13 year old on Oasis

[Sky616]

What type of activities do they have for a 13 year old? I know it's not adventure ocean at this age but is there a room we take him to and supervisors? What do they do with them? I'm thinking it's not as structured as the lower ages. Do they take them around the ship more than just stay in one room? Sorry for all the questions, I asked on the family board and didn't get much feedback. He is kind of shy and not an outgoing person and kind of hard for him to make new friends.

[Bizzie07]

Take him along on the first night to meet the rest of the kids and you'll probably see very little of him for the rest of the cruise. We have not been on Oasis but the other ships run various activities, dodgeball, basketball, air hockey, arcade games, pool games, skating and a couple of times Teen Dinners.

 

He will have a great time.

[Sadie cruiser]

Hi. I noticed you haven't gotten much feedback. We were on the Allure (sister ship) 2 years ago with our then 14 yr. old son. He was very shy and didn't want to spend much time in the scheduled activities. The teen room ages 13-15 (I think) is very nice and has video games and a dance floor and organized activities everyday. You should tour it right when you get on the ship and have your child go to the first meet and greet the very first day. They get a chance then to survey the area and scope out the kids. My son met another boy and hung out for the last 2 days of the cruise (better late than never). It is a hard age and if they want to hang with someone they will and if not....fine. He chose to go to the teen area to watch a movie, play the arcade or video games a few times. Our kid is really active so all the onboard activities alone were reason enough to hang out with his parents! HaHa. I loved it being the photographer assigned Mom since my husband and him did the zip lining, rock climbing, all the shows, volleyball, BB, mini golf etc. and it provided me with many of those family "Kodak" moments. Can I say Priceless! We love hanging with our kid on vacation.....so many things to do on that wonderful ship! There are teen compasses on this forum if you search for them.

[Sky616]

Take him along on the first night to meet the rest of the kids and you'll probably see very little of him for the rest of the cruise. We have not been on Oasis but the other ships run various activities, dodgeball, basketball, air hockey, arcade games, pool games, skating and a couple of times Teen Dinners.

 

He will have a great time.

 

Thank you for quick response. Yes he enjoys all of these activities. Will definitely go 1st night to meet and greet. Puts my mind at ease a bit.

[didicruiser]

Going the first night is of the utmost importance! And remember most, if not all, of the kids are with their families. All are looking for new friends!

[tlatrice]

At that age they don't have to 'stay' in the teen club, so many of them will meet up in the teen club/arcade area and then group up and wander around the ship.

 

My supervisor described it to me this way before my first cruise: They get pizza, they run around the ship. They stop and get more pizza, they run around the ship. They come back for more pizza, they run around the ship. LOL!!!!

 

When I talked to my son towards the end of the cruise, he said "yeah, that's basically what we'd do. We walk around for a bit, then someone would say "I'm hungry" so we'd go to the Café Promenade, eat, then walk around some more."

[Sky616]

Thanks for all the advice folks.

[TubbyMrT]

If the child is shy, it can work better if the child arrives early as the others filter in rater than arrive later and be overwhelmed by a group of strangers. Getting there first helps make it their turf. Getting there later means they have enter someone else turf. It can increase the anxiety. Once they get over that, they will meet some of the best kids the world has to offer. They will have a great time and may not want return home.