Times sure have changed. I remember when I made my first six Cadet trips that there was no vessel tracking. The only calls home were from the Seaman's Clubs or other places with international calling. Schedules often changed anyway; port added or subtracted. It wasn't much better for the first few years after I got out, either, even up to when I came ashore in '88. I don't know if having daily, often continuous contact is better or not. Often family at home didn't know where I was for weeks or more at a time.
Now, even when I go offshore for a few days, I have steady email and phone contact. It seems strange to me. I actually like the disconnection with shoreside life. I seem to recall that John D. McDonald would sail as a passenger on cargo ships to write his novels. Not a bad idea. Most of the passengers that we had on our ships back then were like that. Very interesting people that wanted to really "get away".
As a parent, I can see how it can be difficult, but I also know that my kids, as young adults, also need to feel that they are living their own lives. Very few things give that feeling more than being at sea and in distant lands.
I am not editorializing as much as I am just thinking out loud, so to write.