Teenagers with parents: best cruise line or ship for cruise to Caribbean

Planning on a cruise to the Caribbean next March break with daughter, son-in-law, grandson, 16, grandaughter, 13.

For the 13 and 16 year old I would pick one of the larger rccl ships , ice skating show , flow riders , rock climbing walls some even have bumper cars .

Another recommendation for one of the larger Royal Caribbean ships. Excellent entertainment for all ages and numerous activities for the kids - flow riders, zip line, rock climbing wall, ice skating, sport courts, etc. plus planned teen activities

Check out Symphony of the seas on youtube. According to RCL it is the biggest, newest and best. I happen to agree..

From Voyager class and up.

RCI...Freedom or Oasis class ship.....all of you will love what they offer. :D Eastern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale or Miami....can't get any better !!!

Thanks for your great info. Guess the choice will be easy. Royal Caribbean, Eastern Caribbean. Now to firm up the date and choose the ship. (It will have to be during Quebec March break). You have saved me much time. I truly appreciate all of your answers, especially as they all same the same thing.

I think Carnival is another possibility, especially with 8 day on the Horizon out of Miami. We've looked at RCCL a few times but their sail dates and prices just didn't match up with what we were looking for. Our son is 17 and he's always had fun on a Carnival cruise.

I would stay away from NCL but that is just an opinion I've formed from dealing with them.

From my kids experience, they rated their favorites in order of Carnival, NCL, RCCL.

Unless they changed something (this was years ago mind you...) the reason my then 13 yr old didn't like RCCL was because my then 12 1/2 yr old was lumped in with a 12-17 yr old group. If they plan on using the teen activities, I would look into this first because if I had a 13 yr old daughter, I would NOT in anyway shape or form want her hanging out with those who are 17 to almost 18 yr old (especially) guys.

Without knowing other than your granddaughter wants beaches it is hard to say though what they would want most out of their time on the ship.

On both RCCL and NCL neither of my kids did any of the "activities" with the flo-rider or rock walls or such. They didn't want to wait in line for on average 45+ minutes for them and they aren't all that extreme sports kids anyways. Both my kids would rather have had a nice place to hang out in, make new friends and do things like have video game battles, play things like Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens, or go to the huge chess boards on NCL. Each kid is different so...

Our son sailed with all lines except Cunard from 11 till 18 yo

Absolute favorite was Royal Caribbean in terms of activities

They always had separate groups for teens and older teens during holidays.

From my kids experience, they rated their favorites in order of Carnival, NCL, RCCL.

 

Unless they changed something (this was years ago mind you...) the reason my then 13 yr old didn't like RCCL was because my then 12 1/2 yr old was lumped in with a 12-17 yr old group. If they plan on using the teen activities, I would look into this first because if I had a 13 yr old daughter, I would NOT in anyway shape or form want her hanging out with those who are 17 to almost 18 yr old (especially) guys.

 

Without knowing other than your granddaughter wants beaches it is hard to say though what they would want most out of their time on the ship.

 

On both RCCL and NCL neither of my kids did any of the "activities" with the flo-rider or rock walls or such. They didn't want to wait in line for on average 45+ minutes for them and they aren't all that extreme sports kids anyways. Both my kids would rather have had a nice place to hang out in, make new friends and do things like have video game battles, play things like Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens, or go to the huge chess boards on NCL. Each kid is different so...

The age groups can be merged together if there are not a large number of teens on board. The teens seem to use the club as a place to meet and hangout. There are not as many organized activities like with the younger kids.

My family has never waited 45 minutes for anything. Might depend on the time of year, number on board. etc. My grandkids enjoy the open play on the sports court - basketball, soccer, etc.

I would be very cautious advising playing video games. Kids can run up a huge bill. Games are not free and not all kids are disciplined enough to handle just swiping their card to play. Lots of reports about huge Seapass bills.

Thanks so much for this info. theses particular grandkids do NOT play games unless they are on their computer. they come home from school and go down to their "childcave" .

I will have to have a serious discussion with their parents to see if they want to wean them away from their computer and playbook games which is what I hope.

I imagine to play their games aboard they would have to pay wifi charges which would be horribly expensive----thanks for bringing up that point, had not given it the least thought.

Your insights are so helpful. Since it will mostly be my treat, all your answers are extremely helpful and I appreciate the thought and time you're giving to help me out.

Having taken several different RCI class of ships, Oasis is the most obvious choice in terms of activities - Symphony was mentioned, but you are likely to pay premium for new ship. Harmony, Allure, and Oasis are the others. BUT, you are likely to get better prices on Freedom or Voyager class ships. We just took Navigator for 9-day Southern out in Miami over Christmas. We enjoyed it more than Harmony. But as others have mentioned, MSC, NCL, and Carnival all have brand new ships in Miami too - so plenty to choose from.

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We just sailed the Anthem out of Bayonne, (Aug. 4) and I would echo the recommendations for larger RCCL ships. We were seven, from age 15 to age 60, and there was always something for someone of every age to do. The teens, in particular, loved the IFly, FlowRider and Bumper Cars, and even night time activities like the "Silent Disco" appealed to all ages.

you can go to a beach at every port in the Caribbean if you want. ;) I might choose one with the private islands, as that guarantees at least one port with ease of access to a beach.