17 Year old on Oosterdam?

[ngagirl]

Planning a cruise to Alaska. Need departure dates of July 20 or 21st. This leaves us Oosterdam , NCL Sun, or Crown Princess. Our past cruises-Hawaii/NCL Pride of America in 2005-loved itinerary but NOT the ship/service. Gave me a bad first impression of NCL. We've enjoyed Celebrity (Summit-twice, Solstice and Reflection) and Royal Caribbean (Oasis and Allure). Our son had a great time on Allure and Oasis. He was a little bored on Reflection in March- not many teens so he read a lot. Would a 17 year old be out of place on Holland America? Thank you for any advice.

[PathfinderEss]

On an Alaska cruise, I think he will be ok. There are lots of children, teens and young adults on these cruises, oh and us old folks too.

[Sam.Seattle]

#1 - Princess

#2 - HAL

#3 - NCL

 

Would be my choice while thinking only about a 17-year old.

 

When looking at Alaska - you really should look at the ports and the amount of time in each port.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The first thing I would do is check the length of time you are in the ports.

Alaska is all about ports and scenery and wildlife. And you will find yourselves off the ship exploring a lot.

[ngagirl]

Thank you for the quick responses. NCL Sun does Glacier Bay and Hubbard. Crown does Glacier Bay AND College Fjord, and the Oosterdam does just Glacier Bay. The ports and times are all similar.

 

We sailed Alaska in 2002 on Summit with 4 of our children and now we just have the 17 year old at home. He doesn't remember a lot of trip in 2002 but his siblings still talk about it being the best vacation we have ever taken! We loved everything about that trip...bubble netting whales, float plane to see bears, glaciers- it was perfect! We sailed Hubbard in 2002 -but not Glacier Bay, thus my reason for these 3 ships.

 

 

Can anyone tell me about College Fjord- would that be a reason to choose Princess? It's more expensive- NCL and Holland are about 500.00 less. Many thanks for those who have chimed in-I have no experience with Princess or Holland, so it helps to read your opinions!

[RuthC]

Can anyone tell me about College Fjord- would that be a reason to choose Princess?

I've been to College Fjord twice, and was not impressed. Everything seemed so off in the distance, and there was no close-up viewing. The first time was fairly early in the season (June), so ice in the water could have prevented us from getting near the glaciers, but the second time was September, and that excuse didn't hold.

 

In order, my preferences are Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, College Fjord. Tracy Arm, though is not a real glacier experience; it is a fjord experience with a glacier at the end. It is scenic cruising.

[jtl513]

Ditto RuthC re: not impressed with College Fjord ... but we were there barely after sunrise when it was hard to see much. Maybe later in the day with bright sunlight I might have had a different impression.

[frankc98376]

We had a young guy about that age on our Zuiderdam cruise. We saw him in the NL on the first afternoon and he was pretty sure that he was the only person under 40 on the ship. Lo and behold there was a girl about the same age feeling the same. They met and ran around together and had a great time.

So tell your 17 year old that the bright side of being one of the few males under 30 or 40 is that there is less competition for him :)

[Typhoon1]

Plenty for teens to do.

 

They'll make many new friends on a summer cruise.

[OCruisers]

If you do decide to go on Oosterdam, maybe KK (Krazy Kruizers) will help you out like she did for older teen granddaughter when she was going on Veendam with her other grandparents.

She says she would have been bored silly if KK had not told her the most likely places on the ship where those her age would be hanging out.

LuLu

[fsdj1097]

Our grandson turned 17 the 3rd of May. He has been accompanying DW and I on our HAL cruises since the age of 9. He loves meeting other youth onboard, but just as much, the adults, too. He is a musician and loves spending time listening to, and getting to know the musicians in, the Adagio Strings, and the entertainers in the Piano Bar. He splits his time between The Loft and with DW and I on sea days. He still stays in contact with Club HAL friends in Australia and, most recently, a couple from Montreal who taught him to play Cribbage on our Canada/New England cruise on Maasdam last July. He loves the afternoon teas and has learned to appreciate the multi-cultured folks that he has met onboard HAL ships.

 

Don't cut teenagers short on their ability to adapt and enjoy cruises without the need to be playing a video game, or hanging with other teens.

[BeardieMom55]

I agree with PathfinderEss, Alaska is great for teens. We took our then 16 year old granddaughter with us on a 7 day cruise to Alaska a couple of years ago. She still talks about the trip to this day. I will never forget the grin on her face as she drove the tomcar trying to splash her Pappy with mud or the day we spent hiking and rafting in Skagway. She did not take advantage of the many invitations to the teen activities but was busy most of the time. We loaned her a camera and she had a ball documenting the whole trip.