Cruising on Carnival Imagination with 10, 14, & 16 yr olds 1st time

[cruiselovinmomof3]

Hi! We are cruising for our second time (husband & I) but our kids are cruising for the first time (10, 14, 16)! We cruised previously on Inspiration in September last year to Catalina, Ensenada (4 day). We had a great time, but we unfortunately didn't look into the pre-teen and teen activities/hang outs too closely. So, we've already booked this particular cruise because we are familiar with the ports, familiar with Carnival, booked Imagination because its similar to Inspiration, but yet a little different. We just wanted to give our kids a chance to check out cruising and see how they like it before we take them on a longer cruise and to ports we're not familiar with. I was just wondering if anyone has a recent 'program/list of events & activities' for kids this age that they could post so my kids can just get an idea of what to expect. My older 2 are not always real social but if they come across peers that they have things in common then they will hang out with them probably more than us. My youngest will enjoy planned activities if she meets new friends-she's more outgoing & social. I hope that they will love cruising like we do (I am pretty sure they will)! But, I know that they will not want to hang out with mom & dad the entire time! Except they will be going to Catalina & Ensenada with us. Please, any and all info, suggestions, ideas, etc. will be greatly appreciated! Thank you all!

Edited July 25, 2015 by cruiselovinmomof3

[bury me at sea]

I suggest they go to orientation the first night. They will get a schedule of activities and you can decide on reasonable times and meeting places.

 

Take post it notes in case plans change. After meeting other kids the older ones especially might ask for permission to hang out rather than join activities. Up to you how much freedom to allow.

[btfly745]

I took my 4 on their 1st cruise last year on the Victory. They were 6,7 and 15,16 so I'm not sure if yours will be in similar groups to my little ones or not.

 

All of the kids loved it. The younger two were always wanting to go to "camp" and they even missed dinner one night in the MDR because they had things to do and friends to meet in camp. We all loved it.

 

I've read on here that it's important for older kids to go to the 1st night's orientation. I made sure to send them since they were kind of ambivalent about going to a "teen club". They seemed to like it. My son (16) is social and made a group of friends. I often saw them roaming around the ship. Their group even went to dinner together one night in the YTD room. I thought you had to be signed up for YTD to go there, but I looked down in the dining room and saw him and his group of friends all having dinner together. We were signed up for early dinner as a family.

 

We are going on the Glory this year and everyone is looking forward to it. I'm a very busy mom (like most of us), so it was a relief when the little ones wanted to go to Camp Carnival and I could have a guilt-free massage.

[Shelby0208]

As others have stated, the biggest thing for your eldest teens is making sure to attend the first night when "cliques" start forming. They will have a great time, just make sure they give it a chance and go more than the one night.

[bowen9475]

We have 3 kids - 18 yo son, 16 yo daughter and 12 yo son. We have done 5 Carnival crusies with them starting when they were 12, 10 and 6. They all love cruising. Both of my sons have always participated in the kids clubs and made friends they hang out with for the entire cruise. There is usually a great mixture of activites. We just went on the Imagination a few weeks ago and my 18 yo was pretty disappointed to not be able to go to club activities. My daughter has never really enjoyed the clubs but she finds a lot she does like to do - laying in the sun, trivia, music, shows etc. Have a great cruise!

[Cruise life]

I suggest they go to orientation the first night. They will get a schedule of activities and you can decide on reasonable times and meeting places.

 

 

 

Take post it notes in case plans change. After meeting other kids the older ones especially might ask for permission to hang out rather than join activities. Up to you how much freedom to allow.

 

 

ITA with this; the kids form groups (or 1:1 friendships) early on and if you miss the first night's activities, it may be harder to mix in. Not always, but it's good to be early and not the ones walking in to a large group already in the middle of getting to know one another. A lot of older kids will hang out at the pool or other areas not part of the camp activities; others will do lots of camp functions, especially the parties. We use notes inside the cabin for communication; set the ground rules before you leave. Have fun!

[SadieN]

First night get the schedules. Make sure you grab an extra for yourself. The teen excursion is usually horseback riding.

[coopco]

Our kids love cruising. We have two 16 year old kids -- a boy and a girl. They have been cruising since 10 years old. They love the kids activities. They will be seniors in high school starting this month and my daughter insists we must take a cruise next summer since they will still be 17 and can go to the Teen Club for the last time before they age out.

 

We get them signed up for "Kids Club" as soon as we can after lunch on the first day. They like to have dinner with us each night (totally don't get that since I'd figured they rather hang out with their friends but we enjoy having dinner with them) so we set a time to meet back in the room each morning so everyone can get ready for dinner.

 

We brought walkie talkies on one cruise but they didn't work well on the ship. Setting a time to meet back at the room each morning seems to work well for us.

 

We will be doing the same cruise as you right after graduation in summer 2016. Enjoy. I'm sure your kids will have a blast.

[cruiselovinmomof3]

Thank you for all of your help and suggestions! The kids are getting excited! :)