Teen activities on Mariner...

[tiger1993]

We are cruising for the first time in December - Mariner of the Seas - and will have our 13 year old boy with us. What do they offer for teens and is there an arcade or game system area? If so, is that an additional charge?

Thanks!

Caroline

[rclcruzer]

He will have his own club for his age group, where if you go on the first night, they have their own version of meet and mingle, he will more likely than not, meet some kids and hang out all week. My 3 teens have always hung out with a nice group of kids.

They do have an arcade, rather large one, however the games are pretty pricey. About $1.50 and up, most being close to $2 dollars. You can swipe your seapass card and pick the denomination you want to put on it.

I Usually allow no more than $10 dollars per day per kid, but with so much to do on the ship, and so many activities in their club, I doubt they will be in their every single minute!!

Have a great cruise ;)

[tiger1993]

Thanks rclcruzer for the info about the arcade. I'll be sure to set some limits too. :)

Do you know if they come and go as they want to at that age? I'm seriously thinking I need to take a good pair of walkie-talkies if he can just wander in and out as he pleases. Or, do they get signed in and out at that age?

It is good to know that they have a meet & greet time as well. I know he will enjoy hanging out with kids his own age!

Caroline

[bbrad8]

Caroline: Not Rclcruzer, but can help you here. While we have never been on Mariner, our kids (now 28,26 & 14) have used AO extensively over the years. Your DS will be in the 12-14 YO group. As such, he will have complete freedom to come and go as he 'likes'. There is not a sign in or sign out system. This is a much 'looser' group than you are used to. They will meet at different places throughout the ship (you will have a daily schedule of where they are meeting at the various times). Locations can change as often as hourly!!! Also, it is likely they will be involved in 'scavenger hunts' around the ship (in small groups) etc.........;)

 

Our kids have greatly enjoyed the 'freedom', but we do have Walkie-talkies that we take and use!!! We try to keep the interruptions to others at a minimum, but for us it is a necessary tool.

 

Bruce

[rclcruzer]

Caroline: Not Rclcruzer, but can help you here. While we have never been on Mariner, our kids (now 28,26 & 14) have used AO extensively over the years. Your DS will be in the 12-14 YO group. As such, he will have complete freedom to come and go as he 'likes'. There is not a sign in or sign out system. This is a much 'looser' group than you are used to. They will meet at different places throughout the ship (you will have a daily schedule of where they are meeting at the various times). Locations can change as often as hourly!!! Also, it is likely they will be involved in 'scavenger hunts' around the ship (in small groups) etc.........;)

 

Our kids have greatly enjoyed the 'freedom', but we do have Walkie-talkies that we take and use!!! We try to keep the interruptions to others at a minimum, but for us it is a necessary tool.

 

Bruce

thanks Bruce! That's exactly what I was going to say......one more thing too: post it notes and leaving messages on the phone works well too.

Remember OP, they can't go far, they are basically fenced in :D:D

[tiger1993]

Thanks for all of the information. We have never cruised before, so we just do not know what to expect. Your information helped out a lot!

I know he is going to have a great time!

Caroline :)

[kaseyoz]

There are copies of the newsletters details of all the events on board for the teens somewhere.

I think it is merion mom who has them linked to her posts. Hope she checks here or just try webshots.

I found them very interesting and useful to show my teens.

[Merion_Mom]

There are copies of the newsletters details of all the events on board for the teens somewhere.

I think it is merion mom who has them linked to her posts. Hope she checks here or just try webshots.

I found them very interesting and useful to show my teens.

 

Nope, not me. My kids were never very interested in the organized activities, but that's probably because we took our first cruise when they were 14 and 16, the age at which "they know everything". :rolleyes:

 

But they used the area as a launching pad to meet and get to know others on the first night or so.

 

When I want info like this, I do a search on webshots.

 

Michele (crusinmama06) has links to some of the Adventure Ocean Compasses, but since her kids are younger, I'm not sure if she shows all age groups. But she is really organized, and may pick up and display for the older groups even though her kids don't go yet.

 

:)

 

:)

[kaseyoz]

Nope, not me. My kids were never very interested in the organized activities, but that's probably because we took our first cruise when they were 14 and 16, the age at which "they know everything". :rolleyes:

 

But they used the area as a launching pad to meet and get to know others on the first night or so.

 

When I want info like this, I do a search on webshots.

 

Michele (crusinmama06) has links to some of the Adventure Ocean Compasses, but since her kids are younger, I'm not sure if she shows all age groups. But she is really organized, and may pick up and display for the older groups even though her kids don't go yet.

 

 

:)

 

:)

 

 

sorry,.... that is the person I was thinking of. I thought it had mom or something in the name. She does have the older teens compasses for the mariner as I have printed them off.

Yes they are on webshots like I mentioned before

 

:)

[milford_cruiser]

sorry,.... that is the person I was thinking of. I thought it had mom or something in the name. She does have the older teens compasses for the mariner as I have printed them off.

Yes they are on webshots like I mentioned before

 

:)

 

Crusinmama06 has many kids compasses for all ages posted here:

http://photobucket.com/cruisekidpages

 

One word of warning about the teen compasses: I would treat them as just "suggestions". We were on the Adventure in February and my then 12-yr-old DS found that many of the activities he went to participate in were canceled. It says right on the compass that if there isn't sufficient attendance within 10-15 minutes of the start time, the activity won't be held. A bit disappointing for him, but he did make a few friends and had a good time anyway.

 

And another piece of information about the arcade - you have to make sure your kids' SeaPass cards are coded correctly to access the arcade games. They work off the card, not quarters or tokens. Midweek on the Adventure my son told me that he wasn't able to use the arcade. A quick trip to Guest Services straightened it out. He wished he had mentioned it sooner...

 

Enjoy your first cruise! I'm sure that you AND your son will find MORE than enough to do!

[crusinmama06]

Yep it's me. :D The link is above in Milfords post and below in my signature.

 

I have all ages. And most cruise lines. These are provided by the parents of the Family Board, so it's just not the cruises I have personally been on. :)

 

And Milford is right, treat them as suggestions. They can (and do) cancel the activities for the older kids if there are not enough to participate.

[Craving A Cruise]

And another piece of information about the arcade - you have to make sure your kids' SeaPass cards are coded correctly to access the arcade games. They work off the card, not quarters or tokens. Midweek on the Adventure my son told me that he wasn't able to use the arcade. A quick trip to Guest Services straightened it out. He wished he had mentioned it sooner...

 

Enjoy your first cruise! I'm sure that you AND your son will find MORE than enough to do!

 

 

Hello Fellow Sailors,

This is my first post! Forgive me for not formally introducing myself yet. But my teens have questions @ the ship and I figured I would get some of their questions answered, so they will leave me alone for a while.... ;) Then I can get to posting all of my own questions. LOL :p

 

I have been lurking for a few days now and have definitely caught the "Cruise Bug". Dh and I have cruised before, but never with our kids. Hence, all the questions. Here goes!

 

1. Can they use text messaging on the ship? (We currently have AT&T) We live in CA and plan on sailing to Mexico. will that make a difference? Can they access their MySpace from the ship? If so, how much $$?

 

2. How often can they have access to Guitar Hero? (Believe me this is VERY important to them. Lol)

 

3. Does it cost extra $$ for Rock climbing? Golf? What about golf simulator? If so, how much? They are both avid golfers. Ice Skating costs? (Do you think they will have a mens size 14 skate??)

 

4. How do you limit the amount of money they spend on the seapass card each day? "Does the arcade have decent games or are they old lame ones?" asks DS #2. Do they ever offer unlimited games for a set price or time limit, similar to the arcades on land? Can they buy a $20 card that lasts 3 hours or something. How does the coding system work exactly?

 

Well, that is all the questions for now, I'm sure they will have more later. Thank you in advance for your replies. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you very soon. :)

[crusinmama06]

1. Can they use text messaging on the ship? (We currently have AT&T) We live in CA and plan on sailing to Mexico. will that make a difference? Can they access their MySpace from the ship? If so, how much $$?

 

2. How often can they have access to Guitar Hero? (Believe me this is VERY important to them. Lol)

 

3. Does it cost extra $$ for Rock climbing? Golf? What about golf simulator? If so, how much? They are both avid golfers. Ice Skating costs? (Do you think they will have a mens size 14 skate??)

 

4. How do you limit the amount of money they spend on the seapass card each day? "Does the arcade have decent games or are they old lame ones?" asks DS #2. Do they ever offer unlimited games for a set price or time limit, similar to the arcades on land? Can they buy a $20 card that lasts 3 hours or something. How does the coding system work exactly?

 

Well, that is all the questions for now, I'm sure they will have more later. Thank you in advance for your replies. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you very soon. :)

 

 

Let me see if I can any some of these.

 

1. Text messages, yes, BUT check with AT&T. We can tell you that it does work. And you may come back home to a $500 cell bill (yes my Mother In Law did that once...lol). So call AT&T and ask them about your particular contract.

 

3. Ice skating and rock climbing are both free. The Golf Simulator does have a charge (think it was $20 or $25 the last time we were on Freedom). Have them check out the golf simulator contests though. My hubby won a longest drive contest on the simulator and I don't think they charged for the contest.

 

4. You can limit the amount on their sea pass. I have heard reports that it doesn't always work though. So just check your account daily in your cabin. I am 34 so I don't know what "decent games" are these days...lol. The arcade was packed with kids though. And they looked like were having fun. I haven't see an arcade pass that last 3 hours. The arcade was pricey.

[Craving A Cruise]

Thank you for the quick response! I have enjoyed reading a lot of your posts. They have been very helpful to us. :)

 

I never thought to contact at&t about the text messaging. I better look in to that before we leave!! I figured phone calls to each other would be pricey, but we have free calling to each other with our family plan, not sure if it would still be available on the ship though. Normally, it is a great way to keep in touch with teens but I definitely don't want to be surprised with a $500 bill when we return home!!! I may have to disable their phones for the week so that their friends at home on land don't phone or text them either. LoL

 

Thanks again for the great advice!

[beachchick]

Thanks rclcruzer for the info about the arcade. I'll be sure to set some limits too. :)

 

Do you know if they come and go as they want to at that age? I'm seriously thinking I need to take a good pair of walkie-talkies if he can just wander in and out as he pleases. Or, do they get signed in and out at that age?

 

It is good to know that they have a meet & greet time as well. I know he will enjoy hanging out with kids his own age!

 

Caroline

 

I urge you to go to the Family forum here and read some of the threads where parents talk about the rules and limitations they put on their teens. It's all too easy to think of a cruise as being a perfect "paradise" on the ocean or a perfect and safe theme park. While cruising is great, the fact is that a large ship is essentially a small town with a cross-section of society and all kinds of people. Even with walkie-talkies (which don't always work really well if you're on one end of a large ship and he is on the other), you need to have some defined, non-negotiable rules and talk to him about both what to do/not to do and what behavior you expect from him.

 

That you're here asking questions says to me that you care about such things and you've probably raised a wonderful son. Even so, he's still only 13 and, like all teens, bound to push the limits sometimes.

 

There is so much for kids and teens to do onboard that he's sure to have a blast. Hope you all have a great time.:)

 

beachchick

 

p.s., I read your OP as you inquiring for your first cruise. If I misread that and you're experienced cruisers who already know all this stuff, never mind.