Will 13 &15 yr olds be bored on TransAtlantic crossing? 16 day

[steveaaaa]

I am just looking at the 16 day transatlantic crossing of the Liberty and I wonder if my teens would be bored on 5 straight days at sea. The stops in Spain and Portugal I am sure would have some excellent shore excursions for them but those sea days could be tough. I also wonder how the school would take then being out for such a long stretch. There is also the 12 day trip from Rome in the summer,but I like the stops on the 16 day better.

Steve

[SevenVII]

On a brand new ship in europe, bored? I wouldnt think so.

[crzndeb]

I bet you do like that 16 day Steve....more days to find things that are broken....LOL!

[steveaaaa]

I bet you do like that 16 day Steve....more days to find things that are broken....LOL!

:D

Steve

[sassycruiser]

My son is 15 and I know he would love this cruise (do you want to take him?). Kids will meet other kids on board and that will give them something to do plus kids are big on just "hanging out.". So I think they will be fine. Have a great trip!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Being bored is a definite possibility (one must consider this)... It really depends on your children, and their ability to make new friends and entertain themselves. I would assume that the average age on this cruise will be somewhat older than a 3-4-7 day cruise... in much the same way that I understand the Panama Canal transit voyages are...

 

Our 17 year old son no longer desires to cruise, we had to drag him out of his cabin last time! Our 12 year old does, but DID get quite bored on our last 7-day Glory cruise.

 

As far as the school situation - Once again, it depends on your children... assuming they can get their work AHEAD of time, will they be willing to do any of it while on the ship (being bored is one thing - being able to motivate to do school work is another). That is a LOT of time to miss.

 

I am not trying to discourage you from taking this voyage with your kids - just weigh it all out !

 

Tom

[iluvdoxies]

If they don't go, that's 2 less people you would have to pay tips for...we all know how you feel about tipping.

[LiLBxQt]

i doubt there will be very many kids on that kind of cruise.... leave em home n take a vac for yourself!! hehe

[margaritawoman]

I don't think you will find very many kids that age on that type of cruise in October. We are booked on that cruise, our children are no longer at home, but I would not have taken them out of school for that amount of time. I think you will find a much different crowd on this cruise than you would on a Caribbean. Maybe the summer cruise (12 Days) you would find more kids their age.

[serene56]

I agree that there wont be a lot of kids onboard for that sailing. People do take kids out of school for family vacations but thats a long time to take off- the older the kids are the harder it is to catch up.

Besides-- I find on even regular cruises kids that age do NOT like particiapatin gin the group actiivities. Find out how many kids will be onaboard before you commit. There is only so much a kid can do onboard and for 5 days straight.. (?) better you then me.. my kids would have killed me by the end/ (LOL)

[Littlegoo75]

Having a Mom who is a teacher, I know she would frown upon one of her students being gone that long, without it being an emergency or illness. That is really a long time to be out of school, and it being somewhat towards the beginning of the school year.

I too don't think there would be the same amount of people under 18 yrs old on a cruise like that, so it is possible they may get bored. At that age, I probably would have been. I don't know if I could do it now, and I'm 29. The husband and I are booked for the October 12th cruise on the Liberty, I wanted to see everything there was to see, and not have THAT many sea days. I like a couple here or there, maybe even a couple in a row, but after 2, I think I would really want to see land.

I don't mean to sound down, but, just being honest. Maybe they could do their homework on those sea days, but I just know from my Mom that when kids are out for awhile, it does put an extra burden on our already over-worked teachers.

[halos]

Steve, Steve, Steve.....Even though I recognize this thread as a blatant attempt to STP.....and unfortunately for you, it didn't work, so I'm assuming you may be a bit disappointed that you didn't get the entertainment value out of this thread that you were hoping to get.....I have to ask you; considering the fact that you have that pessimistic outlook and black cloud floating above your head...everything goes wrong on your cruises and I believe I quote you directly from another post saying you vacation a lot and have 'burnout'...what on earth makes you think those poor kids of yours want to spend 16 days with you on a ship??? :confused: Just curious.

[sls]

I've been told this cruise is sold out.

[dmfriedman]

I've been told this cruise is sold out.

Having waited too long, I've been getting more and more convinced there's no way to book this any longer -- I've searched every site I can think of and can't find anyone with space on this sailing. It appears that Carnival was very successful with both this one as well as the European sailings -- the discounts that were offered over the past several months have led to the prices for the European sailings going up over 50%. I'm kicking myself for not booking when they first became available :(

[MomofBoyz]

Yes, they would probably be bored. If they are in any way anchored with activities or friends at home, a shorter cruise is best. We've learned this the hard way. It's not that the cruise doesn't offer cool stuff, it's just that they feel a pull to be back with their buddies, parties and so no. We have had many a "conversation" about providing really nice vacations and all they want to do is go back to some game or party or even a practice. Go figure!

 

I can only speak of my own kids, but 7 nights was riding the borderline. I would never go any longer with the kids. Now, if it were just hubbie and me.....

[BDL]

If the OP is really considering a cruise of this length with children (and not just looking to start a controversial thread), they would most certainly be bored... I've been on 5,7 and 10 day cruises. Lots of kids on the 5 day and even on the 7, but except for a couple of pre-schoolers with their grandparents, not a single one on the 10 day (it was during November). I found that on the 10 day, in our mid-40's, we were among the youngest on board. Most (I'm sure not all) people do not or can not take time out for a longer vacation.

[vijoge]

My 15 y/o son would definitely be bored. He likes visiting ports but he's not much for sea days. Silly kid!

 

Missing school depends on your particular school. I can get permission to take my son out of school for a week but he would receive a grade of zero for all work missed. He could still do the work (before, during, or after the missed week) but he would get NO credit for it. Unfortunately, his grades aren't high enough that he can afford to lose this much credit.

[steveaaaa]

Steve, Steve, Steve.....Even though I recognize this thread as a blatant attempt to STP.....and unfortunately for you, it didn't work, so I'm assuming you may be a bit disappointed that you didn't get the entertainment value out of this thread that you were hoping to get.....I have to ask you; considering the fact that you have that pessimistic outlook and black cloud floating above your head...everything goes wrong on your cruises and I believe I quote you directly from another post saying you vacation a lot and have 'burnout'...what on earth makes you think those poor kids of yours want to spend 16 days with you on a ship??? :confused: Just curious.

I do have burnout, as a matter of fact I left Boston 2 days early because I got tired of the mess thanks to the world series events,and I am glad to be home.

My kids seem to adjust very well and this will be their 9th cruise.Both my kids love ships and the whole cruising experience all the way down to wearing the formal gowns and getting their hair and makeup done.They like going to the spa. They enjoy it, and could survive the trip with several spa visits.I do hold a reservation for 4 in an inside room yet there is some confusion on whether I can use my Mastercard points.They will not know until the beginning of next year.

I am interested in the cruise because it is different,and it is CCL.I have more points than I know what to do with, plus I will get free air from my points for 3 of us so far.

Steve

PS. My stay this weekend at the Doubletree suites was excellent nothing was/went wrong.The transportation issue was real bad.With 3 million extra people in town, it was terrible.Even after the parade, many still stayed and they overcrouded the "T". buses, and the streets.

[halos]

My kids seem to adjust very well and this will be their 9th cruise.Both my kids love ships and the whole cruising experience all the way down to wearing the formal gowns and getting their hair and makeup done.They like going to the spa. They enjoy it, and could survive the trip with several spa visits.Steve

 

 

Then I guess you answered your own question.

 

PS. My stay this weekend at the Doubletree suites was excellent nothing was/went wrong.

 

So, the Red Sox weren't the only ones who experienced a miracle. :D

 

 

 

Maybe the dark cloud has lifted?????

[steveaaaa]

Then I guess you answered your own question

 

No not fully.It is easier to get some imput from those who have actually done it.On another message board I frequent, I received a reply that I myself did not think about.That is the condition of the sea's at that time of year on that type of crossing.The poster on that board had his 3 children and all three were sick for 4 days straight,and they have sailed several times. I also got some insight as to the activities available for kids. ON his sailing there were only 2 dozen on the whole ship.The activities were quite in depth more than I thought.More up front and personal.

I am intrigued to say the least.

Steve

[jerseygirl3]

Steveaaa, why is it in question until early next year whether or not you can redeem your Carnival Mastercard points? I am using mine for the 9/18/05 Liberty sailing. I have enough points to receive a $1,000 voucher.

[jerseygirl3]

dmfriedman, there is a group cruise for this particular transatlantic sailing on Cruise Mates. If you go to cruisemates.com and click on Group Cruises, you should find it. It looks as though they still have cabins available.

[steveaaaa]

Steveaaa, why is it in question until early next year whether or not you can redeem your Carnival Mastercard points? I am using mine for the 9/18/05 Liberty sailing. I have enough points to receive a $1,000 voucher.

The $$ off is no problem so they say. The issue is my using more points for an inside to outside upgrade and a free 3rd & 4th passenger. On the terms and conditions of using the card there are several restrictions and very few are enforced but on a specialty sailing and a ship that is not even listed and not excluded yet is where we are. I suspect that they will refuse me. They even give me a hrd time on older ships. When 4 of us can sail for $36 (Fantasy class ship) including port charges it is hard to argue with them.

Steve

[jerseygirl3]

Steve, I find redeeming the points for the cash vouchers to be the best deal. We used a $1,000 voucher last year and will be using another one next year for our Liberty cruise.

[the_monkey]

I let our kids be bored. We really don't see it as a "bad" thing. They have learned to find something to do for themselves. If they don't, then I find something for them to do, which generally involves either dustrags or laundry detergent. :D

 

Now since cleaning isn't quite an option on a cruise (although I'm sure that with a 16 day, there would certainly be laundry to do, lol), I would talk to them in advance and make sure they brought something with them to use as a backup plan. What do they like to do? Draw, paint, write, read? At that age I was a prolific writer and I would have been sure to bring enough paper to write the sequal to War and Peace. These days I would take a laptop instead, but you get the idea. And I can still burn through 2-3 books a day given the chance.