What did you teen like -- teen club or "off road?"

[widallas]

Just curious about the teen activities on board. Do our teens enjoy the programmed activities? If so, which ones -- sports? meals together? dance parties?

 

Or...did they hook up with a small group and spend most of the time with them?

 

With a 14- and 17-year-old, I'm curious about what other kids their age like to do on-board. (My oldest was 13 last time, and could mostly be found hovering around the self-serve or eating pizza on the cabin balcony.)

 

If you respond, please add the age of your teen cruiser(s).

[kike368]

Our 17y/o son really enjoyed the teen programs particularly in the evenings, pool parties, movie nights, dance parties and much to the dismay of my credit card he liked the game room during the day.

[dcgrumpy]

We cruised with our 12 and 14yo earlier this month. They did a little of both. They each made their own friends and when they did activities it was with their group of friends.

 

Some of the things they enjoyed were

Special hours just for the Tenn club for Flowrider and ice skating

Free arcade hour (of course)

Dodgeball

Pool games at night

Mocktail Competition

Teen dinner

[brillohead]

My 15yo DS was a mix of both. Attended the first night to meet kids, and then hung out with friends and participated in group activities as appealed to him/his new friends.

 

His group won the shipwide scavenger hunt. They did the Flowrider. Danced all night every night until the teen club (Fuel) shut down at 1am. They did a teen Battle of the Sexes. There was some sort of sporting event on the sport court that he really enjoyed, like a dodgeball type of game as I recall.

 

I basically only saw him at night when I came in after shutting down the adult club... he was usually completely exhausted and dead to the world, snoring on his bed. :cool:

[cindivan]

We have three boys, 19, 17 and 14 and have been regular cruisers on RC for maybe 7 years. I agree with Brillo it's important to attend the first night of teen club to meet kids. Then it's a mix of on their own and planned activities. Daytime seems mostly with the kids they meet outside of sport competitions (three boys!) roaming the ship, eating, hitting some random activities. Usually at night they do gravitate toward more planned events especially if there is dancing or teen florider, and then roam the ship till curfew. They maybe did lunches together but we always eat dinner as a family, and that is something our kids know and don't fight.

[widallas]

Thanks for sharing! My youngest is the most social, and was only 10 last cruise...he is excited about having some independence and meeting other teens. (And dodgeball...he's very excited about dodgeball.) The oldest prefers to hang out with a few people, so I'm curious if he'll attend many activities after the first night...hopefully he'll find some other whovians/techies and play endless hours of games like he does at home. Should be interesting!

[akcruz]

Agree with others make sure they go the first night and then let them decide which suits them.

 

My son loved the teen clubs and used them quite a bit, mostly for the sports competitions, etc. He made his friends the first night and then they went back and forth between the clubs and doing their own thing. We always made sure to meet the kids he was hanging out with and know what he was doing if not in the clubs. He went right up to the cruise where he turned 18.

 

My daughter on the other hand liked the teen club until about 14, then preferred to hang out with us.

[DonnaK]

My daughters are 24 and 22, and they have been cruising since they were 10 and 8. Neither of them ever liked the clubs. They preferred hanging out with each other and with us. (We preferred it that way too)

[mil76]

Thanks for sharing! My youngest is the most social, and was only 10 last cruise...he is excited about having some independence and meeting other teens. (And dodgeball...he's very excited about dodgeball.) The oldest prefers to hang out with a few people, so I'm curious if he'll attend many activities after the first night...hopefully he'll find some other whovians/techies and play endless hours of games like he does at home. Should be interesting!

 

The transition from Adventure Ocean to Teen Club can be tough, but since you say your youngest is social he should be fine. In AO everything is based on organized activities and the kids are sort of forced to intermingle due to how things are set up. In teen club the kids all clique up and even in the organized activities it tends to be teams of their cliques.

 

My oldest son (now 16) met a kid on a cruise a few years back who he now goes to high school with and they are really good friends. We have gone on the same cruise as his family every fall break (Allure/Oasis) the past 4 years, so they already have each other as a base, and the group tends to expand from there. There are now other kids who they have become friends with and they all try to lobby their parents to go on the same cruise as well. They will participate in the organized activities they are interested in, then find their own things to do at other times, usually focusing on the Flowrider. When we go on other cruises where he doesn't have existing friends, he tends to go to the teen club the first night and if he finds people with similar interests he'll hang with them the entire cruise, but if he doesn't find people he likes he'll hang with us most of the cruise.

 

My youngest son (13) will participate in Teen Club every day regardless and is able to entertain himself regardless of who he meets. Since he has gone through every group in Adventure Ocean and Teen Club, he knows all the activities and is able to use his "inside information" to meet new friends at any point during the cruise.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

My daughters are 24 and 22, and they have been cruising since they were 10 and 8. Neither of them ever liked the clubs. They preferred hanging out with each other and with us. (We preferred it that way too)

 

This is how it works in our family also. When we go on vacation, its our "family time".

[widallas]

The transition from Adventure Ocean to Teen Club can be tough, but since you say your youngest is social he should be fine. In AO everything is based on organized activities and the kids are sort of forced to intermingle due to how things are set up. In teen club the kids all clique up and even in the organized activities it tends to be teams of their cliques.

 

My oldest son (now 16) met a kid on a cruise a few years back who he now goes to high school with and they are really good friends. We have gone on the same cruise as his family every fall break (Allure/Oasis) the past 4 years, so they already have each other as a base, and the group tends to expand from there. There are now other kids who they have become friends with and they all try to lobby their parents to go on the same cruise as well. They will participate in the organized activities they are interested in, then find their own things to do at other times, usually focusing on the Flowrider. When we go on other cruises where he doesn't have existing friends, he tends to go to the teen club the first night and if he finds people with similar interests he'll hang with them the entire cruise, but if he doesn't find people he likes he'll hang with us most of the cruise.

 

My youngest son (13) will participate in Teen Club every day regardless and is able to entertain himself regardless of who he meets. Since he has gone through every group in Adventure Ocean and Teen Club, he knows all the activities and is able to use his "inside information" to meet new friends at any point during the cruise.

 

How lucky for your oldest to have a built-in "cruise crew!"

[ewenix]

Just curious about the teen activities on board. Do our teens enjoy the programmed activities? If so, which ones -- sports? meals together? dance parties?

 

Or...did they hook up with a small group and spend most of the time with them?

 

With a 14- and 17-year-old, I'm curious about what other kids their age like to do on-board. (My oldest was 13 last time, and could mostly be found hovering around the self-serve or eating pizza on the cabin balcony.)

 

If you respond, please add the age of your teen cruiser(s).

 

I think it varies depending on the make up of the teen group, the employee(s) running the activities, and your teen's preferences.

 

I have twins (boy/girl) and while DS tends to prefer the teen clubs, DD tends to not like them. She will go a time or two at the beginning and try it out.

If they don't like the group or the activity leader they just hang out with us and we enjoy that much more family time.

[DaisyDoo246]

We sailed with two 17yr olds, 15yr old and 9yr old in August. Kids (or teens club) all the way!

 

MAKE SURE they go to the ice breaker on day one, that's when all the friendships are formed. They generally break off into smaller groups, hot tub in the day time, ice skating, hanging out by the pool. In the evenings they go after dinner and come in at the given time by security on the ship ;) ;)

 

Some excursions they came on but we didn't force them, no fun for any of us then.

 

My kids love it, they miss their mates at the end of the holiday and all generally keep in touch on FBook or What's app.

 

 

The best family holiday for us, they're happy so we're happy.

[MaritimeR&R]

My granddaughter, age 15, is very shy, but her parents and I managed to convince her to go to the mixer on the first night of Bermuda cruise this past summer. She met up with a few girls and had a wonderful time. There are lots of organized activities and she participated in many of those as well as just "hanging" with the girls. They have all kept in contact. I heartily recommend it!