19 Year old on the Dream

[asalligo]

Good afternoon all, just booked my 19 year old daughter who is in college on the Dream with us March 5th, but she is concerned that she will find little to do onboard and be bored. This will be her fourth cruise, but the first over 18.

 

Being 19, she cannot gamble or be in the serenity area and of course cannot drink. She is worried that other than the often dead nightclub, there is not much for her to do. Anyone have recent experiences with a 19 year old cruising that can help me assure her?

[bigcraig]

She can play in the casino, 18 and above. No drinking yet unless departing a non-US port.

[Computer Nerd]

Look for a 19 year old guy. ;)

 

And she can gamble as the casino is 18 and above.

[HawkIVette]

Look for a 19 year old guy. ;)

 

Or bring one along with her.

Edited November 2, 2016 by HawkIVette

[firemanbobswife]

She can gamble but I think you have to be 21 to get into the club after a certain time.

 

My boys don't want to cruise anymore partially for that same reason. There really isn't anything for them to do. Maybe she could bring a girlfriend with?

[asalligo]

This may have been a mistake, she just asked me what the drinking age in Mexico was.

 

She will have her sister to hang with who is 16. That's it, I am taking my Mother to keep an eye on them.

 

Wing man Grandma style!

[firemanbobswife]

This may have been a mistake, she just asked me what the drinking age in Mexico was.

 

 

 

She will have her sister to hang with who is 16. That's it, I am taking my Mother to keep an eye on them.

 

 

 

Wing man Grandma style!

 

 

Gotta love Grandmas! Although mine probably would have gotten me into more stuff than I would have on my own. But my mom would have never found out [emoji3].

[A&Jfamily]

Good afternoon all, just booked my 19 year old daughter who is in college on the Dream with us March 5th, but she is concerned that she will find little to do onboard and be bored. This will be her fourth cruise, but the first over 18.

 

Being 19, she cannot gamble or be in the serenity area and of course cannot drink. She is worried that other than the often dead nightclub, there is not much for her to do. Anyone have recent experiences with a 19 year old cruising that can help me assure her?

 

Watch for my review after Christmas. My son is 18 and a freshman in college. He has cruised probably 10+ times and this will be the first time no program is available. But really, the teen "program" has always served as a meet and greet, and they form their groups and head out from there.

 

Having the HUB app where she can exchange numbers as she meets people so she can meet up later would be a good idea. She is just going to have to look for people in her age range - perhaps with similar interests. She will likely find them playing sports, wandering the ship, playing putt-putt etc. My son is big into Dr. Who, Pokemon etc and wears a lot of t-shirts that sport that information, so it's pretty obvious to other teens who like the same thing. He insists that he will be just fine - we will see!

[Warm Breezes]

Took my 19 year old daughter on Dream last May. She was out late every night at the clubs dancing and hanging out with others she met. They can enter and dance...just not drink at the clubs at night. Our cruise was full of college kids just getting out of college for the year and high school seniors celebrating graduation so plenty of kids her age to hang out with. I would assume you may see the same with the beginning of March being Spring Break for a lot of colleges.

[Havingfun2010]

Good afternoon all, just booked my 19 year old daughter who is in college on the Dream with us March 5th, but she is concerned that she will find little to do onboard and be bored. This will be her fourth cruise, but the first over 18.

 

Being 19, she cannot gamble or be in the serenity area and of course cannot drink. She is worried that other than the often dead nightclub, there is not much for her to do. Anyone have recent experiences with a 19 year old cruising that can help me assure her?

 

She should have not problem. You said she is in college. She should be experienced now in meeting new people, and going out to clubs. (My town, clubs allow 18 year old in, but no drinking). A Carnival ship is just an extension of College life.

[Computer Nerd]

She can gamble but I think you have to be 21 to get into the club after a certain time.

 

My boys don't want to cruise anymore partially for that same reason. There really isn't anything for them to do. Maybe she could bring a girlfriend with?

 

With the exception of drinking and sitting in a lounger on the Serenity deck, a 19 year old can do exactly the same things I can. Play sports, eat, watch a movie, go to a show, hit the disco, play trivia, listen to music in the piano bar, etc..........

[Namelocg]

My daughter has been sailing with me since she was 5 and she will be 23 next month. We have sailed during spring break almost every year and she has always found people her age to hang out with. The only things she will not be able to do are drink and enter the serenity area. The clubs and casino are 18 and above. Join the roll call for your cruise. She may find other kids in her age group before you even sail. Also, the drinking age in Mexico is 18. Have a great trip.

[First and Ten]

Good afternoon all, just booked my 19 year old daughter who is in college on the Dream with us March 5th, but she is concerned that she will find little to do onboard and be bored. This will be her fourth cruise, but the first over 18.

 

Being 19, she cannot gamble or be in the serenity area and of course cannot drink. She is worried that other than the often dead nightclub, there is not much for her to do. Anyone have recent experiences with a 19 year old cruising that can help me assure her?

 

Get her an internet package....19 girls lay by the pool and never look up from their smartphones. They are easily entertained

Edited November 2, 2016 by First and Ten

[hockeymom15]

Good afternoon all, just booked my 19 year old daughter who is in college on the Dream with us March 5th, but she is concerned that she will find little to do onboard and be bored. This will be her fourth cruise, but the first over 18.

 

Being 19, she cannot gamble or be in the serenity area and of course cannot drink. She is worried that other than the often dead nightclub, there is not much for her to do. Anyone have recent experiences with a 19 year old cruising that can help me assure her?

 

Hello I took my daughter to when she was 19 and she was wondering the same thing . I wrote to the Maitre d ahead of time and asked to be seated at a large table at dinner with other families who had children the same age . when we arrived at dinner there was another girl who was also 19 travelling with her parents and a 19 and 25 year old with their mother . The 3 girls were inseperable and met a ton of people their age ( you would be surprised) . She still talks to them all on social media . It worked out perfectly . :)

[AussieOmni]

I have plenty of fun as a 20 something (for 3 more weeks at least) and I don't drink or gamble.

 

 

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[coevan]

as to Mexico, the drinking age is puberty, or having enough money to buy a drink. Most Caribbean islands have an official age of 18, but I have never seen them checking ID's or even asking their age. I believe the U.S. is the only country in the world with a 21 year old drinking age. Especially the only country where a +60 year old is asked for ID, absolutely absurd. Vegas airport IDs everyone.

[Computer Nerd]

as to Mexico, the drinking age is puberty, or having enough money to buy a drink. Most Caribbean islands have an official age of 18, but I have never seen them checking ID's or even asking their age. I believe the U.S. is the only country in the world with a 21 year old drinking age. Especially the only country where a +60 year old is asked for ID, absolutely absurd. Vegas airport IDs everyone.

 

15 countries have a legal drinking age of 21. About another 10 countries it is outright illegal period.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age

[Havingfun2010]

as to Mexico, the drinking age is puberty, or having enough money to buy a drink. Most Caribbean islands have an official age of 18, but I have never seen them checking ID's or even asking their age. I believe the U.S. is the only country in the world with a 21 year old drinking age. Especially the only country where a +60 year old is asked for ID, absolutely absurd. Vegas airport IDs everyone.

 

The drinking age in Mexico is 18. Many countries are not "strict" with asking for ID's but many do, and many establishments do. Some places such as you mentioned, will ID everyone because they don't want their employees, especially new ones guessing and being wrong. Maybe extreme, but it does have a reason. Many countries that allow 18 year olds to drink restrict it to beer or wine only. Some countries allow it with an older person present. Some coutries have laws up to age 25. Some countries ban it altogether. In Iran, you can be sentenced to death for drinking. There are some countries that are thinking of raising the age.

[SailorGirl42]

I believe Carnival is starting to do meet ups for the 18-20 age group.

[lilchief27]

On our October 6 day (that turned into an 8 day) cruise out of Charleston, SC, there were 3 evenings with an activity called "Your time: 18-20 Meet " in one of the lounges. I would assume these were the 18-20 yr old meet & greets.

 

Like a previous person said, get on your roll call here or on other social media websites and ask around. Also ask others for previous sailings' Fun Times to see how many meet & greets are offered on your cruise.

 

I will look forward to hearing how your trip goes. The next time we cruise we will have an 18 yo DD. She is also curious about how her experience will be because she always made a lot friends to hang out on the ship through the kids' clubs.

[Domino D]

This may have been a mistake, she just asked me what the drinking age in Mexico was.

 

She will have her sister to hang with who is 16. That's it, I am taking my Mother to keep an eye on them.

 

Wing man Grandma style!

 

Kids and parents are all different. So its hard to say. We took my son on a cruise at the same age. We took NCL for that cruise because he would be able to order beer and wine. Drinking age in Mexico is 18, and he did, with us and a young (late 20's) couple we met in the embarkation line. He also learned the hard lesson of roulette. The wheel giveth and the wheel taketh away. He was up around $400 night one (hit 22 multiple times), and then slowly gave half of it back over the rest of the cruise.

 

We cruised over the holidays and everyone his age was with their family. Unlike when younger (high school), most of the college age kids did not have that drive to go off from the family, probably because they hadn't been with us every day. I'm not saying that he did not talk to people his own age, just that they didn't go off in groups. It was more families sitting around us at the comedy club, or talking to someone at the bar while having drinks. I remember telling him one night, you don't have to stay with us, you can go be with people your own age. His response was, dad my life now is hanging out with people my own age every day.

 

I don't know your daughter so hard to say what she will think, but he enjoyed the cruise. It wasn't like the cruises when he was younger, and initially I thought he would be bored, but he was a different person and enjoyed his cruise in a different way. This cruise he is bringing his girlfriend, another new cruising experience.

[Domino D]

Gotta love Grandmas! Although mine probably would have gotten me into more stuff than I would have on my own. But my mom would have never found out [emoji3].

 

Same here. If my son went with his Grandmother or his Uncle, no telling what they would get him into. When he told his uncle "I had a beer and didn't really like it", his uncle told him "Have another no one likes their first one". And, yes his grandmother is known to be quite the problem solver and secret keeper for her grand kids.