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Getaway summer cruise - teen demographic?


Freshycat
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We will be on a 9-day NCL Getaway cruise of the Baltics in August with my extended family -- grandparents, 6 parents, 6 teens. Does anybody have any idea how many teens would be onboard a summer cruise of the Baltics? Also, what proportion of them would go to Entourage, and what proportion sticks to their family? What is the Entourage "population" likely to look like?

 

I look at the fancy Entourage area and wonder if it'll just be a small handful of teens eyeing each other nervously! Lol.

 

The reason I ask is because while my teen kids and their cousins usually get along great, sometimes my daughter gets left out because she is the youngest of the group -- boys 19, 17 and 15 and girls 16, 15 and 13-going-on-14 (my daughter).

 

No one is mean, it's just how things shake out when the cousins break off into smaller groups by age/interest. I know my daughter would love to have other options, but it's our first cruise and she's a bit nervous. She's generally pretty good at making friends if there are any available to be made.

 

Also, I'm just curious about teen life in general on board a Getaway-size ship.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies. :)

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I had to double check my itinerary as I couldn't figure out how Getaway could be doing the Western Caribbean and the Baltics in the same month. I see that your trip is August 2019! I'm new to NCL, didn't realize the same ship does the Caribbean and Europe in the same month in different years!

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The key is to have all the teens go to the first night registration, that is when the 'groups' form. Your daughter will meet lots of kids so the cousin thing probably won't be an issue.

 

 

This is also a very port intensive cruise, so there might not be a lot of socializing as you will be up early to tour all day and then fall exhausted into bed ready to go it again the next day.

 

 

For excursion ideas go to the PORTS OF CALL forum for EUROPE you will get a ton of ideas on what to do in the ports.

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I guess it will depend partially how late in August. We went 2nd week of June on Sun and there were 49 kids total but as I understood it school wasn't out yet in Europe.

 

The kids were from all over - US, Australia, Europe.

 

Getaway has more bells and whistles so it will probably attract more families.

 

The 19 yo won't be able to go to the kid's club.

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I guess it will depend partially how late in August. We went 2nd week of June on Sun and there were 49 kids total but as I understood it school wasn't out yet in Europe.

 

The kids were from all over - US, Australia, Europe.

 

Thank you! That is good to know. Is that 49 kids in Teen Club and not kids total? For June, that sounds pretty good, I expect it will be way more in August so I will tell DD to calm down.

 

The 19 yo won't be able to go to the kid's club.
Lol, that's OK, he'll probably be trying to talk up the crew and get into the engine room to see the controls. He's got a pilot's license and is studying aerospace engineering. I don't think he'll be that interested in Teen Club. In fact the 17-year old and 19-year-old might be bringing their girlfriends (who will be invited, but if they were my daughters, I think I'd say NO no matter how nice the boys were) so we may not even see them much.

 

@cruisegal

I had to double check my itinerary as I couldn't figure out how Getaway could be doing the Western Caribbean and the Baltics in the same month. I see that your trip is August 2019! I'm new to NCL, didn't realize the same ship does the Caribbean and Europe in the same month in different years!

 

Lol, sorry. I'm new too, didn't realize how well-versed people are on each ship. And yeah, I know I'm planning way ahead, but we had to book now to get the specific grouping of cabins we wanted and I'm planning a larger Euro vacation with just my immediate family at the same time. I thought I'd do all my research now so I can jump on all the bookings as soon as they are available. Direct flights from my city are snapped up.

 

@Sauer-kraut

The key is to have all the teens go to the first night registration, that is when the 'groups' form. Your daughter will meet lots of kids so the cousin thing probably won't be an issue.

 

 

 

Thank you so much! Great advice, I will make sure they both go the first day.

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I agree with making sure they go to Entourage the first night. Last trip we didn't push my son to do that night and he never hooked up with any kids his own age. Still had an ok time, but not the same as hanging out with peers. We leave in 10 days and our deal is he has to at least go the first night for an hour or so. If he hates it I won't make him go back but I'm sure he will meet up with other teens to hang out with on board. He had the best times when he was able to do this in the past and Mom and Dad have a better time as well with some "Us" time as well as family time.

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We travel with our teenage daughter and no siblings (they are grown and gone) so she’s alone with us unless she makes friends. She always goes to the intro session at Entourage and it’s always jam packed. You do need to get them signed up when you board the ship. She always makes a core group of ten kids or so and that is who she runs with most of the week. Trip report is here https://gotravellife.com/2018/01/03/about-us/ and I’ve got a section and pics of entourage.

 

 

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Thank you! That is good to know. Is that 49 kids in Teen Club and not kids total? For June, that sounds pretty good, I expect it will be way more in August so I will tell DD to calm down.

 

Lol, that's OK, he'll probably be trying to talk up the crew and get into the engine room to see the controls. He's got a pilot's license and is studying aerospace engineering. I don't think he'll be that interested in Teen Club. In fact the 17-year old and 19-year-old might be bringing their girlfriends (who will be invited, but if they were my daughters, I think I'd say NO no matter how nice the boys were) so we may not even see them much.

 

@cruisegal

I had to double check my itinerary as I couldn't figure out how Getaway could be doing the Western Caribbean and the Baltics in the same month. I see that your trip is August 2019! I'm new to NCL, didn't realize the same ship does the Caribbean and Europe in the same month in different years!

 

Lol, sorry. I'm new too, didn't realize how well-versed people are on each ship. And yeah, I know I'm planning way ahead, but we had to book now to get the specific grouping of cabins we wanted and I'm planning a larger Euro vacation with just my immediate family at the same time. I thought I'd do all my research now so I can jump on all the bookings as soon as they are available. Direct flights from my city are snapped up.

 

@Sauer-kraut

The key is to have all the teens go to the first night registration, that is when the 'groups' form. Your daughter will meet lots of kids so the cousin thing probably won't be an issue.

 

 

 

Thank you so much! Great advice, I will make sure they both go the first day.

 

49 kids total across all ages.

 

Later you go in August, less kids.

 

ETA: NCL doesn't let guests in any engine areas and they have squashed the invites to the bridge.

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We travel with our teenage daughter and no siblings (they are grown and gone) so she’s alone with us unless she makes friends. She always goes to the intro session at Entourage and it’s always jam packed. You do need to get them signed up when you board the ship. She always makes a core group of ten kids or so and that is who she runs with most of the week. Trip report is here https://gotravellife.com/2018/01/03/about-us/ and I’ve got a section and pics of entourage.

 

 

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Is this in the Baltics?

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No - but this has been our experience across the board. We did Europe with her on the epic and it was same story. Go first night to teen club for the ice breaker and rest of week was great. In the summer it was very busy - she also loved that there were so many different languages spoken. It was a great trip.

 

 

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We ve been on that ship to the baltics last year , son is 13. Not too many kids on the ship since in Some european countries holidays do not last till the end of August. But like someone said, so many excursions, no time for Entourage . He was just happy to stay with us and enjoy the games and shows and parties.

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We ve been on that ship to the baltics last year , son is 13. Not too many kids on the ship since in Some european countries holidays do not last till the end of August. But like someone said, so many excursions, no time for Entourage . He was just happy to stay with us and enjoy the games and shows and parties.

 

Thanks so much. That is interesting about school holidays, I didn't even think about it. I did find this site here about EU holidays: https://www.schoolholidayseurope.eu/. It sounds like a mixed bag, with many holidays over by mid-August and others running until late August or even early September (e.g., France, England). So I think I can expect a summer bump without the crazy. That might be perfect!

 

We travel with our teenage daughter and no siblings (they are grown and gone) so she’s alone with us unless she makes friends. She always goes to the intro session at Entourage and it’s always jam packed. You do need to get them signed up when you board the ship. She always makes a core group of ten kids or so and that is who she runs with most of the week. Trip report is here https://gotravellife.com/2018/01/03/about-us/ and I’ve got a section and pics of entourage.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks for the fantastic Trip Report! I enjoyed every bit. I think my teens would be thrilled to ditch the parents for a bit, and I won't mind because by then we'll have done 2 weeks in Europe with them.

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Remembering my teen years (which I can, sort of) and my experience as a teacher, I advise you to choose your excursions very carefully, looking for the ones that will be of most interest to the various teens (and those might not be the same for all of them). Many of the students I've taught, middle-school and high-school ages, would have hated being taken to museum, churches, and historic sites; some had no interest in any history that happened before the time they could remember. Frankly, those I've known would prefer just to bum around in the city all day and do essentially nothing, but that may not be acceptable to you.

 

I think that Tallinn and St. Petersburg will be the biggest challenges--Tallinn because its medieval heritage gets so much emphasis, St. Petersburg because there's so much emphasis on the palaces and museums, and because, unless you all obtain Russian visas, you have to be under the supervision of a guide.

 

NCL hasn't posted its shore excursions for the Getaway in 2019 yet, but you can get a sample from the listings for the Breakaway this year. However, you have a large enough group to work with private tour agencies to construct the tours that will fit your group best, so you may want to visit the ports-of-call board for northern Europe and the Baltic Sea to discuss the tour agencies available in each port. Some of the kids might be interested in a tour that includes a prison, the KGB headquarters, and the monument to the victims of political repressions.

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Remembering my teen years (which I can, sort of) and my experience as a teacher, I advise you to choose your excursions very carefully, looking for the ones that will be of most interest to the various teens (and those might not be the same for all of them). Many of the students I've taught, middle-school and high-school ages, would have hated being taken to museum, churches, and historic sites; some had no interest in any history that happened before the time they could remember. Frankly, those I've known would prefer just to bum around in the city all day and do essentially nothing, but that may not be acceptable to you.

 

I think that Tallinn and St. Petersburg will be the biggest challenges--Tallinn because its medieval heritage gets so much emphasis, St. Petersburg because there's so much emphasis on the palaces and museums, and because, unless you all obtain Russian visas, you have to be under the supervision of a guide.

 

NCL hasn't posted its shore excursions for the Getaway in 2019 yet, but you can get a sample from the listings for the Breakaway this year. However, you have a large enough group to work with private tour agencies to construct the tours that will fit your group best, so you may want to visit the ports-of-call board for northern Europe and the Baltic Sea to discuss the tour agencies available in each port. Some of the kids might be interested in a tour that includes a prison, the KGB headquarters, and the monument to the victims of political repressions.

 

Thanks for your insight and help. I think that's a great point. My husband loves art galleries and I love museums, but our teens do not, and we have pondered how to balance the kids' interests. We'll be spending a couple weeks in Paris and Copenhagen before, and I was thinking of making the morning "Parents' choice" and the afternoon "Teens' choice." So yeah, we may spend a lot of our time shopping, eating pastries or hanging around at our hotel instead of seeing the sights, but c'est la vie, it's their vacation too. Plus this way maybe they will be willing to let me cram a bit of history and culture into them. Quid pro quo, right? :)

 

For the cruise, I was thinking the same as you and was planning to DIY except in St. Petersburg, where a tour seems to be a must. Even so, I was going to book a private tour and ask them to ease up on the number of sights and allow more exploring time for the kids. The rest of the time, we were just going to stick fairly close to the port town, volunteering to take any other reluctant teens if the adults want to do a serious excursion, such as Warnemunde-Berlin. I see the cruise as more of a sampler of cities, I have zero expectation that I can satisfy myself with any of these great places in less than a day. I'm just looking for exposure, to see where we / they might want to come back to in the future.

 

I was wondering if teens that age can return to / stay on the ship on their own, or whether parents are always required to be present? I was thinking in Talinn or Warnemunde, where the ship is right there, they could go back on board while we continued to explore.

 

Although secretly I am hoping they will meet that great friend who will make them want to come on all the excursions. Everything is fun with a friend, right? Lol.

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Although secretly I am hoping they will meet that great friend who will make them want to come on all the excursions. Everything is fun with a friend, right? Lol.

 

That's true. I've noticed that teens sometimes don't much care what they're doing if they're with others they like.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that your party has enough adults that you can split up if not everyone wants to do the same things.

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Tallinn is perfect for kids or teenagers. We always look for the free walking tours, those guides are students ( like 20 years old ). They do connect a little bit with the teenagers and they have the same interests. Our guide was really anti russian ( like most of the tallinn people ) and he made funny jokes about them . My son had a great time! We also wached the changing of the guards , really nice, the orchestra ( don t know how to call them properly,) plays mordern songs like michaen jackson , not the army songs :) . Just be in time, there is a huge crowd !

In waernemunde we went on a tour with a segway, he loved it! In stockholm we went to the vasa museum, that is all about the vikings .

St petersburg is of course quite historical and we did the museum, but we also took the hydrofoil to st petershof. You can even do a detour to the footballstadium , it s not far from the harbor.

Copenhagen we did quite a few times, we go to hardrock cafe , you can go to tivoli ,an amusment park, there is a splendid sea life park in copenhagen, time is too short ..

I m sure kids can go on and off the ship, they never asked him where his parents were when he entered. But i m not sure about that.

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