Is the teen program on the UK cruise exceptional?

We're planning a July 2019 family cruise around the UK which starts and ends in Southampton. We will be booking 2 rooms and our family consists of my DW and I, our son and his DW and their daughter who will be 14.

We're torn between booking rooms when they become available on Princess' Royal Princess or Oceania's Marina. On the Marina there is a putt-putt course, a netted paddle tennis court, croquet and shuffleboard, an artist loft and a culinary arts center, but they have no teen program.

So our question is what does Princess offer that allows families to do things together and what specifically do they offer with regards to a quality teen program, if they have one?

We realize on both cruises there are only 2 sea days, so there won't be a lot of idle time. However, a good teen program may come in handy, especially in the evenings when she may not want to hang with her parents and grandparents.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

The schedules for Europe in 2019 have not been announced. The Royal is doing British Isles in 2018 but the Caribbean is doing it in 2017 so until it is announced I don't know how you will know what ship is doing British Isles ??

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The schedules for Europe in 2019 have not been announced. The Royal is doing British Isles in 2018 but the Caribbean is doing it in 2017 so until it is announced I don't know how you will know what ship is doing British Isles ??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I really am more interested in teen programs in general on Princess. So examples on either one of those ships would be fine.

Some things to consider:

-I would not describe the teen program on any ship as 'exceptional'.

-Success and appreciation of the teen program usually has more to do with the specific teens involved than the program itself. At 14, that usually has more to do with the number of cute boys or girls to flirt with than anything else. Sometimes they find a great friend and hang out together night and day. Sometimes they don't. Vastly different opinions of identical program, all because of other teens onboard.

-Teen programs are not Family Activities

- I would give very little, if any, weight to the teen program onboard when choosing a cruise for a group of five consisting of four adults and one teen.

Some things to consider:

-I would not describe the teen program on any ship as 'exceptional'.

-Success and appreciation of the teen program usually has more to do with the specific teens involved than the program itself. At 14, that usually has more to do with the number of cute boys or girls to flirt with than anything else. Sometimes they find a great friend and hang out together night and day. Sometimes they don't. Vastly different opinions of identical program, all because of other teens onboard.

-Teen programs are not Family Activities

- I would give very little, if any, weight to the teen program onboard when choosing a cruise for a group of five consisting of four adults and one teen.

Thanks and I agree completely. From the one Princess cruise we recently took between Australia and New Zealand a few years ago, there were also a lot of fun family things to do around the ship. We'll probably book the UK Princess cruise as soon as it comes out, but I just wanted to make sure there was at least a good place for our granddaughter to escape to. My DW also recently read that Princess is reinventing their teen program which should be fully implemented by 2019, so that's also encouraging.