In between age cruiser 17-20, please help!

[ejkj84]

I am in charge of researching cruise information for our next family cruise, and was wondering which ship would be best for my family and I. I am 20 and my brother is 17. My parents will also be going also. The three we are considering now are:

Carnival Conquest

Princess Caribbean

HAL Zuiderdam

We also looked in to RCCL, the big ships, but they seem to be over our price range. My main concern is meeting up with people my age. I was wondering if any of these ships and anything special to offer that inbetween age of 18-20. I am shy at first, as in I cant just walk up to people I dont know, but usually make friends easly once introduced.

Also with drinking, it is not that big of concern, I dont want to drink alot. But what would they do if say my parents bought me a drink or two? Also let me know if there are any things I cant do besides drink and gamble on each ship.

Any information would be greatly appreciate, expecially from people in this age range. Also any links to posts where this has been talk about before would be great, I could not find much.

I have been on two cruises before. One on celebrity when I was 17, they did not have a very organized or interesting programs for people my age. I will not settle for sitting around playing uno for 3 hours on my vacation! Luckly my brother and I entered about every triva competition and won about 3 times. I loved the looks on the adults faces when a 17 and 14 year old won agame about stuff they should have known.

[Bert64]

I've only cruised on Royal Caribbean, so this information is only related to that cruiseline, but I found they had plenty of organized activities for people under 21 to participate in. There are also alot of families cruising with children/teenagers, so there would probably be alot of new people to meet. As far as drinking goes, if you are between 18 and 20, Royal Caribbean lets parents sign something at the beginning of the cruise which allows them to drink beer and wine, but no liqour. Also, I know when I cruised underage, I had no problem getting drinks from the bar (I guess it all depends on how strict they are enforcing and what bartender you get) and my friend and I had so much fun we didn't want to go home, so I'm sure whatever cruiseline you choose, you'll have fun. Check around for prices, I've always found good deals for Royal Caribbean, but hopefully someone can help you out with info on the other cruiselines.

[kitty9]

To be honest, Royal Caribbean is the very best for cruisers your age. HAL tends to have a much higher average age (they're generally known to be the cruise line of choice for senior citizens), and Princess just doesn't seem to attract as many younger people. There's just so much more for people your age to do on RCCI, and there tends to be many more in your age range.

 

If you do some checking, I think you can find some really great deals for RCCI cruises. I've actually found HAL and Princess to be more expensive than RCCI. But of the three choices you've given, Carnival is your best bet for finding others of your age. Carnival attracts a younger crowd so your chances of meeting up with others is better than with Princess or HAL

[Gingee]

We were on the Conquest this last summer. My daughter was 20. She had a hard time finding kids to hang out with. The same for the previous year on the Sovereign.

[ejkj84]

what month did you go?? We are planing on going the first week in august

[Gingee]

If you are talking to me, we usually go the end of July.

[KathyB]

We sailed on the Carnival Glory last July (the 24th) with our two kids (16 and almost 20) - there were tons of others their age. Many, Many early 20 year olds. My two had a great time and met many new friends. We are sailing again this year on Carnival Miracle (the 24th!) with them. I think Carnival is definitely your best bet - have sailed on Royal Caribbean with them before and they both prefer Carnival. We used to sail in April with them but changed to July when my son hit college.

[Gingee]

To the person with the l6 and 20 year old. That was the ages of my girls last year. My l6 year old had no problem meeting people but the 20 year old did. Where did your 20 year old find friends?

[KathyB]

Gingee

 

My son is 20 and met tons of others between the ages of 18 - 22 on the ship - they all hung at at the disco every night. I read you were on the Conquest - in July? We did the Glory July 24th. We were also with friends who brought their 20 yr old daughter and she had a ball also.

 

Kathy