Age 18-20 get togethers

[consmarci]

I have been reading old Patters and it seems that many ships have 1 get together for the 18-20 year olds and that is it. Does this increase during summer cruises when there are more in that age group? Any idea who to talk to when onboard to request that they do this if it isn't regularly scheduled?

Thanks....Emerald scheduled in July.

[caribill]

Any idea who to talk to when onboard to request that they do this if it isn't regularly scheduled?

 

The Cruise Director.

[DonnaK]

Good question - I'm a bit concerned, as this is the first year I'll be traveling with an 18 year old who is no longer able to attend the teen clubs.

[5waldos]

These often are not very well attended- in fact the single one my son tried to attend attracted nobody else. It is a difficult age for cruising according to many young people who have commented. Too old and too young.

[m steve]

to commit to anything until the last minute is impossible. (unless beer is involved)

[AlaskaGolden]

These often are not very well attended- in fact the single one my son tried to attend attracted nobody else. It is a difficult age for cruising according to many young people who have commented. Too old and too young.

 

I agree. It is sometimes difficult for young adults in this age group to go on this type of vacation.

 

May I suggest if they "hang-out" by the outdoor pools and hot tubs during the first full day (usually at sea on many cruises), they might be more likely to meet others their own age. Also, I think Skywalkers is open at certain times for those between 18 and 21.

[Prof96]

We sailed on the Emerald the first week in January and brought our 19 year old son and my brother's 19 and 17 year old boys. We had the same concerns as you do. We sent them to the 18-20 gathering on the first night and almost never saw them again outside of "required" family time for dinners and excursions! They met three 18-19 year old sisters and became best of friends. A larger group of about 12 in this age group met every day and planned their own activities (along with a wonderful ship's coordinator) from beach volleyball, to hanging out in the hot tub, to the caribbean party, to the Princess Pop star events (one of the sister's won it!). We met the girls and some of the other kids and they were pretty typical kids for their age (all were college students). I think that Princess did a good job with this group considering the "too old for kid's program but too young to gamble or drink."

 

Granted we may have been lucky that about 15 kids showed up on that first night and most of them stuck with it. The key I think is that each of these kids was willing to make an effort. When we sailed the same week a year earlier (without our son), I heard from a couple of guys on an excursion that the first night meeting was not worth going to but I think that was more a reflection of them or a smaller group than the program.

 

That said, I would consider it a bit of a "crap shoot." As all have commented, it is a tough age to be cruising on a ship that is not heavily focused on kids activities.

 

Good luck!

[ggprincess2004]

We haven taken the older teens along several times - one is now platinum with Princess. Check out the Princess Patter that is waiting for you in your stateroom, and see if they have a young adult singles get-together scheduled for the first evening. Frequently they do. Our kids have found friends that way. If it isn't well attended, they will have to try hanging at the pools and hot tubs, but it is worth a try.

 

Also, you might want to check in with your roll call, and see if anyone has older teens sailing with them.

[consmarci]

Thank you for your ideas...I'm sure it will be fine.

[Tatka]

Nice thread.. as parents of 18.5 y.o. we are uneasy about all this 18+ situation. He doesn't want to cruise with us anymore because he can't attent teen club.

[CALMOM]

I think 18 to 21 is not a good cruising age and can be a bit boring unless a sibling is going with or your child makes a friend real quick. I think that is why you will find most families with that age group sail on RCL or Carnival because they have several activities for that age. If you want to sail on Princess with that age group then I suggest staying off the ship while in port and prepare some type of activity for at sea days, such as swimming, ship sponsored classes or ship tour.

[NewPennCruiser]

I don't have kids, but on a recent west coast cruise on the Sapphire, we struck up a conversation with one of the cruise director's staff about the number of kids on the ship and the various programs that they offer. This staff member was only 22 or 23 and on her first contract with Princess and it sounded like some of her duties were to schedule get togethers with the 18 to 20 age group to help them find things to do. Like what many of you have said, her comment was that they were the toughest age group to deal with because they pretty much aged out of the teen programs that Princess offers, yet they can't go dancing at Skywalkers at night, etc, but can get off the ship in Mexico to do whatever they want. Not being that far removed from the age group, she was responsible for scheduling functions with them to help them meet others and find things to do, but she said that is often hard if there aren't that many represented on any given cruise.

 

In fact we were told there were only 30 kids total on our cruise and I really don't know what age groups were represented but I would suspect they had a tough time generating much interest for anything.

 

Dave