Just when they were having activities our kids wanted to do pretty much.

I think if our kids were older, pre teens, early teens, I might feel more comfortable letting them hang out by themselves in the arcade or or at the pool, but on our cruise there was a lot of un-family friendly type stuff going on I wouldn't really be comfortable having my really young kids around.