Thoughts on Norwegian Star for 17 year old and mom!

[AuntLucky]

Hello NCL Cruisers,

 

My 17 year old son wants to cruise for his graduation present and I'm all for it. As money is a factor, we will be sailing in late November or early December. Originally, I was planning a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing out of Port Canaveral on RCI, but as we'd like a balcony cabin, the price was rather high. I found a 7 night sailing on the NCL Star out of Tampa is much less expensive for a balcony cabin and I like the itinerary and the features of the ship. My question is if any experienced cruisers know if there are enough teen activities.

 

My son is the active sort, likes sports, running, video games etc. Not into the disco scene. I will plan excursions accordingly, but wondering specifically about the onboard experience for older teens.

 

Thanks in advance for feedback.

 

PS - We sailed on the Disney Magic several years ago and loved the size of the ship and the entire experience. He is not into the "mega ships."

[terrymtex01]

OP.. We have no children so I might not be qualified to answer this question for you. I will say that this is going to be hit or miss, depending on what week you sail. I have talked with a lot of folks who brought their kids with them on cruises and a lot will depend upon how many other kids there will be onboard. If you select a week that is a "holiday" time for the schools, there is a greater chance that there will be more kids onboard for your DS to find things to do with. Back at the beginning of last year when I was getting IV treatments on a weekly basis, there was a guy who would get his at the same time I would. We would always talk about cruising and he told me there were some cruises where he never saw his children from the time they stepped onboard the ship until it was time to go home.. and some cruises where they spent the whole time together.

 

As far as the ship having activies taylored specifically for someone your DS's age, I don't know with NCL that there will be a whole lot of scheduled options, but there will be basket ball and different sports activies available to him, on a "do it when you want" kind of time frame. Others with children they have taken with them might have completely different info and if they do, I would say listen to them, not me.. 8-)

 

I will say you have picked our favorite ship to take your DS on. We love the Star. IOHO, they have the friendlyist crew of ship we have been on. Everytime we have stepped onboard they made us feel like we were visiting friends we have not seen in a long time. You will love the Star.