first-timer w/dd age 11 on Majesty

[improvgirl]

Hi! I am new to cruising but my dh is a former NCL cruiser and raves about it. We are considering 7-night sailing from Charleston on the NCL Majesty and while I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of this boat after reading many helpful posts and reviews on this fantastic site, I haven't read much about the kids programs.

 

My daughter is 11 and we are considering going on her spring break in late March, 2008. She is an only child, and therefore she is kind of a "small adult". She likes dining out with us, and would very much like broadway style shows. She is also very social with girls her own age and loves the Disney Resort kids clubs. Does anyone here know about the kids clubs for that age group on this ship? What about evening entertainment? Is it all-ages friendly? What about family-together activities like karaoke?

 

We are also considering Royal Caribbean Grandeur (for 5-nights from Tampa), NCL Gem from NY (7-nights), Royal Caribbean Explorer from Bayonne (9-nights which I fear will be too much for my first cruise - I'm worried about motion sickness). We have ruled out Disney because of the cost.

 

I also posted this in NCL's forum & on first time cruisers forum.

[crusinmama06]

I have the Royal Carribean kid's compasses for every age BUT your daughters...lol. Sorry I am waiting for someone to send them to me. But you can look at the other ages and see what kind of activities they offer on RCCL

 

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Royal%20Caribean%20AO%20Compass/

 

I don't have any NCL's yet. We sailed NCL a few years ago but I wasn't impressed...so we tend to stick with RCCL or Carnival.

[Onessa]

DD was 10YO when we last sailed NCL (Hawaii). I don't recall what the age breaks are in NCL's program.

 

DD is also an only child, as such she is also a bit more mature in some of her interests. She has been on Princess, RCL, and NCL. She likes the kid's programs on RCL and NCL better - Pricess appears to be a bit more organized at her age level and as she said "hey I'm on vacation, I don't need a teacher telling me what to do every minute". On NCL she's always had a good number of other girls her age in the program. RCI tends to be pretty active, but again lots of other kids and a good variety of things going on at any one time.