Will my teen daughters (16 & 18) like Celebrity?

[bedajema]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

[dkjretired]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

 

If you are going over Spring break there will be a lot of kids on the board. Teens tend to find their own friends on board and don't do a lot of the dedicated activities that the younger kids do. I would suggest however going to the meeting for the kids groups that they hold on the first day. You'll get a better handle on things.

 

One other point you should know as a parent, your 18yr. old can gamble in the casino but cannot drink unless you are doing a European cruise.

[riclop]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

With teens carnival will be more to there liking.

[boogs]

With teens carnival will be more to there liking.

 

Celebrity and Carnival - two extremes. Royal Caribbean would be a good middle ground (or is that 'middle water" :) ) for the both of you.

[Onessa]

My DD (will be 16YO by the EOW!) enjoys Celebrity and RCCI. She went on one Carnival with a friend's family and was not too thrilled with it. On that cruise it appears that most of the younger people were only trying to figure out how to get drinks. This may not be typical for Carnival since it was her only experience with them.

 

We've done several Med cruises on RCCI and Celebrity over the past few years, and an HI cruise on Celebrity when she was about 14YO.

 

As DKJ indicates at the 15-21 year range most of the "kids" find friends and make their own activities up. The "teen" club on any ship is a possibility for the u18 teens but most just use it as a place to meet up. The "ambiance" on Celebrity is a bit more up-scale, so if your DD's like to dress up and such, they may like Celebrity more. There is not as much entertainment stuff as there is on RCCI, but still plenty to do.

 

There should be a lot of other kids their ages on board on either line during spring break and generally that is what is most important to kids of any age!

[bighairtexan]

My kids are now 29 and 31 and adore Celebrity. They're not overly fond of Carnival.

 

When they were in their teens, they were not overly fond of Celebrity. Teens seem to often be "pack animals" and like to hang w/ their peers. We were on Celebrity in 1992 when my kids were 10 and 12. There were VERY few kids their age (or older) and they were miserable. This was when school was out, in the Caribbean. Celebrity's presence was very new in those days, and I'm sure it's improved as =X= has become more popular, but I still don't see the same number of kids and teens as I do on RC or Carnival or even NCL.

[SuiteTraveler]

On our last cruise (Med), we at ages 49 and 52 were among the youngest on the ship, LOL! Hopefully a spring break cruise will have a more mixed demographic, but IMO, there is not enough for teens to do onboard Celebrity unless your daughters are very bookish young ladies who like to take tea and spend a lot of time reading or watching the hot glass show or playing croquet.

 

If it were my teen daughters, I'd opt for either RCCL Oasis Class or NCL Epic for this cruise. I even think they would enjoy being on an NCL Gem class ship - specifically if you chose a 2 bedroom suite in The Haven area. I just think they would have more fun on the RCCL ships and having been on Oasis, I know I would! Other options to consider would be the Carnival Magic or Dream.

[ivyleaguegent]

Been there, done that. The older teens FAR preferred RCCI, particularly the larger ships.

[ghstudio]

I suggest that you watch for a question "will my teen age boys 17 and 19 enjoy Celebrity....and then go on that cruise.

 

Now the serious answer (although the above statement may be very accurate). Kids are all different. Generally they have a good time when they find others to hang out with..with similar interests. There is absolutely no way to predict that on a given cruise. Others are more loners and want activities that they can join...e.g. some could spend all day hitting golf balls or on their computer.

 

If your girls want to party into the wee hours, it's more likely that will happen on Carnival, NCL or RCL. On othe other hand, our kids weren't party kids....and they were happy just hanging around the pool and maybe hanging out a little with other kids.....they avoided the kid groups.

 

Only you know your kids....

[Richard&JohnSTX]

I suggest that you watch for a question "will my teen age boys 17 and 19 enjoy Celebrity....and then go on that cruise.

 

Now the serious answer (although the above statement may be very accurate). Kids are all different. Generally they have a good time when they find others to hang out with..with similar interests. There is absolutely no way to predict that on a given cruise. Others are more loners and want activities that they can join...e.g. some could spend all day hitting golf balls or on their computer.

 

If your girls want to party into the wee hours, it's more likely that will happen on Carnival, NCL or RCL. On othe other hand, our kids weren't party kids....and they were happy just hanging around the pool and maybe hanging out a little with other kids.....they avoided the kid groups.

 

Only you know your kids....

 

I agree - It's all about what your children want to experience. I would have loved to sail on Celebrity when I was a teenager. Ooops - Celebrity wasn't founded yet! Anyway as an example my summer trip when I was 16 I asked my parents and 13 year old sister to go to Montreal for vacation because my high school french teacher wouldn't stop talking about how good the food was there! It was a great experience and thank god I wasn't forced to go to an amusement park instead!

 

Richard

[shorebilly]

Our 16 yr old daughter loves Celebrity. We tend to cruise at Christmas and our kids (13 yr old son) both have met great friends on Celebrity, they still keep in touch 2 yrs later!;)

[DavidYYC]

We did a Mediterranean cruise with our daughter and a friend last summer. The girls were both 16 - contrary to what another poster said there were hundreds of young people on board. The girls got to know a group of Spanish, Italian and American teens and hung around with them at the disco and other teen places. These girls are good kids but not in the SLIGHTEST "bookish"

From what I know of Carnival at Spring Break it will be packed with college kids wanting to party-hearty, your girls may have fun but you might also spend a lot of time worrying about them.

[kitty9]

There aren't that many college kids on cruises unless they are 21. Carnival has a rule that no one under 21 can cruise alone unless someone 25 or older shares a room with them. So, Carnival will not be loaded with college kids. They tend to go to the land resorts where the drinking age is 18 and not 21 like it is on the ships.

 

OP, I really think your kids would prefer Royal Caribbean. There's just more to do on their large ships like Oasis and Allure. Unfortunately, the older teens find the kids club to be lame and the in between age kids, those 18 to 20, are a forgotten age group when it comes to activities. Too old for organized things and too young for some adult activities.

[SuiteTraveler]

We did a Mediterranean cruise with our daughter and a friend last summer. The girls were both 16 - contrary to what another poster said there were hundreds of young people on board. The girls got to know a group of Spanish, Italian and American teens and hung around with them at the disco and other teen places. These girls are good kids but not in the SLIGHTEST "bookish"

From what I know of Carnival at Spring Break it will be packed with college kids wanting to party-hearty, your girls may have fun but you might also spend a lot of time worrying about them.

 

I think the difference is our cruise was in early May when school was still in session. On Sea Days, there was a sea of old people out by the pool roasting in the sun. I've never seen anything like it on a cruise ship before! LOL! The pool scene was boring compared to other ships we've been on and we noticed that not many drinks were being sold out there. They had a line dance class with all of 3 participants. Except for crew members, we only saw about 10 other people on the ship who were younger than us, in the whole 2 week cruise. And at every port there was an ambulance waiting to take some poor elderly person off the ship. (Very sad for them.) We later learned that 8 passengers died during our cruise owing to the great number of elderly onboard.

 

That said, we did meet many, many nice people and some very active seniors who were a lot of fun. The food was outstanding, we enjoyed Cafe al Bacio, glass blowing, and the food onboard. But for teens, our cruise would not have been much fun at all compared to what is offered on RCCL, NCL Epic or Carnival Magic and Dream, IMO.

[Jollyholiday]

We are taking a chance on Celebrity next year with our 14 year old daughter around the med. We have been on RCI twice before and both of my children loved it, now the older one has announced he is going away with friends. When I mentioned to my daughter I had booked the cruise and we are going to places such as Rome and Venice, she was delighted. I thought I was going to get the usual teenage response of "what is there for me to do in Rome it is going to be so boring..." She is already looking forward to the shopping trips before hand to buy the evening dresses.

[Maggie 1008]

Your kids will enjoy Carnival or RCC more than Celebrity. Lots more kids for them to meet.

[ghstudio]

We are taking a chance on Celebrity next year with our 14 year old daughter around the med. We have been on RCI twice before and both of my children loved it, now the older one has announced he is going away with friends. When I mentioned to my daughter I had booked the cruise and we are going to places such as Rome and Venice, she was delighted. I thought I was going to get the usual teenage response of "what is there for me to do in Rome it is going to be so boring..." She is already looking forward to the shopping trips before hand to buy the evening dresses.

 

Your daughter obviously hasn't been to Rome. If she's a typical teen, she will spend a great deal of time and a great deal of money on fashion items, just so she fits in :)

 

By all means shop in the US first and make sure that you have no extra room in her suitcase...

 

If you have any babies in the family, Rome (Italy) has some of the most wonderful baby/childrens clothes at designer prices, of course. If you are at all like my wife, the cruise fare will suddenly become a rounding error in your trip finances.

[sfoltz]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

 

I just booked the Mar 17, 2012 cruise on Eclipse. I will be sailing with my son (who will be almost 17), daughter (who will almost be 13) and stepson (who will almost be 13), my wife (41), mother-in-law (78) and I'm 49. I have sailed on Celebrity several times and the kids always have had a great time. I've found Celebrity offers something for every age. My first cruise with Celebrity, my son was 9 and daughter was 5. My kids have always had a great experience with Celebrity.

[Denny01]

We first took a Celebrity cruise with our teen daughters and our parents and all had a grand time. The girls went with us a few more times, and thought Celebrity was their favorite. One daughter loved cruising and Celebrity so much, she got married on a Millinnium cruise.

 

Your daughters enjoyment is as subjective as anyone else's and no one can tell you whether they will like Celebrity or another Line more. My advice is to pick a cruise that you would enjoy and go with that.

 

Den

[cynbar]

We love Celebrity, find that it is more elegant, sedate, dignified than most of the other cruise lines we have sailed. It is also quieter, with less entertainment and activities. Only you know your girls and what will appeal to them. If they are quiet types who will enjoy reading, spending time with you, relaxing by the pool, dressing up and enjoying rather formal evening meals together, then Celebrity may be just right. But if they are looking for a more casual and lively atmosphere with more choices for dining, etc., and more activities, you might want to look at Royal Caribbean or NCL.

[siestaclaud]

We have cruised both and are taking our 3 teens and one almost teen on Celebrity before Christmas. Honestly - think about what YOU like before you make this decision. Your teens will find friends anywhere. Celebrity is a more refined higher end cruise. While we liked Carnival when our kids were little, I would never take them back now that they are older.

 

My guess based on experience is that Celebrity will have a good number of teens with families at Spring Break. Carnival will have a HUGE number of teens and it will be a "spring break" atmosphere. We know many HS aged kids who have cruised Carnival at Spring Break with an older sibling - or two moms take 8 teens. I am sure you know plenty too!

[austinlw]

Depending on what their tastes are, I would think that in general teenagers would most enjoy Royal Caribbean (and also probably Carnival). A few years ago we shared a large dinner table in the MDR on a Royal Caribbean cruise with a "Brady Bunch" type family, from older elementary age up through mature teenagers (all very well behaved too). They were all having a great time, and were sometimes anxious for dinner to be over so they could return to their activities and new friends. Lots to do on those ships for all ages.

[Chicago Boy]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

 

Celebrity tends to cater to an older crowd. This is not to say there will not be teens on board your cruise but I do think your teens would find more people in their age group on Carnival.:) Enjoy whatever cruise you decided to take.

[Chicago Boy]

I haven't booked yet, and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Carnival. We will be going over spring break in Mar 2012. I see that younger teens have activities but not sure my kids want to hang out with younger kids.

 

Any experience with this? This is a first cruise for my family so I really want to choose intelligently.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Celebrity tends to attract and older crowd. This is not to say there will not be young adults on your cruise but I do think there are apt to be more teens on Carnival. Enjoy your cruise on whatever line you choose.:)

[bedajema]

Thanks everyone for your input! We've decided to go with Carnival, and have booked the Sensation for our Bahamas cruise.

 

:)