Swanstream Posted July 20, 2022 Report Share Posted July 20, 2022 Suggestions? Things to do vs. don’t do on board? Super nervous about it. Bowen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted July 20, 2022 Report Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Swanstream said: Suggestions? Things to do vs. don’t do on board? Super nervous about it. Hi and welcome to the boards. We'll be better able to help if you tell us which ship you're booked on. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowen Posted July 20, 2022 Report Share Posted July 20, 2022 I cruise with teenagers, one is super outgoing, the other is extremely shy and will only hang out with the other. The outgoing child will immediately go to the teen club to see if there is a sign that lists any activities that will be going on. He'll join every scavenger hunt, card came, mini golf tournament, basketball game, etc. I'll see him at the start of the cruise and "maybe" I'll see him in the Windjammer having lunch with his new friends. The last time we cruised, as we were leaving the final morning, the crew members were actually saying bye to my oldest, and one stopped me to tell me that they'd never met a more polite kid, apparently he ordered a LOT of sodas at the bars. So if your teen likes new people, the teen club will have a lot going on. We cruise in the off season since we homeschool, but even in slow months with just 20-30 other kids his age on the cruise he is always going. The other one will go to the teen club only if his brother is going, and generally will come back to the room if he doesn't want to do something the other kids are doing. He'll pal around with me and we'll go swimming, play golf, whatever. Swanstream, Swar, WAAAYTOOO and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seannie Posted July 20, 2022 Report Share Posted July 20, 2022 54 minutes ago, Bowen said: I cruise with teenagers, one is super outgoing, the other is extremely shy and will only hang out with the other. The outgoing child will immediately go to the teen club to see if there is a sign that lists any activities that will be going on. He'll join every scavenger hunt, card came, mini golf tournament, basketball game, etc. I'll see him at the start of the cruise and "maybe" I'll see him in the Windjammer having lunch with his new friends. The last time we cruised, as we were leaving the final morning, the crew members were actually saying bye to my oldest, and one stopped me to tell me that they'd never met a more polite kid, apparently he ordered a LOT of sodas at the bars. So if your teen likes new people, the teen club will have a lot going on. We cruise in the off season since we homeschool, but even in slow months with just 20-30 other kids his age on the cruise he is always going. The other one will go to the teen club only if his brother is going, and generally will come back to the room if he doesn't want to do something the other kids are doing. He'll pal around with me and we'll go swimming, play golf, whatever. Is there a charge for the teen club activities ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowen Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 3 hours ago, Seannie said: Is there a charge for the teen club activities ? No, it’s all included as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordell1 Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 Usually, the first night will have a meet and greet at the teen club. It is highly recommended to have your teen attend. They tend to form up groups at that time. Swanstream and Bowen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 The meet up may be in the afternoon - it was in April and for the months before when I was checking schedules in the app. I think 2-5pm. This may be controversial, but it was my experience that having the Voom internet package made me feel better about letting mine have more independence on the ship. We set up WhatsApp for all of us, then we could check in whenever we wanted to. One thing we did was to reach out on our roll call for other families with teens and then we all met up in the early afternoon and walked them all together to the teen hang out space. My oldest ended up getting their numbers and starting a WhatsApp chat so they could hang out together in the evenings. I'd also set up some ground rules, like be courteous to other guests, never sit on a railing or take your feet off the ground near a railing, don't go into anyone's room without our permission, etc. Make sure they know what they are allowed to order on their own - which food and drinks they can get for free or within your budget. Have them sign up for a Royal account, download the app and figure out how to see the schedule and the floorplan. And that they know your room number! Also, go and sign the permission waivers for the necessary stuff early so they can do things like FlowRider, climbing wall, zipline, ice skating, etc. without having to find you - if you want to allow those activities. Swanstream, Bowen and Pattycruise 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 I agree with all of the above. Unless we were doing an excursion I had zero expectations of spending time with my teens, EXCEPT for dinner. Dinner is mandatory for all in my family. We book the early dining in the main dining room so they are free for the rest of the night to do whatever with their new friends (or siblings). Sometimes they might agree to go to a show with us, but we don't expect it. So if you have expectations about "together time" make it clear before the sailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 Oh, and the only other expectation I had from my teens....acknowledge my existence when they walk by me. It can be a slight nod of the head or a slight wave of the hand. I brought them into this world and onto a ship, they can at least acknowledge I exist. I don't ask for the BIG HELLO so they won't be mortified to have acknowledged their parent in front of other teens. However, I did warn them all if they failed to acknowledge me they would be sorry. My middle guy took me up on that. He was walking with a gaggle of girls and a few boys when he saw me, looked away and kept going. I loudly called his name, asked him for a hug and whispered in his ear "all you had to do was nod or lift a hand slightly." He never forgot after that! Bowen and Swanstream 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowen Posted July 21, 2022 Report Share Posted July 21, 2022 Same as above, my kids know that if I hear anything negative they're going to be glued to my side the rest of the cruise. We also have a magnetic white board that we put on the outside of our door so they know where we are and we know where they are (like with check in times). And we do the text app thing that RC provides. Swanstream and Pattycruise 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swanstream Posted July 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 On 7/20/2022 at 3:39 PM, FionaMG said: Hi and welcome to the boards. We'll be better able to help if you tell us which ship you're booked on. Oasis of the Seas in November RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swanstream Posted July 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 This helps tremendously! Thank you all so much!! KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowen Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 2 hours ago, Swanstream said: This helps tremendously! Thank you all so much!! I don’t know if Oasis is exactly like Harmony, but Harmony had The Living Room as the teen club and it was my kid’s favorite one. RCIfan1912 and Swanstream 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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