Which cruise line to cruise with grand kids

[Nana and PA on the go]

We are long time cruisers. In the process of planning our 50th Anniversary in 2028.

 

Our grandkids will be young teenagers by then.  We want to depart and return through Port of Vancouver, BC on either a Hawaii or Alaska trip return.  We are worried that the Princess ship are not very interesting for teenagers.

 

What is the concensus on which trip cruise line or trip to take them on?

[CDNPolar]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I am sure someone will flow with recommendations.

[Fouremco]

I'd recommend Royal Caribbean for an Alaskan cruise. DW and I normally cruise with HAL or Celebrity, but on two occasions when we've done a family cruise with our kids and our grandkids, we've gone with Royal Caribbean and they have loved it. RCI offers a variety of cruises that should meet your needs:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises?search=departurePort:YVR|destination:ALCAN&conflict_banner=false&country=CAN

 

RCI also offers Hawaiian cruises, but they are longer, mostly sea days, and terminate in Hawaii, so you'd have to book a return cruise or fly home. HAL offers a Vancouver return cruise (we're booked for later this year) but it's 17 nights on a ship with few activities and a lot of sea days. Wonderful for we seniors, but not for teenagers.

 

 

Edited April 13 by Fouremco

[spethstation]

I would recommend NCL or Royal for either itinerary! They offer so much on board for teens, especially on their Breakway/Breakaway+ class or Oasis/Quantum class ships. Hard to know what ships will be where that far in advance, however.

 

In terms of Hawaii, NCL has the only ship that does Hawaii from a Hawaii port - the Pride of America (does not leave from the mainland US or Vancouver.)

[son3cruisers]

We took our kids ( who were young teens at the time) on a Disney Cruise to Alaska. They still talk about it today as one of their favourite cruises. You often think of younger kids with Disney, and characters and shows - but our boys loved the clubs, the dining all of it.  The teen clubs and activities were amazing and if they are science buffs there was a lot of experiences and seminars just for them. Many great  excursions in Alaska for families as well. And with the kids loving the clubs, there is adult only areas as well that we took advantage of! 
If you are pricing out a Disney cruise , just remember that the price show online is for 2! Not like other lines that give single pricing. 
 

If Disney is not your thing, I agree with Royal or NCL. 

We travelled to Hawaii on Pride of America without kids. Beautiful itinerary but can’t comment on kids activities and whether or not there was a kids club. 

[NateUpNorth]

Young teenagers? RCL 100%. 
If there's an Oasis class for those itineraries at that point don't even think twice.
If I had to pick a cruise line that attempted to be all things to both younger families,  and *ahem* those in a different age category...... it'd be RCL.
 

[lx200gps]

34 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Young teenagers? RCL 100%. 
If there's an Oasis class for those itineraries at that point don't even think twice.
If I had to pick a cruise line that attempted to be all things to both younger families,  and *ahem* those in a different age category...... it'd be RCL.
 

A great option, but I'm not sure about the 100% when pricing is factored in. We've done a LOT of researching for the various alternatives to our usual line, Princess, given all the recent price hikes. We've sailed NCL and X a few times as well though prefer Princess. Apples to apples, HAL and X are very expensive these days and we also find that RCCL can also be too pricey. They tend to offer low initial pricing, but by the time you add a drink package  and all the "extra" charges, their prices are up into X territory. RCCL seem to have very high drink package prices, and charge huge amounts for the right to select your cabin ahead of time, which is a killer for us, as we don't ever do guarantees, we need to select our exact cabin ahead of time. If we have to compare RCCL and NCL, Norwegian comes out ahead every time on price. While we prefer the calm and quiet of a Princess or Celebrity ship, we've sailed NCL enough times and had no issues with them. For a group with young people, I would consider them a great option and in our experience quite a bit cheaper, especially for Canadians with our weaker dollar.  With young folks, definitely not Princess, HAL or Celebrity

[NateUpNorth]

24 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

A great option, but I'm not sure about the 100% when pricing is factored in. We've done a LOT of researching for the various alternatives to our usual line, Princess, given all the recent price hikes. We've sailed NCL and X a few times as well though prefer Princess. Apples to apples, HAL and X are very expensive these days and we also find that RCCL can also be too pricey. They tend to offer low initial pricing, but by the time you add a drink package  and all the "extra" charges, their prices are up into X territory. RCCL seem to have very high drink package prices, and charge huge amounts for the right to select your cabin ahead of time, which is a killer for us, as we don't ever do guarantees, we need to select our exact cabin ahead of time. If we have to compare RCCL and NCL, Norwegian comes out ahead every time on price. While we prefer the calm and quiet of a Princess or Celebrity ship, we've sailed NCL enough times and had no issues with them. For a group with young people, I would consider them a great option and in our experience quite a bit cheaper, especially for Canadians with our weaker dollar.  With young folks, definitely not Princess, HAL or Celebrity

Whilst I don't disagree with anything you've said.......... the OP was worried about the teenagers. 
I'd put the RCL Flowriders, Abyss, Slides, Teen Club, Zip Lines, Sports Court, Mini Golf (granted it's a limited course) etc etc  up against what other lines offer in this regard. (provided a ship with these options was available)

I would, however concede the NCL go karts seem like they could flag some teen interest!!!

Edited April 24 by NateUpNorth

[lx200gps]

59 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Whilst I don't disagree with anything you've said.......... the OP was worried about the teenagers. 
I'd put the RCL Flowriders, Abyss, Slides, Teen Club, Zip Lines, Sports Court, Mini Golf (granted it's a limited course) etc etc  up against what other lines offer in this regard. (provided a ship with these options was available)

I would, however concede the NCL go karts seem like they could flag some teen interest!!!

Agreed, RCCL do have a lot of "toys", probably more than NCL. But when comparing cost/value etc., I was amazed at how expensive RCCL have become in recent times. In our experience, the cost differential is significant.  When hosting a group of teens, if money is no object, then yes, RCCL would be a better bet.