Pearl and teenagers

We are looking for a quick- and within a tight budget_ spring break cruise.

It is down to the Pearl out of NOLA and a RC( LOS) out of Galveston.

With this, that and the other... the cost is pretty much exactly the same- so that is a non factor.

But on the bells and whistles chart... pearl has very little. BUT I keep seeing how much people love it.

Has anyone cruised it with Teenagers (14/11)?

Haven't been on it yet but will be on the ship spring break next year with 2 twelve year old boys.

We cruised on Pearl recently with younger kids, so I don't have direct experience, but I think an 11 year old would have a blast in the splash academy. They group the 10 through 12 year olds together, and from what I saw it was a raucous group. I have less insight into how the 14 year old would take it. There seemed to be a number of kids of that age roaming free on the boat, or using the pools or sports court, or the arcade or bowling alley. I think it depends on your 14 year old's interests and ability to make friends with strangers.

I just got off the Pearl on Sunday and traveled with my 15 and 11 year old sons. Both of them pretty much preferred to hang with us or in our room. We gave them permission to use the arcade with daily limits. The arcade has many machines that are designed to just keep kids chugging money into it and my 11 year old, who typically is quite responsible, really went overboard. So I would advise you, in whatever ship you decide, to set some sort of spending limit on their account.

While my kids didn't really use the Splash Academy or Entourage they absolutely loved the cruise, the Pearl and our vacation.

Just cruised the Gem with my 14, 16, 19 and 20 year olds (our previous cruise was the Breakaway). They all met new friends, we saw them at dinner (and in passing).

I've been cruising since I was 11 with NCL, throughout my teenage years. I really love NCL, the pearl is a slightly smaller than most of their fleet still lovely!

I always used to make friends on my cruises as a teenager (still know them now!) The teen club and meet ups/events are really cool, I used to love them.

Incase you want to chat to young cruisers we've made a little young cruisers community at http://www.cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk lots of lovely people to help you decide :-)

Both sound like fabulous options to me!

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We have just returned from an Alaskan cruise on the Pearl July 9 to July 16. We traveled with our almost 15 year old grandson and our daughter, his mother. I had read about the Entourage Club for teens and thought our DGS would like it since hanging out with his mom and his grandparents might be a bit lame. But I was really disappointed in the Entourage Program. There was no staff to take Entourage registration on the first day during the posted hours. When we went to the Splash Academy there seemed to be a great deal of confusion about what we should do. We were initially sent to one line and after a long wait were sent back to Entourage. Still closed. We were finally directed to someone who could do an Entourage registration but it was very disorganized and absolutely no effort was made by staff to make our grandson comfortable with the concept--probably because there was no Entourage staff person at the registration. Still we encouraged him to go up on the first night after dinner but when he arrived there was no staff counselor and only a few teens who ignored him completely. So he left. He made one more attempt on the second night but when he got to Entourage there was no one there. The schedules are not posted clearly nor are the posted hours adhered to. Staff does not appear to make any effort to help teens meet one another or assist less outgoing teens. I can't speak for the program because we never found out what it was. Our grandson ended up watching movies or playing video games most evenings.

We went on the Pearl twice a few years ago when my boys were about your kid's ages. My 11yo LOVED splash academy and wanted to go to the club everyday. Our previous cruises were mainly on Disney but the Pearl's Splash Academy was by far his favorite. A different theme each evening with organized activities.

My older son who is fairly shy was 13/14yo at the time, so younger end of the age group for Entourage. He didn't enjoy it much. They had activities listed on the schedule, but they often didn't pan out due to either kids not participating or ??? I felt the age span was too large. The "highschool" teens were definitely in a different developmental level than the younger "middle school" teens. I think he would have loved being able to do Splash Academy activities with other younger teens or even the younger kids. He wasn't really the hang out, social butterfly type. I liked the staff at entourage, so not knocking them. I just think it's a tougher age to group together

Like I said, he is shy and a bit of an introvert... I saw lots of teenagers who found new friends and hung out all over the ship, so I think it works for most teens. My boys are now 14 and 16. They get to be in the same club(any ship), but they don't hang out there. They enjoy hanging with us, which is fine for me...After sailing the Getaway and Epic, the Pearl is still our favorite ncl ship.

I have been on both ships but with younger children. My guess is that Liberty of the Seas would appeal to young teens more. From Johnny Rockets to the ice skating ring to a much fancier arcade plus bigger pool area I think it would be a better fit. Can't speak to the teen programs.