Taking teens to the British Isles on Princess??

[emarismom]

I am seriously considering a British Isles cruise for June 2014 with my two teens, a boy who will be 18 and a girl who will be 15. The girl is thrilled about the itinerary, but worried that there will be few teens on board. (We will have friends going so there will be at least one girl for her to hang out with).

 

However, my real issue is with my 18 year old. He is very social and will be too old for the teen club. I am worried there will be few young adults his age for him to hang around with. So for those who are experienced with sailing this area, please advise.

 

Just a note, we are veteran cruisers. The kids have sailed on RC, NCL, Carnival, and Princess. By far they prefer Carnival, with RC a close second. They loved Princess in Alaska, but they were very young at that time. NCL has been their least favorite.

[Victorious8]

I am worried about this issue as well for my cousin who will be turning 18 a month prior to the trip. When my sister as 19 and we went on a 12 day Med cruise she was able to make a bunch of friends through this 18-20 meet up they had in the Patter for the first day. I just looked at all of the Patters for the itenirary I will be on next month (British isles on CB) and they did not have this event which I think is unfortunate. For my cousin it should be ok because we have a group of us in our 20's so she can hang with us a Skywalkers and we can help her find friends. I will try to revisit this thread after our cruise. I guess a suggestions would just be long and tiring excursions.

These types of cruises just unfortunately aren't geared towards people in the 18-30 range but I always have fun with my family. Good luck!

[SixOneTwo]

Have you looked at the Roll Call for the cruise you're considering and see if there any similarly-aged kids discussed there? If not, you are certainly welcome to post there with the same question.

[melody hounddog]

We are taking this trip with our two teens on July 10, 2014. My son will be 19 and my daughter, 17. We are also doing 5 nights precruise in London and 4 nights postcruise in Paris.

Edited May 16, 2013 by melody hounddog

[dsrdsrdsr]

[Edit] deleted post - misread the original.

Edited May 16, 2013 by dsrdsrdsr

[emarismom]

Thank you for the replies. Melody, we may end up on the July 10, just waiting on some friends to confirm the dates. Also hoping for some price drops, as right now the prices for next year are ridiculous!

 

I have checked this year's and next year's roll calls. This year there looks to be no teens. The roll call for next year is very small.

[melody hounddog]

Thank you for the replies. Melody, we may end up on the July 10, just waiting on some friends to confirm the dates. Also hoping for some price drops, as right now the prices for next year are ridiculous!

 

I have checked this year's and next year's roll calls. This year there looks to be no teens. The roll call for next year is very small.

 

I am also hoping for price drops. We are booked, but I check the prices daily. If they drop, I will call my TA and have him adjust the price for us. This way I know I have my cabins picked out and the lowest possible price available.

[SoBaycruiser]

Watch for price drops for Europe 2014 on Princess around Labor Day. They are trying to fill the ships for this summer's cruises first so they don't want to entice you for 2014 till the summer is over. We booked in May last year and got a reduction in September. We avoided the sales where one loses their deposit if they make a change. In the spring there was one more price drop because of poor sales on our particular voyage. So just keep watching, but be careful of the non-refundable deposit offers.

[melody hounddog]

Watch for price drops for Europe 2014 on Princess around Labor Day. They are trying to fill the ships for this summer's cruises first so they don't want to entice you for 2014 till the summer is over. We booked in May last year and got a reduction in September. We avoided the sales where one loses their deposit if they make a change. In the spring there was one more price drop because of poor sales on our particular voyage. So just keep watching, but be careful of the non-refundable deposit offers.

 

Thanks so much!!! Any advice on when to book for Christmas 2014?

[Keith1010]

Your children will have a great time including the 18 year old. All it takes is a few children and the 18 year old will be fine. We took our children on a British Isles cruise at this age and they loved it.

 

Keith

[robert.canary]

I did this cruise 2 year ago, and I went with my 16-year-old boy, he had great fun, and he met a lot of teens. We went on Crown Princess and it was awesome

 

Also, my kid said that there were lots of activities for teens, this was one of the ships he enjoyed the most

[LobstersLass]

I am seriously considering a British Isles cruise for June 2014 with my two teens, a boy who will be 18 and a girl who will be 15. The girl is thrilled about the itinerary, but worried that there will be few teens on board. (We will have friends going so there will be at least one girl for her to hang out with).

 

However, my real issue is with my 18 year old. He is very social and will be too old for the teen club. I am worried there will be few young adults his age for him to hang around with. So for those who are experienced with sailing this area, please advise.

 

Just a note, we are veteran cruisers. The kids have sailed on RC, NCL, Carnival, and Princess. By far they prefer Carnival, with RC a close second. They loved Princess in Alaska, but they were very young at that time. NCL has been their least favorite.

 

Your 18 year-old will be just fine. He can go to the pub in each port in Britain and meet loads of people there!

[emarismom]

This is making me feel better about it. We have a group of friends going (mostly adults), I don't want to miss it; but I also don't want to spend the money and take the kids on a trip they wounldn't enjoy. ;)

[Hawaiianwhaines]

Hi - Just wondering if you have decided on a June or July cruise? I've been searching the Princess June Roll Calls for other teens on these cruises. I have 3 -17 yr olds (triplet daughters) going for their graduation cruise. One wants the British Isles, another the Baltics. The third doesn't care. I am worried there won't be any teens at the beginning of June. (This will be their 3rd cruise in two yrs)

[MTElkwhistle]

Phone Princess and ask. They have always told me how many are in a certain age group when I have asked.

 

For what it is worth the Scottish schools break up at the end of June following May exams and some families take their children out before the end of term ie last week in June. English schools break up mid July following exams in June.

 

Those dates impact hugely on the numbers of teens/children on board obviously.

 

I have found few UK cruisers who use the likes of cruisecritic and I would have thought that UK residents would make up the bulk of passengers when sailing out of Southampton.

Edited November 8, 2013 by MTElkwhistle

[MHG]

We are likely booking the July 22nd Ruby sailing with our 14 yer old daughter and I am also worried that there will not be a lot of younger teens on the ship. She doesn't feel comfortable being with the older teens even though at 14 she will have to be with the 14-17 teen group. Anyone else out there with our predicament?