I know a lot of parents cruise with their teenagers and I thought this might be helpful for them. This one is geared toward RCI but you can tweak it to fit your ship and personal requirements.
This is a contract between parents and their teen when cruising. Before you sail, go over your rules and parents and child both sign it. Then pack it in your bag and bring it with you.
First of all I want both of us to have fun. This should be a relaxing vacation. You are the most special person in the world to me and I love you very much. I am concerned for your safety. I hope that noting my expectations and rules in place before we depart will avoid any misunderstandings on-board.
** Note that violation of these rules will result in you being required to stay with me 100% of the time and not participate in any of the teen activities
1.) You are not to enter any cabin but ours. I don’t care if it is the cabin of a new friend or someone we already know (unless I expressly approve this). People have been known to harm others when they are taken into a cabin.
2.) No one else is to enter our cabin.
3.) If you are in our cabin alone – hang the do not disturb sign out on the door. This should prevent any RCCL employee from entering. Please ensure you remove it when you leave the room.
4.) If you are in the cabin alone and someone from RCCL enters (i.e. room steward) ask them to leave and come back later (approx. when you will be gone). If they do not leave, you are to leave and go to the customer service desk. You are not to be in our cabin with any other person unless I am also there.
5.) You are not to drink any beverage unless it is handed to you by me or an RCCL staff member. You are not to drink from anything you have let out of your sight unless entrusted to a known person. For the purposes of this cruise, the only know person is me – it is not someone you have only known for a few days. Some people have been known to slip drugs into other people’s drinks. This is a lifelong rule that should be followed in any social situation.
6.) I expect to know where you are on the ship. We will use the whiteboard over the door handle.
7.) You are NOT to loiter or play in the stairwells, hallways, or elevators.
8.) Activities such as “knock and run” or calling other cabins to hang up will not be tolerated.
9.) The ship’s curfew is 1am since you are under 18. For any activity past 11pm, I will meet you and walk you to the cabin. I am not afraid of what you may do but what some drunk person might do. I agree not to show up earlier than our agreed to time.
10.) I have the right to require you to be in the cabin earlier if I am concerned you are over tired or we have an early morning activity.
11.) Your Sea Pass is tied to my credit card. It is to be used only by you. You may not buy other people drinks, snacks, arcade games, or souvenirs. You have a budget of $70. This should cover 1 “mocktail” or Ben & Jerry’s per day plus a little more. If you exceed this budget without my approval, you will need to work it off after we get home. I have sole discretion at what constitutes “working it off”.
12.) If you loose your Seapass you are to immediately notify me.
13.) I expect us to eat dinner together each night. I am flexible if there is an alternate activity you would prefer to attend as long as we have discussed it in advance (at least that morning). You are expected to eat at our specialty reservations.
14.) If there are kids you would prefer to hang out with instead of the teen club, I need to meet them.
15.) If you order room service, you must tip the delivery person. I will provide, upon request, the money for this.
16.) I will pay for 1 visit to Johnny Rockets and one milkshake in addition to your $70 budget. Any extra visits will come out of that budget unless approved by me.
17.) If we arrange a check-in time and you miss it then you are “grounded” for the next 24 hours. This means that you must stay with me.
Excellent. I'm expecting the girl to be officially a teen by the next time we cruise, so it is a major concern to me and I can modify and use this. (that part about not buying drinks -- or gifts -- for others will be important, as well as the safety issues as she tends to want to treat her friends)
This is Fantastic!!! We are already getting 'feedback' from our teen regarding his curfew and his activities. This should eliminate those conflicts as it is all there in writing. Great idea! The only thing I am adding is regarding Formal Night photos - something like this:
On one formal night, you will be expected to be showered, dressed appropriately, and be on time for family photos. You will be expected to be the for the duration - however long that may take - with no grumbling and you will be expected to smile. You will be notified that morning so you will have ample time to properly prepare yourself. :-)
This is Fantastic!!! We are already getting 'feedback' from our teen regarding his curfew and his activities. This should eliminate those conflicts as it is all there in writing. Great idea! The only thing I am adding is regarding Formal Night photos - something like this:
On one formal night, you will be expected to be showered, dressed appropriately, and be on time for family photos. You will be expected to be the for the duration - however long that may take - with no grumbling and you will be expected to smile. You will be notified that morning so you will have ample time to properly prepare yourself. :-)
That reminds me of the Royal Car. commercial with the girl who won't smile (except when she's on a jet ski).
[That reminds me of the Royal Car. commercial with the girl who won't smile (except when she's on a jet ski).]
My thoughts exactly cruisin' chick! He really is a sweet child but is just completely bothered with anything 'family' these days - or at least gives that appearance. He sees no reason to get off the ship whatsoever - why would you? Everything you need is on the BOAT!!! We are dragging him on the canopy tour and I intend to get a photo of him smiling at some point - just like the teen on the jet ski!
My girl loved the kids' program so much, she just wanted to stay on the ship. We figured it was her trip too, so we would sign her into the program and then go off the ship. When we did, we would stay near the pier and get back on with at least an hour to spare before sailaway. The one excursion we did without her was a ship-sponsored excursion. The van got back after the sailaway time, but the ship waited for our group.
The next cruise she got to pick (but we were in full agreement with her) and she saw each of the ports with us. The one time she stayed onboard was in Honolulu at night when we went to a store. She even enjoyed (mostly) the tour we took on the big island, and she was the only minor in the van.
We'll have to work everything out for our next cruise, whenever that is. But I do remember getting lots of compliments about her behavior from other passengers on past cruises, and we would still expect that on any future ones. In fact, last night we were at a mall, taking a break from walking around. There was an Easter bunny set up (to sell photos) nearby. There were a couple of toddlers and preschoolers running about and our girl befriended them and kept them company so that their mothers can sit and relax. One mother even thanked her.
Thanks for the sample contract! We are taking our 14yo niece on a cruise with us and this will be very beneficial! She's never traveled anywhere, much less cruised. I do kind of expect her to be with us most of the time because she is shy, but we've been trying to prepare her for the other teen activities that are available and hope she participates. I'm most worried about how to meet up with her after late night activities... but I'm sure we will work it out.
Thanks for the sample contract! We are taking our 14yo niece on a cruise with us and this will be very beneficial! She's never traveled anywhere, much less cruised. I do kind of expect her to be with us most of the time because she is shy, but we've been trying to prepare her for the other teen activities that are available and hope she participates. I'm most worried about how to meet up with her after late night activities... but I'm sure we will work it out.
I think if your niece meets her fellow teens the first night (at the registration meeting) and sees what activities are available, she might just surprise you and be busier than you. I've heard some parents and kids use post it notes to communicate, but I guess you can always arrange one place to meet up with for any checking in, just in case you don't want her to stick around the cabin for hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djonemore
It's a vacation, you need to relax a bit, this one seem extreme to me...
IMO, I don't think it's extreme to expect your child to check in once in a while. Many teens do like some boundaries as it does give them an excuse to duck out of unwanted activities gracefully ("my parents would simply kill me if I don't check in with them").
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A Cruising Contract for Teenagers
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I'm expecting the girl to be officially a teen by the next time we cruise, so it is a major concern to me and I can modify and use this. (that part about not buying drinks -- or gifts -- for others will be important, as well as the safety issues as she tends to want to treat her friends)
This should eliminate those conflicts as it is all there in writing. Great idea! The only thing I am adding is regarding Formal Night photos - something like this:
He sees no reason to get off the ship whatsoever - why would you? Everything you need is on the BOAT!!! We are dragging him on the canopy tour and I intend to get a photo of him smiling at some point - just like the teen on the jet ski! 
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