csgrkw
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2014
Welcome to the group Kevin!
Let me start with letting you know I have been exactly where y'all are. Our boys have been very young, tweens, teens, and now, one, is an adult when we sailed with Disney. So, we have gone through the transition with both boys (from not signing themselves out to having that freedom). We also have sailed before on board texting and with it. Our experience has been much like you describe - Not very dependable. We will continue to give the app messaging the benefit of the doubt, and give it a try on the first day. If we see no improvement on day one (leading up to dinner), we will revert to the wave phone. Side not on the wave phone (and other safety guidelines)...On the way to the boat, we take the time to read the cruising contract, we are required to sign before boarding, with the boys. We make sure to emphasize that we will be responsible for any damage that is a result of something anyone in our traveling party did or does, and if anything happens to the wave phone, there will be a $250 charge to our account (I think, it may only be $200), and if one of the boys was responsible for the damage they will be responsible for that charge. At the time we are talking to the boys about the contract, we also give them the speech that goes as follows: If you, at any time, aside from being up on the pool deck area, you find yourself going from a carpeted area to a metal area beneath your feet, STOP, Turn around, and Return to the carpet. The only time you can go 'Back Stage' (meaning anything that is not a guest area) is if you are doing so under the direction of a cast member. ~This suggestion is of course based on the idea that you have previously gone over the safety with adults / strangers topic~ We also explained that if for any reason, we get a call about them from a cast member, punishment is sure to follow (imagine this being said with a serious mom face and with that 'LOOK'.
Okay, back on topic....
When it comes to testing the waters (pun not intended) of maturity and responsibility, I can't think of any better place to do it than on a Disney cruise. Yes, they can find trouble, but there is so much positively engaging fun for them to use their energy on, that if you feel that you can trust them, that they should be safe. I also would not worry about any deep water swimming or high diving.
A few suggestion that have helped us feel comfortable with the test of freedom are:
1) We require everyone dines together for breakfast and dinner. This helps everyone get a good start to the day, and a time to catch up in the evening...side note, this was difficult for me because we are a very tight nit family and enjoy spending time together, so only connecting twice a day took some getting used to.
2)When the boys were first transitioning in to this new freedom, they had to call us when ever they planned to leave one place to go to the next. Keep in mind one of the activities done in Edge is a scavenger hunt in which the counselors send the kiddos out into the far reaches of the boat to find different items, or accomplish different tasks. This is a time when I witnessed several kids running about, causing some kind of trouble. At younger tween ages, our boys were not allowed to participate in that.
3)A rule that we still hold the boys to (well our 21 year old is in his own room, so this no longer applies to him) is they can not go to the cabin with out first contacting us, and getting permission. They are not allowed in anyone elses cabin, period. Again, a place I have seen teens causing problems is when they are running up and down cabin hallways.
4)My last suggestion is one that we have our boys adhere to at home as well. If the phone rings, pick it up. If the boys would not pick up when we called, they would loose the freedom to sign themselves in and out.
And, of course, every rule has it's punishment if broken.
These are just a few suggestions that have worked for our family. They have helped us all to enjoy ourselves and given the boy an opportunity to have a little more freedom. I hope this helps.
~Tink~
Thanks for the reply and great information. We actually created a "contract" that our son has to sign that is both fun AND serious about the rules and his responsibility...and he seemed very responsive and positive!
