Mariner for 14 year old ?

[letusgo]

Have heard that the teen activities are very good for a 14 year old, any info on this would be appreciated. Going 12-18 , 14 year old is a female and also have a 6 year old boy. Thanks .

[jenjens1023]

My 14 year old daughter went to a couple of the teen activities, but the first night she met several kids in the pool and ended up just hanging around with them for the week.She mostly went to the dances in the teen center.

 

Our ship had a meeting for kids the first night, but two different locations were listed in two editions of the daily cruise newspaper and we went to the location where the meeting wasn't being held (very frustrating). I think she would have met more kids there and maybe been more interested in the organized activities if she'd been at that meeting and gotten fired up about the events. But she found plenty to do without our help (we basically only saw her at dinner and in a dead sleep at night).

 

 

If your daughter meets new people easily a cruise will be a breeze for her. If she needs help meeting others, then the activities will be really helpful. And they will be wonderful for your six year old.

[momofmeg]

Well I can't tell you about the kid's clubs but I can say this. The Mariner of the Seas is defiently more of a family cruiseship then an adult one. Most of the activites are more for the kids-minature golf, rock climbing wall, ice skating lessons etc. The pool was super crowded on sea days which I did not like-it seemed to me most folks wanted to be at the pool instead of all the extra activites offered.

 

So I decided for me anyway it is better for me to go on a cruise ship that has a bigger pool area to ratio of passengers-as that is what I want to do.

 

Your kids will love Johnny Rockets-and there are 2 great specialty restuarants for adults. Maybe you can do dinner at the specialty restuarant one or 2 nights and let your 14 yr. old take the 6 yr. old to Johnny Rockets.

[kitty9]

Here's one thing no one thought to ask you, are you talking about the Royal Caribbean Mariner or Radisson's Mariner? That makes a big difference. Most people don't realize that when they say the name of the ship, there are a number of ships with the same name, from different companies. For example, there's the Pride, which is the name of ships from Seabourn, NCL and Carnival.

[wrp96]

If you are talking about the Mariner of the Seas, the Mariner has an extended teen area which I've heard is great.

[VikingRob]

Our 12 yo daughter loved every minute of the cruise, it let her be somewhat on her own and feel a bit more grown up, and we had the peace of mind that she was in good care. It also allowed us to do things on our own in the evening. The 12-14 age grour had supervised activities till about 1am every night, and she loved hanging out with her new friends during the day by the pools. One word of advice, put a limit on their sea pass just to make sure they don't get over their head. There was on kid on our ship that decided to check her email for a few hours using her sea pass - that got very very expensive. We put just enough so that she could get some ice cream, candy or a snack at Johnny Rockets if she wanted, it worked great.

[CMurph]

My 14 year old loves cruising and enjoyed the Mariner this past July as much or more than any cruise. It takes her a couple of days..and then she has friends for the rest of the week. Best advice is to encourage your child (teen) to attend the activities early on. They seem to click with someone then they attend more activities or just "hang out" together. It seems the older they get, the less organized their activities are....but they are all looking to make friends to have fun with during their cruise.

[sherry7]

The first cruise for our family was last January on the Mariner of the Seas. My son, who was at that time 15 years old, absolutely loved it!

 

Make sure your daughter goes to the 'Meet & Mingle' for teens that they have on the first night. She will get a special Compass (daily schedule) in the cabin each day, especially for the teen group she is in. The time and place will be on there.

 

My son went to quite a few of the scheduled events. They had different things like toga parties, dances, hot tub parties, etc. He was in the higher age group (15-17), so these might not be the same type of activities your daughter has. Do be aware that most of the activities take place in the later part of the evening. If you have late dining, it WILL interfere with your teens 'social life' to some degree. Early dining worked out well for us.

 

My son and I are taking a cruise on the Serenade in a few weeks (minus the hubby who can't get off work). This is actually 'his' vacation, since he is not going on a 2 week Hawaii cruise with my hubby and myself this May. When we were making plans for a vacation, I asked him him preference of places to go...Orlando (amusement parks, etc), a cruise, or perhaps something else. He immediately chose another cruise as his vacation of choice, which kind of surprised me since he is a huge amusement park fan. After only one cruise, it looks like he is a cruise addict. :)