Susiecruisey Posted January 22, 2016 #1 Share Posted January 22, 2016 thanks all info is welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene56 Posted January 22, 2016 #2 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Make sure she attends the first night. Kids this age tend to hang out together instead of participating in the program. Its very important to meet the kids that first night so she has people to hang with all week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldgirl2 Posted January 22, 2016 #3 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) My daughter hated it. Went the first night and said everyone was 14. She had a friend traveling with her so she had someone to hang out with. One night they did go to the "adults only" white party and she met a guy that happened to be an NFL player and had on a super bowl ring. She has no clue who he was. Lol. Not real sure why they even let her in. She looks very young. Good thing she doesn't drink. They came to our room at 1:00am to tell us all about the cool party they found[emoji54] Edited January 22, 2016 by goldgirl2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookwife Posted January 22, 2016 #4 Share Posted January 22, 2016 at that age they are pretty much left to their own devices. the first night is when the ones that age will just check it out, but after that, you will usually find the ones that clicked in other public spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba83 Posted January 22, 2016 #5 Share Posted January 22, 2016 My first cruise was when I was 17.5 years old and my sister just turned 16, we had no interest in the kids club but I know that some really enjoy it. As someone else said have them go on the first night so they can get to know others. My sister and I preferred sitting pool side all day while on sea days and wonder around the ship together or with our parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanley Posted January 22, 2016 #6 Share Posted January 22, 2016 It is also dependent on the numbers of kids/teens on board. On the FOS in October there was not a huge number of teens and they merged the 12-14 and 15-17 groups. My dd was 12 and very shy and didn't like it. Someone who is 17 might not like that kind of group either. It is important to go on the first night, because the teens form little groups/friendships, so whether they hang out in the club or around the ship its harder to make friends later. The schedule of all the organized events, so its easy to pick and choose when she might want to go to something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted January 22, 2016 #7 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Ditto on the "go the first night and meet people". My son was 15yo on Freedom and Navigator last year, will be 16 on Oasis next month. At that age, the program is not so much a "kids club" as it is a "teen get-together". The teens have an assigned staff member, but they're not in a bunch of super-structured activities like the smaller kids are. Sometimes they hang out together in The Living Room. Sometimes they dance the night away in Fuel (nightclub). Sometimes they just hang out together at the pool or hot tub. Sometimes they play air hockey or other arcade games. Sometimes they do the group activities that are offered: teen-only Flowrider, teen-only ice skating, teen version of Quest, a camera scavenger hunt (they have to snap pics around ship, first team to get a pic of everything on the list wins), a battle of the sexes contest, a game that resembles dodgeball on the sport court, a teen dinner in Windjammer, etc. A lot of it will depend on your teen's social personality. My kid is like me -- social butterfly. I don't see him all week long on a cruise -- he makes friends that first day and is out having good clean fun all week long. He loves cruising and is already planning his next one as he's disembarking at the end of the week! On our Freedom cruise, we were with a huge group of my friends, and that included a girl the same age as my son (15yo at the time). She's very shy, very quiet... she spent most of the week hanging out with her 70+yo grandmother and sometimes with the older (19yo) daughter of someone we befriended on board. It was her first cruise and she loved it and hopes to be able to go again. There's nothing wrong with EITHER scenario.... it just depends on what each individual teen enjoys doing. Just as some adults like to spend all afternoon sitting on their private balcony, other adults prefer to spend all afternoon in the hot tub or in the Solarium or in the pool. People who prefer their own private balcony, if they were only allowed to hang out on the pool deck, they'd probably say they HATE cruising. People who prefer hanging out on the pool deck, if they were only allowed to hang out on their own private balcony, would probably say they HATE cruising. Different strokes for different folks. (That's why I always say that cruising is the perfect vacation. If you want to be on the go all day, going from activity to activity to activity the whole time, you can do that. If you want to be a total slug in a lounge chair or a hot tub or napping or reading the whole time, you can do that to. You make it whatever you need it to be.) If a teen doesn't enjoy going to school football games and school dances and going bowling or similar with big groups of friends back home, they're probably not going to enjoy the big group activities offered by the teen program. That's not to say that the teen program is terrible -- just that it's not a good fit for that particular person. Like I said, my 15yo son and my friend's 15yo sister went to the exact same teen program on the exact same ship at the exact same time, and had two completely different experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted January 22, 2016 #8 Share Posted January 22, 2016 My daughter hated it. Went the first night and said everyone was 14. She had a friend traveling with her so she had someone to hang out with. One night they did go to the "adults only" white party and she met a guy that happened to be an NFL player and had on a super bowl ring. She has no clue who he was. Lol. Not real sure why they even let her in. She looks very young. Good thing she doesn't drink. They came to our room at 1:00am to tell us all about the cool party they found[emoji54] Dance parties on the pool deck aren't restricted by age.... what are they gonna do, shut down an entire deck? And what would it matter if she did try to drink? They don't let everyone at a dance party just grab whatever booze they want -- you still have to hand over your Seapass card. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare bobmacliberty Posted January 22, 2016 #9 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Add me to the list of those recommending going on the first night. If your 17 y/o is a little Brillohead :D, she will meet people quickly. If not, there will be plenty of other kids there who are also more on the shy side. The staff there will help them meet. When my kids were that age, they didn't participate in too many organized activities, but they did meet people that first night to hang with the rest of the week. With social media, they still stay in touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted January 22, 2016 #10 Share Posted January 22, 2016 And if your 17yo is a little Brillohead, you forever have my sympathies! :eek: LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted January 23, 2016 #11 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Most 16-17 year olds will not use the "club' except to meet other of their age group...they will find places to "hang out" elsewhere on the ship. Older teens are trying their wings....they need unsupervised space to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted January 23, 2016 #12 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Most 16-17 year olds will not use the "club' except to meet other of their age group...they will find places to "hang out" elsewhere on the ship. Older teens are trying their wings....they need unsupervised space to do so. And how old were your children when they cruised? When was that? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUNole Posted January 23, 2016 #13 Share Posted January 23, 2016 at that age they are pretty much left to their own devices. the first night is when the ones that age will just check it out, but after that, you will usually find the ones that clicked in other public spaces. Trying to find half drank glasses of beer/liquor.... oh, I'm sorry... these angels would never do that ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted January 23, 2016 #14 Share Posted January 23, 2016 At 17 our children were not interested in the kids clubs. But they each would meet others around their age and it added to their enjoyment of each cruise. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dlanco Posted January 23, 2016 #15 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Easy answer........don't waste your time.......its really not for a 17 year old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryjaden Posted January 24, 2016 #16 Share Posted January 24, 2016 When my daughter was 17 (now 19). She did not care for the Club. She is kinda shy. She preferred to hang with us or stay by the pool. I do recommend going to the first night though. Each teen is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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