Cruising with an older teen

[pebblito]

This is my first post, so if I make any etiquette faux pas, I apologize in advance.

I am married and we will be cruising with my DD who is 10 and my DS who is 17. We are planning our very first cruise (YAY!) and I have been agonizing over it, trying to find the right one for our family that fits our budget. I have been reading CC until I thought I would go blind! Anyway, here is my dilemma:

I am trying to decide between a few cruises. First is the RCI Freedom of the Seas to the western caribbean Dec. 8th. getting a deluxe ocenview with balcony cabin. Then, Norwegian came out with their kids sale free promo and I realised for over $1000 less, I can sale on the Pearl doing the western caribbean in a mini suite on Dec 8th as well. There's also the Epic which sales the eastern caribbean Dec. 7th for almost $1000 less than the Freedom as well.

So, I am in a bit of a dilemma. I expect my DD will love spending her time in the kid's camps, regardless of which ship we are on, so I am not worried about her. My son is another story. He is worried about being bored on the ship and I wonder if the Pearl has enough to keep him amused. He's not travelling with a friend, and he has some concern about meeting other teens he can hang out with. I realise there are teen clubs as well, but I'm not sure how much they're used by teens who are on the verge of being considered adults. To me, it seems like the RCI cruise is probably our best fit for activities, but it comes with a smaller cabin and a higher price tag-money that could be spent on excursions in port, which we plan to do.

Any thoughts?

[Eriksgarden]

We are getting ready to cruise with our niece (18), so share many of the same concerns. We are going on Freedom of the Seas and think the Flowrider and its attraction of the "cool" surfer types will be the perfect ice breaker for her to meet others.

[akcruz]

My "kids" are now 17 & 22 and we have been sailing with them for a number of years. Both my kids loved the teen clubs on royal and have always been able to find other like minded teens to hang out with on the cruise. My son (now 17) still talks with some of the kids he has met on other cruises. The biggest thing is to have them go to the teen meet & greet the first night. Often this is where their "groups" will be formed for the rest of the cruise.

 

Freedom is a great ship and if by chance the teen club doesn't work out, a lot of teens hang out on the sports deck. If your 17 year old is into sport they will meet others there.

 

Haven't done the other lines with the kids since they found they love royal so can't comment on that. However, the other thing I will say is while there are always kids on board, the beginning of December will probably have the fewest in the terms of teens. A lot of schools are off in November for Thanksgiving, the not off again until close to Christmas. The prices of cruises are low at that time, but that's because there aren't a lot cruisers then.

[Candleonwater]

My daughter (16) finds the teen clubs to be extremely boring. Fortunately she tends to make friends quickly during the first day or so. I don't believe she's ever been bored on any of the ships, including the Enchantment, which in my mind has even less for the teens to do.

[Luv06012012]

Here is good tip...if your son wants to meet other guys his age but isn't into the whole teen club thing....he will meet people if he goes to the basketball court no matter what ship you choose. That is where a lot of teen boys hang out whether they are actively playing or not. If he joins in a game that's even better. Once he hits it off with someone there he will be good to go.

[cruzinnh]

We just sailed the FOS with our DS17 and his friend. We also cruised last year on the LOS with our son at 16. He is not one to join the kid's clubs, disliked them even when he was younger. Not so interested in rock climbing or the flow rider as well.

That being said he still loves to sail. Participates in the events on the basketball court (free throw, dodgeball, 3 on 3 etc.) Also loves lounging in the hot tub, working out in the gym and playing mini golf. Likes to play bingo with me (dreams of winning), joining in at the games at the schooner bar and the love and marriage game.

He has met some kids on the court though there were only 323 kids on our last cruise. Perfectly content with his options.

Hope this helps.

Kathy

[TigerCruzin]

My kids are the identical ages as yours. We are sailing on Freedom in May. Their first cruise, my second. Booked it in September. From my experience booking this cruise, keep watching the pricing. We booked a D1 balcony during a family sale that saved us about $900 off the prices I had been seeing. I have no idea if it was being promoted anywhere, but I called one day and heard the new price and booked immediately. This was about 9 months before our date. Now your dates are lower demand too, so I would suspect there may be some reductions out there.

 

Freedom sounded like the best option for my family. Good Luck to you and yours.

[luv2cruzstl]

I agree w/ many others! Our son was 12 on his first cruise on Liberty....literally after a couple hours of being onboard, we hardly saw him! We took a trip this last May on Allure, we found it took about a day or 2 before he connected w/ other teens.

 

Many teens find the "organized" teens activities a little "not cool" but once they find each other on the sports deck or near the teen clubs...its a wrap!

 

I've never exprienced other cruiselines b/c we love Royal so much, but I'm sure spending the extra money for your kids will be priceless!

[FSUNole]

Don't assume the ship is a safe place for kids to run around on their own. Lots of bad things have happened to minors on board. There was a thread here a few weeks ago with folks talking about how their now grown kids told them about access to alcohol through the teen clubs and other teens.

[cruzer52]

Hi there,

 

I can't speak for the other ships, but I sailed freedom when I was your sons age and it was amazing. I've always said that if you're bored on a freedom class ship, the issue is not the ship haha.

 

Don't worry too much, I think your kids will find kids their age and will have a great time, whatever choice you make. Enjoy your vacation :)

[kbun0304]

I just sailed on the Oasis with my DS16 (17 in June). He was bored for the first couple of days - referred to the ship as a floating prison!

 

He spent literally 8 hours a day on the Flow Rider. Became quite good at it by the end of the week and was invited to complete in the "Best of the Best Flow Rider" competition on the last night. By Day 3, he met a few kids to hang out with and he cheered up a bit.

 

It wasn't his favorite vacation, and we won't be taking him with us again without bringing a friend. Its a tough age to please.

[pebblito]

Thanks for all the responses.