Alaska

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Have always cruised royal caribbean to the caribbean. Was looking into a alaskan cruise, but it seems the only trip that would work for us would be on celebrity. Will a 15 year old be bored? Is it a more quiet atmosphere? Any thoughts on Alaska in general?

[turning46]

Have always cruised royal caribbean to the caribbean. Was looking into a alaskan cruise, but it seems the only trip that would work for us would be on celebrity. Will a 15 year old be bored? Is it a more quiet atmosphere? Any thoughts on Alaska in general?

 

We went on our very first cruise last year, to Alaska. There are SO many amazing excursions to choose from; I don't think your 15 year old will be bored on land. On the ship, I think it depends. When we were on, most schools had already started, and there were only a handful of teens in the youth program. I asked a couple of young girls what they thought of the youth program, and they said it was fun, but there weren't many other kids there. They said they split their time equally between hanging out in the yough center and just doing their own thing.

 

They did mention that staff told them that the week before (right before most schools started), there were hundreds of teens in the youth program. I think if your child can find a friend to hang out with, it'll be great. At 15, he or she can eat pizza and sweets at will, see shows, or just hang out on deck, with or without Mom and Dad. Your child will be expected, of course, to dress up a bit from jeans/t-shirt if you want to dine in the main dining room, but otherwise the Alaska cruise seemed very laid back and fun. Everyone wanted to have a good time; we didn't run into any grouchy people at all!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Do Celebrity- it's awesome. You may be lucky enough to have Brent Nixon on your cruise. He is a naturalist and is great with kids. My son loves him and we have emailed him since we got back. This summer (2014) Brent will be on the Solstice. He does funny information lectures on Alaskan wildlife.

 

Fifteen is that age where they are so embarrassed of their parents and it can be trying with a fifteen year old. There is plenty to do on board the ship besides the teen center. There are shows at night, movies by day, swimming, trivia games, battle of the sexes, etc. etc. There will be lots of kids in summer (June 15- August 25th). If at all possible I would recommend your son bringing a friend along. It's totally worth it because at this age they are really interested in friendships more than sightseeing.

 

The Solstice has a great inexpensive specialty restaurant called "Bistro on Five" which I highly recommend. The $5 per person surcharge is so worth it for the made to order crepes, sandwiches and desserts. It's open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snacks.

Edited January 16, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[olemissreb]

We were on the Millie (before the propulsion problems) last year with our then 13yo & 17yo boys. The 13yo is very outgoing and made friends quickly and spent his time playing table tennis (so much he wore a hole in the heel of his cast and won 3rd place in the table tennis contest). He also took part in the scavenger hunts, trivia contests and video games. Plus he ate just about everything in sight! (He's a swimmer and burns it all off in one practice session!)

 

The 17yo spent time playing video games, trivia, scavenger hunts and eating.

 

Both boys had fun, but not as much as on our Southern Caribbean cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. The saving grace was that we were in Alaska and had some really great excursions planned so the kids never got bored. We kept them busy on land so that by the time we got back to the ship, they used the Teen Club more for relaxing than anything else.

 

Oh and I would recommend getting a premium non-alcoholic package for your son. My kids LOVE non-alcoholic daquiris and they drank their share! There were a couple other non-alcoholic drinks that they discovered on the cruise that I can't remember. Mine also like frappucinos and lattes so those were also covered. We definitely got our money's worth on those packages.

[TN Vol Fan]

Just be aware that the outdoor pools might be too chilly, even for a teenager. And the indoor pool is adults only most of the time. The Captain can make the decision to open the adults only pool for about 1 hour a day only to youngsters- it would be posted on a daily basis. Remember it's not the Caribbean!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

My son and I use the outdoor hot tubs in Alaska and it is heavenly. Your kids will have a great time. As someone pointed out- kids enjoy the food and freedom on the ships. Face it- cruises are still more interesting than them sitting at home wasting time on video games and texting!