ALASKA on the SUN with TEENAGERS

[old faithful]

HELLO -

 

I will be sailing this summer on the SUN to Alaska with some teenagers .... I am curious - what is there for teenagers to do on the ship - they might be too "Cool" for the kids club ...any ideas/experiences?? Please HELP!!

[mbisson]

We were on the Sun 2 yrs ago and both my teens (now 17) rate the Sun as one of their favorite ships (they've been on 6 cruises). BUT they both socialized quite a bit in the teen club. I'm afraid if a teen doesn't want to do that they will probably have two choices, 1) be bored and lonely, or 2) finding "trouble". Yes, there is the pool (Pool-Alaska???) and maybe an occasional show they will enjoy but other than that, I don't think Teens will have a lot to do on their own on board. Luckly, Alaska cruises are pretty port intensive so maybe they'll enjoy the Alaska cities and excursions. They might catch a couple movies on board (probably on a TV though), try out the buffets (of course) and hopefully they will still meet up with some others in their own age group, even without attending the teen club.

 

jmo

-Monte

[electricron]

At least force them to attend the Kids Crew the first night, if only to meet the other teenagers their age aboard.

[WKM]

HELLO -

 

I will be sailing this summer on the SUN to Alaska with some teenagers .... I am curious - what is there for teenagers to do on the ship - they might be too "Cool" for the kids club ...any ideas/experiences?? Please HELP!!

 

Our son always went with us on every cruise. He always met with the teens on the cruise. Not only did he meet teens from the USA but teens from all over the world. If he found a teen on the ship that didn't know anything about the club, he would ask them to come and meet everyone. They seemed to have a ball going to the hot tub, playing card games, going to the shows together, or meeting for pizza late at night. Tell them to go to the first meeting of the teens. They will not regret it.

[ute_fan]

We went to Alaska for my DD's HS graduation trip, so they were slightly too old for the actual teen program. My DS was 20 and DD was 18. It was their first cruise, and they had a marvelous time. In fact, they're very upset that we're going without them in November :D .

 

However, we saw very few teens or young adults on our cruise. We went the 2nd week in June --- if you're going later on in the summer, it may be different. We saw some younger kids, a couple of young-looking teen girls (ages 13 or 14, maybe??), but for the most part there weren't many young people on the ship. I'd also encourage you to have them attend the teen club the first night to see if they can meet up with new friends, but don't expect that quantity of teens that you would find on a Caribbean cruise.

 

I'd encourage them up front to help decide what shore excursions you're doing. If it's something that they've had a say in, and they're excited about, you're likely to have less complaining about the rest of the cruise. We spent a lot of time watching TV in our room while gazing at the beautiful inside passage scenery and watching for wildlife. Luckily, one of the television stations showed lots of "Law and Order", which is my DD's favorite show. My kids also enjoyed the "game shows" and trivia contests, but yours might not. Once they found the karaoke contests at night, they were hooked. Neither of them would have ever dreamed of participating but they had a blast laughing at the other people making fools of themselves. They also enjoyed the nightly shows -- particularly the magician and the "cirque de" whatever show it was.

 

Have a great time! The Sun is a beautiful ship and I can't wait to go to Alaska again.

[monicajay]

We were on the Sun in Feb. and my kids 13 and 15 loved the teens program. I know you are going to Alaska and we did the Caribean but if the activities are the same it won't matter. The had a super line-up of activities including: a digital scavenger hunt, the matrix game, DDR game (dance, dance, revolution), karioke, murder mystery dinner, a farwell get together.

 

Please buy your teen the passport as soon as you board the ship, $34.99 for 20 frozen smoothie drinks. They have a great time going for mock-tails and have a huge choice of slushy and smoothie drinks.

 

Make sure your teen goes to meet the others on the first day. If this doesn't work out there are always kids hanging around the basketball court.

 

Good luck,

m.