Younger teens

[cruiser_new]

On Legend in July. Who has experience taing a 13-year old boy. Did they think the activitites were fun? Or did they think the activitiews were "dorky"?

[jinxnb]

On Legend in July. Who has experience taing a 13-year old boy. Did they think the activitites were fun? Or did they think the activitiews were "dorky"?

 

I can't speak for youth activities on Carnival, but I did go on a cruise in Hawaii when I was 13-about-to-be-14. Although this was 16 years ago, I have very vivid memories of the cruise (but not the name of the cruise line...memory is funny. LOL!)

 

I had a lot of fun being part of the young teen club. Even though some of the activities were cheesy, giggling and rolling our eyes about the cheesiness was part of the bonding experience as a 13 year old. My most vivid memory from this cruise, and indeed from any of the four cruises I have ever been on, was the shooting-star shower that my new friends and I watched on the Lido deck. For a bunch of too-cool-for-school kids that all 12-14 year olds are, we went through a truly awe-inspiring experience together.

 

Now, years later, as a teacher, I can say that whenever a group of 12-14 year olds are together, they will have a good time, whether they are disdaining the lameness of their parents and younger siblings or actually letting themselves have childish fun (i.e.- scavenger hunts, water slides, etc.), they will have a blast. Of course, when you ask them at dinner how their day was, whether it was the worst or best day of their lives, they will invariably mumble, "OK."

 

Just my two cents, but I hope that helps! :)

 

*Liz*

[RatherBFishin]

On Legend in July. Who has experience taing a 13-year old boy. Did they think the activitites were fun? Or did they think the activitiews were "dorky"?

 

A bit of both.

 

Remember, at 13 they can come and go as they wish. They don't have to sign-in or sign-out of the activity. So, for example, the first night the meeting was in the Disco around 8:30pm. The youth councellor got the kids out on the dance floor and taught them a line dance (the "Cha Cha Slide" or somthing like that). Well, you should have seen the boys fly out of there.

 

Other times it was the girls that bolted. In fact I never saw a single activity with my two (DD 12 and DS 14) that really got the entire Tween set excited. Some never went to any of the activities, which are all glorified ice breakers anyway.

 

That doesn't mean they didn't have fun. They start forming social groups the first night, so it's critical to get your son to go to that at least. And after that they boys spent a fair amount of time in the arcade playing air hockey, up on deck playing ping pong (when the older teens weren't hogging it), and hanging around the eateries scarfing down burgers and ice cream. That was enough to kill 2 Sea Days for us. And when we were in port, our excursions took up most of the day.

 

All in all, it's easy for a 13 yo to have fun, but it depends on if he's willing to mingle with the other boys his age. For a really shy kid it might be a little bit of an issue. The youth councellors really don't "entertain" the tweens/teens. Their role is just to act as a catalyst and get the kids to socialize.

[cccer]

Are 13 year old son really enjoyed his cruise, I took him to camp carnival the first nite for the meet up and there were not alot of people there. He said he wanted to go so I left and went to the elevator and he was not with me. I went back in and he was talking to two girls and I did not see much of him except for diner after that.

He'll have a great time.

[iluv2travl]

On Legend in July. Who has experience taing a 13-year old boy. Did they think the activitites were fun? Or did they think the activitiews were "dorky"?

 

I'm worried about that as well. On our past cruises my son has always thought the activities were dorky, and the last one he was only 10! That was on NCL though! On our last cruise he was lucky enough to have a classmate on board that unexpectantly was there with his family staying 10 rooms away. That was pure luck!

 

I'm really hoping this time (he will almost be 13), will be different. This is our first Carnival cruise, and I'm praying there will be more kids his age. He is an only child and it takes awhile for him to warm up. He always waits to be invited to hang around with others instead of just joining in.

[crazycruzer68]

I have a 14 year old daughter who loves cruising, the boys that hung out in her group last year looked as if they were having as much fun as the girls. The only planned activites that they did with the Circle C was the disco each night, both boys and girls. But they spent every minute they could as a group exploring the ship, I wish I know how much ice cream they ate!

[Brandinojo]

On Legend in July. Who has experience taing a 13-year old boy. Did they think the activitites were fun? Or did they think the activitiews were "dorky"?

 

Took my 12 1/2 yr old on the Glory last year. He had a pretty good time. We all like to hang out together mostly, but there were several times that he hung out in the arcade with kids his age and had a lot of fun. He only went to sponsored events a couple times (both dances) and didn't have any complaints. He definately was a bigger fan of the things we did at ports though. We are going on the Legend in Sept and he'll be 13 1/2, would love to hear how your son does in July!!

[CruiserCard]

Our entire family is cruising on the Glory the 4th of July to Nassau, St Maarten and St Thomas. Our 14yo son will be with us for his first cruise and is the youngest in the group. I'm sure he would like to hang out with kids his age instead of the old folks! Can anyone tell me about Club O2? It looks like something he would enjoy but would feel better knowing a little about it before boarding. Thanks for your input!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

My son had a blast (14). He was afraid he would be stuck with a bunch of 12 year olds and wanted to go into the teen club. I reminded him his sister was in the teen club and you don't want to go in there lol. He had fun - even with the 12 year olds:rolleyes:. The activities they have planned are fun. There were some lame activities that he didn't want to participate in but he made friends on the ship and they would just do something else like swim, slide, basketball, mini golf, eat pizza/ice cream etc. Don't worry. He'll have fun.

[gone_cruisin]

Our entire family is cruising on the Glory the 4th of July to Nassau, St Maarten and St Thomas. Our 14yo son will be with us for his first cruise and is the youngest in the group. I'm sure he would like to hang out with kids his age instead of the old folks! Can anyone tell me about Club O2? It looks like something he would enjoy but would feel better knowing a little about it before boarding. Thanks for your input!

 

Here's an example of the 12-14 age group activities on the Freedom.

 

http://www.beyondships.com/files/C_Freedom_Circle_C.PDF

[tiger belle]

Our entire family is cruising on the Glory the 4th of July to Nassau, St Maarten and St Thomas. Our 14yo son will be with us for his first cruise and is the youngest in the group. I'm sure he would like to hang out with kids his age instead of the old folks! Can anyone tell me about Club O2? It looks like something he would enjoy but would feel better knowing a little about it before boarding. Thanks for your input!

 

My teen nephew and niece have been cruising with their family on Carnival for several years now. Their teen club experiences have always been the highlight of their trips. My niece and nephew basically use the clubs as a way to connect and meet kids with similar interests at the beginning of the cruise. The rest of the cruise, they hang out as a group and explore the ship, as another poster mentioned. They do enjoy the hosted dances and some of the scheduled activities, but they choose the ones that interest them.

 

My niece and nephew each have different personalities--one more outgoing than the other--but they both love their experiences onboard and look forward to every cruise and meeting new friends. :)