Europe cruise with teen?

[JJPCheers]

Thinking of taking a 7 nights cruise in Europe in July 2010. Has anyone cruised on any cruise line in Europe? Were there lots of kids/teens in the summer? Were most of the people American or non english speaking?

[Bruin Steve]

Thinking of taking a 7 nights cruise in Europe in July 2010. Has anyone cruised on any cruise line in Europe? Were there lots of kids/teens in the summer? Were most of the people American or non english speaking?

 

I've taken my daughters, then teens, to Europe on a cruise...

Great experience for them...I would do it again in a heartbeat (of course, now they're 24 and 25 and we no longer can take them)...

 

We've done Europe on Princess, Celebrity and Oceania...multiple times on those last two...

 

During July, lots of families cruise...from all over...very few on Oceania since there is no kids or teens program...and, surprisingly, we had extremely few teens on our Princess Europe cruise...Our daughters complained that they counted only less than 20 kids on the entire ship of over 2,000 passengers...

 

But our Celebrity cruises have a had a lot of teens onboard travelling with their parents...Obviously not as many as one finds on a Caribbean or Mexican cruise, but enough to keep them all entertained...

 

MOST of the passengers on most of these cruises are American--or English Speaking--Canadians, Brits, Australians, South Africans...the cruise lines we generally travel are pretty much marketed to North Americans and British...the entertainment is in English, activities in English, etc. It really isn't that easy for others to feel as comfortable culturally and language-wise. There are other cruise lines that cater to, say, Germans or Spaniards...

 

That said, on our 2003 Celebrity Millennium cruise, we did have a large group of French people on board...and several Spaniards (the cruise sailed out of Barcelona), but English speaking people, mostly Americans, were still the large majority.

 

Now, my sister did a Med cruise on Costa a few years back and she noted that on that line, Americans were in the clear minority...a lot of the cruise--the entertainment, the announcements, the dining room menu and service, etc. was clearly tilted toward the culture and language of the Italians and French onboard...

[JJPCheers]

Thank you so much. I would have never guessed Celebrity would have teens. We have always sailed with Royal Caribbean or Carnival for the teen program. I have heard in the past Celebrity is not for kids. I am glad to hear the shows are in English.

[marci22]

We did RC August 2008 and there were plenty of kids onboard-it was a good mix of people overall. My kids loved it.

 

My friends did Celebrity that same summer with their teens and they also had a great time.

[Illmaxict]

i've been on two med cruises. once as a 19 year old and once as a 21 year old. there were teens on board, not as many as i expect to be on a caribbean or mexican cruise but there were teens on board. and most everybody spoke english. it will be a great cruise though. no worries at all. with thousands of passengers there are bound to be many in the teen range.

[Bruin Steve]

Thank you so much. I would have never guessed Celebrity would have teens. We have always sailed with Royal Caribbean or Carnival for the teen program. I have heard in the past Celebrity is not for kids. I am glad to hear the shows are in English.

 

Celebrity has a kids and a teens program and, with them being large ships, there will always be teens onboard...my girls loved Celebrity...

 

Royal Caribbean, of course, is more teen oriented due to the activity-oriented amenities such as ice skating, surfing and rock climbing while Celebrity has more sedate activities and amenities--like bars, lounges and deck space...

 

But, remember, in Europe, the itineraries are more port-intensive...There aren't that many days to ice skate and rock climb...(and RCCL doesn't even bring the ships with the surfing over)...So, for many, the less crowded Celebrity ships are more comfortable...the kids will be worn out from the touring--the museums, churches, archaeological sites, forts and palaces... The itinerary is more important than the ship amenities...

 

RCCL is always a good choice with kids and teens...But Celebrity really isn't a bad choice with them either...Carnival? Heavens, no...not anywhere...

[JJPCheers]

This is great news. I called RCCL and they said they didn't know how many kids/teens usually sail in the summer in Europe. I am going to check into Celebrity. Our son is 13 and that is such a weird age that having other teens the same age can make or break a trip.

[Albert Ross]

This is great news. I called RCCL and they said they didn't know how many kids/teens usually sail in the summer in Europe. I am going to check into Celebrity. Our son is 13 and that is such a weird age that having other teens the same age can make or break a trip.

In Britain the Scottish and Irish kids break up about Jun 20 and the British kids from July 10 onwards. As Independence out of Southampton is already full for next summer, many families will fly to Barcelona to catch a ship. There will be hundreds of kids on board!

[Ken Greco]

My wife and I took my 16 year old son on a 12 day cruise on Carnical. It was the same price as a 7 day on RCCL. My son found the shore trips boring, too many museums and ruins and not enough activities for him. It is a great way of see Europe for the first time. The summer cruise had lots of teens his age. Do not miss Venice.