Seeking Opinions on Best Cruise for Teens

[DAP2]

Looking for opinions and any helpful information for planning our teens first cruise. 16yo girl and 13yo boy Pertinent info for our situation:

 

It might be nice but not necessary if the age breakout for the teen club is the ages that would allow them to stay together. The kids are shy and slow to warm up but the life of the party after.

 

We have cruised twice on Carnival, once the Paradise out of the west coast and once on the Dream out of the east coast. It will be cheaper for us to get to the west coast but generally the ships are the older ones and I'm worried about that. The Paradise was too run down for us. We did not find the Dream to be too large as some people complain so I guess we like the larger ships.

 

The cruises we are consideringa are:

 

Disney Wonder out of the west coast to the Mexican Riviera: Are teens too old to enjoy a Disney cruise? I say not and my husband thinks they are. Does Disney maintain their ships like their parks or will we find it to be ran down? Is a Disney cruise without the private island stop worth it?

 

RC Oasis Western Carribean or RC Allure Eastern Carribean

 

Carnival Dram Weestern Carribean

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your time.

[A&Jfamily]

Looking for opinions and any helpful information for planning our teens first cruise. 16yo girl and 13yo boy Pertinent info for our situation:

 

It might be nice but not necessary if the age breakout for the teen club is the ages that would allow them to stay together. The kids are shy and slow to warm up but the life of the party after.

 

We have cruised twice on Carnival, once the Paradise out of the west coast and once on the Dream out of the east coast. It will be cheaper for us to get to the west coast but generally the ships are the older ones and I'm worried about that. The Paradise was too run down for us. We did not find the Dream to be too large as some people complain so I guess we like the larger ships.

 

The cruises we are consideringa are:

 

Disney Wonder out of the west coast to the Mexican Riviera: Are teens too old to enjoy a Disney cruise? I say not and my husband thinks they are. Does Disney maintain their ships like their parks or will we find it to be ran down? Is a Disney cruise without the private island stop worth it?

 

RC Oasis Western Carribean or RC Allure Eastern Carribean

 

Carnival Dram Weestern Carribean

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your time.

 

I can only relay a friend's experience as far as Disney. He said that it was a great experience for younger kids, but for teens and adults, the "streets rolled up by 8 or 9 pm."

 

I am not a RC fan as I do not think their food or serivce is as good as Carnival, but if I were chosing between Eastern and Western, I would pick Western everytime. I like the exotic feel of the ports and it just seems to me there is such a wide range of activities because of the different cultural experiences available.

[griffy116]

We travel as an extended family, always with a couple of teens. Our teens always opted out of the teen clubs and found plenty of teens to hang out with onboard at the pool, arcade, basketball court. RCI ships have loads of activities for teens. They have a rock-climbing wall, Johnny Rockets, mini-golf, basketball court, lounges by age for hanging out, Flowrider and more. Ours have always left the cruise wanting to stay on the ship longer, wanting to do things they didn't have time to do. There will definelty be no time for boredom on the RCI ships you mentioned. Eastern and Western itineraries are great, and we love the food on RCI. There's Sorrento's pizza, Cafe Promenade, the MDR, Johnny Rockets and too many food options to mention. We had a rule that the teens had to join us in the dining room every night. At first they were bummed at that idea. After the first night, they couldn't wait to see what was for dinner and enjoyed the MDR experience. They did their own thing at breakfast and lunch and went somewhere different every day. They loved ordering late night room service and wanted to see if I could duplicate some of the cookie recipes they enjoyed (not). They are wonderful ships, the crew is great and so is the food.

[onthelake]

You didn't mention Princess. We are fans and your teens would be together. Although my DS, turning 17, would still go on a Disney cruise, he agrees it is for younger kids and when we were on, is more oriented to girls (it was the Princesses everywhere). Especially as the kids get older, I think it is more about the ports than the ship activities. Go where you will all have the best time.

 

We also have MDR together as mandatory and often lunch as well. That is how/where we share our day and plan for the next. As long as kids meet one or two others to hang with, they are happy.

[akcruz]

I would say go with RCI, especially if it is Oasis or Allure. We sailed on Carnival until my kids got into their teen years. We tried 1 RCI and have not looked back. My kids far prefer the activities on board the RCI ships.

 

As for Eastern vs. Western, it depends on what you want to do. Eastern is more beach and shopping while Western is usually more 'active' types of excurions (ruins, cave tubing, etc).

[Essiesmom]

I'm just curious as to why, if you are considering the Mexican Riviera on Disnay, that you aren't looking at Carnival Splendor to Mexico? EM