Any single parents???

[dizzyd]

Hi, I am a newbie to this board. I will not be going on the Alaskan cruise unfortunately, but hopefully will be financially able to make the next one. My question is this, are there any single parents that attend the cruises with their children? My partner of 17 years and I split up last August. I have custody of 2 boys and she has custody of one boy and one girl. My boys are the light of my life. They are 12 and 10. Thanks for any info.

[Picfan]

I was kind of wondering something similar. How many single non parents go on the cruise. I have a good friend who just split with her GF of 11 years. I was thinking of trying to talk her into the cruise this summer or maybe next. Are there some activities for them to make friends. I know I have heard talk before but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention.

[RainbowAngel]

The first cruise I went with my partner and my 12 year old. Last year, it was just me and my 13 year old, I had split with my partner.
This year friends of mine, a couple and their 14 year old are going, and I am going with my 14 year old.

There are lots of things to do on the cruise as a single. People are very friendly, and you make friends with people at lots of events. There are singles events. There were a couple singles mixers, there was a singles mystery dinner, there were lots of things to do to meet others. I had a great time even though I was not with anyone. My 13 year old did his thing with the teen group, and then he and I would meet for meals. If you have a younger child, they have set hours for the kids to be in Kids Crew, the teen group is a bit more flexible.

But I would recommend going whether you are with someone or not. You will love it, your kids will love it, and it will be a vacation to remember.

[dizzyd]

Rainbow Angel thanks so much for the info. I have a son who will be 13 in April and I have custody of my nephew who will be 10 on Saturday. Who knows, if my lawsuit settles this month or my disability starts next month, we just may make it in time for the Alaskan cruise. It sure sounds like alot of fun and it is something I have always wanted to do. I think the boys would enjoy it too.

[Crazy aka Cheryl]

Hi Singles,
I have gone on the past two cruises one year single. There are single woman on the cruise. However there is so much to do and so many friendly people to meet that I would recommend the cruise to everyone.You know that saying when your not looking is when it happens. There is not enough time in the week to do everything you want. I am already counting down to Alaska. It is by far the best time a gay person could have. They have everyone covered from infant to adult. They R family team manages to pull off a better cruise each time.I for one can not wait. IS IT JULY YET?:confused:
Crazy aka Cheryl

[cwor0306]

Hi,

I will be attending the cruise for the 3rd year and I am a single dad....we always have a wonderful time. Last year my mother came with my son and I she is now officially hooked...she will be back with us again this year.

I will also be having a few new additions to our family so I am excited my new son's will be coming with us. I can not wait it is always such a wonderful time. And someone mentioned there is so much to do and everyone is so friendly...it is a wonderful time for all.

I also suggest attend the singles events they are fun.

Chris

[Nightowls]

My 11 year old and I went on the cruise last summer. There was so much to do that it truly would not matter if you were single, with a child, alone or whatever. There were lots of parents with children and it was incredible to watch their interactions. My daughter loved the pool and came with me to all the shows we could go to. RFamily was great about posting if something was adult oriented so parents could make informed choices. We had the vacation of a lifetime and are totally looking forward to this summer and next February too. There are "singles" activities scheduled but I didn't attend any of them. My focus was time with my child and we were literally only in our cabin to shower and sleep and we didn't sleep much. There was just too much we wanted to do and no reason to slow down and sleep. We are counting days until July :) It is not exaggerating to say there is something for everyone and in a big way. You will not find a friendlier, more accepting family atmosphere anywhere. We RFamily is the feeling we all shared while there and look forward to being in the midst of again soon ~ all self contained on a ship together.

[goodmom]

I'm a SLM (single lesbian mom) new to this board and happy to hear that single parents have gone on r family vacations and had a great time.

However, are there any single parents of small children (under 5) that have gone on one of these? Were you comfortable leaving your child in the hands of strangers? Were there activities that the both of you could enjoy together?

I would love to consider trying one of these vacation excursions, but am concerned at how much my 3 year old or I would get out of it.

Thanks in advance for all of the responses. :D

--GM

[cebii]

I'm not a single parent, but have travelled on the past two cruises with toddlers. The kid's crew child care is pretty good. My two year olds had a great time and we had to drag them out. We were hesitant to use it at first, but got to the point where we needed some time for ourselves and it worked out well. Last year our twins were young enough to use the nannies and they were great.

As far as doing stuff together - most of the activities on the cruise are designed for that. There are themed meals and parties with all sorts of activties, kid friendly swimming pools, kid oriented concerts and shows. My twins were too young for any of the adventure type excursions, but we did go on a train ride where they saw mountains and snow and stuff. THere was enough to do that we never had trouble getting them to sleep at night.

Anne Yates also sets up a toddler playroom with lots of toys. The kids could do their own thing and we could talk to other parents while watching them.

Also, everyone on the ship is kid friendly. Both the crewmembers and other cruisers laughed off my kids' painfully two year old moments.

[goodmom]

Thank, cebii, for your response.

I'm glad to hear that when the cruise is described as "family friendly", that it actually is.

I guess that I will have to plan for a long-needed vacation! ;)

[Laura]

I am hoping that more single parents use this forum and go on an R family vacation.
I would like to see more get togethers for us on the cruise. I have felt in the past that the events for singles were meant more for singles (rather than single parents). Might just be me but would love to hear from others.
Laura
mom to Emma (10)

[Jan V]

I am hoping that more single parents use this forum and go on an R family vacation.
I would like to see more get togethers for us on the cruise. I have felt in the past that the events for singles were meant more for singles (rather than single parents). Might just be me but would love to hear from others.
Laura
mom to Emma (10)
Laura,

Suggest to Kelli and Gregg that they schedule a time for single parents and their children to get together. Perhaps you could all meet for lunch or dinner one day.

[Laura]

Sounds like a great plan. They do read this forum so I am sure we are duly noted.
Got that you guys, lunch , dinner (or a breakfast ) with single parents and their kids.My daughter and I are counting down the months till next July.:p
Laura (and the fab Emma age 10).

[angels4]

Hi,

I am a single mother of 4 (yes 4) children. We went on the Alaska cruise and had a GREAT time. I do have an infant son. He was 1 at the time of the cruise and it was great. I used the nanny service and felt extremely comfortable. They loved him and he was excited to see them every night. The play room set up by R family was wonderful and we met lots of parents there.

There were also some singles mixers where we met great people as well.

I would recommend this cruise to EVERY ONE!

K

[ourtribe]

Angels4,
What was the nanny service like...? Did you pay by the hour? Was there a choice in who was available? Did you have to sign up a head of time? How much warning was needed? Was the nanny service mostly used at night so that one could put younger kids to bed - in their bed - at a more "typical" bed time ... so that adults could stay up and go to a show or enjoy later evening socializing?

Going on our first cruise in Feb. Can't wait for the quality time with the kids BUT also looking forward to some quality adult time. I'm sure as a single parent I don't have to do any explaining in that department :)

Thanks for any feed back on the above,
James

[2moms2kids]

I'm not a single parent but wanted to comment on the nanny service. In summary, they were fantastic! We have been on 3 rfamily cruises now and because we have a new daughter (17 months old) the Alaska trip was our 1st use of the nanny service. They offered 2 , 3 hour sessions per night. The nanny service was located in a room on the ship. They are equipped with pack-n-plays and toys. They can only have 10 kids per session. This was great. It provided for a lower ratios. The downside is that not all who wanted nanny service were able to get it. They posted a sign up sheet @ 6:00 a.m. We were required to sign up @ that time. We were very impressed and also know that other's seemed to be too.

Hope that helps. Melinda

[cebii]

Angels4,
What was the nanny service like...? Did you pay by the hour? Was there a choice in who was available? Did you have to sign up a head of time? How much warning was needed? Was the nanny service mostly used at night so that one could put younger kids to bed - in their bed - at a more "typical" bed time ... so that adults could stay up and go to a show or enjoy later evening socializing?

Going on our first cruise in Feb. Can't wait for the quality time with the kids BUT also looking forward to some quality adult time. I'm sure as a single parent I don't have to do any explaining in that department :)

Thanks for any feed back on the above,
James

I'm not Angels4, but...
the nanny service is free. You have to sign up ahead of time, but there seemed to be plenty of slots. It was never a problem for us anyway because they put the signup sheet out around eight am and our kids had us up an hour or two before then. The nannies work as a group in a couple of conference rooms set up with baby toys and pack-n-plays. Your children stay there until you pick them up. They play with the babies and keep them occupied, change diapers and put them in cribs if they are sleepy. I don't know if they would put kids down at a specific time. The nannies are just for babies, under two, I think.
They have a kid's crew for older kids and toddlers. We used it a couple of times in Alaska for our two year old twins, and they loved it.

[opnurmnd]

I'm glad to hear there are other single parents out there! I am planning to go to Bermuda in 2007; I've waited three years for it to come back to NY! I am single mom of two boys, ages 6 & 8. I only wish the price for the room would accommodate single parents & my eight year old didn't cost as much as me! Any thoughts on an inside room to save some money?

[Nightowls]

Kind of goofy that there is no allowance for us single moms (or dads) on single incomes. You can go as a single person and have an entire room to yourself for less than a single mom with a single child. I have had to pay two entire adult fares and adult tax etc. for myself and my under 12 child for each cruise and it is hard! It would still cost me less to pay the single fare (one fare and a half the adult cost) and the child cost than it does to take your single child with you. It is also especially hard seeing someone encourage their child to go up during a performance (like the past cruise) and interrupt that performance and then see that child immediately rewarded with a cruise for her and her family. Try explaining that to your well behaved child who doesn't understand why being disrespectful to all those sitting nicely is rewarded. That obviously did not sit well with me and won't. Nor did seeing multiple parents egging on their children to go run in front of the stage or climb the steps prior to and during performances. If kids are old enough to bring to the performances they should also watch politely and respectfully and not interrupt everyone around them. All that aside, it will be a wonderful experience that you will never forget. Nothing is perfect obviously ~ RFamily comes way close tho and there will be glitches no matter where you go or what you do. We did go with an inside room this time. You are honestly not in the room enough to justify paying the extra money for a more expensive room, in my opinion anyhow. There is too much to do out and all over the ship.

[opnurmnd]

Kind of goofy that there is no allowance for us single moms (or dads) on single incomes. You can go as a single person and have an entire room to yourself for less than a single mom with a single child. I have had to pay two entire adult fares and adult tax etc. for myself and my under 12 child for each cruise and it is hard! It would still cost me less to pay the single fare (one fare and a half the adult cost) and the child cost than it does to take your single child with you. It is also especially hard seeing someone encourage their child to go up during a performance (like the past cruise) and interrupt that performance and then see that child immediately rewarded with a cruise for her and her family. Try explaining that to your well behaved child who doesn't understand why being disrespectful to all those sitting nicely is rewarded. That obviously did not sit well with me and won't. Nor did seeing multiple parents egging on their children to go run in front of the stage or climb the steps prior to and during performances. If kids are old enough to bring to the performances they should also watch politely and respectfully and not interrupt everyone around them. All that aside, it will be a wonderful experience that you will never forget. Nothing is perfect obviously ~ RFamily comes way close tho and there will be glitches no matter where you go or what you do. We did go with an inside room this time. You are honestly not in the room enough to justify paying the extra money for a more expensive room, in my opinion anyhow. There is too much to do out and all over the ship.
I just booked the cruise for 7/07!!! I am very excited; can't wait to tell the kids after school. Hope to see you there :)