Best choice for Eastern Med Cruise with Teenagers

[cruiserang]

My 18 yr old son has chosen the Eastern Med to be his choice of vacation for his high school graduation trip so we are trying to plan a trip this June for the entire family will enjoy. We will be traveling with our family of 6, two daughters ages 13, 15 and two sons ages 18 and 20. We have been looking at the Celebrity Reflection (12 days- 8 ports, 3 sea days), Regal Princess (12 days- 10 ports, 2 sea days) and the RC Splendour of the Seas (8 days- 5 ports, 2 sea days). I know my older sons will have fun on any of the ships during the sea days and evenings since they are old enough to go into the casino and perhaps enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer with mom and dad:), but after reading some reviews and looking through the cruise brochures my two daughters are a little concerned that the Celebrity and Princess cruises will be boring and have nothing for them to do.

We are new to the cruising world, any advice would be greatly appreciated! This is going to be an expensive trip and I want to do my best to make it fun for the entire family! Thank you!!!

[kitty9]

As I posted to you on the First Time Cruisers board, in all reality, for Med cruises the ship isn't really the most important because you're going to be spending so much time off the ship doing tours. So, base your decision on what's the best itinerary for you and your family and go from there. For Med and other cruises outside of Alaska and the Caribbean, it's not the ship, but the ports of call.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

There will be plenty to do on Reflection. There will be other teens and the teen zone will be hopping in the evenings. Relax, book the Reflection. I think 8 ports is perfect because you need some downtime. Days of touring get exhausting. Make sure to do the itinerary that includes Istanbul. Have a wonderful vacation. What a nice gift!

Edited March 15, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[Purplsmurf]

Yes, there will be plenty to do for the teens! We have cruised with my family many times. My kids and nieces are now 22, 19, 17 and 15. We started sailing with them when the youngest was 2 and they have always found plenty to do and have enjoyed everything!!

 

 

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[heatherbelle]

The longer the better and the most ports is my advice.

 

I can't help with either of the ships, but having done 2 Med cruises with DCL and Carnival, your only time on ship is to sleep on port days, there is so much to see in port.

 

My own teen (14) tends to visit the club on the first day, make friends and then wanders around the ship with his new friends. I can usually find him either in the pool, on a slide, at the burger bar, in a hot tub or in the buffet:D

 

Your children will love the freedom that the ship brings.

 

His favourite ports are Dubrovnik (taxi for €50) for a 1 hour which you can get straight off the ship. Then walk the walls pre-book tickets before you go.

 

Naples - so much to see and do here we use the hydrofoils, again walk straight off the ship and they are there.

 

Villefranche for Monaco, 10 mins walk to the station and 10 mins on the train to Monaco.

 

Google Disney falcon trip report, cupcake carnival med trip report and drama queen med trip report.

 

For you Venice and Istanbul are a must. I absolutely hated Athens and if I went here again I would stay on the empty boat, but lots of people love it. The same with Rome, been there and seen it wouldn't go again. But we don't like churches or ruins. My DS finds them boring as does DH. Me I love anything like that, but happy kids make for a peaceful holiday. Involve them in the planning.

Edited March 15, 2014 by heatherbelle

[DavidYYC]

We travelled with two teen girls (15 and 16) to the Med in 2010. They were never bored. It was a port-intensive trip and the evenings and sea days were just a nice break from the busyness of the day.

 

In the evenings we had dinner together and then the girls were allowed to go off and do their own thing. Sometimes we didn't see them again until the morning. They met a group of similar aged teens from Spain, Italy, the USA and Australia and often just hung out at the disco or on the pool deck. These are good girls and I was never worried that they were up to mischief, or causing trouble. Same deal on the sea days - bit of a lie-in, pool, eating, mingling, evening entertainment.

 

I can't wrap my head around a kid being bored on a beautiful ship in the Med.

[villauk]

My 18 yr old son has chosen the Eastern Med to be his choice of vacation for his high school graduation trip so we are trying to plan a trip this June for the entire family will enjoy. We will be traveling with our family of 6, two daughters ages 13, 15 and two sons ages 18 and 20. We have been looking at the Celebrity Reflection (12 days- 8 ports, 3 sea days), Regal Princess (12 days- 10 ports, 2 sea days) and the RC Splendour of the Seas (8 days- 5 ports, 2 sea days). I know my older sons will have fun on any of the ships during the sea days and evenings since they are old enough to go into the casino and perhaps enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer with mom and dad:), but after reading some reviews and looking through the cruise brochures my two daughters are a little concerned that the Celebrity and Princess cruises will be boring and have nothing for them to do.

We are new to the cruising world, any advice would be greatly appreciated! This is going to be an expensive trip and I want to do my best to make it fun for the entire family! Thank you!!!

 

 

Not sure if Regal Princess is the same class as Caribbean Princess (have cruised that ship), but our kids (11 & 13) prefer S class ships over the other two. Splendour is their least favourite RCI ship, however, they love all the Royal ships above Vision Class - great choice of onboard activities for them.

 

Go for the longer itinerary if possible - so much to do and see in Europe ;). Our youngest started cruising the Med when he was 4 and his first sailing was for 12 nights around the Med - got us all hooked. The teens usually find similar age children and do their own thing.

 

Tbh, Europe will be port intensive, so you'll all be feeling tired at the end of the day. Early June will be more pleasant than in the height of the summer i.e. August, when it's blistering hot and waiting in sightseeing queues can be excruciating (especially lower in the Eastern Med e.g. Greece and Turkey ;)).

[MTElkwhistle]

My teens prefer the Celebrity ships to any others that they have been on. My 16yo is really looking forward to Equinox in October, he loved Eclipse a few years ago.

[Antonintassie]

Hi

 

We cruised this area with our teenage son last Sept ,we picked a cruise with as few sea days as possible as it is really about the ports.

The 2 sea days we had we just rested our feet and chilled ,Europe is a fantastic destination with older kids

[cruiserang]

Thanks so much for your replies, we have decided to go with the Celebrity Cruise! Looking forward to a wonderful vacation!!!

[drarill]

Thanks so much for your replies, we have decided to go with the Celebrity Cruise! Looking forward to a wonderful vacation!!!

 

Great choice!! We have cruised the Med with our children several times with RCCL and Celebrity. Although it is true that early June will be more pleasant, you will find many more families at the end of June and July. The Med is really port intensive, and we had to set some rules during the cruise… They could stay late having fun with their new friends but they had to wake up with a smile ;) and no complains the next morning for our tours! Believe it or not, it worked!! Now Celebrity is their favorite cruise line. We are going back to the Med in July on the Reflection. :):)

[Biker19]

I know my older sons will have fun on any of the ships during the sea days and evenings since they are old enough to go into the casino and perhaps enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer with mom and dad:),

As far as I know the drinking age limit for any cruise leaving a US port is 21 not 18. ;)

[drarill]

As far as I know the drinking age limit for any cruise leaving a US port is 21 not 18. ;)

 

She is going to Europe…. the drinking age is 18 years old

[Biker19]

Oops I thought it was Eastern Carib, never mind. Drink away in Europe.:p

[cruiserang]

Haha, thanks for clearing that up. I found out that Princess requires you be 21 to drink or enter the casino no matter where you depart from. It looks like Celebrity is 18 if departing from Europe. I wouldn't have realized that if it wasn't for these boards, thanks to everyone for the input!

 

 

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