Post kid bedtime activities for the parent that isn't in the room....

Lucille1963

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
To ensure our child's charming behavior, bedtime is pretty much sacred.

What do other parents do when they aren't the one in the stateroom with the sleeping child that isn't awkward?
 
Both dh and I head back to the room when the kids go to bed. We spend the evening together, reading, watching tv...other things. We always have a room with separate sleeping quarters from the kids.
 
We've often gone to the library/card room with my brothers/in-laws... which can get noisy, but on the last cruise, was less than 50 steps from our cabins. If you're travelling with others, you can grab a hot drink from the cafe promenade, bring some games (the in-house assortment is lacking) and play there.
 
Not sure I totally understand the question but I do whatever is available other than the dance clubs. Comedy shows, music, game shows, etc.
 


if you are needing to stay in the cabin once Junior is down for the night, you Get a balcony so you can at least put some distance and can speak at a normal volume. close the curtains but hit the balcony door light switch and you should be able to see enough to not trip over the chairs.

if they are old enough and you trust them to not sneak out or have a night terror once you have left.. you do what you want
 
I answered for Disney first. Deleted that and am now trying to think of what we do on Royal.

We all are generally so exhausted that no one is really going back out! Kid clubs don't go as late as on Disney so when DS closes it down its not as late. We’ve generally had long fun days so as far as I can recall we just all head to sleep.

On our last cruise DS was old enough for the teen club but he didn’t like it. So all the worry about late nights with the teens were for nought since he never went back after the first night.
 
We were in the same boat (no pun intended). It was a bit awkward at first. However, I found the Central Park area was nice with a book and the live music. The Cafe Promenade had nice coffee and a dessert, again with a book or my favourite podcasts on headphones. Once we got over feeling awkward about being alone, it was nice to just relax a bit on our own. One evening I went to the cantilevered hot tub. I'm a bit shy, so i didn't really make new friends, but I did enjoy some quiet time.
 


If you are staying in the same stateroom as your child, I would consider booking a room near a public space and bringing a baby monitor. That way, neither one of you have to sit in a darkened stateroom and you have a little freedom to read a book, play a game, have a drink, etc., but still be within steps of your stateroom. When staying on Freedom class ships (Freedom, Liberty), we've booked a midship balcony cabin near the library/loyalty desk/computer sitting areas that overlook the promenade. When sailing on an Oasis class ship (Oasis, Allure, Harmony, Symphony), we've booked a midship Central Park balcony stateroom on deck 10, and then sat in Central Park on deck 8. We've even found that the monitor will even reach to certain areas of the Promenade (i.e., outside of Boleros/near Starbucks Kiosk) from our Central Park Balcony Stateroom. I assume you could do the same thing if you have a Boardwalk balcony stateroom and wanted to sit somewhere on the Boardwalk. In terms of distance, it's really no different from having your child sleeping at one end of a two story house, and you taking the monitor with you outside while you wash your car. If your child wakes and needs comforting, you are no more than about 90 seconds or so away at any given time.
 

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