questions about cruising with teenage daughter

[firstcruiseCanadian]

Hi, I'm planning to take a cruise this summer with my daughter, who is 14 She is looking forward to independent time (ie. without me!). Wehave gone to resorts before where she was off with teen groups, and then met up for dinner, etc. but on a large ship, how do I find her without looking for hours? She will wear a watch, but loses track of time. Is there a message system? I'm a single mom and this is my first cruise, so any advice is welcome! Thanks

[Ruby]

HI,
I am also cruising with teenagers this summer. Our first instinct is to take those walkie talkies with us so that we can have contact with them. I've heard that others have done this. I'm not sure how well they will work within the ships structure, but they are a consideration.
Another idea that I have read about is to use sticky notes in your cabin. If you want to meet her somewhere at a certain time, leave her a note. However this system will fail if she doesn't check back at the cabin.....

I would like my kids to be off entertaining themselves, but don't want to lose track of them. They are well behaved and seem to know the difference between right and wrong behavior in public, but don't want to leave them for the whole day without any contact. I also don't want to be sitting somewhere where we are supposed to meet for hours while they lose track of time and forget to meet.
This WILL be fun, right!?

[firstcruiseCanadian]

Ruby,
Thanks for the advice. Sounds like you have the same dilemma. I don't think my daughter will go for the walkie-talkie idea, and you're right, a sticky note won't help if she doesen't check the room. I'm thinking about getting her a wristwatch that has an alarm, and setting it to go off when she has to meet me. I'll run that idea past her. Otherwise, I'll be either sitting around waiting, or looking frantically, neither of which I want to be doing. At least, I know that the ship's activities will keep her busy, and she can't leave the ship! Let me know any other ideas you have.

[Darcy]

I've cruised with teenagers and we take the walkie talkies. We've found the 5 mile range ones work the best (we have COBRAs). The kids have to check in every hour by walkie talkie and every two hours in person. The consequences if they don't are they have to stay with us for the rest of the cruise. At night we are all together unless there is an organized teen event they are attending. Just because you're on a ship, doesn't mean there aren't any "bad" people. I treat it just like being at home. Don't forget there will be about 2,000 other people on board that you don't know. Other good ground rules are not giving out your cabin number or other personal information, no going to someone else's cabin or having someone come to yours. Meet any new friends in public places. If you set your drink down (soda) and leave it out of your sight, get a new one. No wandering around up on deck at night without an adult. Good kids can run into trouble that they don't know how to handle if they are by themselves.

Hope this helps.

Darcy

[firstcruiseCanadian]

Thanks Darcy for the advice and warnings! I'll see if we can borrow or buy some walkie-talkies. I know my daughter will forget to check in if she's having fun, so I'll be able to check with her. I didn't even think about the room numbers, etc, so thanks again.

[LisaK]

make sure that you enroll her in the teen programs. Let her pick and choose the activites that she wants to attend, that way you will know where she is during teen program times. Desiginate specific times and locations to meet during the day, with consequences if she doesn't keep up her end of the deal.

[lougee1043]

i personally would tell my daughter in similar circumctances that if she wasnt mature enough to carry and use the walkie talkie then she was not old enough to go off by herself and she would have to stay with me at all times------------after all i am still the parent and she is still the child