Cruise With Teen and Pre Teen

[itsjb1]

We are thinking of doing a Baltic/Russia cruise with our 15 and 11 year olds. in August 2006. We did a Med cruise on RCCL when they were 9 and 13 and they enjoyed it. There were many kids on the Med cruise so the kids were busy in the evening with friends. We also did private tours.

 

I am interested in your experiences of a Baltic cruise with kids this age. Were they bored? Were there many teen or pre teens on the ship? Are private tours available or suggested?

 

I know that these are very broad questions and I thank you in advance for any help and guidance that you are able to give. I also apologize in advance if any of the questions that I am posing are not appropriate for this board.

[42trvl]

We just got back from a Baltic cruise on the Crystal Symphony with our 10 & 12 year olds, and we all had a wonderful time. Other kids on the ship were not a big priority for us, as we were really focused on touring about, and the energy level in the evenings was not too high anyway. In terms of the itinerary, while like any kids, they would get bored at times, overall they found most of the trip and sights quite interesting. Of course, we tried to vary things and plan with them in mind. As this was our first time in most of the ports, in many of them, we would do a short tour through the ship first, and then go out and explore on our own. In St. Petersburg we had a private guide just for our family, and felt that with kids that was definitely the way to go. We could be much more flexible that way. Even without kids, I can't imagine doing all the things we did there as part of a large group.

 

On sea days the kids still found plenty to do. There were a good number of kids on board, and while the Baltic itinerary is not as popular with families as other European cruises might be, based on the number of kids that I did see touring about, I would think that on Royal Caribbean there will be even more. But this is a very port intensive itinerary, and while there were a number of children, it looked to us that most were busy seeing and doing with their families, as opposed to "hanging out" with other kids.

[hortonrn]

We just got back on a princess cruise with a 20 year old male and 14 year old female. We got to spend much quality time with them because I think the average age of cruisers was late 60's. My son went to the get together for his group and there were 2 other kids. There were more kids my daughters age and they had many events but she did not seem interested to participate. She said though she would love to go but wants to go with a cousin or friend next time.

 

Neil

[itsjb1]

Thank You for your replies.

[cruisemom42]

I agree with 42trvl. I cruised the Baltics on Princess in late May/early June with my 13 year-old son. There were a few kids in each age group, but not that many. He was lucky enough to find 3 other boys his age and they enjoyed doing stuff together. But the majority of the time on a cruise like this is spent in port as a family. Do take the time to research things that your kids will enjoy. There's plenty of info on this board if you just start reading. A private tour in St. Petersburg would be a must, I would think. We did most other ports on our own and were able to choose a mix of things interesting to both of us.