Family Dining Suggestions w/Teens

[MickeyG]

Our family of four will be on Carnival's Fantasy Dec. 28 out of Mobile. The last time we did a cruise our kids were younger. Our son will turn 18 two months prior to our cruise and our daughter is 16. I was wondering if anyone might have any suggestions for family dining. Should we try to get a table with another family with kids who are similiar in ages to our kids, or does dining become less of a priority for older teens? Our last cruise we dined with a family who had two kids the same ages as ours and it worked out perfectly for all of us, even beyond dining. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from anyone who has taken a cruise with older teens. Also, does anyone know if Fantasy has age appropriate activities for a 16 and an 18 year old? Thanks for any help you can give us!!!:o

[mosel]

I don't know about sitting with others because our family that we cruise with is large so we always have our own table. Our kids have been cruising since they were 7,8,and 14. They are now 20,21 and 24. We have always made dining on the cruise a family event and made that the one time that they had to be with us and dressed appropriatly. Not really a problem because even my boys love the entire dining event and love to dress up for dinner. They even like to have dinner by themselves in the dining room on the nights that we go to the supper club. I just think it is a great time to get a chance to be together as a family and have the nice sit down dinners that rarely happen at home anymore. I like having a table for just our family when the kids are with us. When we cruise just the two of us we usually sit with others but it is a different experience. So have a great cruise whatever you decide.

 

As for the activities we found that at that age they usually only meet up at the club to meet and hang out with their new friends. 18 is a tough age because there is no supervised meeting at that age. They can not go to the teen clubs once they are over 18. Our kids started spending alot more time with us at that age because it is much harder to meet others that age. They are allowed to gamble but trying it once they realized they were losing hard earned money and lost interest quickly. They usually do most the same things we do now.. trivia,sunning,shows, piano bar. We have alot of fun together. Cindy

[TexasBelle]

Just came from the Conquest with 3 teens - 17, 18 and 19. Before the trip, they all hated the idea of the clubs for the different ages below 18. The 17yo decided to give it the 15 minute test as well, and he wound up loving it so much he was there all the time or hanging out with the friends he met there. The older kids - 18 & 19 - were envious and actually wrote in their comment cards that there should be a club for the 18-21 age group. They really felt left out and didn't fit in with the younger groups and didn't feel old enough for the adult clubs. It is a tough age. On the 2nd to last day of the trip, they had a 18-20 meet and greet, my daughter went to it and no one was there. Who has a meet and greet at the end of a trip?

 

On the plus side, we asked that we all have dinner together and it worked out well. Our other diners also had a teen, who stopped going to dinner so he could go to the O2 club. The older kids enjoyed the gambling, but were very cautious with their money and quit when they were ahead. They met people on the Lido deck while sunbathing mostly. Two of the kids went to a lot of the games and shows with us and even participated in the dance lessons. One did his own thing but checked in regularly and did join in a time or two.

 

I think for us it worked well that we gave them some freedom and yet had expectations too: keep in touch (bring pen and post-its, leave voice mails on the phones, etc), eat dinner with us, always be polite and respectful.

[hawaiikat]

I think table size depends upon your family. As a single Mom I was seated with 2 other single moms, althought their kids were younger than my daughter. She did participate in some conversation at dinner, but we were at an Aft table and she mostly enjoyed the view. On the other hand, we sat next to each other each night so we were able to have private conversations as well.

 

She was required to have dinner with me to have some together time and discuss our plans. The rest of the time (as much as she was allowed) she was hanging with kids she met at O2. They didn't stay at O2 much, but used it more like a meeting place.

 

Finally, if your kids are gonna do O2 I would suggest Early dining if you can swing it. Most of the O2 events started around 9pm, right in the middle of late dining.

 

Hope you have a great trip. I am back on the Splendor with my 14 yr old son and then 16 year old daughter in October so I hope it works out as well as the last one!

 

Aloha,

Kat

[mrs_fitz]

When my brother and I were that age, we simply ate with our parents. I actually don't like eating with other people because I've had instances where I didn't like the people but you kind of get shoved into hanging out with them anyway. I didn't mind eating with just my parents because it typically ended up being a funny converstion and we don't really get to eat a lot together at home (between games, my parents working, and then I was going off to college). I always enjoy the dinners and make a point to never miss it - I think we've missed 1 dinner out of all our cruises? But that's just me.. I'm all about the food on cruises! Maybe you should ask your kids what they would be more comfortable with.

[MickeyG]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I called carnival and switched our dinner seating to the early time so our daughter would feel the need to rush through dinner in order to make it to the teen club. This will be a little different for us. When we last cruised our son was old enough to go to the clubs and our daughter was too young. Now it is reversed, as out son will turn 18 about a month before we take our cruise in December. The person I spoke to said that we could ask our maitre d if we could be seated with another family of four. Again, thanks for everyone's help.:)

[bobsfamily]

Get a table for 2 and make them eat on the Lido... Kidding of course. We have found that about 2/3rds of the night we ate together but a couple of nights they wanted to hang or eat at Lido or the 16yo actually wanted to eat with a friends family. The friend ate with us one night... extra seats seem to be the norm nowadays... I bet 15-20% of the cruisers never set foot in the dining room. It's not part of the experience they want/have had a bad time before/etc.

[arpie05]

We were on the Fantasy in January and are scheduled to be on the same cruise in December. My son is 13. Most of the older kids activities start during the late seating - which was a problem we encountered in January which upset my son. You can choose Your Time dining, which allows you to go dinner anytime. Early dinner or Your time works better for families - and most families do eat together since the kids will be on their own most of the time.

[pe4all]

I think it was a good idea switching to the early dining time. DD always felt bad for her friends she met in club 02, who had the later seating for dinner, as they sometimes missed part of their planned activities. We just got off the Fantasy on Thursday, and had a great cruise. DD just turned 18 one month before we sailed, and really missed club 02. It seemed that everyone else her age was sailing with siblings/cousins/best friends, and for the first time, she had no one to hang out with. She also wrote a suggestion on her comment card for a one-time meet and greet for 18-20 year olds. That is all it takes for her to meet a group to hang with for the cruise. As far as a table for 4, or dining with another family - we always ask for a table for 4, as this is pretty much the only time we get to re-connect as a family. We learn more dirt from our dd during cruise dinners than we do all year, due to our different school/work/social schedules.

[MickeyG]

Thanks so much...your comments reaffirm my decision to change our dining time from 8:15 to 6. You have also given me something to think about regarding our seating preference. Perhaps it is a good idea to ask for a table for 4 instead of sharing a table with another family. Dinner may be the only time during the day when we have an opportunity to connect with the kids. Thanks again!!:)

[bobsfamily]

Thanks so much...your comments reaffirm my decision to change our dining time from 8:15 to 6. You have also given me something to think about regarding our seating preference. Perhaps it is a good idea to ask for a table for 4 instead of sharing a table with another family. Dinner may be the only time during the day when we have an opportunity to connect with the kids. Thanks again!!:)

If you have a table for 4 if one night the kids don't want to show up you are not bothering anyone else. Good idea.

[MickeyG]

Good point, bobsfamily.....if memory serves me correctly, the waitstaff waited for all parties (two families) to be seated before orders were taken. While it would be nice to share a table with another family, the fact of the matter is that the ages of our kids mandates that we should request a table for our immediate family.:)