? for Conquest Mike

[cali-croozer]

Now that you're back from the Conquest (I've read some of your other posts).....can you tell me how it went for your 15 and 17 year olds (my boys will be that age when we cruise). Did they play basketball and ping pong? Did they hang out in the teen dance club at night? Was there anything Camp Carnival offered to this age group (meet and greet, etc.)? Any other thoughts/tips for my boys? Thanx

[serene56]

Tip #1- take early dining- unless you dont care to eat with them as a family during the week. If you "expect" your sons to eat with you during the week-let them know this before you go as to ward off any hard feelings that may come up. My kids were told they can spend all day with their new found friends but dinner was mandatory as we were on a family vacation.

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Tip #2- no matter how lame or uncool your kids may think it is--- teen meeting that first night is important. All the kids from the cruise that week will meet up. the kids will thank you later in the week.

[cali-croozer]

Tip #1- take early dining- unless you dont care to eat with them as a family during the week. If you "expect" your sons to eat with you during the week-let them know this before you go as to ward off any hard feelings that may come up. My kids were told they can spend all day with their new found friends but dinner was mandatory as we were on a family vacation.

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Tip #2- no matter how lame or uncool your kids may think it is--- teen meeting that first night is important. All the kids from the cruise that week will meet up. the kids will thank you later in the week.

 

 

Thanx. This will be their 3rd cruise so they know what we expect. We do eat all together each night (early seating). On the last cruise, we were sharing a room, and, on the 2nd formal night, they were nowhere to be found (4 in a room are usually getting ready at the same time). Anyway, I was starting to get angry, and a little worried. My husband and I decided we'd just go to our table, and who should be there............our 2 kids (teens) looking mighty fine. They had changed early!:)

 

And, they do realize the importance of making friends that first night. I've joined the roll call board and there are already several families with teens on our cruise, so maybe they can even "meet" through the roll call.

[serene56]

That first meeting is soo very important. ANd I cant stress it enough to first time cruisers with teens...without coming across as ??? Teens form their legions early on the cruise... Just like in real life.

Then reading from parents who are upset coz their teens want to spend time with the kids.. thats why its important that kids know what to expect when they go away.

[cali-croozer]

I agree about the teen meeting, especially since camp carnival activities are very limited for this age group...........it's important for the pre-teens too. On our first cruise with the kids the meet and greet for non-teens was for 12 and under w/parents. A big age group! We, reluctantly, went into the lounge where it was happening because it was mostly ages 6 and under and they were doing the "hokey-pokey". Anyway, long story short, my 11 year old met the only other 11 year old there and they were best friends for the rest of the cruise. They did meet other kids throughout the week through the camp carnival activities.

[hlsess]

what is the age for the teen group?

[cali-croozer]

what is the age for the teen group?

 

There's a 12-15 year old group that has quite a few activities daily. There will be a few organized activities for ages 16-18. The Capers from the Inspiration cruise we took in 2003 show a "teen scene mixer" for ages 16-18 on the first night and a "teen meeting" for 12-15 year olds.

[ConquestMike]

Hi Cali, I found it LOL Respectfully I would disagree with early seating, we requested early but got the late seating and were we happy, never rushing to dinner from excursions, could enjoy a mid afternoon snack and not worry about being hungry for dinner, one night they had a 7pm show for late diners instead of 1030, ability to linger while the sun is still out on deck, take a nap if you wish,,everyone is different but knowing you have kids the same age you might want to rethink dinner times, I will always do late from now on though Im sure it wouldnt be good for very young cruisers or toddlers,, ...everything is planned around both dinners with the exception of the Camp Carnival meet and greet the 1st night so we missed dinner the first night and went to this for our 9 year old girl,unfortunately she didnt use camp carnival much, for some reason not many used it this week. The people who run it are fabulous and told us there were 500 kids aboard and 52 girls from 9 to 11 yet whenever my daughter did go there would only be 2 or 3 her age there and it turned out boring for her so we didnt force her to go, she still had a great time as her sisters would sit with her at the pool and take her to shows etc which was very beneficial for their bonding, we were very gald to see this...Actually I can give you 2 perspectives since my sis in law and their family were on Glory the same week with their kids too. She said the same thing about Camp Carnival and that is one reason I am against kid limits since not all use the Camp and the more kids the better chance of meeting someone they will click with...

Anyways, back to your question with the teens, well, I hate to say it but the teen scene aboard was non existent,,the only teens we seen at the teen area would be a couple of boys now and than playing video games, never seen a teen in the teen disco at night, I mean not one !! I dont know if it was the cruise we were on but my sis in law said the same thing about Glory, she has 2 boys that are 20 and 18 so they could do all the adult things aboard and than 2 girls 16 and 8 and the 16 year old would go to her room at night and watch movies mostly. Luckily for us my daughters had each other and would do things together especially afternoon activities and the show at night which is another reason for late seating.They could sit on deck in the sun all day, leisurely make their way back to the cabin, have time to shower and clean up, go to dinner and the show and by that time it was midnight and they were tired and in bed. Believe me, with the exception of my 15 year old being sea sick the first day they had a great time, relaxing, eating seeing shows even though they didnt make new friends and the bonding we saw take place between the 3 girls made the cruise worth it just for that..Now being you have boys and boys like video games they may have a better shot at meeting new friends as we would usually see some boys playing video games especially in the afternoon,,,than again my sis in law went a few years ago before her boys were 18 and they all hung out together with their sister too and had a great time,,we really didnt see many planned activities for the teens, a meet and greet in which nobody was there and a few other planned dance nights in which nobody showed up, cant remember seeing and B Ball tourneys or anything like that but did see some playing B Ball....If you want to fill their time I would reccomend the late seating though because once you finish dinner at the early, go to the show maybe, than its only 9 pm or so and Im sure your boys dont want to go to bed at 9 each night LOL much more for them in the afternoon to do so having late wont cramp their style in this regard

[cali-croozer]

Thanx for your reply.......we'll stay with early dining because that's what we're used to and nobody in our group wants to eat late, but I know what you mean about sometimes having to rush to get ready for early dinner and, sometimes, that lull after dinner for an hour or so. There are pros and cons to each of the dinner times.:rolleyes: That's a shame that no teens attended the few planned activities........I hope they are more active on our cruise. There is a roll call for my cruise and there are a few families with teen boys going, so maybe they'll all meet up. Thanx again for responding........it was hard to track you down with the web-site acting up and all.:)

[Intrudr]

cali - we came up with a minor work-around to the early seating. Go to dinner 15-30 minutes late. The line is gone, you can waltz right in to your table without being herded. It's easier to stop by the Atrium bar for elegant cocktail after the dinner crowd has gone in and you have some extra time to get ready and not be stressed about being punctual.

[ConquestMike]

Thanx for your reply.......we'll stay with early dining because that's what we're used to and nobody in our group wants to eat late, but I know what you mean about sometimes having to rush to get ready for early dinner and, sometimes, that lull after dinner for an hour or so. There are pros and cons to each of the dinner times.:rolleyes: That's a shame that no teens attended the few planned activities........I hope they are more active on our cruise. There is a roll call for my cruise and there are a few families with teen boys going, so maybe they'll all meet up. Thanx again for responding........it was hard to track you down with the web-site acting up and all.:)

Yes it has been hard lately LOL seems to be working better now,,,I really think the things with the kids is hit or mis sometimes, you just dont know till you get there LOL There seemed to be a larger college age crowd aboard for ours probaly since the colleges go back later than most of the High Schoolers or Grade Schoolers,, We had a lot of people chatting on our roll call thread but only a few showed up for the sail away and none thereafter except Bob and I, after a few drinks we were convinced Elvis was onboard...hope your trip is great, if you have any other questions feel free, I have loads of tips especially after using this site

[TxStacey]

Our group of 24 was on the Elation last June and we had "kids" of all ages from 7 to 19. Our biggest complaint about camp carnival was that they don't do enough to try to get them involved. We went with our 5 girls age 11-12 to the meet and greet the first night and hardly anyone showed up. There was nothing organaized, the parents just has to "sign them up". They never went back to any activites becasue they thought it was boring. I know that Carnival could come up with some method to get these pre-teens/teens more involved. They are afterall called "fun ships" Luckily several of the teens in our group are very social and met up with ther kids their age by just meeting them around the ship. We had one or two that are a little more shy and probably would have benefited from a more organized first night meet and greet. I just feel that Carnival has the resources to really tap into this age group and at least on the Elation last June they did a poor job. Anyone eles have the same experience?

PS: I realize that this age group is "fickle" and a little difficult to please. I have a 13 year old daughter....

[ConquestMike]

Our group of 24 was on the Elation last June and we had "kids" of all ages from 7 to 19. Our biggest complaint about camp carnival was that they don't do enough to try to get them involved. We went with our 5 girls age 11-12 to the meet and greet the first night and hardly anyone showed up. There was nothing organaized, the parents just has to "sign them up". They never went back to any activites becasue they thought it was boring. I know that Carnival could come up with some method to get these pre-teens/teens more involved. They are afterall called "fun ships" Luckily several of the teens in our group are very social and met up with ther kids their age by just meeting them around the ship. We had one or two that are a little more shy and probably would have benefited from a more organized first night meet and greet. I just feel that Carnival has the resources to really tap into this age group and at least on the Elation last June they did a poor job. Anyone eles have the same experience?

PS: I realize that this age group is "fickle" and a little difficult to please. I have a 13 year old daughter....

I agree with you, teens are hard to please as everything has to pass the cool test and nothing organized or with a theme can possibly seem to pass this test,,,I wrote in another post that I wonder is Camp Carnival is run by Corporate Types trying somehow to maximize the parents dollar rather than supplying a fun atomsphere for kids, dont get me wrong they do a good job on board but its the programs scheduled etc that seems off and the teen scene is really non existent,,my doughters are 17 15 and 9 and though all enjoyed themselves they did not meet up with others in their age groups, Camp Carnival seems to center on acrivities for those younger than 11 but they do not go out of their way to get kids of this age group to get to know each other which is usually the difference between kids wanting to go or not, regardless of the activities. Plus they schedule activities at odd hours and close at different times..Camp Carnival is not geared toward teens at all and I didnt see any activities scheduled exclusively for teens other than meet and greet type of things and lame sounding dance parties which were not attended at all. I think they should put away their expert Dr Phil or Oprah type books on entertaining teens and go to the source, the teens themselves and see what it would take to get em more involved

[TxStacey]

Mike,

You are so right!! I agree that they seem to have no clue how to "tap" into this age group. We had 5 girls, age 12, last year that sat in the hall around our cabins for a great deal of the time last year. If you ask them, they had a blast. Is it what we had in mind when we each paid $800.00 for them to go on a cruise? NO! We as parents pictured them getting involved in losts of fun activities with pre-teens their age. Carnival does a great job of getting adults involved if they want to be, but a horrible job in getting pre-teens and teens involved. In my opinion, most teens would love to meet up with kids their age, especially those teens that are on a cruise with their "boring" parents. I have an only child. If we were to go on a family cruise, just the three of us, she would be miserable with the current way Carnival deals with teens and so would we. We are taking 4 out of the 5 same girls this year and we have told them that they WILL NOT be sitting in the hall this year!

[medotmom58]

Just a comment - we were just off the Conquest sailing on 12/26/04. This was our first Carnival sailing and it is just three of us, husband, myself and 16 yr old son. We've done RCCL before but he still found this to be a great cruise and met some really great kids. There did not seem to be as much organized activities for teens but every time we walked by the teen center, they always were either hanging out in there or on the couches on deck 5. I think it depends on your teen - I am lucky to have one that makes friends easy.

[cali-croozer]

It sounds like it just depends on what kind of teens are on your cruise. If Carnival has a teen meet and greet and nobody goes, like on Conquest Mike's cruise, that's not Carnival's fault. I've heard of both extremes........."nobody in the teen center" and "the teen center was the happening place!" If the kids aren't going to go to the few activities planned to break the ice and meet friends, they wouldn't be participating if there were more activities.

 

I told my kids, the first time we cruised, that the amount of fun they have would depend on if they get out there and meet other kids and participate. This was when they were 11 and 13. I did have to help them out that first cruise. They met a couple of kids at the meet and greet, but I helped bring others into their group by talking to kids that I might see by themselves and pointing them in the direction of my kids, or if I was on the elevator with my kids and another kid came in, I would just introduce them. On our second cruise, my kids were 13 and 15. They knew what to expect. They found even more friends on that cruise and still talk to them, through instant messaging! We'll be cruising again in June, and they'll be 15 and 17. They'll go to the meet and greet and, hopefully, we'll be sailing with other teens that want to meet others.

 

Stacy..........about the girls just sitting around (but having a great time). Maybe they didn't meet others because they already had a group. Of course, there's nothing wrong with cruising with friends. It's just that I've seen this before in other situations, like camping. The kids that are already with a group of friends/family sometimes keep to themselves. My boys have different interests and don't really want to hang around each other 24/7 so it's important for them to be outgoing and meet others.

[ConquestMike]

It is hard to get the teens involved and like was posted here the week before us the teen disco was hopping, our week nuthin LOL My oldest daughter is very outgoing, within 5 minutes sitting poolside she would have people watching her stuff while she left for a minute LOl my middle daughter is a bit more reclusive but once she feels comfortable she is the lifs of the party so to speak..There was just something missing though that I cant put my finger on..I know boys will go anywhere they think girls will be LOL just kidding,,just seemed to me everything planned was not really taking the teens into account, like was said the 5 girls had a ball hanging out in the hallway, go figure, just how teens are, they just want to hang out and the way the tenn disco is set up and the activities such as meet and greet seem too contrived, like something adults think teens would like and not really what teens want,,,as far as Camp Carnival goes it is exactly what was said here, sign em up when you want for a certain activity, the counselors try but again it seems to really not take into account what little kids would want, just trying to keep em entertained so parents can enjor themselves,,,I think the key is to do things so kids will bond with other kids, not just show up for an activity but never get to know one another if you know what I mean, if they make some friends than the kids will want to go and enjoy their cruise much more, the 10pm to 3 am is nothing more than babysitting, no activities for the most part and just go and play video games or something while an adult watches you, well girls are not into video games as much as boys and even than how many kids just want to play video games by themselves each night?? Now if they knew their friend or friends would be there it be a different story,,,I admire Carnival, at least they try more than other lines it seems and I think it just needs tweeking to be honest plus you cant blame Carnival for any certain crowd on any certain week,,to me they should throw away the books and look and listen to what specific age groups want, just think of how many of us parents listened to the so called pros only to find what worked best was the advice we got from those who went before like our parents I think we all tried counting to 3 and to the corner or some variation of this Please pardon my typos, 2 finger typing LOL

[ConquestMike]

PS please dont anyone take this as a complaint against Carnival, there is nothing perfect and its just my opinion an area they could work on is all, we, as a family had a terrific vacation and Im already looking into our next cruise, lets face it, we could book a vacation that centers totally on kids or teens and they could have a miserable time for one of a million reasons, we had realistic expectations of our cruise and in many areas Carnival exceeded this, in this one area I think they could use work is all,,,Cali, I remember a post from you on another thread, we seem to run into each other alot LOL where you commented on your Dining Staff from a previous cruise and they just werent up to par in your eyes while ours were terrific and the kids actually looked forward to them each night, an unplanned event,,on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give our vacation, compared to tohers an 8 which is not easy to do, Take Jamaica out of the way, bad breakfasts and some tweeking in the kids and teens area and it would be getting close to a 10, I just dont want to sound like some who just have to complain, it is a very positive vacation

[cali-croozer]

Conquest Mike.........you don't come across as complaining, just commenting on your experiences, which is helpful.:o I'm like you...I look at our vacation experiences "as a whole" and try not to let the small things stress me out. No vacation is going to be perfect; something will go wrong.

[TxStacey]

Cali,

You are right about our Carnival not being at fault for the type of teens on any given cruise. And yes, our group of 5 girls had each other so they were very lucky. I will have to say that they are VERY social girls and expressed their disappointment that no one was participating in the organized activities. This was our experience with camp carnival... We arrived with our five girls at the meet and greet hoping that there would be some kind of ice breaker and maybe a Carnival staffer would lead them in some fun activities...when we got there someone told us to sign them in and then all of the kids their age stood and looked at each other. There was nothing organized, no fun ice breakers, nothing....I just feel that Carnival has the resources to make this a far better experience. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.. we had an AWESOME cruise and so did the girls, just wish they would have met more kids their age to hang with. This was in June so there were tons of kids on the ship.

[ConquestMike]

Conquest Mike.........you don't come across as complaining, just commenting on your experiences, which is helpful.:o I'm like you...I look at our vacation experiences "as a whole" and try not to let the small things stress me out. No vacation is going to be perfect; something will go wrong.

Its funny you ,mention soemthing will always go wrong, some minor stuff on the cruise itself but luckily because of this site I had so many things organized it was great. On our way home our plane was delayed for 6 hours, something I couldnt plan around but sure was glad it wasnt for our plane to the cruise !! next cruise we will be in town a day or two earlier and alleviate this huge worry especially being in Chicago in the winter!! Really was our only majot gl;itch but we ended up having fun with the other stranded passengers. One guy was hilarious, he was on the phone with American Airlines every 5 minutes, even his wife was laughing, it was one of those situations where there really wasnt much you can do so one just needs to accept it and make the best of it even while spemding 60 dollars on overpriced Airport Hot Dogs LOL Funny thing is on my first chance back here to Cruise Critics there was a new thread complaining about American Airlines LOL Now who wants to hear the good points??

[ConquestMike]

Cali,

You are right about our Carnival not being at fault for the type of teens on any given cruise. And yes, our group of 5 girls had each other so they were very lucky. I will have to say that they are VERY social girls and expressed their disappointment that no one was participating in the organized activities. This was our experience with camp carnival... We arrived with our five girls at the meet and greet hoping that there would be some kind of ice breaker and maybe a Carnival staffer would lead them in some fun activities...when we got there someone told us to sign them in and then all of the kids their age stood and looked at each other. There was nothing organized, no fun ice breakers, nothing....I just feel that Carnival has the resources to make this a far better experience. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.. we had an AWESOME cruise and so did the girls, just wish they would have met more kids their age to hang with. This was in June so there were tons of kids on the ship.

I kind of proved my own point, while checking into our next cruise and reading about ones of interest I noticed all the ships adhere to the same type of schedules and itineraries for Camp Carnival and the Teens which leads me to believe it is truly being run behind the scenes from a Corporate Level. Kind of homogenized I guess is the best way to put it. I really do think they need to look at this as less of a Corporate formula but rather an ever evolving program to succeed in this area. After all, if the kids are happy it sure makes it easier for the descision makers, the Parents, to enjoy themselves and probably book more cruises.. Cali, you were fortunate to have positive experiences with your boys and I hope they continue for you, Stacy your girls hanging in the hallways for 800 each for the week worked for you LOL and because of the ummm dynamics of our family things worked in our favor regardless of the kids not having much involvment with ship board kids activities..I know what to expect and not expect on our next cruise now and will plan accordingly in the case things end up the same with the kids especially since our oldest will be 18 than and have full access to everything on the ship, she will be surprised that though the ship says yes, Mom and Dad might not yet LOL or will keep a close eye to insure she doesnt croos the line since at home she doesnt have those "Rights" until 21...

[ConquestMike]

???????????:cool: