Cruising with Teenagers

[sashat00]

I will be cruising with my 2 teenage daughters (15 and 19) in a couple of weeks.  I wondered if they are allowed in the casino and bar areas if they are with me.  Any other tips are appreciated.  My 15 year old really doesn't want to go and I want to try and get her out a little bit.

Thanks,

Amy

[rjac]

32 minutes ago, sashat00 said:

I will be cruising with my 2 teenage daughters (15 and 19) in a couple of weeks.  I wondered if they are allowed in the casino and bar areas if they are with me.  Any other tips are appreciated.  My 15 year old really doesn't want to go and I want to try and get her out a little bit.

Thanks,

Amy

Help us out here Amy, what ship and what itinerary.

[DocLC]

Try to get your 15 year old involved in some of the teen activities. They'll have things on the sports deck, parties, etc. 

[sashat00]

We will be on Explorer of the Seas for 4 nights.  We are sailing out of Seattle to British Columbia.  My 15 year old is not one to join in with groups and activities.  I wanted to know about these areas, so she could be with me some of the time,

[rjac]

1 hour ago, sashat00 said:

We will be on Explorer of the Seas for 4 nights.  We are sailing out of Seattle to British Columbia.  My 15 year old is not one to join in with groups and activities.  I wanted to know about these areas, so she could be with me some of the time,

Come on cruisers if you have past experience , help Amy out if you can. 

[FloridaPatriot]

Awhile back we took our 14 and 16 year old daughters. The older was NOT shy and loved the freedom of staying out late (it's pretty safe). She actually met a real live Prince from Abu Dhabi who was smitten with her, and bought her a bottle of expensive perfume! We were NOT Thrilled, but he was harmless and it's a fun story to tell. Her younger sister tagged along, and the teen club kept them busy. We always insisted on them eating dinner with us, and on formal night, oh my goodness, they arrived a little late and everyone stopped talking to stare. They still talk about that! The wonderful thing about sailing with our teens is that they were being exposed to experiences, people, foods, for the first time in their young lives. Shy or not, she will have a wonderful time if you allow her to go at her pace. I haven't been on Explorer in awhile, so can't speak for the actual Teen club there. Have fun!

 

[DocLC]

No problem with taking them in the bars. I don't recall the casino bring strict about moving kids along unless they're sitting and/or playing which are both no-nos. 

[mom2mybugs]

I have cruised 2x with my teens.  On the first cruise we did vision and the kids were 18, 15 and 12. The next year we did freedom.  The 2 older ones mostly hung with me since my 15 year old son was busy watching the ncaa tournament.   The 18 (and the next year 19) had a challenging time in that she was too old for the teen club,  and too young for the party scene.  We joined the roll call on cruise critic for her 2nd cruise and she met a girl that she went to some shows with and stuff.  She still mostly hung with me though.   My 12 and then 13 year old is the one that loved everything.   She still snapchats the girls she met 2 years ago in the term club.   Have your 15 year old go to the forest night and just meet some people.   After the first night they tend to meet at the teen area and then wander the shop.   On sea days they would meet early and hasn't out all day.   We had a late dining the 2nd cruise and she ate with us once!   She met everyone else in the windjammer a lot.  

Let me know if you have any specific questions!   Jane

[PRC]

Teens are a fickle bunch.  

On my first cruise my daughter was 16.  By all appearances she was having a terrible time and anything we did to try and "fix" that issue invariably was NOT welcome.  We ended up just letting her alone to choose what she did or did not want to do. 

 

I found out later that she had a blast!  It was just not "socially acceptable" to let your parents know you were happy!

 

She's now a 32yo mom of 2 girls, cruised the honeymoon, and a few since.  Would be onboard constantly if "life" would stop getting in the way! ;)

 

[Buzzard05]

We did a cruise over Thanksgiving last year with our two boys (18 and 16) on Navigator of the Seas.  I will be honest, they both had fun but also ended up being a little bored at times.  

It wasn't because there wasn't tons of stuff to do on the ship, but because of the age of my oldest son.  With him being 18, it kept him out of the teen club and activities.  He and his brother are pretty close, so that meant my younger one stayed with him and also didn't participate in the teen club and activities.  If they had both been able to participate in those activities together, I'm sure their impression of the cruise would have been much different.

One of the things they had fun with was playing the machines in the casino.  I don't know if my  younger son played, or  just watched his older brother (he is pretty tight with his money...so I am pretty sure he just watched his older brother blow his).  In any event, he was never asked to leave the casino (now he is big - 6'2"/185 lbs on our cruise...so they may have thought he was 18 and never checked him).  They also hung out at the pool, played a lot of basketball, and slept.

My older son did try to get his younger brother into one of the 18+ clubs at night, but they got caught and he wasn't allowed in.  I know they did sit and listen to some music at the other bars (or just outside them) without issue.  They also went into one of the pubs on the Promenade and watched a college football game without issue...so I don't think you will have any trouble taking them with you to bars/clubs unless it is later at night (that is when my younger son couldn't get into that one club).

Even with all of that said, when they saw a commercial for Harmony of the Seas they said they wanted to go on that ship....so we have a cruise planned for this summer on Harmony.  They both like sports, so I am hoping that my younger one will be able to "play up" in some of the adult basketball, volleyball, etc. tournaments.  He is even bigger now (over 6'3"/190+ lbs)...so it is actually probably better to have him playing with adults, I'm just hoping RCI sees it that way too.

One of the things they both liked on the cruise was having their independence.  I got two cabins (one for them and one for us right across the hall from each other).  They liked being able to come and go as they pleased and doing their own thing.  It was kind of a let down for us as it didn't really feel like a "family vacation" all the time...but it was cool seeing them stretch their wings a bit (on the confines of a ship) and do their own things.

My advice to you would be to try to get your younger daughter to at least try the teen club early on in the cruise (while friends are still being made in that group).  The worst that can happen is she won't like it and not want to go back...but she also might make a friend that both she and her sister can hang out with.  To be honest, you may find it is your older daughter that struggles a bit to find stuff to do as she is too old for the teen club, but not old enough for the adult activities.  Unfortunately, the cruise lines just don't seem to do a lot (if any) programming for that age group.

Sorry for the rambling of this post.  I have 16 things going on at my desk, and kept coming back to this to try to give you as much info as I could based on our experience.

[melski94]

My kids have done 3 cruises and love them.  They key for the teen club is to go the first night to meet other teens but your 19 yo won't be allowed in there.  At the teen club, they form little groups and my teen (now 17) still keeps in touch with friends she met on cruises.  She will be sad to not have the teen club next year although she doesn't actually do any of the teen activities.  Most teens use it as a meeting place and from there they typically wander around together until curfew.  Some ships will have meet and mingles for the 18-20 crowd.

Kids of all ages can go to most bars and shows as long as they aren't listed as 18+ (most aren't).  Your 19 yo can gamble with you in the casino. 

Hopefully, your 15 yo will come around.  If nothing else, she can work on her tan!  

 

[sashat00]

Thank you so much everyone.

I will keep all of this in mind when we are on the ship and my younger daughter stays in the cabin.  She likes to eat, so I'm sure she will eat with us at dinner.  Little worried about formal, she's not into that sort of fashion.

Thanks again,

Amy

11 Days to Go

[amy in va]

We will be cruising for the first time with our three teens (ages 13, 15, 16) this summer on Allure.  I was wondering how parents keep in touch with teens on the ship?  Is it worth it to buy the VOOM internet for two devices so I could text with my kids when they are on their own?  I'm happy to give them some freedom if I have a way to get in touch with them.  I don't want to set up meeting times then be stuck sitting around waiting when they are late, or interrupt activities to meet up when we could just text to keep in touch.

It sounds like my kids are perfect ages for the teen clubs & activities.  It says RC has them split up by 12-14 year olds and 15-17 year olds.  Does anyone know if they are allowed to go to either?  Would my 13 year old be able to attend the older teen club with his siblings? And vice versa?  I think my kids would be more comfortable staying together.

Thanks!

[Matt]

Do they have their own phones? If so, you could get a Voom package for each of them and then agree on a messaging app to use.  Another alternative is to just use texting. While roaming, texting is relatively inexpensive.  Check with your carrier for the rate, but usually incoming messages are free and sent messages range between 5-50 cents per message.

[Katiel53]

1 hour ago, amy in va said:

We will be cruising for the first time with our three teens (ages 13, 15, 16) this summer on Allure.  I was wondering how parents keep in touch with teens on the ship?  Is it worth it to buy the VOOM internet for two devices so I could text with my kids when they are on their own?  I'm happy to give them some freedom if I have a way to get in touch with them.  I don't want to set up meeting times then be stuck sitting around waiting when they are late, or interrupt activities to meet up when we could just text to keep in touch.

It sounds like my kids are perfect ages for the teen clubs & activities.  It says RC has them split up by 12-14 year olds and 15-17 year olds.  Does anyone know if they are allowed to go to either?  Would my 13 year old be able to attend the older teen club with his siblings? And vice versa?  I think my kids would be more comfortable staying together.

Thanks!

Depending upon the number of kids on the cruise, they may automatically have the 12-17 year olds in the same place/same time.  If there are a lot of kids though, it is doubtful that they will allow them to do so.  In the latter case, they may allow the 15 year old to go down to the lower group, but there is quite a difference between a 13 year old and a 17 year old.    It is more likely that your kids will end up in their own age groups.  Having said that, there is no harm in asking when you get onboard.